The Emergence of Human Complex Abilities

人类复杂能力的出现

• 批准号: 1748203
• 负责人: Paola Villa
• 金额: $ 2.95万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2018-03-01 至 2020-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1748203&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Emergence; Human; Complex; Abilities

This research concerns early human culture and the implications of early bone tools for assessing human cognitive abilities. Worked bone tools are considered among the important features characterizing modern human behavior. In Europe complex bone technologies are characteristics of the Upper Paleolithic which began about 40,000 years ago. Bone tools were made with techniques specifically adapted to bone materials such as scraping, grinding and polishing and a wide range of shapes and functions (split-base points, bone handles, spear-throwers, points, harpoons). The bone technology of earlier "pre-modern" humans is said to be simpler and involving a lower degree of conceptualization than Upper Paleolithic tools. Limb bones used as hammers and scrapers for the manufacture of stone tools are known from European sites as old as 500, 000 years ago. Just a few pieces show evidence of shaping by flaking and fully shaped tools are even rarer. The goal of this research is to understand in greater detail the processes by which they were made. This research will not only further basic knowledge regarding the human past but also further international scientific collaboration. The research involves close collaboration by members of an international team.Multiple tools made by flaking elephant long bones of symmetrical shape have been described in four sites in Latium (Italy) dated between 400,000 and 300,000 years ago. The manufacturing technique used was the same technique used in knapping stone artifacts. This transfer of techniques from stones to bone is taken as an indication that pre-modern humans were incapable of creative thinking. An important aspect of early bone technology is about the criteria used to correctly identify tools since various natural processes can produce mimics of man-made tools. This project will carry out a technological and taphonomic analysis of all the bone and stone tools from the assemblage of Castel di Guido dated to about 400,000 years ago. Many pieces classed as tools present only a limited amount of modification that is not distinctive enough to remove doubts about their intentionality. Analysis will be directed to the elimination of ambiguities in the identification of flaked bone artifacts by using features characteristic of stone artifacts. The fact that recent advances in dating suggest that the four sites in Latium are closer in time than expected invite a question: do these occurrences of flaked bone artifacts so common in the Latium region represent a genuine regional tradition, reflecting a set of socially transmitted habits between groups in the same region? This would run counter to the conventional idea that pre-modern culture was static and homogeneous over its large geographic extent and long periods.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项研究涉及早期人类文化以及早期骨骼工具对评估人类认知能力的影响。加工骨工具被认为是现代人类行为的重要特征之一。在欧洲，复杂的骨骼技术是大约4万年前开始的旧石器时代晚期的特征。骨工具的制作采用了专门适用于骨材料的技术，如刮削、研磨和抛光，以及各种形状和功能(分底点、骨柄、投鱼器、尖点、鱼叉)。早期“前现代”人类的骨骼技术据说比旧石器时代的晚期工具更简单，概念化程度更低。被用作锤子和刮刀来制造石器的肢骨在欧洲遗址中广为人知，最早可以追溯到50万年前。只有几件显示出剥落成形的证据，而完全成形的工具更是罕见。这项研究的目标是更详细地了解它们的制造过程。这项研究不仅将加深关于人类历史的基本知识，而且还将进一步促进国际科学合作。这项研究需要一个国际团队的密切合作。在意大利拉蒂姆的四个地点，人们描述了40万到30万年前的四个地点，用对称形状的大象长骨剥落制成的多种工具。使用的制造技术与切割石器时使用的技术相同。这种从石头到骨头的技术转移被认为是前现代人类没有创造性思维能力的迹象。早期骨骼技术的一个重要方面是关于用于正确识别工具的标准，因为各种自然过程可以产生对人造工具的模仿。该项目将对大约40万年前Guido城堡的所有骨骼和石器进行技术和攻击学分析。许多被归类为工具的作品只进行了有限的修改，没有足够的特色来消除人们对其目的性的怀疑。分析的目的将是利用石制品的特征来消除识别片状骨制品时的歧义。最近的测年进展表明，Latium的四个地点在时间上比预期的更近，这一事实引发了一个问题：这些在Latium地区如此常见的片状骨器是否代表了真正的地区传统，反映了同一地区不同群体之间的一套社会传播习惯？这将与前现代文化在其大地理范围和长时间内是静态和同质的传统观念背道而驰。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。