Late Pleistocene Coastal Settlement of Central Portugal

在国家科学基金会的支持下，Jonathan Haws博士和一个考古学家，地质学家和地理学家团队将调查葡萄牙Nazare附近的沿海地区，那里存在适当的条件，以寻找晚更新世沿海定居的证据。目前，在伊比利亚半岛工作的考古学家采用了一种被称为“广谱革命”的解释框架来解释沿海经济体在晚更新世/早全新世“突然"出现的原因。 这些沿海经济体出现的时间可能是冰后期海平面上升的产物，而海平面上升破坏了早期的证据。 由于证据大部分被摧毁或淹没在100英尺或更深的水下，考古学家必须搜索不会受到海平面上升影响的地区。 这些区域几乎总是位于大陆架狭窄陡峭的沿海地区。 葡萄牙中部的Nazare地区毗邻一个深海底峡谷。 在最后一个冰河时期，海平面下降不会暴露出太多的陆地表面。如果当时人们住在海岸附近，这些遗址应该仍然存在。 在葡萄牙中部，在石灰岩洞穴/岩石掩体和沙丘中发现了有机保护的遗址。 这两种地质环境是纳扎雷附近大部分地区的特征。 此外，葡萄牙海岸经历了一个夏季上升流，创造了一个丰富的海洋生态系统。 古气候和地质研究表明，在大约20，000年前的末次冰盛期，葡萄牙海岸的海岸上升流系统比现在强烈数倍。 这可能使海岸对人们的吸引力比今天更大。 该项目将通过考古调查和测试，帮助回答有关葡萄牙中部晚更新世沿海适应的重要问题。埃斯特雷马杜拉的内部高地一直是最近和目前NSF资助的几个项目的重点，以调查葡萄牙的旧石器时代。这一地区的大多数有机保护区都有海洋鱼类和贝类，表明人们经常光顾海岸。 然而，没有对邻近的沿海地区进行系统的调查，尽管事实上，它有适当的地质环境，旧石器时代的遗址与动物群的保护。调查将集中于海岸沙丘和石灰岩露头，以定位和测试保存有动物遗迹的地点，以确定晚更新世海岸资源开发的性质。实地工作将于2005年6月至8月进行。调查和测试将由一个10人的工作人员在头两个实地季节进行，每个季节持续8周。如可能，将通过放射性碳测定研究中心的年代。 除了实地工作外，还将建立一个地理信息系统，绘制考古材料、遗址和景观特征的地图，以了解遗址分布和史前定居模式。最终目标是收集可用于测试人类生存决策和随时间变化的一般理论模型的数据。诱人的证据表明，在晚更新世，沿海地区对人类的生存至关重要，调查的目标是寻找这一时期遗址的最佳区域。 这个多学科项目还将为葡萄牙和美国学生提供学习考古和地质研究方法的机会，以及如何使用这些方法来回答有关过去人类行为的重要问题。 来自美国的本科生将有机会出国旅行，并与来自不同国家的其他学生和研究人员互动。

With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Jonathan Haws and a team of archaeologists, geologists and geographers will survey the coastal zone near Nazare, Portugal where the appropriate conditions exist to find evidence for coastal settlement during the Late Pleistocene. Currently, archaeologists working on the Iberian Peninsula employ an explanatory framework known as the 'Broad Spectrum Revolution' to explain the 'sudden' Late Pleistocene/ Early Holocene appearance of coastal economies. The timing of these coastal economies is probably an artifact of postglacial sea level rise that destroyed earlier evidence. Since the evidence is largely destroyed or submerged under 100ft or more of water, archaeologists must search areas that would not have been impacted by sea level rise. These areas are almost always located in coastal zones where the continental shelf is narrow and steep. The Nazare area of central Portugal is adjacent to a deep submarine canyon. During the last ice age, sea level decrease would not have exposed much land surface area. If people were living near the coast at the time those sites should still exist. In central Portugal, sites with organic preservation are found in limestone caves/rockshelters and sand dunes. These two geologic settings characterize much of the area near Nazare. Furthermore, the coast of Portugal experiences a summer upwelling that creates a rich marine ecosystem. Paleoclimatic and geologic research shows that the coastal upwelling system off the coast of Portugal was several times more intense during the Last Glacial Maximum, approximately 20,000 years ago. This probably made the coast even more attractive to people than today. The project will help answer important questions regarding Late Pleistocene coastal adaptations in central Portugal through archaeological survey and testing. The interior uplands of Estremadura have been the focus of several recent and current NSF-funded projects to investigate the Paleolithic of Portugal. Most of the sites in this area with organic preservation contain marine fish and shellfish indicating regular visits to the coast. However, no systematic investigation of the adjacent coastal area has taken place despite the fact that it has the appropriate geological setting for Paleolithic sites with faunal preservation. The survey will focus on coastal dunes and limestone outcrops to locate and test sites with preserved faunal remains in order to determine the nature of Late Pleistocene coastal resource exploitation.The fieldwork will occur between June and August of 2005. Survey and testing will be done by a 10-person crew during the first two field seasons, each lasting eight weeks. Sites will be dated by radiocarbon when possible. In addition to field work, a GIS will be created to map archaeological materials, site and landscape characteristics in order to understand site distribution and prehistoric settlement patterns. The ultimate goal is to collect data that can be used to test general theoretical models about human subsistence decision-making and changes through time. Tantalizing evidence suggests the coastal zone was of key importance to human subsistence during the Late Pleistocene and the survey targets the optimal area to find sites dated to this period. This multidisciplinary project will also provide opportunities for Portuguese and American students to learn archaeological and geological research methods and how these are used to answer important questions about past human behavior. Undergraduates from the United States will be given the opportunity to travel abroad and interact with other students and researchers from in a different country.