The Prehistory of Portugal

该项目建立在马克斯博士和葡萄牙考古学家若昂·子豪博士的合作基础上。他们一起检查了在葡萄牙中部埃斯特雷马杜拉地区出土的博物馆文物收藏品，并参观和测试了一些考古遗址。这些调查表明，目前存在着一系列年代不佳和鲜为人知的考古文化，它们可能跨越了上更新世时期。调查人员将共同进行一系列实地和实验室研究，主要目标有两个：一是根据仔细挖掘的材料确定葡萄牙旧石器时代晚期工业的定义；二是将这些工业纳入当地得出的年代地层框架，该框架基于绝对测年和相对测年，通过与暴露的冲积和风成建造序列的关联来确定。为了做到这一点，他们将在已知的地点进行挖掘，并试图找到新的地点。绝对日期将通过燃烧的打火石文物的热释光测年获得。材料将在每个田野赛季结束时在葡萄牙进行分析。旧石器时代晚期标志着西欧出现了解剖学上的现代人。这一时期的特点还包括艺术等独特的人类特征的出现，以及复杂的仪式行为的精心制作。目前已知的大部分信息来自法国西南部丰富的遗址群，因此，我们的理解可能是有偏见的。这项研究之所以重要，是因为它将为人类史前这一重要时期提供一个更广泛、更平衡的视角。

This project builds on collaborative work by Dr. Marks and Dr. Joao Zilhao, a Portuguese archaeologist. Together they have examined museum collections of artifacts excavated in the Estremadura region of Central Portugal and visited and tested a number of archaeological sites. These investigations show that a range of poorly dated and little understood archaeological cultures are present and that they probably span the period of the Upper Pleistocene. Together the investigators will conduct a series of field and laboratory studies with two major goals: the definition of Portuguese Upper Paleolithic industries based on a carefully excavated materials and secondly, the placement of these industries into a locally derived chronostratigraphic framework based upon both absolute dating and relative dating through associations with sequences of exposed alluvial and eolian formations. To accomplish this they will conduct excavations at already known sites and attempt to locate new ones. Absolute dates will be obtained through thermolumenescent dating of burned flint artifacts. Materials will be analyzed in Portugal at the close of each field season. The Upper Paleolithic marks the appearance of anatomically modern humans in Western Europe. This period is also characterized by the appearance of such uniquely human features as art and the elaboration of complex ceremonial behavior. Most of what is presently known derives from a rich complex of sites located in Southwestern France, and therefore, our understanding is likely biased. This research is important because it will provide a broader and more balanced perspective on this important time in human prehistory.