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.

埃塞俄比亚北部阿瓦什地区以其丰富的早期古人类南方古猿阿法种（例如“露西”）化石遗骸以及人类属和世界上最早的石器起源的证据而闻名。 然而，由于区域性不整合面，不幸的是，阿瓦什北部大部分地区缺少桥接阿法种和人属之间关键间隔的适当年龄的沉积物。 该研究项目以阿瓦什北部阿法尔勒迪-格拉鲁 (ALG) 地区最近的古人类学工作为基础，该工作已确定了填补这一时间空白的古生物学丰富的沉积物，为了解早期人属的起源、进化和古环境背景以及石器技术（人类谱系的标志）的起源、进化和古环境背景提供了一个难得的窗口。 该实地项目还有助于我们了解 2.5 至 300 万年前的时期，这是人类进化史上最迷人的时期之一，涵盖了其他几种古人类物种的首次和最后出现日期，以及整个非洲哺乳动物动植物群的重大变化。 ALG 序列的独特保存使古人类学家、古生物学家、 考古学家和地质学家 1) 确定与阿法种的形态变化和最后出现直接相关的古环境背景，以及随后在阿瓦什北部地区出现的早期人属和石器； 2）将阿法南方古猿栖息地的空间分析从邻近的古人类学遗址扩展到ALG地区，以更好地了解古环境的横向变化； 3）从石器技术最早发展期间存在于ALG地区的动物群、古人类改良动物群和文物中收集证据； 4）利用横断面挖掘发现了可能被古人类改造过的骨头，以记录古人类可能早期食肉的进一步证据。该项目包括为不同群体的研究生提供相关领域和实验室技术的培训，包括女性、埃塞俄比亚人和其他非洲人，这些学生在这一领域的代表性通常不足。 该项目的数据也将纳入为 K-12 教师开发的教材中，可通过亚利桑那州立大学外展网站下载。