Coordination Funds

阿尔卑斯山的环境被认为是敌对的，最近被人类改变了。RU 2358挑战了这一主流观点，并假设中石器时代的觅食者入侵了埃塞俄比亚南部的贝尔山脉，这是非洲最大的高山生态系统，被一种特有的啮齿动物所吸引。我们现在有证据表明，世界上最早的已知定居点在31至45，000年之间，位于3，500米以上，在冰原旁边的4，200米处开采非洲高山资源和矿物。“山区流亡假说”认为，恶劣的气候将人类从干旱的低地推向潮湿的山区，但这种最古老的人类入侵似乎不是气候驱动的。第二阶段的主要目标仍然是：（1）解开人类在最干旱气候期间逃离的谜团，（2）通过分析人为土壤和生物标志物来调查人类活动的强度。该地区的部分地区至少在过去的15.000年中被火驱动，这是第一个连续的高海拔非洲火灾记录所证明的，但它仍然（3）不确定这是否是人为的，（4）如果这适用于整个贝尔高地，因为（5）埃里卡灌木丛的生态系统动态，啮齿动物的土丘和非洲高山石楠地仍然是谜。我们的气候站样带提供了（6）重建过去山区气候的选择，基于（i）花粉分析，（ii）稳定同位素，（iii）265平方公里冰川的气候信号和（iv）地方性地面甲虫种群变化的古气候评估。利用所取得的成果所提供的机会，我们现在赞扬（1）巨型Molerats作为早期人类迁移和景观工程师的主要拉动因素的重要性，包括一个新的专门项目，（2）与调查古代和环境DNA的领先团队合作，前景直接确认人类的存在，并解开他们的起源。RU 2358的总体目标是为“阿尔卑斯人类世”的新概念做出贡献。

Alpine environments are perceived as hostile and lately transformed by humans. RU 2358 challenged this mainstream belief and hypothesized that Middle Stone Age foragers intruded the Bale Mountains of South Ethiopia, Africa’s largest alpine ecosystem, attracted by an endemic rodent. We have now evidence for the world’s earliest known settlements above 3,500 m between 31 and 45,000 years exploiting afroalpine resources and minerals in 4,200 m next to the icefields. The ‘Mountain Exile Hypothesis’ suggested that hostile climate pushed humans out of arid lowlands into humid mountains, yet this oldest human intrusion seems not climate-driven. It remains a major goal of Phase 2 to (1) unravel the enigma where humans escaped to during the most arid climates, (2) to investigate the intensity of human occupation by analysing anthrosols and biomarker. Parts of the area have at least during the past 15.000 years been fire-driven as evidenced by the first continuous high-altitude African fire record, yet it remains (3) uncertain if this is human-made, and (4) if this holds true for the entire Bale highlands, as (5) ecosystem dynamics of Erica thickets, the rodents’ mounds and afroalpine heathlands remain enigmatic. Our transect of climate station provides (6) options to reconstruct the past mountain climates, based on (i) pollen-analysis, (ii) stabile isotopes, (iii) the climate signals of glaciers with 265 sqkm and (iv) paleo-climate evaluations of population shifts of endemic ground beetles. Taking the opportunities provided by the achieved results, we pay now tribute (1) to the importance of Giant Molerats as main pull factor for early human migration and landscape engineers by including a new dedicated project and (2) to cooperate with leading teams investigating ancient and environmental DNA with the prospect to directly confirm human presence, and to unravel their origin. The overarching goal of RU 2358 is to contribute to a new perception of the ‘Alpine Anthropocene’.