Dissertation Research: Scavenging in Hominid Evolution

古人类学家长期以来一直认为，拾荒者在原始人的发展过程中发挥了重要作用。这项研究将测试在树上储存的猎杀小牛的豹可能为真正适应树上更新世的原始人提供了固定的可拾取肉类来源的可能性。该项目将系统地记录坦桑尼亚塞伦盖蒂国家公园消耗身体的持续时间和模式，以及暂时丢弃树上储存的猎豹的情况。这些结果将使人们能够评估原始人在树上进行拾遗的可行性和价值，以及在东非早期考古遗址中可以识别出可拾取的骨骼的程度。该项目将扩展关于早期原始人觅食策略的知识，并使考古学家能够更好地了解早期原始人留下的遗骸。

Paleoanthropologists have long considered scavenging to have played an important role in hominid development. This research will test the possibility that tree-stored leopard kills of small bovids may have provided arboreally adapted Plio-Pleistocene hominids with a regular source of scavengeable meat. This project will systematically document the duration and pattern of carcass consumption and temporary abandonment of tree-stored leopard kills in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania. The results will permit an assessment of the feasibility and value of arboreal scavenging by hominids, and the extent to which scavengeable bones can be identified at early East African archaeological sites. This project will extend knowledge about early hominid foraging strategies and also enable archaeologists to better understand the remains left by early hominids.