Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Award: The Ecological Context of Modern Human Adaptability

本博士论文项目研究晚第四纪现代人类进化的生态背景。这一点很重要，因为理解人类行为特征进化的关键，例如增强的适应性灵活性和社会互动和交换网络的扩展等，在于跟踪它们在时间长河中的轨迹。到目前为止，适应性灵活性的考古证据主要来自中石器时代（MSA）后半期的遗址。13万到3万年前。然而，正在研究的网站有几个分层良好的MSA序列，提供了一个很好的机会，以跟踪长期的环境变化和生物文化的反应，在一个地区的中心现代人类进化的叙述。这项工作为进一步的特定地点，高分辨率的古环境重建奠定了基础，并有助于了解环境变化是否以及如何在人类行为进化过程中促进创新。它进一步评估了测距模式和环境变化之间的联系。调查人员还利用该项目对当地大学感兴趣的学生进行考古现场和实验室方法的培训。 该项目解决的问题，是否在考虑中的网站的网站一级的环境重建匹配当地的气候和古环境模式记录的晚第四纪。他们还在确定干旱和潮湿时期的范围模式和社会联系程度是否不同。最后，他们正在研究石器时代的技术变迁是否意味着对环境变化的反应越来越熟练。为了实现这一目标，四个MSA遗址被挖掘，产生了数千件石器。记录了各种岩石技术属性，并正在通过火山灰的化学指纹和40 Ar/39 Ar测年来开发该地区的年代地层历史。该项目的这一阶段正在利用植物叶蜡（δ 13 Cwax）、散装有机质（δ 13 COM）和碳酸盐结核进行高分辨率的古环境重建，以及使用便携式手持X射线荧光（pXRF）该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响进行评估，被认为值得支持审查标准。

xThis doctoral dissertation project investigates the ecological context of modern human evolution during the Late Quaternary. This is important because the key to understanding the evolution of behaviors characteristic of the human species, such as enhanced adaptive flexibility and the expansion of social interaction and exchange networks, among others, lies in tracking their trajectories through deep time. To date, archaeological evidence for adaptive flexibility comes mainly from sites dating to the latter half of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) from ca. 130,000 to 30,000 years ago.. However, the sites under study has several well-stratified MSA sequences that offer an excellent opportunity to track longer-term environmental changes and biocultural responses in a region central to the modern human evolution narrative. This work sets the context for further site-specific, high-resolution paleoenvironmental reconstructions and contributes knowledge on whether and how environmental changes precipitated innovation during the behavioral evolution of humans. It further assesses the connection between ranging patterns and environmental changes. The investigators also use the project to train interested students from local universities in archaeological field and lab methods. The project addresses questions as to whether site-level environmental reconstructions in the sites under consideration match local climatic and paleoenvironmental patterns recorded for the Late Quaternary. They are also determining if ranging patterns and degree of social connectivity differ during arid versus humid periods. Lastly, they are investigating whether lithic technological shifts through deep time suggest increasingly adept responses to environmental change. To achieve this, four MSA sites were excavated resulting in thousands of lithic artifacts. Various lithic technological attributes were recorded, and work is underway to develop a chronostratigraphic history of the region through chemical fingerprinting of the volcanic ashes and 40Ar/39Ar dating. This phase of the project is developing a high-resolution paleoenvironmental reconstruction using plant leaf waxes (δ13Cwax), bulk organic matter (δ13COM), and carbonate nodules, as well as at sourcing obsidian artifacts using a portable handheld X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) machine.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.