Prehistoric Subsistence Strategies in the Sinai Desert

这一行动允许博士。菲利普斯和格拉德费尔特将在埃及西奈半岛南部瓦迪费兰地区的四个地点完成考古发掘工作。他们之前在这一领域进行了两季的国家科学基金会支持的研究，并找到了许多覆盖很长时间的地点。所有的遗址都可以追溯到旧石器时代晚期，不仅有石器遗迹，还有植物和动物的材料。对这些遗骸的分析，加上地质工作，将使调查人员能够重建占领时期的环境，并确定旧石器时代晚期的猎人和采集者是如何利用它的。因为有几个地点代表了露营地，所以应该有可能重建活动的空间分布，并对社会组织有一些了解。旧石器时代晚期标志着解剖学上现代人类的出现以及艺术等文化元素的出现。有证据表明，从尼安德特人到现代人的转变可能发生在近东，考古学家对记录这一转变并确定其原因很感兴趣。这项研究将有助于实现这一目标。

This action permits Drs. Phillips and Gladfelter to complete archaeological excavation at four sites in the Wadi Feiran area of the Southern Sinai in Egypt. They have previously conducted two seasons of NSF supported research in this area and located a number of sites which cover a long span of time. All sites date to the Upper Paleolithic period and contain not only lithic remains but floral and faunal materials as well. Analysis of these remains, coupled with geological work will permit the investigators to reconstruct the environment over the period of occupation and determine how the Upper Paleolithic hunters and gatherers utilized it. Because several of the sites represent camping places, it should be possible to reconstruct the spacial distribution of activities and gain some insight into social organization. The Upper Paleolithic period marks the appearance of anatomically modern human beings as well as cultural elements such as art. Evidence seems to indicate that the transition from Neanderthal to modern human may have occurred in the Near East and archaeologists are interested in documenting this transformation and determining the cause of it. This research will help to achieve that goal.