Excavation of Duinefontein 2, A Middle Stone Age Open-Air Site on the Western Cape Coast of South Africa

Kathryn Cruz-Uribe博士和Richard Klein博士将在位于南非大西洋海岸约35公里处的Duinefontein遗址进行考古研究。在开普敦北部。40多年来，科学家们已经知道杜伊纳方丹沙子中存在数千块保存完好的骨骼化石，但在理查德·克莱因的工作之前，这些化石一直没有在安全的分层环境中被发现。在最近的工作中，研究人员发现了两种水平的原位材料，与可归因于石器时代中期的文物有关。在国家科学基金会的支持下，克鲁兹-乌里韦博士、克莱因和他们的合作者将返回现场，进行两个野外季节的广泛的精心控制的挖掘。这项工作的目标是恢复足够大的石块和动物群遗骸样本，以进行有统计意义的分析，清理足够大的表面以恢复潜在的行为信息，并收集可以为这两个水平提供绝对日期的样本。中石器时代是极具考古学意义的时期，因为正是在这一时期，在公元25万年至5万年前之间，人类采用了现代的身体形态，出现了许多现代行为的特征。在石器时代中期之前，没有艺术、宗教或埋葬死者的证据。贸易和互动领域在地理上是有限的，但同时也没有部落或其他族裔群体的迹象。到中石器时代末期，所有这些特征的存在--所有现代人的特征--在考古记录中都非常清楚。Cruz-Uribe博士、Klein博士和他们的同事希望确定这些属性的时间起源，并确定它们是如何随着时间的推移而发展的。像都凤店这样的遗址，其保存完好的骨骼和丰富的岩屑组合将适合这样的目的。这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将提供许多考古学家感兴趣的信息，并增加对我们是如何成为人类的理解。

Drs. Kathryn Cruz-Uribe and Richard Klein will conduct archaeological research at the site of Duinefontein which is located on the South African Atlantic coast approximately 35 km. North of Cape Town. For over 40 years scientists have known of the presence of thousands of well preserved fossilized bones in the Duinefontein sands but until Richard Klein's work they had not been found in secure stratified context. In recent work, the investigator has found two levels of in situ material in association with artifacts attributable to Middle Stone Age peoples. With National Science Foundation support Drs. Cruz-Uribe, Klein and their collaborators will return to the site to conduct two field seasons of extensive carefully controlled excavations. The goals of this work are to recover large enough samples of both lithics and faunal remains to conduct statistically meaningful analyses, to clear large enough surfaces to recover potential behavioral information, and to collect samples which can provide absolute dates for the two levels. The Middle Stone Age is of great archaeological interest because it is during this period, between a. 250,000 and 50,000 years ago that humans assumed their modern physical form and many hallmarks of modern behavior appeared. Before the Middle Stone Age there is no evidence for art, religion or burial of the dead. Trade and interaction spheres were geographically limited yet at the same time there is no indication of tribal or other ethnic groupings. By the end of the Middle Stone Age period the presence of all these traits - all hallmarks of modern day peoples - are abundantly clear in the archaeological record. Drs. Cruz-Uribe, Klein and their colleagues wish to determine the temporal origin of these attributes and determine how they developed over time. A site such as Duinfontien with its excellently preserved bone and rich lithic assemblage is will suited for such a purpose. This research is important for several reasons. it will provide information of interest to many archaeologists and increase understanding of how we became human.