Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant: Uncovering the First South Asians: The Prehistoric Colonization of Coastal Western India

博士论文研究改进补助金：揭示第一批南亚人：印度西部沿海的史前殖民

• 批准号: 0932235
• 负责人: Jeanne Sept
• 金额: $ 1.26万
• 依托单位: Indiana University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2012-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0932235&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Improvement; Grant

Under the direction of Dr. Jeanne Sept, Mr. August Costa will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. His research will address the questions: Who were the first South Asians and when did they settle the Indian subcontinent? Such are among the most critical unresolved problems in South Asian anthropology. The aim of this research is to provide an archaeological test of the southern dispersal hypothesis, which suggests that anatomically and behaviorally modern humans Homo sapiens first colonized South Asia via a coastal route from Africa more than 50,000 years ago. The southern dispersal gained popularity in recent years due to genetic studies suggesting an antiquity of up to 70,000 years for some South Asian populations. Direct fossil and archaeological evidence for this scenario, however is currently lacking in South Asia and recent studies have not targeted sites of the appropriate age. In sum, no one has yet tested this migration scenario by searching for dated evidence of modern humans along the South Asian coast. Mr. Costa will address this issue by reinvestigating known (125,000 year old) archaeological sites located along the coast of the Saurashtra peninsula in Gujarat, Western India. This setting is one of few places in South Asia where Stone Age sites have been dated. Moreover, Saurashtra is the only place in South Asia where coastal Stone Age sites are known. This study will be accomplished by 1) reevaluating known sites from Saurashtra; 2) surveying Saurashtra, for new coastal sites (50,000 years old); and 3) assessing artifacts from the area for attributes indicative of modern humans (e.g. symbolism: jewelry and art, technological and economic innovations: complex stone and bone tools, long distance trade). In contrast to other Late Pleistocene populations (e.g. Neanderthals), present day humans' direct ancestors exhibited certain novel behaviors (e.g. artistic expression, complex hunting) which are often apparent from the archaeological record. If the southern dispersal hypothesis is correct, Mr. Costa should find evidence of anomalous behaviors compared to the norms of indigenous pre-modern South Asians which heralds the emergence of our species in the region. This work will hopefully illuminate the origins of modern people in a nation, which constitutes a geographical missing link to the story of human evolution. If confirmed this research would show that early humans settled India tens of thousands of years before their arrival in Europe and radically alter notions of who the earliest Eurasians were. This study would also have important implications for the peopling of Australia, Southeast Asia and East Asia. This research will help promote meaningful scholarly dialogue and further the role of India in prehistoric studies. The results of this work will raise awareness about the archaeological record of India among Western archaeologists through peer-reviewed publications and presentations of this research at scholarly meetings. Finally, this research will form the foundation of Mr. Costa's future career in Stone Age archaeology by establishing a study area, lab resources and a network of Indian researchers with whom he can continue to work with in the future.

在Jeanne Sept博士的指导下，August Costa先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他的研究将解决以下问题：谁是第一批南亚人？他们是何时在印度次大陆定居的？这些都是南亚人类学中最关键的尚未解决的问题。这项研究的目的是为南方扩散假说提供一个考古测试，该假说认为，在解剖学和行为上，现代人智人（Homo sapiens）在5万多年前从非洲通过沿海路线首次殖民南亚。近年来，由于遗传研究表明，一些南亚人口的古老历史可达7万年，向南扩散的现象越来越受欢迎。然而，目前在南亚缺乏直接的化石和考古证据，最近的研究也没有针对适当年龄的遗址。总而言之，还没有人通过在南亚海岸寻找现代人类的古老证据来验证这种迁徙情景。科斯塔先生将通过重新调查位于印度西部古吉拉特邦绍拉什特拉半岛沿岸的已知（12.5万年前）考古遗址来解决这个问题。这里是南亚为数不多的确定石器时代遗址年代的地方之一。此外，索拉什特拉是南亚唯一已知的沿海石器时代遗址。本研究将通过以下方式完成：1)重新评估索罗什特拉的已知遗址；2)勘测索拉什特拉（Saurashtra），寻找新的沿海遗址（5万年历史）；3)评估该地区的人工制品，寻找表明现代人的属性（例如，象征主义：珠宝和艺术，技术和经济创新：复杂的石器和骨工具，长途贸易）。与其他晚更新世人群（如尼安德特人）相比，现代人类的直系祖先表现出某些新的行为（如艺术表达，复杂的狩猎），这些从考古记录中往往是显而易见的。如果向南扩散的假设是正确的，科斯塔先生应该找到与前现代南亚土著的规范相比较的反常行为的证据，这预示着我们这个物种在该地区的出现。这项工作有望阐明一个国家的现代人的起源，这构成了人类进化故事中地理上缺失的一环。如果得到证实，这项研究将表明，早期人类在到达欧洲之前数万年就在印度定居，并从根本上改变了人们对最早的欧亚人是谁的看法。这项研究也将对澳大利亚、东南亚和东亚的人口产生重要影响。这项研究将有助于促进有意义的学术对话，并进一步发挥印度在史前研究中的作用。这项工作的结果将通过同行评审的出版物和在学术会议上的研究报告，提高西方考古学家对印度考古记录的认识。最后，这项研究将通过建立一个研究区域、实验室资源和一个印度研究人员网络，为科斯塔先生未来在石器时代考古方面的职业生涯奠定基础，他可以在未来继续与这些研究人员合作。