Alternative Pathways to Behavioral Modernity

行为现代性的替代途径

• 批准号: 0314371
• 负责人: Paola Villa
• 金额: $ 3.64万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-06-15 至 2005-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0314371&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Alternative; Pathways; Behavioral; Modernity

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.

在国家科学基金会的支持下，保拉维拉和她的同事们将对南非和法国的几个石器组合进行详细的技术分析，这些组合可以追溯到90至26 ka之间从中石器时代到晚石器时代（MSA/LSA）和从旧石器时代中期到晚期（MP/UP）的过渡时期。这是一项国际合作努力;两名南非考古学家和五名法国考古学家是项目伙伴。 待研究的MSA组合来自Sibudu（林恩瓦德利目前正在挖掘的一个新遗址）、玫瑰小屋洞穴和Klasies河主河道。法国的组合包括五个旧石器时代中期，两个Chatelperronian（由最后的尼安德特人制作）和两个Aurignacian（UP）组合。 人们普遍认为，从古代行为到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类在非洲的扩张。然而，南部非洲从管理服务协定向地方服务协定过渡的时期并不十分为人所知，而且对过渡的时间和进程存在广泛的分歧。南非早期出现的许多创新，如复杂的敲锤技术、复合工具、细石器和小刀片技术，仍有待于通过试验性复制支持的技术分析加以验证。该项目将解决以下问题：1。这些创新技术在南非比在法国出现得更早吗？2.他们是否表现出了持久性？他们是否是后来出口到欧洲的行为包的一部分？3.南非的MSA/LSA过渡是一个缓慢的过程，直到至少25 ka才完成，还是一个发生在大约50-40 ka的快速变化？4.在50-40 ka之前，MSA是否存在时间限制的模式和区域变化，而西欧则没有？5.这些模式与LSA和旧石器时代晚期的模式相似吗？或者它们具有不同的性质？ 6. 50-40 ka后，两个地区之间的相似性是否更强？(this如果现代行为是由于非洲的移民而传播到欧洲的话，这是可以预料的。7. 在法国，MP/UP过渡期的技术不连续性有多强？Aurignacian技术行为有没有前因？人类技术的进化是现代行为起源争论的一个方面，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可能与认知和象征能力的变化有关的石器技术的变化。该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强有力的联系，这将使两个科学界之间的富有成效的交流。不同研究传统的方法和解释原则的会议和融合，以及由此产生的出版物和在国际会议上的演讲，将对旧石器时代研究的方式产生强烈的影响。欧洲和非洲考古学家都将从这种合作努力中获益。