Doctoral Dissertation Research: A Middle Pleistocene Landscape Archaeology Project in the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya

在Sally McBrearty博士的指导下，Cara Roure将在肯尼亚Kapthurin地层挖掘三个中更新世考古遗址，以记录中更新世古人类的土地利用模式和生存行为，特别是罗德西亚人。Kapthurin组位于肯尼亚大裂谷的Baringo湖以西，由一系列跨越中更新世大部分时间的富含人工制品和化石的沉积成员组成。该地层包含了许多有文献记载的考古和化石地点，其中一些发现了罗得西亚人的化石遗骸，他们被认为是现代智人的直接前身。本项目重点研究与古人类化石相关的时间间隔，从543年到ka年。在这段时间内，对盆地进行了详细的古环境重建，在盐湖、淡水泉和河流系统周围发现了一系列同时期的微生境。将从这些环境类型中挖掘一个地点，以提供不同栖息地的行为样本。地理信息系统将提供一种综合格式，使考古数据能够与环境和空间变化相联系，从而为罗得西亚人建立一个范围和土地利用模式的模型。然后，在数据中确定的模式将与记录的早更新世原始人类和非洲现代觅食者的模式进行比较。这个项目对考古学和进化人类学具有多重意义。了解现代智人行为适应的起源具有重要意义。这种适应最容易被认为是符号行为认知能力的进化。目前争论的焦点是这种行为的起源。一个长期以来的观点是，这种能力是作为一场“行为革命”突然出现的，晚于解剖学上现代智人的起源。与此相反，一个新的假说提出，现代行为适应是逐渐出现的，但要早得多，在非洲的中更新世。该项目独特地记录了非洲中更新世晚期原始人的土地利用模式，将有助于了解我们物种的起源和进化。这些结果将直接适用于正在进行的关于非洲中更新世现代智人行为适应起源的争论。这项研究的跨学科性质强调了许多专业之间合作的需要，包括地质学、考古学、古生物学、地理信息系统和博物馆研究。Roure的项目正在与肯尼亚国家博物馆密切合作，并将雇用博物馆工作人员。鲁尔将为肯尼亚挖掘机提供现场培训，他还将为康涅狄格大学的两名初级研究生提供培训。外展活动包括与位于研究区域的Rectory学校（美国）和Loberer小学的学生一起工作，以更好地了解史前史和进化（通过课程和教科书）。该项目的成果将适用于考古学、进化人类学、地质学等多个学科的学术期刊。然而，这项工作也将影响到本科和中学教育，因为人们对我们物种的起源有着浓厚的兴趣。

Under the supervision of Dr. Sally McBrearty, Cara Roure will excavate three Middle Pleistocene archaeological sites in the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya, in order to document land use patterns and subsistence behavior of Middle Pleistocene hominids, specifically H. rhodesiensis. The Kapthurin Formation, west of Lake Baringo in the Kenya Rift Valley, consists of a succession of artifact- and fossil-rich sedimentary members that span most of the Middle Pleistocene. The formation contains many documented archaeological and fossil localities, some of which have yielded fossil remains of H. rhodesiensis, considered the direct precursor to modern H. sapiens. This project focuses on the interval associated with the hominid fossils, from 543 to ka. Detailed paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the basin during this interval has identified a range of contemporaneous microhabitats around a saline lake, a fresh water spring and a riverine system. A site from each of these environmental types will be excavated to supply a sample of behavior across varied habitats. GIS will provide an integrated format within which archaeological data can be related to environmental and spatial variability to create a model of ranging and land use patterns for H. rhodesiensis. Patterns identified in the data will then be compared to those documented for Early Pleistocene hominids and modern foragers in Africa.This project has multiple levels of significance for archaeology and evolutionary anthropology. The understanding of the origins of modern H. sapiens' behavioral adaptation is of key importance. This adaptation is most easily recognized as the evolution of the cognitive capacity for symbolic behavior. A current debate now focuses on the origins of such behavior. A long held view is that this capacity appeared suddenly and late as a "behavioral revolution," long after the origin of anatomically modern H. sapiens. Challenging this, a new hypothesis poses that the modern behavioral adaptation arose gradually but much earlier, in the Middle Pleistocene of Africa. This project is unique in its documentation of land use patterns of African later Middle Pleistocene hominids and will contribute to understanding of origin and evolution of our species. The results will be directly applicable to the ongoing debate regarding the origins of behavioral adaptation of modern H. sapiens in the African Middle Pleistocene.The interdisciplinary nature of this research emphasizes the need for collaboration between many specialties including geology, archaeology, paleontology, GIS, and museum studies. Roure's project is being run in close collaboration with the National Museums of Kenya and will employ museum staff. Roure will be providing field training for Kenyan excavators, and two junior graduate students from the University of Connecticut. Outreach includes working with students at Rectory School (USA) and Loberer Primary School, located in the study area to better understand prehistory and evolution (through classes and textbooks). Results of this project will be applicable to dissemination in academic journals over several disciplines including archaeology, evolutionary anthropology, and geology. However, this work will also impact both undergraduate and secondary education as there is an intense interest in the origins of our species.