Improved Dating of Archaeological Materials with Coordinated Stable Isotope Studies

通过协调稳定同位素研究改进考古材料的年代测定

基本信息

批准号：
1727085
负责人：
Warren Sharp
金额：
$ 19.95万
依托单位：
Berkeley Geochronology Center
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2017
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2017-08-01 至 2021-07-31
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1727085&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Improved Dating Archaeological Materials Coordinated

项目摘要

Determining the ages of archaeological sites is essential for assessing the timing and rates of human behavioral and biological evolution, and for synchronizing archaeological, fossil, and paleoenvironmental records across sites. Current techniques for dating archaeological sites do not fully meet these needs, especially at sites older than 50 thousand years. This project will develop 1) a new approach for determining ages and apply it to several important Middle Stone Age archaeological sites, and 2) a technique that uses archaeological materials to provide paleoenvironmental reconstructions for these sites during human occupation. The project will enhance the infrastructure for archaeological research across existing laboratories, allowing more informative study of museum collections that may contain unique or irreplaceable artifacts. The investigators will promote teaching, training and learning by engaging undergraduate science majors, technicians conducting the research, and a female PhD candidate who is a first-generation college attendee, in novel analytical protocols and approaches to data interpretation. The project will also support international collaborations, research, and science outreach, at sites that include a UNESCO-World Heritage Center.The archaeological record of the Middle Stone Age (300 thousand to 30 thousand years ago) is critical for understanding the biological and behavioral origins of our species, Homo sapiens. It encompasses the earliest known fossils of anatomically modern humans, provides abundant evidence for accelerated behavioral innovation relative to prior intervals, and coincides with the expansion of modern humans out of Africa. In this project, stable isotope and uranium-thorium dating of ostrich eggshells will be applied at sites in eastern and southern Africa that record the Middle Stone Age. The project will develop and apply uranium-thorium dating of ostrich eggshells, a common material in Old World archaeological sequences, and will employ stable isotopes of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen in ostrich eggshell to provide improved local records of past mean annual precipitation, vegetation, and aridity. In sum, these dual methods will enhance archaeologists' ability to extract chronological and paleoenvironmental information from many Old World archaeological sequences and will advance understanding of the timing, tempo, and driving factors of Middle Stone Age behavioral and cultural innovations.

确定考古遗址的年龄对于评估人类行为和生物进化的时间和速率以及对跨站点的考古，化石和古环境记录的同步至关重要。当前的约会考古遗址技术无法完全满足这些需求，尤其是在50千年以上的网站。该项目将开发1）一种确定年龄的新方法，并将其应用于几个重要的中石器时代考古遗址，2）一种使用考古材料在人类职业期间为这些地点提供古环境重建的技术。该项目将增强现有实验室的考古研究的基础设施，从而使对可能包含独特或不可替代文物的博物馆收藏的信息进行更多的信息研究。调查人员将通过吸引本科生的科学专业人士，进行研究的技术人员以及一位是第一代大学参加者，以新颖的分析方案和数据解释方法来促进教学，培训和学习。该项目还将在包括联合国教科文组织世界遗产中心的网站上支持国际合作，研究和科学宣传。中间石器时代的考古记录（30万至30千年前）对于了解我们物种的生物学和行为起源Homo Sapiens至关重要。它涵盖了解剖学上最早的化石，为相对于先前的间隔提供了加速行为创新的大量证据，并且与现代人类从非洲扩张相吻合。在这个项目中，将在记录中石器时代的东部和南部非洲的地点应用稳定的同位素和铀 - 硫蛋白约会。该项目将开发并应用鸵鸟蛋壳的铀 - thorium年代，这是旧世界考古序列中的一种常见材料，并将在Ostrich Eggshell中采用稳定的碳，氮和氧同位素，以改善过去平均年度降水量，植被和生意的局部记录。总而言之，这些双重方法将增强考古学家从许多旧世界考古序列中提取年代和古环境信息的能力，并将促进对中石器时代行为行为和文化创新的时机，节奏和驱动因素的理解。

项目成果

期刊论文数量（3）

专著数量（0）

科研奖励数量（0）

会议论文数量（0）

专利数量（0）

Carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopes of ostrich eggshells provide site-scale Pleistocene-Holocene paleoenvironmental records for eastern African archaeological sites

DOI：
10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106142
发表时间：
2020-02
期刊：
Quaternary Science Reviews
影响因子：
4
作者：
E. Niespolo;W. Sharp;C. Tryon;J. Faith;J. Lewis;Kathryn L. Ranhorn;S. Mambelli;Melanie J. Miller;T. Dawson
通讯作者：
E. Niespolo;W. Sharp;C. Tryon;J. Faith;J. Lewis;Kathryn L. Ranhorn;S. Mambelli;Melanie J. Miller;T. Dawson

230Th/U burial dating of ostrich eggshell

DOI：
10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.06.037
发表时间：
2019-09
期刊：
Quaternary Science Reviews
影响因子：
4
作者：
Warren D. Sharp;C. Tryon;E. Niespolo;N. Fylstra;Alka Tripathy-Lang;J. Faith
通讯作者：
Warren D. Sharp;C. Tryon;E. Niespolo;N. Fylstra;Alka Tripathy-Lang;J. Faith

Early, intensive marine resource exploitation by Middle Stone Age humans at Ysterfontein 1 rockshelter, South Africa

中石器时代人类在南非 Ysterfontein 1 岩石庇护所进行的早期、密集的海洋资源开发