Doctoral Dissertation Research: The Pastoral Neolithic of East Afica Revisited through a New Chronology for the Emergence of Pastoralism from Tsavo National Park, Kenya

博士论文研究：通过新的年代学重新审视东非新石器时代田园主义从肯尼亚察沃国家公园出现的田园主义

• 批准号: 0352681
• 负责人: Chapurukha Kusimba
• 金额: $ 1.19万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Chicago
• 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: 2003-12-01 至 2004-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0352681&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Pastoral; Neolithic

Under the supervision of Dr. Chapurukha M. Kusimba, David Wright will undertake archaeological excavations and analysis at the site of Mtembea kwa Barafu in Tsavo, Kenya. Mtembea kwa Barafu is located on the banks of the Galana River within Tsavo East National Park and was a large, prehistoric village that dates to at least 2,000 BC. There is evidence that the village was inhabited many times over thousands of years based on the discovery of distinct layers of pottery, animal bones and stone tools eroding from separate river terraces at the site. The earliest dated occupation of the site occurs at during the time when people in East Africa were changing their subsistence patterns from one that was based solely on hunting and gathering to one that revolved around domesticated food products. Wright's excavations have great potential to enhance general understandings of the environmental and social factors that played a role in the transition from foraging to domestication. Archaeologists have long been interested in determining how, when and why people decided to adopt domesticates. For millions of years, hominids successfully hunted and gathered their food, but only in the last 10,000 years has domestication of plants and animals occurred. Domestication is recognized as an important social transition-one that allowed for the development of densely populated urban centers, surplus economies and political power vested in small groups of individuals rather than spread throughout a community. Understanding the environmental conditions present during the origins of domesticated plants and animals can answer whether or not extreme climatic stimuli may have played a part in encouraging people to adopt domesticates. In order to answer important questions regarding incipient domestication processes high precision dating methods such as Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon analysis and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) will provide an accurate chronology of when people settled at Mtembea kwa Barafu. These methods will also assist in interpreting river aggrading and downcutting for the last several thousand years, which is an important indicator of general environmental conditions in the area. Coupled with advances in the Quaternary sciences that are providing detailed regional and global understandings of past environments, these data will be important for framing occupations of Mtembea kwa Barafu in a specific environmental context.As a result of this work, archaeologists will have a clearer picture from the perspective of one site that can elucidate general motivations behind altering human subsistence patterns that functioned uninterrupted for millions of years. These data will also assist in developing a sustainable future for modern African pastoralists, who are challenged by restricted land allocations for grazing and watering their animals. By looking at successful land-use strategies of the past, the laws that regulate the distribution of grazing land and restrict the use of resources can be more effectively targeted to meet the needs of herding people today as well as preserve the ecosystem for future generations. The Tsavo research agenda is long term and will eventually solicit the assistance of local community leaders in presenting data of past and current pastoral lifeways to the international donors and government officials who design land management policies. However, funds for the current project will be used to build the dataset of prehistoric pastoral adaptations and will be presented in Wright's upcoming doctoral dissertation, peer-reviewed journals and conferences. Future efforts to broaden the scope of presentation to the American and international public will be augmented by the research undertaken in this year's project.

在Chapurukha M博士的监督下。库辛巴，大卫赖特将进行考古发掘和分析在肯尼亚察沃的姆滕贝夸巴拉福网站。 Mtembea kwa Barafu位于东察沃国家公园内的Galana河岸边，是一个大型的史前村庄，其历史至少可以追溯到公元前2,000年。 有证据表明，在数千年的时间里，这个村庄曾多次有人居住，这是基于在该遗址发现的不同层次的陶器，动物骨骼和石器。 该遗址最早的占领发生在东非人民改变其生存模式的时候，从一个纯粹基于狩猎和采集到一个围绕着驯化的食物产品。 赖特的发掘有很大的潜力，以提高对环境和社会因素，在从觅食到驯化的过渡中发挥了作用的一般理解。考古学家长期以来一直有兴趣确定人们如何，何时以及为什么决定采用驯化动物。 数百万年来，原始人成功地狩猎和采集食物，但只有在最近10，000年才发生了植物和动物的驯化。 归化被认为是一个重要的社会转型，它允许人口密集的城市中心的发展，过剩经济和政治权力归属于小团体的个人，而不是分散在整个社区。 了解驯化植物和动物起源时的环境条件可以回答极端气候刺激是否可能在鼓励人们收养驯化动物方面发挥了作用。 为了回答有关早期驯化过程的重要问题，高精度测年方法，如加速器质谱（AMS）放射性碳分析和光激发发光（OSL）将提供人们在Mtembea kwa Barafu定居的准确年表。 这些方法还将有助于解释过去几千年来河流的加积和下切，这是该地区一般环境条件的重要指标。 再加上第四纪科学的进步，提供了对过去环境的详细区域和全球了解，这些数据对于在特定环境背景下构建Mtembea kwa Barafu的职业非常重要。从一个遗址的角度来看，考古学家将有一个更清晰的画面，可以阐明改变数百万人不间断地运作的人类生存模式背后的一般动机年. 这些数据还将有助于为现代非洲牧民发展一个可持续的未来，他们面临着有限的放牧和牲畜饮水土地分配的挑战。 通过研究过去成功的土地使用战略，规范牧场分配和限制资源使用的法律可以更有效地满足当今牧民的需要，并为子孙后代保护生态系统。 察沃研究议程是长期的，最终将寻求当地社区领导人的帮助，向国际捐助者和设计土地管理政策的政府官员提供过去和当前牧民生活方式的数据。 然而，目前项目的资金将用于建立史前田园适应的数据集，并将在赖特即将发表的博士论文，同行评审期刊和会议中提出。 今后将努力扩大向美国和国际公众介绍的范围，这将通过今年项目中进行的研究得到加强。