Paleoanthropological Investigations of Swartkrans Cave, South Africa

该项目的目标是增加对南非早期人类进化的了解，南非是人类出现的中心之一。该项目特别侧重于挖掘和分析世界上最重要的人类化石遗址之一的斯瓦特克朗斯洞穴的古生物学和考古材料，该洞穴的历史可追溯到约180万至100万年前。从1948年到1986年，斯瓦特克朗斯的研究工作：(1)确立了直立人（现代人的直系祖先）与另一种已灭绝的人类——南方古猿粗壮人（Australopithecus robustus）是同时代的；(2)发现了一种独特的骨工具文化，这种文化被南方古猿粗壮种（一种专门的素食动物）用来挖掘可食用的根；(3)发现了烧焦的骨头，这可能是世界上最早的人类生火的痕迹。我们的目标是通过一个新的挖掘和分析项目，在这一开创性研究的基础上进一步发展。通过对斯瓦特克兰遗址中保存的两种人类的形态（从化石研究中收集到的）和行为（从考古材料中收集到的）差异的进一步调查，我们希望能够提出可能导致南方古猿粗壮人灭绝和直立人成功的因素，这些因素最终导致了我们自己的物种——智人的进化。斯瓦特克朗斯有着悠久的历史，被证明是同时期最具生产力的遗址之一，我们从2004年开始对那里进行的初步重新调查也证实了这一点。我们的工作记录了非洲南部最早的狩猎和吃肉的证据（以化石骨头表面的屠宰痕迹的形式），我们假设这是直立人进化成功的基本适应之一。只有新的化石和考古遗迹才能让我们检验和完善这一观点和其他假设，这对于理解人类逐渐物质化的基本特征至关重要。Swartkrans是一项国际合作项目，将为当地南非人提供就业机会。该项目还提供一名美国博士生全职担任现场主管。此外，作为考古现场学校的一部分，当地和国际学生有机会在斯瓦特克朗斯进行挖掘。最后，对斯瓦特克兰古人类学新方面的研究将有助于我们对更新世时期非洲及其他地区人类进化和行为的理解。在当地范围内，这很重要，因为斯瓦特克兰是最近宣布的豪登省人类摇篮世界遗产的一个组成部分。在更广泛的范围内，对人类起源的科学研究继续受到智能设计论支持者的攻击。斯瓦特克兰人的化石和早期人类的考古数据，以及其他类似研究中产生的数据，是迎接和克服这一挑战的最有力的武器，以促进对人类进化的科学理解。

The project goal is to increase knowledge of early human evolution in South Africa, one of the centers of the emergence of humankind. In particular, the project is focused on excavation and analysis of paleontological and archaeological materials from Swartkrans Cave, one of the most important fossil human sites in the world, dated c. 1.8 - 1.0 million years old. From 1948 - 1986, work at Swartkrans: (1) established that Homo erectus, a direct ancestor of modern humans, was contemporaneous with another type of extinct human called Australopithecus robustus; (2) identified a unique type of bone tool culture that was used by Australopithecus robustus, a specialized vegetarian, to dig up edible roots; (3) identified burned bones, which are likely the earliest traces of humanly controlled fire in the world. Our goal is to build upon this pioneering research through a new program of excavation and analysis. By investigating additional morphological (gleaned from study of the fossils) and behavioral (gleaned from the study of the archaeological materials) differences between the two types of humans preserved at Swartkrans, we hope to suggest factors that might have been responsible for the extinction of Australopithecus robustus and the success of Homo erectus, which culminated in the evolution of our own species, Homo sapiens. Swartkrans has a long and proven record as one of the most productive sites of its age, and our initial re-investigation there, beginning in 2004, has confirmed this. Our work has documented the earliest evidence of hunting and meat-eating (in the form of butchery marks on fossil bone surfaces) in southern Africa, one of the fundamental adaptations we hypothesize was responsible for the evolutionary success of Homo erectus. Only new fossils and archaeological remains will allow us to test and refine this idea and other hypotheses, crucial to understanding the basic features that characterized the gradual materialization of our humanness. Work at Swartkrans, which is an international collaborative effort, will provide local South Africans with employment. The project is also providing an American Ph.D. student with fulltime employment as the site supervisor. In addition, as part of an archaeological fieldschool run at the site, local and international students have the opportunity to excavate at Swartkrans. Finally, the research on new aspects of the paleoanthropology of Swartkrans will lead to an increase in our understanding of human evolution and behavior during the Pleistocene in Africa and beyond. On a local scale, this is important because Swartkrans is an integral part of the recently declared Gauteng Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. On a broader scale, the scientific study of human origins continues to be assaulted by advocates of intelligent design. The Swartkrans fossil and archaeological data of early humans, in combination with others generated in like studies, are the most powerful weapons in meeting and surmounting this challenge to the advancement of the scientific understanding of human evolution.