Paleolithic Faunas of the Zagros Mountains: Zooarchaeological and Taphonomic Analysis

在美国国家科学基金会的支持下，柯蒂斯·马里恩博士及其同事将分析从伊朗和伊拉克扎格罗斯山脉考古遗址中发现的动物遗骸。从20世纪50年代早期到20世纪70年代的政治困难使得野外工作无法进行，美国考古学家在这个地区挖掘了许多洞穴和岩石避难所。除了揭示农业起源的材料外，还发现了大量旧石器时代中期的材料。它通常被认为是尼安德特人的，大约在4万到20万年前，它记录了在解剖学上的现代人出现之前，欧洲和西亚居民的文化。虽然考古学家已经研究了许多这些遗址的石器，但与之相关的动物群几乎完全没有研究过。其中大部分收藏在美国的博物馆里，马里恩博士和他的同事将对这些材料进行系统的分析。该项目有几个目标。大多数动物遗骸是人类作为食物引入遗址的，因此反映了食用物种的范围。通过对所代表的身体部位和它们所包含的切割痕迹的分析，也将有可能确定获得猎物的方法。一些考古学家认为尼安德特人是完全称职的猎人，而另一些人则认为他们主要通过食腐来获取大型动物的肉。马里恩博士之前的工作已经证明，要解决这些问题，不仅需要检查完整的骨头和容易识别的大块碎片，还需要检查考古学家通常忽略的小碎片。他开发了一种方法来实现这一目标。最后，通过站点间比较，将有可能检查行为可变性的问题。令人惊讶的是，初步证据表明，在环境相似的地点，相对较少的刻板行为，而是不同的物种混合。考古学家把注意力集中在欧洲的尼安德特人身上，因为他们是解剖学上的现代人的直接祖先。尽管他们在行为和生物学上与现代人有许多共同的特征，但考古数据显示出的模式（观察到但不理解）却截然不同。通过对这些“近亲”的分析，有可能在更广泛的比较背景下研究现代人类的适应性。这项研究将为许多史前学家提供有趣的资料。它还将协助研究生培训。

With National Science Foundation support Dr. Curtis Marean and colleagues will analyze faunal remains recovered from archaeological sites in the Zagros Mountains of Iran and Iraq. From the early 1950s until political difficulties in the 1970s made fieldwork impossible, American archaeologists excavated a number of cave and rock shelter sites in this region. In addition to material which shed light on the origins of agriculture, extensive Middle Paleolithic material was recovered. Generally attributed to Neanderthal people and dated between ca. 40,000 and 200,000 years ago, it documents the culture of the inhabitants of Europe and Western Asia prior to the appearance of anatomically modern humans. While archaeologists have examined the stone tools from many of these sites, the associated fauna is almost completely unstudied. Much of it is stored in museums within the United States and Dr. Marean and colleagues will conduct a systematic analysis of these materials. The project has several goals. Most of the faunal remains were introduced into the sites by humans as food and therefore reflect the range of species eaten. Through analysis of the body parts represented and the cut marks they contain, it will also be possible to determine the methods by which prey were obtained. Some archaeologists believe that Neanderthal peoples were fully competent hunters while others argue that they obtained meat from large animals primarily through scavenging. Dr. Marean's previous work has demonstrated that to address such questions it is necessary to examine not only complete bones and large easily identifiable fragments but also smaller pieces which archaeologists usually ignore. He has developed a methodology to accomplish this goal. Finally, through an intersite comparison it will be possible to examine the issue of behavioral variability. Preliminary evidence has surprisingly indicated relatively little stereotypic behavior but a different mix of species at sites which are environmentally similar. Archaeologists have focused attention on the Neanderthal peoples of Europe because they are the immediate predecessors of anatomically modern humans. While they share many traits, both behavioral and biological, with modern humans, archaeological data exhibit patterns (observed but not understood) which are clearly distinct. Through analysis of these `near relatives` it is possible to examine modern human adaptations in a broader comparative context. This research will provide data of interest to many prehistorians. It will also assist in graduate student training.