Descripción del proyecto
Estudio de las acumulaciones de huesos de mamut de Europa central
Las grandes acumulaciones de huesos de mamut descubiertas en Europa central han intrigado a los paleontólogos desde el siglo XIX. A pesar de años de investigación en yacimientos de la región de los Cárpatos occidentales, aún no está clara la razón detrás de estas acumulaciones de huesos de mamut. El objetivo del proyecto MAMBA, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, es determinar cómo y por qué se acumularon estos restos de mamut y qué utilidad tenían para las sociedades de cazadores-recolectores de hace 25 000-35 000 años. Su equipo comparará los cambios cronogeográficos de las poblaciones de homínidos y mamuts utilizando análisis genéticos e isotópicos avanzados. El proyecto proporcionará nueva información sobre el comportamiento de las sociedades paleolíticas y su adaptabilidad a cambios ambientales y climáticos.
Objetivo
The discovery of large accumulations of woolly mammoth remains together with Upper Palaeolithic artefacts has fascinated both researchers and the general public since the 19th century. Despite many years of scientific research and dispute our knowledge about these sites and the relationship between mammoths and contemporaneous Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers remains incomplete. This project focuses on the mammoth bone accumulations found in the West Carpathian forelands and seeks to establish why they formed and their function for hunter-gatherer groups 35,000-25,000 years ago – a period of major techno-cultural and environmental change in approaching the Last Glacial Maximum. For the first time we will study materials covering the full chronological range of this archaeological phenomenon, considering both existing collections alongside new fieldwork at the key sites of Dolní Věstonice I, Kraków Spadzista and Langmannersdorf.
Site-specific signals of human-mammoth interaction within their local palaeoenvironmental context will be used to investigate chrono-spatial changes in both mammoth populations and hunter-gatherer societies. We will employ standardised field and laboratory protocols that utilise recent methodological and technological advances in ancient DNA research, stable isotope studies, radiometric dating, palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and palaeodemographic modelling.
The resulting dataset will allow an integrated investigation of the formation of mammoth bone accumulations and produce a statistically analysable dataset expected to reveal the interactions between human and mammoth populations in Central Europe in the context of palaeoenvironmental changes. This will have great impact not only for Upper Palaeolithic research in Central Europe, but will on a general scale also contribute to an improved understanding of human behaviour, cultural developments, and human adaptation to dynamically changing climatic and environmental conditions.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC GrantsInstitución de acogida
31016 CRACOW
Polonia