The Upper Paleolithic Settlement of the Transbaikal, Siberia

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，Ted Goebel博士将与美国和俄罗斯同事合作，在位于西伯利亚外贝加尔地区的Masterov Kliuch遗址进行考古发掘。先前的测试挖掘已经揭示了五个不同地层的考古组成部分。最低的三个包含旧石器时代晚期的材料，时间跨度从大约4万到1万年前。除了挖掘之外，该小组还将采用一些专门技术，以加强对考古信息的获取。整个地层剖面将通过加速器放射性碳、发光和电子自旋共振等多种方法进行年代测定。所有出土的文物和生态事实都将被精确地记录下来，并记录方向，以重建遗址的形成过程。动物群将被详细研究，石器文物将被分析和改造，以追踪技术制造过程以及场地空间模式。人类在旧石器时代晚期首次进入西伯利亚，欧亚北部地区构成了最后一个可居住的主要地区。根据现有的信息，这些群体似乎从西向东扩展，这些群体特有的石制刀片工具似乎在外贝加尔地区停止了。这一现象的原因尚不清楚，但它很有趣，因为它可能揭示了人类适应的基本过程。这项研究有几个重要的原因。它将增加我们对现代人类起源和分布的理解，特别是试图解释人类全球殖民的模式。它将大大增加我们对旧世界旧石器时代晚期的认识。通过应用古生态和古地理的观点，研究将增加对过去人类适应策略和影响过去和现在人口分布的相关环境限制因素的知识体系。最后，该项目将为本科生提供独特的研究经验。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Ted Goebel, in collaboration with American and Russian colleagues will conduct archaeological excavations at the site of Masterov Kliuch' which is located in the Transbaikal region of Siberia. Previous test excavations have revealed five stratigraphically separate archaeological components. The lowest three contain Upper Paleolithic materials and span the period from ca. 40,000 to 10,000 years ago. In addition to excavation, the team will apply a number of specialized techniques that will enhance the capture of archaeological information. The entire stratigraphic profile will be chronometrically dated through multiple procedures including accelerator radiocarbon, luminescence and electron spin resonance. All excavated artifacts and ecofacts will be precisely provenienced and orientations will be noted to reconstruct site formation processes. Fauna will be studied in detail and lithic artifacts analyzed and refitted to trace technological manufacturing processes as well as site spatial patterns. Humans first penetrated Siberia during Upper Paleolithic times and the Northern Eurasian region constituted the last major habitable area to be settled. Based on available information it appears that groups expanded from West to East and the stone blade tools characteristic of these groups appear to stop in the Transbaikal region. The reason for this is not known and the phenomenon is interesting because it may shed light on basic processes of human adaptation. This research is significant for several reasons. It will add to our understanding of the origins and dispersal of modern humans, especially attempts to explain the pattern of human global colonization. It will significantly increase our knowledge of the Upper Paleolithic of the Old World. Through the application of paleoecological and paleogeographic perspectives, the research will add to a growing body of knowledge addressing past human adaptive strategies and associated environmental limiting factors affecting past and present population distributions. Finally, the project will offer unique research experiences for undergraduate students.