Peopling of the Tularosa Playa during the Last Glacial Maximum

末次盛冰期图拉罗萨海滩的人口增长

• 批准号: AH/X001326/1
• 负责人: Matthew Bennett
• 金额: $ 91.09万
• 依托单位: Bournemouth University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FX001326%2F1
• 关键词: Peopling; Tularosa; Playa; during; Last

There is something hugely emotive about leaving or finding a footprint that provides a direct connection to the past and to past behaviour. White Sands National Park in New Mexico is a dried lake bed with literally thousands of footprints left by humans and extinct Ice Age megafauna such as mammoths. They tell of story of life on this dried lakebed (playa) during the ice age. The footprints are so extensive they allow us to track mammoths, camels, giant ground sloth and dire wolves across the lake bed and reveal their interaction with early human hunters. Like no other site they provide a unique window into the past. It is a truly amazing place for ichno-archaeology or put another way the study of track fossils a discipline called ichnology.In September 2021 we managed to date these footprints at one locality and the age surprised us and challenges conventional wisdom about the peopling of the Americas. They date from the height of the glacial cycle, referred to as the Last Glacial Maximum when ice sheets formed an impenetrable east-west barrier across North America. Traditional models have folk penned up in Alaska having walked from Asia waiting for this ice sheet barrier to melt before migrating south. Our work changes that with people confirmed at White Sands south of the ice sheet barrier over two millennia between 21,000 and 23,000 years ago. Clearly, they must have arrived before the ice barrier, but how much before? What were these people doing in New Mexico? How did they survive? What were their lifeways? The footprints at White Sands can answer these question; we have written the headline but now need to mine the full potential of archaeological information that we can from this site. There is another hugely important dimension to this work. These footprints represent the ancestral footfall of indigenous peoples, yet scientific hegemony emasculates their voice, yet they have a right to tell their stories and for their footprint narratives to be heard alongside those of archaeologists. We propose to develop new ways of collaborative working based on respect and reciprocity which recognises and values multiple truths about the White Sands footprints. There is a need to develop methodologies that embrace indigenous methods since footprint discoveries are occurring around the world with increasing frequency. This research will train and equip a new generation of ichno-archaeologists for this brave new world of discovery while adding vital information to long debated questions around the peopling of the Americas.

留下或找到与过去和过去的行为直接联系的足迹是非常令人激动的。新墨西哥州的白沙国家公园是一个干涸的湖床，上面有数千个人类和猛犸象等冰河时代灭绝的巨型动物留下的脚印。他们讲述了冰河时期这个干涸的湖床（普拉亚）上的生命故事。这些足迹非常广泛，使我们能够在湖床上追踪猛犸象、骆驼、巨型地懒和恐狼，并揭示它们与早期人类猎人的互动。与其他网站不同，它们提供了了解过去的独特窗口。对于考古学来说，这确实是一个令人惊奇的地方，或者换句话说，研究足迹化石是一门称为考古学的学科。2021 年 9 月，我们成功地在一个地点确定了这些脚印的年代，其年代让我们感到惊讶，并挑战了关于美洲人类的传统观念。它们可以追溯到冰川周期的高峰期，即末次盛冰期，当时冰盖在北美形成了难以逾越的东西向屏障。传统模型认为，人们从亚洲步行到阿拉斯加，等待冰盖融化，然后向南迁移。我们的工作改变了这一点，在 21,000 至 23,000 年前的两千年间，人们在冰盖屏障以南的白沙确认了这一点。显然，他们一定是在冰障之前到达的，但是提前了多少时间呢？这些人在新墨西哥州做什么？他们是如何生存的？他们的生活方式是什么？白沙的脚印可以回答这些问题；我们已经写好了标题，但现在需要挖掘我们可以从该网站获得的考古信息的全部潜力。这项工作还有另一个非常重要的方面。这些脚印代表了土著人民祖先的足迹，然而科学霸权削弱了他们的声音，但他们有权讲述自己的故事，让他们的足迹叙述与考古学家的足迹一起被听到。我们建议开发基于尊重和互惠的新协作方式，承认并重视有关白沙足迹的多重事实。由于足迹发现在世界各地越来越频繁地发生，因此需要开发包含本土方法的方法。这项研究将为这个勇敢的新发现世界培训和装备新一代的考古学家，同时为围绕美洲人民长期争论的问题添加重要信息。

项目成果

Independent age estimates resolve the controversy of ancient human footprints at White Sands.

独立的年龄估计解决了白沙古人类足迹的争议。

• DOI: 10.1126/science.adh5007
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: Science (New York, N.Y.)
• 作者: Pigati JS