'The skill-spectrum: quantifiable methods for identifying novices in the Middle Pleistocene archaeological record'.

我的建议旨在通过尝试在考古记录中识别学习者来增加对中更新世人类群体学习和技能获得的理解。我的方法量化的相对技能水平的knappers通过分析他们的biface和生成数字指数的关键技能，在他们的制造，最终确定频谱的技能水平的考古记录-新手通过专家-以确定新手出现在景观中，为什么？我的主要问题是，中更新世人类是否组织了他们的群体，景观和资源，相对于双面制造的教学和学习;距离原材料来源的距离，获得所述资源的难度和考古记录中技能较低的从业者（新手）的可见性之间是否存在相关性？是否有关于新手出现在景观中的可观察模式？哪些因素预示着新手活动水平的提高？此外，我建议进行实验研究的时间压力和材料质量的影响有能力生产制作精良的手斧，以告知更准确的确定专家/新手。上述问题试图确定中更新世的新手行为，作为讨论儿童参与的一种方式。现存的狩猎采集群体中约有40%是儿童（Stapert 2007），这表明儿童可能对考古记录做出了贡献。此外，对模式II制造的认知和身体需求的研究，技能学习动态的民族考古学文献，以及我自己的实验工作（格罗夫和邓巴，2015年; Högberg等人，2015; Hutchence，2013; Shipton和Nielsen，出版中; Stout等人，2014年，2015年），显示模式II技术的掌握需要从专家到新手的关键概念的传输和随后代表所述新手的持续实践。人们普遍认为，双面制造是一个学习的过程;通过识别学习者，我希望阐明限制新手学习的条件，从而产生一个更详细的一瞥到我们的中更新世forebears.Critical解决上述问题的方法是量化技能。实验研究（Machin 2009; Stout等人，2014）示出了有效的、制作精良的手斧的关键属性是相对于长度和宽度的薄度（细化）和非弯曲的切割边缘。我的本科实验与新手和专家级knapper建议薄和边缘管理对后期阶段的双面制造是最难掌握的;我的哲学硕士论文的发现进一步支持了这一点，该论文测试了双面制造技能指标的统计学意义（细化、边缘弯曲度和对称性），knapper有效地削薄双面并产生非与双面对称相比，弯曲切削刃在统计学上更显著地相关。这两个细化比率（厚度/宽度和厚度/长度）和边缘弯曲度的计算，以产生指数，用于量化地了解一个手斧的相对技能水平。通过从欧亚大陆的模式II组合中积累大量数据集，我可以辨别新手的相对可见性，并调查是什么预测了他们的外观：距离和/或丰富的原材料，季节性，活动类型？此外，从我的时间尺度实验的见解，上面提到的，将通知新手和专家水平的技能指数的测定。该项目试图提供一个框架，用于量化识别中更新世的新手，明显地映射他们在景观中的存在，以了解学习双面制造是否无处不在或受到某些因素的限制。

My proposal aims to add to the understanding of learning and skill acquisition in Middle Pleistocene hominin groups by attempting to identify learners in the archaeological record. My methodology quantifies the relative skill-level of knappers through analysing their bifaces and generating numerical indices for skills critical in their manufacture, ultimately identifying the spectrum of skill-levels in the archaeological record - novice through expert - to ascertain where novices appear in the landscape and why?My principle question is whether Middle Pleistocene hominins organised their groups, landscapes and resources relative to the teaching and learning of biface manufacture; are there correlations between distance from raw material source, difficulty in attaining said resource and the visibility of less-skilled practitioners (novices) in the archaeological record? Are there observable patterns regarding where novices appear in the landscape? What factors predicate an increased level of novice activity?In addition, I propose to undertake experimental research into the effects time-pressure and material quality have on the ability to produce well-made handaxes to inform more accurate determinations of expert/novice. The above questions attempt to identify novice behaviour in the Middle Pleistocene as a way to discuss child participation. Extant hunter-gatherer groups consist of around 40% children (Stapert 2007), indicating the contribution children may have made to the archaeological record. Furthermore, research into the cognitive and physical demands of Mode II manufacture, ethnoarchaeological documentation of skill learning dynamics, as well as my own experimental work (Grove and Dunbar, 2015; Högberg et al., 2015; Hutchence, 2013; Shipton and Nielsen, in press; Stout et al., 2014, 2015), shows mastery of Mode II technology requires transmission of key concepts from expert to novice and subsequent sustained practice on behalf of said novice. It is accepted that biface manufacture was a learnt process; by identifying learners, I hope to elucidate the conditions which constrained novice learning, thereby generating a more detailed glimpse into the lives of our Middle Pleistocene forebears.Critical for addressing the above is a method for quantifying skill. Experimental research (Machin 2009; Stout et al., 2014) shows key attributes of an efficient, well-made handaxe to be thinness relative to length and width (refinement) and non-sinuous cutting edges. My undergraduate experiment with novice and expert level knappers suggested thinning and edge management towards the latter stage of biface manufacture were the most difficult to master; further supported by my MPhil thesis finding, which tested the statistical significance of criteria thought indicative of skill in biface manufacture (refinement, edge sinuosity and symmetry), that a knapper's ability to thin a biface effectively and produce a non-sinuous cutting edge correlate in a more statistically significant manner than with biface symmetry. Both refinement ratios (thickness/breadth and thickness/length) and edge sinuosity are calculated to produce indices used to understand quantifiably the relative skill-level of one handaxe over another. By amassing a large data-set from Mode II assemblages across Eurasia, I can discern the relative visibility of novices and investigate what predicated their appearance: distance from and/or abundance of raw material, seasonality, activity type? Additionally, insights from my timescale experiment, mentioned above, will inform determinations of novice and expert level skill indices. This project attempts to provide a framework for the quantifiable identification of novices in the Middle Pleistocene, visibly mapping their presence in the landscape to understand whether learning biface manufacture was ubiquitous or constrained by certain factors.