Pleistocene Palaeoecology of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) through the study of archaeological sediments

我的博士项目的目标是调查气候变化对东非古人类在早更新世（1.7至1.5马）的影响，以及这些早期人类如何与他们的环境相互作用和移动。更准确地说，我想研究我们最早的人类祖先是如何在更新世早期的奥杜威峡谷（坦桑尼亚）的变化环境中繁荣或灭亡的。该项目将利用考古学、古人类学和地质学数据来了解早期人类的土地使用模式。该项目是我在奥杜威峡谷考古遗址之一HWKEE的地质考古学硕士论文中所做工作的延续。东非这一地区的人类遗骸和人工制品（即石器）特别丰富。奥杜威峡谷为我们的分类树、人类的进化以及两种早期石器技术复合体--奥杜文石器和阿舍利石器--提供了重要数据。此外，对该地区的研究兴趣部分是由于其地质结构，因为奥杜威峡谷位于东非裂谷系内，靠近恩戈罗恩戈罗火山高地。奥杜威峡谷的考古遗址受到构造、断层、倾斜和沉降事件的影响。此外，在奥杜威峡谷见证的环境变化与干旱化趋势有关，该项目的主要目标是重建奥杜威峡谷的古环境变化，并了解这些变化如何影响该地区的人类适应。为了达到这个目标，在这个项目中，我将分析整个奥杜威峡谷的湖相和湖周沉积物，重点是它们的粘土成分。粘土矿物是重要的环境标志物，对它们的研究将有助于阐明该地区发生的古环境变化的类型和持续时间。这样的研究将包括，例如，地球化学，微形态和岩相分析;我以前受过训练，并在我的硕士论文中使用的方法。从这些分析中收集的信息将与该地区获得的古人类学数据进行比较，以了解这些变化如何影响人类群体的生计。奥杜威峡谷是人类进化研究的支柱研究领域。这个项目代表了对我们过去的一个非常重要的部分的进一步了解，特别是关于我们的属对不断变化的景观的适应性。这不仅是当代人正在面临的现实，也是一个长期受到质疑的现实，并与几个时期的人类大迁徙有关。此外，该项目的重要性还取决于是否有可能揭示两组人类（能人和直立人）在使用武器模式方面的行为差异。

The goal of my doctoral project is to investigate the effects of climate change in East African hominins during the Early Pleistocene (1.7 to 1.5 Ma), and how these early humans interacted with and moved within their environment. More precisely, I want to examine how our earliest human ancestors thrived or perished in the shifting environment of Early Pleistocene Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). This project will draw on archaeological, palaeoanthropological and geological data to achieve an understanding of the landscape-use patterns of early humans.This project is a continuation of the work I produced for my MSc dissertation on the Geoarchaeology of HWKEE - one of Olduvai Gorge's archaeological sites. This region in East Africa is particularly rich in human remains and artefacts (namely, stone tools). Olduvai Gorge has produced crucial data on our taxonomic tree, on the evolution of hominins, and on two early stone tool technocomplexes - Oldowan and Acheulean. Moreover, part of the research interest devoted to this region is due to its geological framework, as Olduvai Gorge is situated within the East African Rift System, and located in close proximity to the Ngorongoro Volcanic Highland. Archaeological sites at Olduvai Gorge were affected by tectonic, faulting, tilting and subsidence events. Also, environmental changes witnessed at Olduvai Gorge have been associated with an aridification trend.The main goal of this project is to reconstruct palaeoenvironmental changes at Olduvai Gorge, and to understand how these influenced human adaptations in the area. To reach such a goal, in this project I will analyse sediments from lacustrine and peri-lacustrine deposits throughout Olduvai Gorge, focusing on their clayey composition. Clay minerals are important environmental markers, for which their study in this project will help shed light on the type and duration of palaeoenvironmental changes that occurred at this region. Such a study will include, for instance, geochemical, micromorphological and petrographic analyses; methods which I have previously been trained in and used in my MSc dissertation. The information gathered from these analyses will then be compared to palaeoanthropological data obtained for this area, in an effort to understand how these changes influenced the livelihood of hominin groups.Olduvai Gorge is a pillar research area in the study of human evolution. This project represents a further addition of knowledge to a very important part of our deep past, especially concerning our Genus' adaptability to changing landscapes. This is not only a reality that current generations are and will face, but it is also a reality long questioned and associated to several periods of hominin exoduses. Furthermore, the importance of this project also relies on the possibility of shedding new light on behavioural differences between two groups of hominins, Homo habilis and Homo erectus, in regards to their landscape-use patterns.