Paleoanthropological Survey of the Gobaad Basin, Djibouti

吉布提戈巴德盆地古人类学调查

• 批准号: 0742574
• 负责人: David DeGusta
• 金额: $ 2.49万
• 依托单位: Stanford University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-11-01 至 2008-10-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0742574&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Paleoanthropological; Survey; Gobaad; Basin; Djibouti

Expanding our understanding of deeper human biological and technological history depends, in large part, on recovering more fossils and stone tools. Such materials test existing hypotheses and provide the basis for developing new models of early human evolution. Recovering additional fossils and stone tools depends on locating deposits containing such materials. A survey of the Gobaad Basin in the Djibouti Afar will be carried out to evaluate the potential of this area for yielding paleoanthropological sites (e.g., deposits with Plio-Pleistocene fossils and/or stone tools). The Afar Depression spans northeastern Ethiopia and southwestern Djibouti, and is arguably the richest known repository of human fossils and stone tools. Paleoanthropological surveys in the Ethiopian Afar have led to numerous discoveries documenting the last six million years of human prehistory. The Djibouti Afar, in contrast, is poorly known. Only some 150 fossils and one excavated assemblage of stone tools have been reported from the Djibouti Afar, whereas thousands of fossils and stone tools have been recovered from the Ethiopian Afar. Yet both areas are part of the same overall Afar basin system, and thus should have the same general potential for yielding stone tools and fossils. Previous work in the Gobaad Basin of the Djibouti Afar has documented the general presence of at least some fossils and stone tools, broadly attributable to both the Lower and Middle Pleistocene. An analysis of geological and remote sensing data has led to the identification of 26 target areas in the Gobaad. The focus of this project is to survey these target areas to check for the presence of lithics, fossils, and/or datable materials (tuffs). This will provide the first spatial data on the distribution of paleoanthropological resources in the Djibouti Afar. The survey will be done by a joint US, French, and Djiboutian team.

扩大我们对人类生物和技术历史的更深层次的理解，在很大程度上取决于恢复更多的化石和石器。这些材料测试了现有的假设，并为开发早期人类进化的新模型提供了基础。能否找到更多的化石和石器取决于能否找到含有这些物质的矿床。将对吉布提阿法尔的Gobaad盆地进行调查，以评估该地区产生古人类学遗址的潜力（例如，沉积物与上新世-更新世化石和/或石器）。阿法尔洼地横跨埃塞俄比亚东北部和吉布提西南部，可以说是已知人类化石和石器最丰富的储藏地。在埃塞俄比亚阿法尔进行的古人类学调查已经发现了许多记录过去六百万年人类史前史的发现。相比之下，吉布提阿法尔却鲜为人知。据报道，在吉布提阿法尔只发现了大约150个化石和一个出土的石器组合，而在埃塞俄比亚阿法尔则发现了数千个化石和石器。然而，这两个地区都是整个阿法尔盆地系统的一部分，因此应该具有相同的生产石器和化石的总体潜力。以前在吉布提阿法尔的Gobaad盆地的工作已经记录了至少一些化石和石器的普遍存在，大致可归因于早更新世和中更新世。通过对地质和遥感数据的分析，确定了Gobaad的26个目标区。该项目的重点是调查这些目标区域，以检查是否存在岩屑、化石和/或可确定年代的材料（凝灰岩）。这将提供关于吉布提阿法尔古人类学资源分布的第一个空间数据。这项调查将由美国、法国和吉布提的一个联合小组进行。