Doctoral Dissertation Research: Examining the Boundaries of the Levantine Aurignacian

在安东尼·马克斯博士的指导下，约翰·威廉姆斯先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他的工作目标是了解石器的可变性，存在于一个史前工业称为“黎凡特Aurignacian。“在近东工作的考古学家注意到在以色列和约旦挖掘的考古组合之间的相似之处，这些组合的日期在距今32 000年至17 000年之间。一些研究人员指出，在所有的组合中都存在着由石头制成的特定工具，因此将所有这些工具都称为“黎凡特奥里尼亚克”。然而，在过去的二十年里，这个行业提供了一个活跃的辩论来源，因为显着的差异也被注意到，一些科学家认为，这种分类更多地是为了掩盖差异，而不是强调有意义的相似性。威廉姆斯先生正确地指出，没有一个单一的分析系统一直适用于所有这些装配和与美国国家科学基金会的支持，他将这样做。他将参观美国、英国和以色列的博物馆，这些博物馆收藏了精心挖掘的材料，并获得了一致的可比数据。他将研究这两种工具类型和它们的生产技术。考古学家一直专注于奥里尼亚克工业，因为它的欧洲版本标志着解剖学上现代人类的出现，以及该地区大量相关的行为特征。欧洲奥里尼亚阶的起源和范围尚不清楚，同样，它与黎凡特对应物的关系也不清楚。这两个地区的变体共享一套独特的石制形式。出于这个原因，描述不佳的黎凡特版本是巨大的考古兴趣和先生威廉姆斯是采取了重大的第一步，以更好地表征这个行业。由于它涵盖了从沙漠到水源充足地区的广泛环境，因此也有可能将石器和环境变量联系起来，并深入了解史前人类适应的模式。这项研究将为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。它还将协助培养一名有前途的青年科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. Anthony Marks, Mr. John Williams will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. The goal of his work is to understand the lithic variability which exists in a prehistoric industry termed "Levantine Aurignacian." Archaeologists who work in the Near East have noted similarities among archaeological assemblages excavated in Israel and Jordan and which date between 32,000 and 17,000 years before the present. Some researchers point to specific tools fashioned from stone which are present in all assemblages and therefore have applied a single designation "Levantine Aurignacian" to all of these. However over the past two decades this industry has provided a source for lively debate because significant differences also have been noted and some scientists believe that this categorization serves more to obscure difference than emphasize meaningful similarity. Mr. Williams correctly notes that no single analytic system has been consistently applied to all such assemblages and with NSF support he will do so. He will visit museums in the United States, England and Israel which house carefully excavated material and obtain consistent comparable data. He will examine both tool types and the technology by which they were produced.Archaeologists have focused on the Aurignacian industry because it's European version marks the appearance of anatomically modern humans and a large suite of associated behavioral traits in this region. The origins and extent of the European Aurignacian is unclear as, likewise, is its relationship to its Levantine counterpart. Both areal variants share a set of distinctive lithic forms. For this reason the poorly described Levantine version is of great archaeological interest and Mr. Williams is taking a significant first step to better characterize this industry. Because it extends over a wide range of environments - from deserts to well watered regions - it may also be possible to correlate lithic and environmental variables and gain insight into patterns of prehistoric human adaptation. This research will provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will also assist in training a promising young scientist.