Dissertation Research: Seasonality and Human Evolution in the Southern Levant

在奥弗·巴-约瑟夫博士的指导下，哈佛大学人类学研究生丹尼尔·利伯曼先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他的目标是确定史前“纳图夫”遗址被占领的季节，为了实现这一目标，他将把对考古动物遗骸的分析与控制实验相结合。纳图夫时期（12,500至10,500 bp）紧跟着农业的发展，因此很可能是在这一较早时期发生的适应启动了这一进程。考古学家推测，纳图夫人是该地区最早定居并常年居住在单一地点的人，这一因素起着重要作用。大量先前的研究表明，牙骨质——一种将哺乳动物的牙根连接到骨头上的组织——在动物的一生中会不断沉积。它经常以浅色和深色相间的条纹出现，这与一年中的季节有关。然而，这种明显关系背后的机制尚不清楚，也不清楚这种变化是否与日粮硬度、日粮质量或生殖状况的季节性变化等因素有关。为了以有意义的方式将这项技术应用于从许多纳图夫遗址恢复的大量瞪羚遗骸，利伯曼先生将对山羊进行对照研究，其中山羊的日粮硬度和质量各不相同，并注意到对牙骨质生长的影响。他还将研究有繁殖史的山羊和绵羊。在此基础上，他将检查考古材料。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将使人们更深入地了解动植物驯化的过程——这是人类历史上最根本的“革命”之一。其次，它将有助于一种分析技术的发展，这种分析技术可能被许多科学家用于各种各样的目的。最后，它将进一步培养一个极有前途的科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Ofer Bar-Yosef, Mr. Daniel Lieberman, a graduate student in Anthropology at Harvard University, will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. His goal is to determine the seasons in which prehistoric "Natufian" sites were occupied and to accomplish this he will combine analysis of archaeological faunal remains with controlled experimentation. The Natufian period (12,500 to 10,500 bp) immediately precedes the development of agriculture and therefore it is likely that adaptions which occurred during this earlier time set the process in motion. Archaeologists have postulated that the Natufians were the first people in the region to settle and occupy single sites year round and that this factor plays a major role. A large body of prior research indicates that cementum - a tissue which attaches the tooth root of mammals to the bone is deposited continuously over the life of an animal. It often appears as alternating lighter and darker bands which are correlated to season of the year. However, the mechanisms which underlay the apparent relationship are not well understood and it is unknown whether changes are related to factors such as seasonal variation in diet hardness, diet quality or reproductive status. In order to apply this technique in a meaningful way to the large series of gazelle remains recovered from many Natufian sites, Mr. Lieberman will conduct controlled studies on goats in which diet hardness and quality is varied and effect on cementum growth noted. He will also study goats and sheep with known reproductive histories. On this basis, he will then examine archaeological materials. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed increased insight into the process which led to the domestication of plants and animals - one of the most fundamental "revolutions" in human history. Secondly, it will assist in the development of an analytic technique which may be used by many scientists for a wide variety of purposes. Finally, it will further the training of an extremely promising scientist.