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有直接联系的足迹，这是一件非常情绪化的事情。新墨西哥州的白沙国家公园是一个干涸的湖床，上面有成千上万的人类脚印和灭绝的冰河时代巨型动物，如猛犸象。他们讲述了冰河时期在这片干涸的湖床（playa）上的生命故事。这些脚印非常广泛，使我们能够在湖床上追踪猛犸象、骆驼、巨型地懒和可怕的狼，并揭示它们与早期人类猎人的互动。不像其他地方，它们提供了一个独特的窗口，以了解过去。对于化石考古学来说，这是一个令人惊叹的地方，换句话说，对足迹化石的研究是一门叫做化石学的学科。2021年9月，我们在一个地方成功地确定了这些脚印的年代，这个年代让我们感到惊讶，并挑战了关于美洲人类的传统智慧。它们可以追溯到冰河循环的高峰时期，也就是末次极大期，当时冰盖形成了横贯北美的东西不可逾越的屏障。传统的模式是，人们从亚洲走到阿拉斯加，等待冰原屏障融化，然后向南迁移。我们的工作改变了这一观点，在两千年前，也就是两万一千到两万三千年前，人们在白沙冰盖以南的屏障上证实了这一点。显然，它们一定是在冰障之前到达的，但要早多久呢？这些人在新墨西哥州干什么？他们是如何生存下来的？他们的生活方式是什么？白沙的脚印可以回答这些问题；我们已经写了标题，但现在需要挖掘考古信息的全部潜力，我们可以从这个网站。这项工作还有另一个非常重要的方面。这些足迹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，并让他们的足迹叙述与考古学家的叙述一起被听到。我们建议在尊重和互惠的基础上开发新的协作工作方式，承认并重视白沙足迹的多重真相。由于世界各地越来越频繁地发现足迹，因此有必要开发采用土著方法的方法。这项研究将训练和装备新一代的考古学家，为这个勇敢的新世界进行探索，同时为围绕美洲人类的长期争论问题提供重要信息。

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