南アフリカ,ブロンボス洞窟の10万年前のオクア加工工房

Christopher S Henshilwood¹, Francesco d'Errico, Karen L van Niekerk

¹Institute for Archaeology, History, Culture and Religion, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway. christopher.henshilwood@ahkr.uib.no

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|October 15, 2011

まとめ

南アフリカの初期の人類は10万年前,ユニークな色豊かな混合物を生み出した. この発見は,人間の進化における高度な認知能力と初期の技術的実践を強調しています.

科学分野:

考古学考古学とは
古人類学は,古人類学である.
認知の進化認知の進化

背景:

複雑な人間の認知の発展は,資源を処理し,利用する能力によって特徴付けられています.
初期の人間の技術的慣行を理解することは,認知の進化の洞察を提供します.

研究の目的:

物質の加工と貯蔵に関する最古の証拠を調査する.
ブロンボス洞窟で発見された10万年前の色豊かな混合物の組成と文脈を分析するために.

主な方法:

南アフリカ,ブロンボス洞窟の発掘.
オークル,骨,木炭,磨き石,ハンマーストーンを含む材料の分析.
保存に使用されたHaliotis midae (abalone) の貝殻の識別.

主要な成果:

液化されたオークルに富んだ混合物を含んだ加工工場の発見.
この混合物は,約10万年前,アボロン貝で生産され,保管されていました.
関連ツールキットには,研磨石とハンマーストーンが含まれ,意図的な加工を示しています.

結論:

ブロンボス洞窟の発見は,複雑な人間の認知の進化における重要な基準を表しています.
オクア混合物の意図的な生産と貯蔵は,高度な計画と社会的慣行を示唆しています.
混合物の潜在的な用途には,個人の装飾や皮膚保護が含まれ,初期の象徴的な行動を反映しています.

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