Neandertal Pyrotechnology and Burial: Excavations at Roc de Marsal

来自国家科学基金会的资金将支持在旧石器时代中期遗址(法国多尔多涅)进行两个季节的挖掘。该遗址包含两个极其罕见的旧石器时代中期组成部分--可能是故意为尼安德特人埋葬的，以及保存完好的、离散的壁炉，它们与尼安德特人的行为和适应的性质有直接关系。研究小组汇集了来自美国、加拿大、法国和德国的国际科学家小组，他们将共同应用广泛的复杂方法来全面记录和分析这些特征。自150年前首次发现尼安德特人以来，他们一直深陷争议之中。关于它们与我们的分类关系，它们对语言和符号的能力和使用，甚至它们的智力水平，这些问题仍在争论中，毫无疑问，关于它们的行为和适应，还有更多的东西需要了解。当然，这些争论继续存在的原因有很多，包括缺乏足够的证据。更糟糕的是，许多可用的证据，特别是关于行为的罕见且往往更有趣的方面，是在现代挖掘和记录技术之前收集的。这可能会导致对我们进行分析所依赖的集合的完整性的严重问题，并且有无数新的恢复方法如何从根本上改变我们的解释的例子。这就是为什么有时重访某些多年前挖掘的遗址是很重要的。Roc de Marsal就是这样一个几十年前被部分挖掘的遗址，但那里的新工作表明，它仍然具有巨大的潜力来解决许多关于尼安德特人行为的重要问题，包括他们对火的使用和对死者的处理。虽然墓葬本身几十年前就从遗址上移走了，但最近在遗址进行的工作发现了遗址中的一个特征，似乎与所描述的背景相似。目前尚不清楚这一特征是否也包含尼安德特人的遗骸，但无论是哪种情况，更清楚地了解这一特征都可以解决原始墓葬是在故意挖掘的坑中发现的说法，这将对尼安德特人处理他们的死者产生重大影响。然而，这需要在这一特征的紧邻区域进行更广泛的挖掘。到目前为止只有部分暴露的壁炉，在这个时代的遗址保存方面确实是非同寻常的，它们提供了更多了解旧石器时代中期烟火技术和尼安德特人对洞穴内空间的利用的可能性。研究的主要目标包括：了解马尔萨尔的尼安德特人埋葬的背景，包括埋葬坑是否是故意挖掘的；获得埋葬的绝对日期；调查炉灶的位置、结构和用途(S)；以及调查发生或不发生炉灶的条件。理解他们的作用的一个主要关键是通过与Pech de L的Aze IV进行比较，后者存在类似的行业和炉灶，由许多相同的团队成员挖掘。这项研究的更广泛影响有三个方面。首先，无论尼安德特人是不是现代人的祖先，了解他们的行为和适应的本质对于理解人类文化进化具有明显的重要性。烟火技术和对死者的礼仪处理都是人类文化发展的两个重要元素，对它们的深入理解将有助于我们更广泛地了解早期的人类行为。其次，记录和分析这些发现的新方法的开发将有助于考古学研究中使用的更广泛的方法。最后，国际学生参与发掘将成为下一代旧石器时代考古学家的重要培训经验。

Funds from the National Science Foundation will support two seasons of excavation at the Middle Paleolithic site of Roc de Marsal (Dordogne, France). The site contains two exceedingly rare Middle Paleolithic components -- a potentially intentional Neandertal burial and well preserved, discrete hearths - that have direct bearing on the nature of Neandertal behavior and adaptation. The research team brings together an international group of scientists from the United States, Canada, France, and Germany who, together, will apply a wide range of sophisticated methods to fully document and analyze these features.Ever since their initial discovery 150 years ago, Neandertals have been mired in controversy. Questions regarding their taxonomic relationship to us, their capacity for, and use of, language and symbols, and even their level of intelligence are still being debated, and there is unquestionably much more to learn about their behavior and adaptation. There are, of course, many reasons why these debates continue, including a lack of sufficient evidence. To make matters worse, much of the available evidence, particularly for the rare and often more interesting aspects of behavior, was collected before modern techniques of excavation and recording. This can result in serious questions regarding the integrity of the collections that we depend on for analysis, and there are endless examples of how newer recovery methods can fundamentally change our interpretations. This is why it is sometimes important to revisit certain sites that were dug many years earlier. Roc de Marsal is one such site that was partially excavated decades ago, but new work there demonstrates that it still contains significant potential to address many important questions regarding Neandertal behavior, including their use of fire and treatment of the dead. While the burial itself was removed from the site decades ago, recent work at the site has discovered a feature in the site that appears to be analogous to the context described for it. Whether or not this feature also contains Neandertal remains is unknown at this time, but in either case a clearer understanding of this feature can address the claim that the original burial was found in a pit that was intentionally dug, which will have significant implications for Neandertal treatment of their dead. This requires, however, a much more extensive excavation in the immediate area of this feature. The hearths, which have so far only been partially exposed, are truly exceptional in their preservation for sites of this age, and they offer the possibility to learn much more about Middle Paleolithic pyrotechnology and Neandertal use of space within the cave. The major goals of the research include: to gain an understanding of the context of the Neandertal burial at Roc de Marsal including whether or not it the burial pit was intentionally dug; to obtain absolute dates for the burial; to investigate the placement, structure, and use(s) of the hearths; and to investigate the conditions under which they occur or do not occur. A major key to understanding their role will be through comparisons with Pech de l'Aze IV, where similar industries and hearths are present and which was excavated by many of the same team members. The broader impacts of this research are three-fold. First, whether or not Neandertals are ancestors of modern humans, understanding the nature of their behavior and adaptation is of clear importance for understanding human cultural evolution. Both pyrotechnology and ritual treatment of the dead are two important elements of human cultural development, and a deeper understanding of them will contribute significantly to our broader knowledge of earlier human behavior. Second, the development of new methods to document and analyze these finds will contribute to the broader methodology used in archaeological research. And finally, international student participation in the excavation will serve as an important training experience for the next generation of Paleolithic archaeologists.