SGER: Bioarchaeological Fieldwork and Exploratory Biochemical Testing at Gobero, Republic if Niger

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下。Christopher Stojanowski, Kelly J. Knudson和Alicia Wilbur将对位于尼日尔共和国Tenere沙漠阿加德兹以东的Gobero全新世早期墓地的骨骼遗骸进行探索性，高风险，实地和实验室研究。支持的工作将包括挖掘和保存墓葬，初步筛选mtDNA保存，以及碳、锶和氧同位素分析，以开始生成有关饮食和流动性的基线数据。哥贝罗是芝加哥大学的保罗·塞里诺博士在2003年对白垩纪化石层进行实地勘测时发现的，由于风力的作用，这个地方正在迅速受到侵蚀，有被洗劫的危险。一个由考古学家、地质学家和生物考古学家组成的国际小组将于2006年10月和11月前往撒哈拉沙漠，挖掘这个迅速侵蚀的墓地。斯托亚诺夫斯基将领导亚利桑那州立大学的生物考古学家队伍，并指导现场挖掘的骨学部分。在这一实地季节，将绘制约80个埋葬地的地图并移走进行分析。分别由威尔伯和克努森进行的遗传和同位素分析将于2006年9月开始，分析的基础是2005年初步地表调查中回收的物质。正是在这次调查中，哥贝罗的重要性变得明显起来。大量的材料遗迹包括动物、陶瓷、石器、骨工具、骨鱼叉和珠宝。地表上绘制了大约200个墓葬。物质文化表明，大约在10000到6000年前，当更潮湿的环境盛行时，这个遗址被居住在撒哈拉的基菲安渔民所占据。在戈贝罗的发现之前，撒哈拉沙漠的这些古代遗址最多只有几个墓葬。从未发现过容纳200-300人的大型墓地。发掘具有相关居住地和湖泊沉积物的原址墓地将为研究撒哈拉最早居民的生活提供前所未有的机会，包括生存、健康、活动模式和殡葬习俗。形态和遗传分析也将为北非人口历史的研究提供信息。这个项目的广泛影响包括在阿加德兹建立一个人类学博物馆，在“探索项目”（一个芝加哥非营利组织，向服务不足的社区教授科学）的赞助下，将少数民族高中生纳入研究，建立一个来自戈贝罗和其他北非遗址的骨学数据在线数据库，以及对本科生和研究生进行实地挖掘技术和遗传、同位素、形态学实验室分析。

With support from the National Science Foundation, Drs. Christopher Stojanowski, Kelly J. Knudson, and Alicia Wilbur will conduct exploratory, high risk, field and laboratory research on skeletal remains from the early Holocene cemetery of Gobero, located east of Agadez in the Tenere Desert, Republic of Niger. Work supported will include excavation and conservation of the burials, preliminary screening for mtDNA preservation, and carbon, strontium, and oxygen isotope analysis to begin generating baseline data on diet and mobility. Gobero was discovered in 2003 during field reconnaissance of Cretaceous fossil beds by Dr. Paul Sereno of the University of Chicago and the site is actively and quickly eroding due to wind action and is at risk for looting. An international team of archaeologists, geologists, and bioarchaeologists will descend on the Sahara and excavate the rapidly eroding cemetery in October and November 2006. Stojanowski will lead the Arizona State University contingent of bioarchaeologists and direct the osteological component of field excavation. During this field season approximately 80 burials will be mapped and removed for analysis. Genetic and isotopic analyses, performed by Wilbur and Knudson, respectively, will begin in September 2006 based on material recovered during initial surface survey in 2005. It was during this survey that the significance of Gobero became apparent. A wide array of material remains including fauna, ceramics, lithics, bone tools, bone harpoons, and jewelry were recovered. Approximately 200 burials were mapped on the surface. Material culture suggests the site was occupied by Kiffian fishing populations that inhabited the Sahara when wetter conditions prevailed ca. 10,000 to 6,000 bp. Prior to Gobero's discovery, sites of this antiquity in the Sahara contained a handful of burials at most. Never has a large cemetery containing 200-300 individuals been excavated. Excavation of an in situ cemetery with associated habitation and lake deposits will allow unprecedented opportunity to examine the lives of the Sahara's earliest inhabitants, including subsistence, health, activity patterns, and mortuary practices. Morphological and genetic analysis will also inform research on the population history of northern Africa. The broader impacts of this project include the establishment of an anthropological museum in Agadez, the incorporation of minority high school students in the research under the auspices of Project Exploration, a Chicago non-profit organization that teaches science to underserved communities, an online database of osteological data from Gobero and other North African sites, and undergraduate and graduate student training in field excavation techniques and genetic, isotopic, and morphological laboratory analyses.