Collaborative Research: Field Research at the Hominin-bearing Pliocene-age Galili Formation

450万年前至350万年前是人类进化史的重要组成部分，在此期间出现了许多原始人物种，并呈现多样化。在这个项目中，研究人员将从埃塞俄比亚阿法尔地区的加利利组收集古生物、考古和地质数据，从最初的调查中得知，该组包括一系列物种的化石，包括一些古人类标本。这一地点的其他发现将有助于研究古人类进化和适应中的重要问题，如行为变化、扩大的栖息地、石器的使用和经常吃肉。该项目将为研究生、本科生和实地工作人员提供培训机会，并建立一个具有科学意义的时期和地区的古生物和考古研究藏品。化石和考古材料及其背景信息将永久存放在埃塞俄比亚国家博物馆，来自地质年代学和同位素分析的数据将被添加到相关的公开数据库中。在这次为期两年的早上新世-早更新世加利利组野外调查中，调查人员将扩大以前由美国国家科学基金会资助的项目区调查；收集、准备和策划分类学、生物年代学、生物地理学和古环境敏感化石；识别、采样和处理地质样品以进行测年；并制定该地区的高分辨率地质图和地层学。这些项目活动将改善对沉积物的年代学控制，更好地记录动物和环境的时间连续多样性，重建盆地几何和演化，并能够与其他洪水盆地地区进行生物和地质比较。这个项目的发现将有助于诸如向两足动物的转变、石器制造和肉食的起源以及人属的起源等主题。加利利沉积物正在采集独特的古景观样本，与阿法尔地区其他类似年代的化石进行比较，如沃兰索-米勒、迪基卡、哈达尔和中阿瓦什的化石，将提供对整个古代阿瓦什盆地更全面的了解，以更好地了解早期原始人进化的环境。

The period from 4.5 to 3.5 million years ago is an important part of our evolutionary history, during which a number of hominin species appeared and diversified. In this project, the investigators will collect paleontological, archeological, and geological data from the Galili Formation in the Afar region of Ethiopia, which is known from initial surveys to include fossils for a range of species, including some hominin specimens. Additional findings at this location will contribute to the study of important issues in hominin evolution and adaptation, such as behavioral changes, expanded habitats, stone tool use, and regular meat eating. This project will provide training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students and field personnel, and build paleontological and archeological research collections from a scientifically interesting period and region. Fossils and archeological materials, with information on their context, will be permanently curated at the Ethiopian National Museum, and data from geochronological and isotopic analyses will be added to relevant publicly-accessible databases. In this two-year field investigation of the Early Pliocene-Early Pleistocene Galili Formation, the investigators will expand on a previously NSF-funded survey of the project area; collect, prepare, and curate taxonomically, biochronologically, biogeographically, and paleoenvironmentally sensitive fossils; identify, sample, and process geological samples for dating; and develop a high-resolution geologic map and stratigraphy of the area. These project activities will improve the chronological control of the deposits, better document the time-successive diversity in fauna and environments, reconstruct basin geometry and evolution, and allow biological and geological comparisons with other Awash basin areas. Findings from this project will contribute to topics such as the transition to bipedality, the origins of stone tool manufacture and meat-eating, and the origins of the genus Homo. The Galili deposits are sampling a unique part of the ancient landscape, and comparisons with other similarly aged fossils from the Afar region, such as those from Woranso-Mille, Dikika, Hadar, and Middle Awash, will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the entire ancient Awash Basin to better understand that circumstances of early hominin evolution.