An inter-continental comparative study on heat treatment of silcrete raw materials in the South African Middle Stone Age and the Australian Prehistory

从解剖学上讲，现代人类在石器时代中期在非洲进化，并在大约5万年前移民到澳大利亚。这两个考古记录都记录了硅克里特的热处理，这是两个地区共同使用的高质量原材料。是第一批澳大利亚人带来了这项技术，还是在当地发展起来的？热处理在澳大利亚的工具制造中扮演着与南非相同的角色吗？是用同样的方法做的吗？这个研究项目的目的是通过研究和比较来自两个大陆的经过热处理的硅粘土，并使用考古和考古技术来阐明这些问题。我们将批判性地分析澳大利亚和南非有意物质转化的最早证据，在那里它被认为是现代行为、复杂认知和社会学习的代理。通过调查这些狩猎采集者的动机和技术，该项目试图揭示推动发明、再发明和技术融合的一些基本机制。

Anatomically modern humans evolved in Africa during the Middle Stone Age and immigrated to Australia around 50 000 years ago. Both archaeological records document heat treatment of Silcrete, a high quality raw material common to both regions. Did the first Australians bring the technology with them or did it locally evolve? Did heat treatment play the same role in Australian tool making as in South Africa? Was it done in the same way? The aim of this research project is to shed light on these questions by studying and comparing heat-treated silcrete from both continents with archaeological and archaeometric techniques. We will critically analyse the earliest evidence of intentional material transformation in Australia and South Africa where it is considered a proxy for modern behaviour, complex cognition and social learning. By investigating the motivations and techniques of these hunter-gatherers, this project seeks to uncover some of the fundamental mechanisms that drive invention, reinvention and technical convergence.