Alternative Pathways to Behavioral Modernity

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Paola Villa和她的同事将对南非和法国的几个岩石组合进行详细的技术分析，这些组合的年代可以追溯到从石器时代中期到晚期(MSA/LSA)和从旧石器时代中期到旧石器时代晚期(MP/UP)之间的过渡时期(MSA/LSA)。这是一项国际合作；两名南非考古学家和五名法国考古学家是该项目的合作伙伴。待研究的MSA组合来自Sibuu(林恩·沃德利目前正在挖掘的新遗址)、玫瑰小屋洞穴和Klasies River Main。法国的组合包括五个旧石器时代中期的组合，两个查特尔佩罗尼亚(由最后的尼安德特人制造)和两个奥里纳西(上)组合。人们普遍认为，从古老行为向现代行为的转变首先发生在撒哈拉以南非洲，许多行为和技术创新促进了现代人走出非洲。然而，在南部非洲，从MSA向LSA过渡的时期并不十分为人所知，关于过渡的时间和过程也存在很大的分歧。许多创新在南非的早期出现，如复杂的打结技术、复合工具、微细技术和小叶片技术，仍有待实验复制支持的技术分析来验证。该项目将解决以下问题：1.这些创新技术在南非出现得比在法国更早吗？2.它们是否表现出随时间推移的持久性，它们是后来输出到欧洲的行为包的一部分吗？3.南非的MSA/LSA转变是一个缓慢的过程，至少要到25ka才完成，还是大约在50-40ka左右发生的快速变化？4.MSA中是否存在受时间限制的图案和区域变化，但在50-40ka之前，西欧没有MSA吗？5.这些模式与LSA和旧石器时代晚期相比吗模式或它们的性质不同？6.这两个地区之间的相似性在50-40 ka之后更强了吗？(如果现代行为因非洲移民而蔓延到欧洲，这是意料之中的)。7.在法国，在MP/UP过渡阶段，技术不连续性有多强？奥里尼诺式的技术行为是否有先天因素？人类技术的进化是关于现代行为起源的辩论的一个方面，需要更多的经验数据来解决这些问题。这个项目的目标是模拟石板技术的变化，这些变化可能与认知和象征能力的变化有关。这个项目的一个主要原因是，通过专注于一个具体的研究计划，促进西欧和非洲主义方法之间更紧密的联系，使这两个科学界之间能够进行富有成效的交流。不同研究传统的方法和解释原则的汇合和交融，以及由此产生的出版物和在国际会议上的介绍，将对旧石器时代研究的开展方式产生重大影响。欧洲考古学家和非洲考古学家都将从这种合作努力中受益。

With National Science Foundation support Paola Villa and her colleagues will conduct detailed technological analyses of several lithic assemblages in South Africa and France dated to the period of transition from the Middle to the Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) and from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic (MP/UP) between 90 and 26 ka. This is an international collaborative effort; two South African and five French archaeologists are project associates. The MSA assemblages to be studied are from Sibudu (a new site under current excavation by Lyn Wadley) Rose Cottage Cave and Klasies River Main. The French assemblages include five Middle Paleolithic, two Chatelperronian (made by the last Neanderthals) and two Aurignacian (UP) assemblages. It is widely believed that the transition from archaic to modern behavior occurred first in sub-Saharan Africa and that many behavioral and technological innovations facilitated the expansion of modern humans out of Africa. However the period of transition from MSA to LSA in Southern Africa is not very well known and there is wide disagreement about the timing and process of transition. The early appearance in South Africa of many innovations, such as sophisticated knapping techniques, composite tools, microliths and bladelet technologies, remains to be verified by technological analyses supported by experimental replication. The project will address the following questions: 1. Do these innovative technologies appear earlier in South Africa than in France? 2. Do they show persistence through time and were they part of a behavioral package later exported to Europe? 3. Was the MSA/LSA transition in South Africa a slow process that was not completed until at least 25 ka or was it a rapid change that took place at about 50-40 ka? 4. Were time-restricted patterning and regional variations present in the MSA but not in Western Europe before 50-40 ka? 5. Are these patterns comparable to the LSA and Upper Paleolithic patterns or are they of a different nature? 6. Are similarities between the two regions stronger after 50-40 ka? (this is to be expected if modern behavior spread to Europe as a result of migration out of Africa). 7. How strong are technological discontinuities at the MP/UP transition in France and are there antecedents to Aurignacian technical behaviors?The evolution of human technologies is one aspect of the debate about the origins of modern behavior and more empirical data are needed to resolve these issues. The goal of this project is to model changes in lithic technology that may be associated with changes in cognition and symbolizing abilities. A major reason for this project is to promote a stronger connection between Western European and Africanist approaches by focusing on a concrete program of research that will enable a productive interchange between the two scientific communities. The meeting and blending of approaches and interpretative principles of different research traditions and the resulting publications and presentations at international meetings will have a strong impact on the way Paleolithic research is conducted. Both European and Africanist archeologists stand to gain from this cooperative effort.