Collaborative Research: Ethnoarchaeology, Prehistory and Paleoenvironment in the Western Kalahari

在国家科学基金会的支持下，劳伦斯·罗宾斯博士 和乔治布鲁克将进行考古发掘， 西北部相关地质研究 波札那. 此前在措迪洛山地区的研究显示， 深层考古沉积物的存在， 白色绘画庇护所（WPS）。 其中包括丰富的动物群 石器遗迹和花卉材料， 在史前非洲遗址中极为罕见 该团队将 进行了两个季度的挖掘，希望能发现 它们的年龄超过了四万年 材料分析人员 一个专家团队 在挖掘的同时， 将在Tsodilo和周围地区进行地质研究 地区 这将为解释提供更广泛的背景 WPS，并将加强对卡拉哈里的区域观点 古环境 Tsodilo Hills地区在非洲是独一无二的，因为狩猎和 聚集的民族仍然居住在该地区，它是高度 这一文化群体可能直接来自 庇护所的史前居民 正因为如此， 有可能将人种学和考古学数据联合收割机结合起来， 以通常不可能的方式来解释后者。 鉴于 网站的时间深度也应该有可能获得洞察力 进入史前时代|江山集团。 初步 有证据表明，在遥远的过去， 狩猎采集者采用不同的生存模式。 这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。 它将脱落新的 对非洲史前史知之甚少的一部分的了解。 其次，它将把现在|Kung San集团进入更广泛的 时间的视角。 几十年来，这个群体 被人类学家深入研究， 在教科书中被描绘成狩猎的“原型”， 聚集社会。 这种模式最近受到了挑战， 提出的论点是，|贡山文化在一个 几千年前，通过与农业和畜牧业群体的接触。 WPS的挖掘应该为这个问题提供新的线索。 最后， 这项研究将研究技术上 简单的社会，成功地适应了一个严酷的， 多变的沙漠环境

With National Science Foundation support, Drs. Lawrence Robbins and George Brook will conduct archaeological excavation and related geological research in the northwestern portion of Botswana. Previous work in the Tsodilo Hills region has revealed the presence of deeply stratified archaeological deposits in the White Paintings shelter (WPS). These included abundant faunal and lithic remains as well as floral materials which are extremely rare in prehistoric African sites. The team will conduct two seasons of excavation and hope to uncover deposits which exceed 40,000 years in age. Materials will be analyzed by a team of experts. In conjunction with the excavation, geological study will be conducted at Tsodilo and in surrounding regions. This will provide a broader context for interpreting the WPS and will enhance regional perspectives on Kalahari paleoenvironments. The Tsodilo Hills region is unique in Africa because hunting and gathering peoples still inhabit the region and it is highly probably that this cultural group is directly descended from the prehistoric inhabitants of the shelter. Because of this, it will be possible to combine ethnographic and archaeological data and to interpret the latter in ways not normally possible. Given the time depth of the site it should also be possible to gain insight into the prehistory of this |Kung San group. Preliminary evidence indicates that in the distant past, these Bushman hunter-gatherers employed different subsistence patterns. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on a part of Africa where the prehistory is poorly known. Secondly, it will place the present |Kung San groups into broader chronological perspective. For several decades this group has been intensively studied by anthropologists and has been portrayed in textbooks as the "archetype" of a hunting and gathering society. This model has recently been challenged and arguments advanced that |Kung San culture was altered well over a millennia ago by contact with agricultural and pastoral groups. Excavation at WPS should shed new light on this issue. Finally, this research will examine the mechanisms which a technologically simple society employed to adapt successfully to a harsh and variable desert environment.