Archaeology and Paleoenvironments of the Kapthurin Formation, Baringo, Kenya

在国家科学基金会的支持下， McBrearty将在巴林戈盆地进行考古研究 肯尼亚地区。她将特别关注卡普图林 图根山中的编队。考古研究在 这一地区的考古遗址呈分层排列 以及少量的原始人（人类）骨骼材料。 在比利时团队先前工作的基础上， 考古、地质和古生物勘探， 映射.还将进行有限的挖掘。沉积物 将采集样品，用氩法测定年龄 约会地球化学指纹将用于检查现场 地层对比和X射线荧光分析将 提供了一种技术， 地层位置不清楚。麦克布雷蒂医生会用石头 文物和考古动物群，试图重建 人类行为一些技术，包括土壤碳酸盐 分析将被用来了解波动环境 这些原始人所适应的环境 尽管有大量的考古证据， 古生物学和遗传学的研究表明， 人类第一次出现在撒哈拉以南非洲 这一情况尚不清楚。古人类学家最感兴趣的 然而，导致这种出现的过程， 证据很少。McBrearty博士的研究将解决 这个问题迄今为止的信息表明， 中更新世和卡普图林组 涵盖了这段时间。先前的工作表明，它包含 考古材料和动物以及人类遗骸。博士 McBrearty的工作将增加这一数据库，并带来广泛的 一系列现代科学技术来承担， 解释。 这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。将加大 我们对非洲历史的理解它将提供以下数据： 引起了大量古人类学家的兴趣， 现代人类的出现。

With support from the National Science Foundation Dr. Sally McBrearty will conduct archaeological research in the Baringo Basin region of Kenya. In particular she will focus on the Kapthurin Formation in the Tugen Hills. Previous archaeological research in the area has yielded a stratified sequence of archaeological sites as well as a small amount of hominid (human) skeletal material. Building on previous work done by a Belgian team she will conduct archaeological, geological and paleontological prospecting and mapping. Limited excavation will also be carried out. Sediment samples will be collected to determine age by means of argon dating. Geochemical fingerprinting will serve to check on field stratigraphic correlations and x-ray fluorescence analysis will provide a technique to provenience surface fossils whose stratigraphic position is unclear. Dr. McBrearty will use stone artifacts and archaeological fauna in an attempt to reconstruct human behavior. A number of techniques, including soil carbonate analysis will be employed to understand the fluxuating environment to which these hominids adapted. While a number of lines of evidence - archaeological, paleontological and genetic - suggest that anatomically modern humans first appeared in sub Saharan Africa just when and where this occurred is unknown. What interests paleoanthropologists most however is the process which lead to this emergence and here also little evidence is available. Dr. McBrearty's research will address this issue. Information to date suggests that the transition took place during the Middle Pleistocene and the Kapthurin Formation encompasses this time period. Prior work indicates that it contains archaeological materials and fauna as well as human remains. Dr. McBrearty's work will increase this data base and bring a wide range of modern scientific techniques to bear in order to make interpretations. This research is important for several reasons. It will increase our understanding of Africa's past. It will provide data of interest to a large number of paleoanthropologists and shed new light on the emergence of modern humans.