HRRBAA: Paleoanthropological Investigations of Early Pleistocene Hominin Dispersals

目前在西欧发现的古人类化石证据可以追溯到大约140万年前。东欧的同一时期仍未得到充分研究，尽管它很可能是人类向欧洲其他地区扩散的一条途径。这个高风险的研究项目将对罗马尼亚的Olteþ河谷进行古生物学和地质调查，该河谷是东欧这一时期哺乳动物动物群化石最丰富的地点。调查人员将在一些已知的地点寻找人类居住的证据，寻找更多的地点，并收集数据以了解该地区的古环境，并确认这些地点的日期。作为一个可能是移民路线的地区，新的发现将为西欧的人类提供有价值的信息。该项目将通过为主要培养第一代大学生和少数民族学生的三所大学的本科生提供研究机会，鼓励科学领域的性别和种族多样性。它还将支持早期职业女性科学家、美国和罗马尼亚科学家之间的国际合作以及社区科学推广。有证据表明，古人类化石在1.85 Ma时成功地从非洲扩散到格鲁吉亚和印度尼西亚，但欧洲最早的证据直到1.4 Ma才出现。对于这种明显的晚迁徙，有两种可能的解释：1)某种屏障阻止了人类向欧洲扩散，或者2)人类早在1.4 Ma之前就存在于那里，但古生物学研究尚未发现它们的存在。虽然西欧这一时期的遗址已经得到了深入的调查，但东欧的古生物遗址却没有得到彻底的探索。罗马尼亚的Olteþ河谷已经发现了一系列化石遗址，这些遗址可能有助于揭示更新世早期生物向欧洲扩散的模式，初步工作表明，该地区有可能发现更多的化石遗址。这个高风险的研究项目将对Olteþ河谷进行古生物学和地质调查，寻找更新世早期人类居住的证据，并对该地区的古环境进行初步调查。通过定位和分析来自罗马尼亚早更新世化石遗址的数据，我们可以确定这些遗址的动物群是否与欧亚大陆其他早更新世古人类遗址的动物群相似，或者这些遗址之间是否存在差异，而这些差异对当时阻止古人类扩散到欧洲很重要。重要的是，对这些地方的化石进行检查，并确定任何潜在的石器和/或切割标记的骨头，有可能在更新世早期确定该地区存在人类。如果是这样的话，这将是欧洲最早的人类在格鲁吉亚以西的证据。

Fossil evidence for hominins in Western Europe currently dates to as early as ~1.4 million years ago (Ma). The same time period in Eastern Europe remains understudied, even though it is likely to have been a route of hominin dispersal into the rest of Europe. This high-risk research project will undertake a paleontological and geological survey of the Olteþ River Valley, Romania, which is the location of the richest fossil site of mammalian fauna in Eastern Europe from this time period. The investigators will look for evidence of hominin occupation at a few known sites, search for additional sites, and collect data to understand the paleoenvironment of the region and confirm dates for the sites. As an area that served as a likely migration route, new discoveries would shed valuable information on the peopling of Western Europe. This project will encourage gender and ethnic diversity in science by providing research opportunities for undergraduate students at three universities that primarily educate first-generation college and minority students. It will also support early career female scientists, international collaborations among US and Romanian scientists, and community science outreach. Evidence suggests that fossil hominins successfully dispersed from Africa to Georgia and Indonesia by 1.85 Ma, but the earliest evidence in Europe is not until ~1.4 Ma. There are two possible explanations for this apparent late dispersal: 1) some barrier prohibited hominin dispersal into Europe, or 2) hominins were present there earlier than 1.4 Ma but paleontological investigations have not yet uncovered their presence. While sites from this time period in Western Europe have been intensively investigated, paleontological localities in Eastern Europe have not been as thoroughly explored. The Olteþ River Valley of Romania has yielded a series of fossil sites that may shed light on dispersal patterns into Europe during the early Pleistocene, and preliminary work suggests that this region has the potential to yield additional sites. This high-risk research project will undertake a paleontological and geological survey of the Olteþ River Valley to look for evidence of hominin occupation during the early Pleistocene, and conduct preliminary investigations of the area's paleoenvironment. By locating and analyzing data from fossil sites from the early Pleistocene of Romania, we can determine whether the fauna from these sites were similar to those found at other early Pleistocene hominin sites across Eurasia, or whether there were differences among these sites that were important for preventing hominin dispersals into Europe at this time. Critically, examination of fossils from these localities and identification of any potential stone tools and/or cut marked bones has the potential to establish the presence of hominins in this region during the early Pleistocene. If so, this would represent the earliest evidence of hominins in Europe west of Georgia.