A microcontextual investigation of combustion features from Middle Stone Age sites in South Africa

该项目将采用多种分析技术，调查南部非洲两个地点中石器时代人类产生的燃烧特征：Diepkloof Rock Shelter（南非西开普省）和Sibudu（南非夸祖鲁-纳塔尔）。 这些遗址的独特之处在于，它们是南部非洲唯一使用现代技术挖掘的遗址，在单一的地层序列中包含前斯蒂尔贝、斯蒂尔贝、豪威森斯普特和后豪威森斯普特的职业。因此，这些遗址提供了一个独特的机会来研究中石器时代解剖学现代人类（AMH）的文化进化。 Sibudu和Diepkloof两处几米厚的地层几乎完全由人类活动燃烧的材料（如木炭、灰烬和其他燃烧残余物）的层和叠层组成。这些特征的形式、组成和频率在两个序列中都有所变化，表明火在中石器时代居民的家庭生活中的作用是动态和可变的。拟议的研究项目结合了微观形态学，微观傅里叶变换红外光谱（µFTIR），有机岩石学和古植物学研究，以微观方法研究这些燃烧特征的性质和形成历史。 这项研究的结果将与其他正在进行的对两个遗址考古记录的分析充分结合起来，包括石器、动物和植物研究。综合的结果将被用来制定一个整体的解释，在南非中石器时代的行为变化与火的使用。

This project will apply multiple analytical techniques to the investigation of combustion features produced by Middle Stone Age humans at two sites in southern Africa: Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western Cape, South Africa) and Sibudu (KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). These sites share the distinction of being the only sites excavated with modern techniques in southern Africa that contain pre-Stillbay, Stillbay, Howiesons Poort, and post-Howiesons Poort occupations in single stratigraphic sequences. Therefore, these sites offer a unique opportunity to investigate the cultural evolution of Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) during the Middle Stone Age. The several-meter-thick sequences at both Sibudu and Diepkloof are composed almost exclusively of beds and laminations of materials burnt as a result of human activity (e.g. charcoal, ash and other combustion residues). The form, composition and frequency of these features change throughout both sequences, suggesting that the role of fire in the domestic lives of the Middle Stone Age occupants was dynamic and variable. The proposed research project combines micromorphology, micro-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (µFTIR), organic petrology, and paleobotanical studies within a microcontextual approach to investigate the nature and formation history of these combustion features. The results of this study will be fully integrated with other ongoing analyses of the archaeological record from both sites, including lithic artifact, faunal and botanical studies. The integrated results will be used to develop a holistic interpretation of behavioral change related to fire use during the Middle Stone Age of South Africa.