Exploring the Initial Upper Paleolithic at Üçagizli Cave, Turkey

在国家科学基金会的支持下，史蒂文·库恩博士和一组国际研究人员将继续在土耳其中南部的UUagizli(“三口”)洞穴进行考古挖掘。该团队包括专业考古学家、人类学家、地质学家和古植物遗骸分析专家，以及来自美国、土耳其和西欧的研究生。该项目的中心目标是检查旧石器时代早期人类行为发生显著变化的证据，并将这些发展置于其环境背景下。该遗址的考古沉积物跨越了距今约30,000年至43,000年的时间。尽管具有基本现代骨骼解剖学的人类出现得更早，但许多研究人员认为，直到4.5万年前，才有证据表明欧亚大陆存在复杂的技术、符号交流和艺术，以及物质、社会和智力生活的其他特征，完全区别于现代人和他们的祖先。到目前为止，乌阿吉兹利洞穴的挖掘结果帮助我们扩大了对人类历史上这一关键时期经济和技术变化的理解。该遗址还留下了欧亚大陆最早的装饰品制作传统的遗迹。这些发现特别重要，因为它们记录了物质文化作为符号交流媒介的使用，长期以来，物质文化被认为是人类认知进化中的一个重要卢比孔。支持这项研究的一个问题是，45000年前之后人类行为的发展是否代表了当地对生态和人口条件变化的反应，或者它们是否反映了认知能力增强的新人类群体的出现。继续挖掘将使我们能够详细地检查行为重大变化的时间，以及它们是独立发生的还是协同发生的。对动物骨骼、贝类残骸以及古老的花粉和植硅石(植物组织的耐用结晶成分)的研究将使我们能够将这些发展放在它们的环境背景下，帮助区分人类物种作为一个整体的广泛进化趋势，从局部适应到不断变化的条件。与此同时，该项目有助于在土耳其和美国的学术机构之间建立新的联系。通过参与研究，安卡拉大学的学生获得了实地和实验室方法方面的培训。作为交换，美国研究生可以获得宝贵的海外研究经验以及论文材料。

With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Steven Kuhn and agroup of international researchers will continue archaeological excavationsat UUagizli ("three mouths") cave in south-central Turkey. The team includesprofessional archaeologists, physical anthropologists, geologists, and specialistsin the analysis of ancient plant remains, as well as graduate students fromthe U.S., Turkey, and western Europe. The central goal of the project isto examine evidence for marked changes in human behavior within the earliestUpper Paleolithic period, and to place these developments in their environmentalcontext. Archaeological deposits at the site span the period between about30,000 and 43,000 years before present. Although humans with essentiallymodern skeletal anatomy had appeared much earlier, many researchers believethat it was only after 45,000 years ago that there is evidence in Eurasiafor complex technologies, symbolic communication and art, and other featuresof material, social and intellectual life that distinguish fully modernhumans from their ancestors. Results from excavations at UUagizli caveto date have helped expand our understanding of changes in economies andtechnology for this crucial interval in human history. The site has alsoyielded remains of what are among the earliest ornament-making traditionsin Eurasia. These findings are especially important because they documentthe use of material culture as a medium of symbolic communication, longconsidered an important rubicon in human cognitive evolution. One issueguiding the research is whether developments in human behavior after 45,000years ago represent local responses to changing ecological and demographicconditions, or whether they reflect the appearance of new human populationswith enhanced cognitive abilities. Continuing excavations will allow usto examine in detail the timing of major shifts in behavior, and whetherthey occurred independently or in concert. Studies of animal bones, remainsof shellfish, as well as ancient pollen and phytoliths (durable crystallinecomponents of plant tissues) will allow us to place these developments intheir environmental context, helping to distinguish broad evolutionary trendswithin the human species as a whole from local adaptations to changing conditions. At the same time, the project is helping to establish new links betweenacademic institutions in Turkey and the United States. Through their participationin the research, students from Ankara University obtain training in fieldand lab methods. In exchange, American graduate students get valuableoverseas research experience as well as material for theses and dissertations.