Paleoanthropological and Geological Research at the Hadar Hominid Site, Ethiopia: 1995-96

埃塞俄比亚的哈达尔遗址以其丰富的化石产量而闻名，其中包括大量保存完好的人类祖先-人科的遗骸。哈达尔的早期工作大大加深了对上新世中期(约300-400万年前)人类进化的了解，当时超过300万年前的原始人记录实际上是一个空白。南方古猿物种的鉴定在很大程度上依赖于Hadar原始人样本，到1977年，该样本包含了近250个标本(包括‘Lucy’)，并促进了关于早期原始人系统学和古生物学的更新辩论。自1990年以来，哈达尔再次成为古人类学和地质学领域研究的焦点。在地质和气候背景下，四季的田野工作进一步发现了重要的原始人，包括第一个相当完整的阿法尔人成人头骨。现在，这里的实地考察工作正在将重点转向哈达尔组的上层沉积物，这些沉积物的年龄不到300万年。这一时期见证了“健壮的”南方古猿品系的兴起和我们自己的起源。这笔新的拨款将用于另外两年的挖掘，重点是：1)进一步调查Hadar地层中的年轻沉积物，以及2)在仍然多产的“Lucy”地区进行新的挖掘。

The Ethiopian site of Hadar is renowned for its rich yield of fossils, including numerous, well preserved remains of human ancestors - the Hominidae. Early work at Hadar added significantly to the understnding of human evolution in the middle Pliocene (ca. 3 - 4 million years ago) at a time when the hominid record older than 3 million years ago was a virtual void. The identification of the species Australopithecus afarensis relied heavily on the Hadar hominid sample, which by 1977 comprised nearly 250 specimens (including `Lucy`) and promoted refreshed debate on early hominid systematics and paleobiology. Since 1990 Hadar has been once again the focus of paleoanthropological and geological field research. Four seasons of fieldwork have resulted in further important hominid finds, including the first fairly complete adult skull of A. afarensis, in geological and climatic context. Now, fieldwork here is taking a trun toward the upper deposits in the Hadar Formation, those younger than 3 million years. This period saw the rise of the `robust` australopithecine line and the origin of our own. This new grant, for another two years of excavation, will focus on: 1) further investigation of the younger sediments in the Hadar Formation, and 2) new excavations at the still prolific `Lucy` locality.