Research on Plio-Pleistocene Hominid Activities at Kanjera, Kenya

在国家科学基金会的支持下，托马斯普卢默博士和他的合作者将在肯尼亚西南部霍马半岛的坎杰拉遗址进行一个考古和相关古生物学和地质实地考察季节。 先前在该遗址的工作表明，石器工具和丰富的动物遗迹广泛存在。生物地层学测年表明，该遗址的年龄为1.7至2.3年，因此该遗址与坦桑尼亚的奥杜瓦伊峡谷以及一系列重要的肯尼亚图尔卡纳湖遗址的时间相同。研究小组将进行挖掘和地质挖沟。他们将研究考古材料分布的水平和垂直模式，并将其与横向古生境变异性联系起来。主要的遗址形成过程将通过分析化石骨骼表面的破坏和详细的地层观察来诊断。对成土碳酸盐和牙釉质的区系分析以及同位素研究将解决人科和区系古生态学问题。将对人工制品原材料进行分析，以区分本地和远程原材料来源，从而阐明早期人类测距行为。将通过对单个挖掘和挖掘之间的地质沟内的微地层学进行检查来解释该场地的沉积历史。研究结果将有助于深入了解早期人类祖先的行为以及他们所处的环境。 这项研究很重要，因为它记录了原始人类发展的极早期阶段。虽然多年来一直在肯尼亚北方的奥杜威峡谷和图尔卡纳湖遗址进行大量工作，但这两个地区都位于东非大裂谷，并且由于地质环境相似，因此具有许多共同的生态特征。Kanjera不在裂谷中，动物群分析表明，与其他两个地区相比，Kanjera的环境更加开放，更具有草原环境的特征。行为适应性是人类的一个基本特征，古人类学家必须了解这种适应性可以追溯到多久以前。由于Kanjera的草原环境所带来的独特的环境挑战，该网站提供了一个很好的机会来研究这个问题。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Thomas Plummer and his collaborators will conduct one season of archaeological and associated paleontological and geological fieldwork at the site of Kanjera which is located on the Homa Peninsula in southwestern Kenya. Previous work at the site has indicated the widespread presence of stone tools as well as abundant faunal remains. Biostratigraphic dating indicates an age of 1.7 to 2.3 years and the site thus documents the same time period as Olduvai Gorge in Tanzania as well as a series of important Kenyan Lake Turkana sites. The research team will carry out both excavation and geological trenching. They will examine horizontal and vertical patterns in the distribution of archaeological materials and relate this to lateral paleohabitat variability. Major site formation processes will be diagnosed through analysis of fossil bone surface damage and detailed stratigraphic observations. Faunal analysis as well as isotopic studies of pedogenic carbonates and tooth enamel will address questions of hominid and faunal paleoecology. Analyses of artifact raw material will be conducted to distinguish between local and distant raw material sources to elucidate early human ranging behavior. The depositional history of the site will be interpreted through examination of microstratigraphy within individual excavations and in geological trenches between them. The results will provide insight into the behavior of early human ancestors and the environment in which they functioned. This research is important because it documents an extremely early period in hominid development. While extensive work has been conducted for many years both at Olduvai Gorge and at Lake Turkana sites in northern Kenya, both of these areas are located in the Rift Valley and because of similar geological setting, share a number of ecological characteristics. Kanjera is not in the Rift and faunal analysis indicates an environment which was much more open and more characteristic of a grassland setting than either of the other two regions. Behavioral adaptability is a basic characteristic of the human species and it is important for paleoanthropologists to understand how far back this extends in time. Because of the unique environmental challenge posed by Kanjera's grassland setting the site provides an excellent opportunity to examine this issue.