An Investigation of Early Hominin Land Use in and Around the Sterkfontein Valley Using Strontium Isotopes

使用锶同位素对斯特克方丹山谷及其周边地区的早期人类土地利用情况进行调查

• 批准号: 0609963
• 负责人: Matt Sponheimer
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-07-01 至 2008-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0609963&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Investigation; Early; Hominin; Land; Use

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Matt Sponheimer and an international team of colleagues will conduct a study of early hominin landscape use in and around the Sterkfontein Valley, South Africa. Landscape use holds important clues regarding human origins. For instance, it has been suggested that bipedalism arose in our forebears as an adaptation for traversing long distances necessitated by shrinking forest environments. Yet, there is little direct evidence that early hominins traveled such long distances. In order to test such hypotheses, the team of specialists in archaeology, human paleontology, and biogeochemistry will study the strontium isotope compositions of fossil hominins and associated fauna to provide the first direct evidence of early hominin paleolandscape utilization. This is possible because the strontium isotope ratios in mammalian tissues directly reflect the strontium isotope compositions of the local geology, and thus movement from one geological substrate to another is reflected in an animal's tissues such as tooth enamel.This study will consist of two phases. In the first, the team will perform a comprehensive study of strontium isotope compositions in the modern water, soils, plants, and animals of the modern Sterkfontein Valley and surrounding areas to serve as a baseline for the study of the Valley's fossils. This phase will also include a series of experiments designed to determine which types of instrumentation will prove most profitable for obtaining large numbers of strontium isotope analyses from fossils. In the second phase, tooth enamel from early hominin and non-hominin fauna will be analyzed in an attempt to answer questions about early hominin home ranges, migratory patterns, and social behavior. The intellectual merit of this study is that it will allow the team and others to begin addressing a number of previously intractable questions such as whether early human ancestors were migratory, whether the emergence of bipedalism was associated with increased home ranges compared to modern chimpanzees, and whether or not males or females dispersed from their natal groups and at what age dispersal occurred. Hence, this study offers the possibility of greatly enriching our understanding of early hominin ecology and life history, and in so doing, should better our understanding of human origins. Moreover, the study will build a large dataset on the distribution of strontium isotopes in soils, water, plants, and animals over a geologically diverse landscape which should prove useful for archaeologists, paleontologists, ecologists, geochemists, and forensic scientists who are interested in tracking the movements of humans and other organisms. The project's broader impact will include fostering extensive international collaboration between scientists from the United States, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. This will include hosting a small international workshop to disseminate the results of this study and to determine areas for future research. The project will also make a significant educational contribution, as it will provide postdoctoral and graduate training for students in the U.S. and South Africa from traditionally underrepresented groups.

在美国国家科学基金会（National Science Foundation）的支持下，马特·斯彭海默（Matt Sponheimer）博士和一个由同事组成的国际团队将对南非斯特克方丹山谷（Sterkfontein Valley）及其周边地区的早期人类景观进行研究。景观利用为人类起源提供了重要线索。例如，有人提出，我们的祖先出现两足动物是为了适应森林环境的缩小所需要的长途跋涉。然而，几乎没有直接的证据表明早期人类能走这么远的距离。为了验证这些假设，考古学、人类古生物学和生物地球化学专家组成的团队将研究古人类化石和相关动物群的锶同位素组成，以提供早期古人类利用古景观的第一个直接证据。这是可能的，因为哺乳动物组织中的锶同位素比例直接反映了当地地质的锶同位素组成，因此从一个地质基质到另一个地质基质的运动反映在动物的组织中，如牙釉质。这项研究将包括两个阶段。首先，该团队将对现代斯特克方丹山谷及其周边地区的现代水、土壤、植物和动物中的锶同位素组成进行全面研究，作为研究山谷化石的基线。这一阶段还将包括一系列实验，旨在确定哪种类型的仪器将被证明对从化石中获得大量锶同位素分析最有利。在第二阶段，将分析早期人族和非人族动物的牙釉质，试图回答有关早期人族的家园范围、迁徙模式和社会行为的问题。这项研究的智力价值在于，它将使研究小组和其他人开始解决一些以前难以解决的问题，如早期人类祖先是否迁徙，与现代黑猩猩相比，两足动物的出现是否与扩大的活动范围有关，雄性或雌性是否从他们的出生群体中分散开来，以及分散发生在什么年龄。因此，这项研究提供了极大地丰富我们对早期人类生态学和生活史的理解的可能性，并且在这样做的同时，应该更好地理解人类的起源。此外，这项研究将建立一个关于锶同位素在土壤、水、植物和动物中分布的大型数据集，这些数据集将被证明对考古学家、古生物学家、生态学家、地球化学家和对追踪人类和其他生物的运动感兴趣的法医科学家有用。该项目更广泛的影响将包括促进来自美国、南非和英国的科学家之间广泛的国际合作。这将包括举办一个小型国际讲习班，传播这项研究的结果，并确定今后的研究领域。该项目还将做出重大的教育贡献，因为它将为美国和南非传统上代表性不足的群体的学生提供博士后和研究生培训。