Diet and Physiological Stresses in Paleolithic non-adults

旧石器时代非成人的饮食和生理压力

• 批准号: 353106138
• 负责人: Dr. Sireen El Zaatari
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Institut für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie (INA)
• 依托单位国家: 德国
• 项目类别: Research Grants
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 德国
• 起止时间: 2016-12-31 至 2022-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/353106138?language=en
• 关键词: Diet; Physiological; Stresses; Paleolithic; non

In this proposal funds are being requested to conduct the most comprehensive study to date on diet and physiological stresses of Paleolithic non-adults from across their wide temporal and geographical ranges. Dental remains belonging to Pre-Neandertals, Neandertals, Middle Paleolithic anatomically modern humans, and Upper Paleolithic modern humans from numerous western Eurasian sites will be examined using two well-established methodologies in science-based archaeology, dental microwear texture analysis, the cutting edge microwear analysis technique, for the examination of non-adults diets; and dental enamel hypoplasia analysis for the documentation of physiological stresses faced during childhood. For comparative and interpretive purposes for the fossil sample, this study will also document diets and physiological stresses among recent human non-adults from different time periods and geographic locations.The aims of the study are: 1) to document the age at which weaning occurred in each of the Paleolithic populations and to explore its implications on life history patterns, 2) to document the age at which developmentally non-adults were considered as behaviorally adults in the different Paleolithic societies, and 3) to examine the effects of paleoecological factors on dietary and stress distribution patterns among Paleolithic non-adults. This study is highly significant since it will reveal previously undocumented behavioral/social aspects of Paleolithic humans. Although the Paleolithic human fossil record comprises a significant number of non-adults, our understanding of childhood in the Paleolithic is very limited, since children are generally not included in archaeological analyses. The proposed study will bring to light important but largely unexplored aspects of the life of Paleolithic children, their diets and the nutritional stresses they experienced. Since diet is the first requirement for survival, maintaining proper nourishment and nutritional well-being of young generations is a necessity for the survival of populations. Thus, this study will not only shed light on a as yet understudied sub-unit of Paleolithic societies, but will also reveal previously unknown behavioral aspects of these societies as a whole, especially those pertaining to treatment of children and childcare practices that generally cannot be revealed through analyses of adult remains. This study will also allow for a comparison of these behaviors between the different time periods of the Paleolithic, specifically between Neandertals and Upper Paleolithic modern humans, shedding light on possible behavioral differences between these human groups. The broader impact of this study is that it will enhance our understanding of ancient human behavior. It will also trace the origin of modernity in such strategies and behaviors in the Paleolithic, at the very critical period of late human evolution when modern humans expanded across the world and Neandertals disappeared.

在这项提案中，要求提供资金，以便对旧石器时代非成年人的饮食和生理压力进行迄今为止最全面的研究，这些研究涉及广泛的时间和地理范围。将使用科学考古学中两种成熟的方法-牙齿微磨损纹理分析、尖端微磨损分析技术-对来自欧亚西部许多地点的前尼安德特人、尼安德特人、旧石器时代中期解剖学现代人和旧石器时代晚期现代人的牙齿遗骸进行检查，以检查非成人饮食;和牙釉质发育不全分析，用于记录儿童时期面临的生理压力。为了对化石样本进行比较和解释，这项研究还将记录来自不同时期和地理位置的近代人类非成年人的饮食和生理压力。研究的目的是：1）记录旧石器时代每个人群断奶的年龄，并探讨其对生活史模式的影响，2）记录在不同的旧石器时代社会中，发育上的非成年人被认为是行为上的成年人的年龄; 3）研究旧石器时代非成年人饮食和压力分布模式的古生态因素的影响。这项研究非常重要，因为它将揭示旧石器时代人类以前没有记录的行为/社会方面。虽然旧石器时代的人类化石记录包括大量的非成年人，但我们对旧石器时代儿童的了解非常有限，因为儿童通常不包括在考古分析中。这项拟议中的研究将揭示旧石器时代儿童生活的重要但基本上未被探索的方面，他们的饮食和他们所经历的营养压力。由于饮食是生存的首要条件，因此，保持年轻一代的适当营养和营养状况是人口生存的必要条件。因此，这项研究不仅将揭示旧石器时代社会尚未充分研究的亚单位，而且还将揭示这些社会作为一个整体的以前未知的行为方面，特别是那些与儿童的治疗和育儿实践有关的行为，这些行为通常不能通过分析成人遗骸来揭示。这项研究还将允许在旧石器时代的不同时期之间比较这些行为，特别是在尼安德特人和旧石器时代晚期现代人之间，揭示这些人类群体之间可能的行为差异。这项研究更广泛的影响是，它将增强我们对古代人类行为的理解。它还将在旧石器时代的这些策略和行为中追溯现代性的起源，在人类进化后期的关键时期，现代人类在世界各地扩张，尼安德特人消失。