Dissertation Research: Technological Approach to the Acheulian of Mozambique

哈里斯 在约翰·W.哈里斯，保拉·梅内塞斯女士将为她的博士论文收集数据。她将在莫桑比克南部的Umbeluzi河和Changalane河沿线进行沿着考古实地考察，并分析所得数据。Meneses女士以前的工作表明，这一地区有丰富的与Acheulean工业有关的石器遗迹，其时间跨度从公元前1000年到公元前1000年。距今125万到12.5万年前。本研究共分三个部分。首先，将进行调查，以确定表面和原位材料的位置。随后将进行有限的挖掘，以恢复原地文物并确定地质背景。作为第一阶段的一部分，将重建地貌阶段，并制定时间顺序。其次，将对石器材料进行分析，以确定组合的正式属性，并将其与南非和东非的材料进行比较。最后，实验的方法将被用来重建石的制造过程。在此基础上，将有可能绘制石器遗迹在重建景观中的分布图，并确定阿舍利人如何使用这些遗迹。 非洲为人类提供了地理摇篮，考古学家希望了解导致文化和身体现代人类出现的过程。 令人惊讶的是，人们对阿舍利所涵盖的100万年以上的时间间隔知之甚少，也很少有研究采用现代分析技术。Meneses女士的工作将为人类在这段时间内如何适应提供新的线索。它还将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。最后，这笔赠款将帮助培训一名有前途的年轻考古学家。

Harris Under the direction of Dr. John W. Harris, Ms. Paola Meneses will collect data for her doctoral dissertation. She will conduct archaeological fieldwork along the Umbeluzi and Changalane rivers in Southern Mozambique and analyze the resultant data. Previous work conducted by Ms. Meneses indicates that this area is rich in lithic remains associated with the Acheulean industry which covers the time span from ca. 1,250,000 to 125,000 years ago. The research consists of three parts. First a survey will be conducted to locate both surface and in situ materials. This will be followed by limited excavation to recover in place artifacts and to establish geological context. As part of this first stage, a geomorphological stages will be reconstructed and a chronological sequence will be developed. Secondly, lithic materials will be analyzed to determine formal attributes of the assemblages and to compare these with materials from South and Eastern Africa. Finally an experimental approach will be used to reconstruct the lithic manufacture process. On this basis it will be possible to map the distribution of lithic remains across the reconstructed landscapes and determine how these were used by Acheulean peoples. Africa provided the geographic cradle for humans and archaeologists wish to understand the processes which led to the emergence of both culturally and physically modern humans. Surprisingly little is known about the 1 million year plus time interval covered by the Acheulean and very few studies have employed modern analytic techniques. Ms. Meneses work will shed new light on how humans adapted during this interval. It will also provide data of interest to many archaeologists. Finally, this grant will assist in the training of a promising young archaeologist.