Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: The Origins and Practice of Southwestern African Pastoralism - Addressing Classic Debates using Ancient DNA

在Richard Klein博士的指导下，Katherine Horsburgh女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她的研究目标是了解驯养动物进入南部非洲的过程。直到大约2000年前，南部非洲的每个人都从野生来源获得食物。来自北方的驯养羊、牛和狗的到来--没有一只是当地驯养的--导致当地生存战略的戏剧性转变，本项目将详细审查这一转变。由于牛和其他大型牛，尤其是水牛，以及狗和雄鹿之间的骨学相似性，对驯养畜牧业到达南部非洲的这一过程的理解变得复杂起来。为了绕过这个问题，研究人员将提取可能代表驯养动物的样本的线粒体基因组的一小部分并对其进行排序。家养动物的遗骸将进行放射性碳测年，以构建这些物种到来的安全年表。人类学家希望了解文化如何应对和适应环境变化，而变化的一个主要来源是重要新食物的可获得性。很明显，驯养人大约在2000年前进入南部非洲，但他们到达的方式尚不确定。一种可能性是，包括驯化和陶器在内的一系列介绍是由从北方扩张的班图集团直接带来的。另一种可能性是，这些元素单独向南扩散并移动，基本上是在没有新人类群体同时移动的情况下从一只手到另一只手。为了了解狩猎者和采集者如何适应这些新元素并将其纳入他们的生活方式，重要的是区分这两种选择，以及Horsburgh女士将收集的数据提供了这样做的可能性。如果所有人都是同时到达的，而不是随着时间的推移而单独到达，那么很可能所有人都是由新的人类群体带来的。这个奖项也将促进一名有前途的研究生的职业生涯和智力发展。

Under the direction of Dr. Richard Klein, Ms. Katherine Horsburgh will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. The goal of her research is to understand the processes by which domesticated animals entered southern Africa. Until about 2,000 years ago everyone is southern Africa obtained their food from wild sources. The arrival of domesticated sheep, cattle and dogs from the North - none were domesticated locally - entailed a dramatic shift in local subsistence strategy and this project will examine this transition in detail. Developing an understanding of this process through which domesticate husbandry arrived in southern Africa is complicated by the osteological similarities between cattle and other large bovids, especially buffalo and between dogs and jackels. To circumvent this problem the researchers will extract and sequence small portions of the mitochondrial genome of specimens that may represent domesticates. The remains of the domesticates will then be radiocarbon dated to construct a secure chronology for the arrival of these species.Anthropologists wish to understand how cultures respond and adapt to changed environmental situations and one major source of change is the availability of important new food items. It is clear that domesticates entered southern Africa roughly 2,000 years ago but the means by which they arrived is uncertain. One possibility is that a set of introductions, including domesticates and pottery was brought directly by Bantu groups which were expanding from the North. Another possibility is that these elements diffused southwards individually and moved, essentially from hand to hand without the concurrent movement of new human groups. To understand how the hunters and gatherers adapted and incorporated these new elements into their lifestyle it is important to distinguish between this two options and the data which Ms. Horsburgh will collect offers the potential do so. If all arrived simultaneously rather than individually over time, it is likely that all were brought in together by new human groups.This award will also further the career and intellectual development of a promising graduate student.