Collaborative Research: Paleoanthropological investigation of the Ledi-Geraru hominin site (Afar, Ethiopia)

合作研究：Ledi-Geraru 古人类遗址（埃塞俄比亚阿法尔）的古人类学调查

• 批准号: 1157351
• 负责人: Christopher Campisano
• 金额: $ 20万
• 依托单位: Arizona State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-04-15 至 2015-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1157351&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Paleoanthropological; investigation; Ledi

The northern Awash region of Ethiopia is famous for its abundant fossil remains of the early hominin Australopithecus afarensis (e.g., "Lucy"), as well as evidence for the origins of our own genus, Homo, and the world's earliest stone tools. Due to a regional unconformity, however, appropriately aged sedimentary deposits that bridge the critical interval between A. afarensis and Homo unfortunately are missing from most of the northern Awash. This research project builds upon recent paleoanthropological work in the Afar Ledi-Geraru (ALG) region of the northern Awash that has identified paleontologically-rich sediments that fill this time gap, providing a rare window into understanding the origins and the evolutionary and paleoenvironmental contexts of early Homo, and of lithic technology, a hallmark of the human lineage. This field project also contributes to our understanding of the interval between 2.5 and 3.0 million years ago, one of the most fascinating periods in human evolutionary history, and one which encompasses both the first and last appearance dates of several other hominin species as well as significant changes in mammalian fauna and flora throughout Africa.The unique preservation of the ALG sequence enables a multidisciplinary team of paleoanthropologists, paleontologists, archaeologists, and geologists to 1) determine the paleoenvironmental context directly relevant to the morphological change and last appearance of A. afarensis, and the subsequent appearance of early Homo and stone tools in the northern Awash region; 2) extend spatial analyses of A. afarensis habitats from adjacent paleoanthropological sites into the ALG region to better understand the lateral variation in paleoenvironments; 3) collect evidence from fauna, hominin-modified fauna, and artifacts that existed in the ALG region during the earliest development of lithic technology; and 4) utilize transect excavations where potential hominin-modified bones were recovered, to document further evidence of possible early carnivory among hominins.This project includes training in relevant field and lab techniques for a diverse group of graduate students, including women, Ethiopians, and other Africans, students typically under-represented in this field. Data from this project also will be incorporated into teaching materials developed for K-12 teachers via internet download from the Arizona State University Outreach website.

埃塞俄比亚的北部瓦什地区以其早期的众人化石遗体（例如“露西”）以及我们自己的属，同性恋和世界上最早的石材工具的起源的证据而闻名。 然而，由于区域不整合，不幸的是，北部大部分北部的瓦什缺少了适当老化的沉积沉积物，这些沉积物弥合了A. farensis和Homo之间的关键间隔。 这项研究项目基于北部瓦什（Northern Awash）的远处莱德 - 盖拉鲁（ALG）地区的最新古人类学工作，该地区已经确定了富含古生物学的沉积物，这些沉积物填补了这段时间的空白，为了解起源和进化和古环境的早期人物和早期人物的进化和古环境的环境提供了罕见的窗口。 这个现场项目还有助于我们对2.5到3000万年前之间的间隔的理解，这是人类进化史上最迷人的时期之一，其中包括其他几种人类种类的第一个和最后一个外观日期，以及在非洲的哺乳动物动物群和植物群的重大变化。考古学家和地质学家至1）确定与形态学变化和阿曲霉的最后出现直接相关的古环境环境，以及随后在北部瓦什地区的早期人类和石工具的出现； 2）从相邻的古人类学遗址扩展了对近视栖息地的空间分析到ALG区域，以更好地了解古环境的横向变化； 3）从动物素改造的动物群体中收集证据，以及在岩性技术最早发展期间ALG地区存在的人工制品；和4）利用带回收潜在的人蛋白改性骨骼的样品发掘，以记录人类蛋白之间可能早期食肉的进一步证据。该项目包括在相关领域进行的培训和针对多元化的研究生，包括女性，埃塞俄比亚人，埃塞俄比亚人和其他非洲人，其他非洲人，通常在这个领域中不足的学生。 该项目的数据还将通过亚利桑那州立大学外展网站下载为K-12教师开发的教材。