Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant: Behavioral Lithic Artifact Analysis: Methods For Determining Differential Behaviors In Stone Tool Production Among Oldowan Hominins

在国家科学基金会的支持下，J.S.Reti先生将分析两个重要的人类进化地点的人工产物组合：肯尼亚北部的Koobi Fora和坦桑尼亚的Olduvai Gorge。Koobi Fora和Olduvai Gorge都以其石器和化石组合而闻名，这些石器和化石组合来自最早被公认的石器行业，被称为Oldowan。虽然通过石头(石质)文物研究早期人类行为已经有很长的历史，但传统的分析方法侧重于这些文物的潜在功能效用，通常没有确凿或量化的证据。其他研究已经将这些石器归类为文化群体，从而对石器是如何行为相关的做出了明确的陈述。这个项目试图量化和统计识别产生奥多安石器的原始人用来生产奥多安石器的行为。对特定生产行为的识别将允许直接比较奥尔多安群体之间的关系，以确定早期人类群体是否实施了行为一致的策略来制作石器，或者是否存在差异的行为，这可能被解释为早期文化差异。为了评估制作早期石器所需的行为，研究人员将复制奥多安文物，每一片被移除的石片都将具有与之相关的经验确定的技术行为。作者通过实验确定了与奥多万石器生产相关的五种先决条件行为，这些行为将构成行为比较的基础。对12种技术特征进行了重复组装的测量和统计分析，以确定哪些特征可靠地分离了通过不同行为产生的薄片。然后，可以对照已知的复制组合来衡量来自Koobi Fora和Olduvai Gorge的考古组合，以确定是否利用相似和/或不同的行为来产生它们。值得注意的是，这项研究是第一次直接比较Koobi Fora和Olduvai Gorge的Oldowan组合。比较将产生关于早期人类之间特定文化差异的重要信息，并将提供关于这些人群如何以不同方式解决与技术有关的适应问题的洞察。这项研究将对考古界和教育界产生更广泛的影响。在考古方面，该项目将构建一种名为行为石器分析的方法学，为考古学家提供数据共享和遗址比较的基础。在教育方面，该项目将对本科生进行岩屑分析技术培训，并为肯尼亚和坦桑尼亚的几名研究生提供培训机会。这项研究的原材料收集阶段将与肯尼亚的一所考古实地学校重叠，并将向学生提供关于早期原始人采购战略和生产技术的具体指导。

With National Science Foundation support Mr. J.S. Reti will analyze artifact assemblages from two important human evolutionary sites: Koobi Fora, Northern Kenya and Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. Both Koobi Fora and Olduvai Gorge are renowned for their stone tool and fossil assemblages from the earliest recognized stone tool industry, known as the Oldowan. Though research into early human behavior via stone (lithic) artifacts has a long history, traditional analytical methods have focused on the potential functional utility of these artifacts, often without substantiated or quantified evidence. Other research has classified these lithic implements into cultural groups, thus making an explicit statement regarding how stone tools are behaviorally related.This project seeks to quantify and statistically identify the behaviors utilized by Oldowan-producing hominins to produce Oldowan lithic artifacts. Identification of specific production behaviors will allow for direct comparisons between Oldowan assemblages to determine if early human populations were practicing behaviorally uniform strategies to make stone tools or if there were divergent behaviors, which might be interpreted as early cultural differences. In order to assess what behaviors are necessary to make early stone tools, Oldowan artifacts will be replicated by the researcher and each lithic flake that is removed will have an empirically determined technological behavior associated with it. The author has experimentally identified five prerequisite behaviors associated with Oldowan stone tool production and these behaviors will form the foundation for behavioral comparisons. Replicated assemblages are measured on twelve technological features and statistically analyzed to determine which features reliably separate flakes produced via different behaviors. Archaeological assemblages from Koobi Fora and Olduvai Gorge can then be measured against the known replicated assemblages so as to determine if similar and/or different behaviors were utilized to produce them. Significantly, this research is the first to directly compare the Oldowan assemblages of Koobi Fora and Olduvai Gorge. Comparison will yield important information as to specific cultural differences between early humans and will provide insight as to how these populations differentially addressed adaptive problems concerning technology. This research will have broader impacts on both archaeological and educational communities. Archaeologically, this project will construct a methodology, termed Behavioral Lithic Analysis, which will provide a foundation for data sharing and site comparison for archaeologists. Educationally, this project will train undergraduate students in lithic analytical techniques and provide a training opportunity for several Kenyan and Tanzanian graduate students. The raw material collection phase of this research will overlap with an archaeological field school in Kenya and will provide specific instruction to students regarding early hominin procurement strategies and production techniques.