Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Material Symbolism and Ochre Use in Middle Stone Age East-Central Africa

包括语言在内的象征主义被广泛认为是现代人行为的基本要素。然而，事实证明，记录这种行为的进化起源是困难的。赭石色素(氧化铁)构成了用于解释人类何时开始通过符号进行交流的主要证据。在肯尼亚的Olorgesailie、马拉维的Karonga和赞比亚的Twin Rivers进行的挖掘发现了赭石文物，这些文物可能表明象征主义的出现非常早。然而，矿物颜料也可能在考古遗址中自然形成，或者可能具有技术用途，而不是象征性的用途。该项目将对来自这三个非洲地区的赭石文物和来源的化学“指纹”进行评估和进一步开发分析方法。利用激光烧蚀-电感耦合等离子体质谱和仪器中子活化分析促进人工制品与来源沉积物的匹配，博士研究生Andrew Zipkin(乔治华盛顿大学)在Alison Brooks博士的指导下，将展示人类祖先愿意寻找和运输特定颜料的程度。该项目还将使用颜色量化技术来确定中石器时代的人类是否在他们收集和修改的赭石中表现出颜色偏好。颜色偏好潜在地暗示了赭石的象征性使用，因为赋予不同颜色的含义，例如在国旗中，是现代人行为的一个众所周知的方面。论文的最后一个方面将是对提议的赭石的非象征性使用进行实验性评估。主要的另一种解释是，赭石是植物树脂粘合剂中的一种成分，用于制造复合工具，如石尖长矛。调查人员将与材料科学家合作，测量不同赭石矿物在配制粘合剂中的有效性，以测试胶水生产而不是象征意义是否可以解释过去的赭石采购选择。这项研究将有助于美国、澳大利亚、加拿大、马拉维和赞比亚研究人员之间的国际合作的发展，以及面向普通公众的外联活动。对矿物来源进行“指纹识别”的新分析方法的开发不仅将被考古学家广泛使用，而且还将被艺术历史学家、调查被盗文物非法运输的国家机构和法医科学家广泛应用。

Symbolism, including language, is widely viewed as an essential element of modern human behavior. Documenting the evolutionary origins of such behavior, however, has proven difficult. Ochre pigments (iron oxides) form a major part of the evidence used to interpret when humans began communicating through symbols. Excavations at Olorgesailie, Kenya; Karonga, Malawi; and Twin Rivers, Zambia have yielded ochre artifacts that may indicate very early occurrences of symbolism. Yet mineral pigments may also form naturally in archaeological sites, or may have technological rather than symbolic uses. This project will evaluate and further develop analytical approaches to the chemical "fingerprinting" of ochre artifacts and sources from these three African localities. Using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry and Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis to facilitate the matching of artifacts to source deposits, the doctoral student Andrew Zipkin (George Washington University), under the supervision of Dr. Alison Brooks, will demonstrate the extent to which human ancestors were willing to seek out and transport specific pigments. This project also will use color quantifying technologies to determine if Middle Stone Age humans exhibited color preferences in the ochres that they collected and modified. Color preference potentially suggests symbolic use of ochre since the meaning given to different colors, such as in national flags, is a well-known aspect of modern human behavior.The dissertation's final aspect will be an experimental evaluation of proposed non-symbolic uses of ochre. The leading alternative explanation is that ochre was an ingredient in plant resin adhesives used to construct compound tools, like stone-tipped spears. In collaboration with material scientists, the investigators will measure the effectiveness of different ochre minerals in formulating adhesives to test if glue production rather than symbolic meaning could explain past ochre procurement choices.The research will contribute to the development of international collaborations between American, Australian, Canadian, Malawian, and Zambian researchers, as well as outreach activities for the general public. The development of new analytical approaches for "fingerprinting" mineral sources will find broad application in usage not just by archaeologists, but also by art historians, state agencies investigating the illegal transport of stolen antiquities, and forensic scientists.