Interdisciplinary Analysis of Materials from Akrotiri- Aetokremnos, An Early Archaeological Site in Cyprus

艾伦·西蒙斯博士和他的同事在位于塞浦路斯南部阿克罗蒂里半岛的Akrotiri-Aetokemnos遗址进行的发掘让考古学家和生物学家都非常惊讶，因为它们似乎表明人类和河马和大象的侏儒形态共存。这个分层的洞穴遗址可以追溯到公元前九千年，既有石器，也有这两个物种的断骨。这些数据还表明，地中海东部岛屿的人类住区比之前的预期早了大约2000年。证据似乎表明，骨骼和石器之间存在着真正的联系。这意味着人类对这些物种的狩猎，并可能在它们的灭绝中扮演了人类的角色。在这个项目中，西蒙斯博士和他的同事们将分析在多个季节的实地研究中发现的材料。目标包括分析动物群和物质文化组合，分析遗址地貌、地层和古环境，以及细化年代序列。在世界许多地区，许多动物物种的消失似乎与人类因素有关。多年来，考古学家和生物学家一直在争论人类在北美猛犸象和乳齿象等大型物种灭绝中所起的作用。让问题变得复杂的是，这些动物群的变化发生在最后一个冰河时代的末期，很难区分出潜在的气候因素。因此，研究人员将注意力转向了世界其他地区。正是在这种情况下，塞浦路斯案件才是首要利益所在。通过对洞穴沉积物的研究，将获得对气候变化或稳定性的洞察。对骨骼断裂模式的分析将表明人类是如何利用并可能杀死这些动物的。鉴于当今物种丧失的严重问题，这项研究具有重要意义，因为它将把这一问题置于更广泛的时间背景下。它还将增加我们对早期地中海史前的了解，并有助于记录那里不断扩大的人类能力。

Excavations by Dr. Alan Simmons and his colleagues at the site of Akrotiri-Aetokremnos, located on the Akrotiri Peninsula of southern Cyprus, have greatly surprised both archaeologists and biologists, because they seem to indicate the co-occurrence of humans and pygmy forms of both hippopotamus and elephant. Dated to the ninth millennium BC, this stratified cave site contains both stone tools as well as the broken bones of both species. These data also indicate that human settlement of the eastern Mediterranean islands occurred ca. 2,000 years earlier than previously expected. Evidence seems to indicate that a true association exists between the bones and stone tools. This implies human hunting of these species and a probable human role in their extinction. In this project, Dr. Simmons and his colleagues will analyze the materials recovered during multiple seasons of field research. Objectives include analysis of faunal and material culture assemblages, of site geomorphology, stratigraphy and paleoenvironment, as well as refinement of the chronological sequence. In many parts of the world the disappearance of many species of animals appears to be associated with human factors. Archaeologists and biologists have, for many years, argued about the human role in the extinction of such large species as mammoths and mastodons in North America. What makes the issue complicated is that these faunal changes occurred at the end of the last "Ice Age," and it is difficult to separate out the potential climatic factor. Therefore, researchers have turned their attention to other areas of the world. It is in this context that the Cyprus case is of primary interest. Through study of the cave sediments insight will be gained into climatic change - or stability. Analysis of bone breakage patterns will indicate how humans utilized and possibly killed these animals. Given the serious problem of species loss today, this research is important because it will set the issue into a broader chronological context. It will also increase our understanding of early Mediterranean prehistory and help to document expanding human capabilities there.