Under the direction of Dr. Henry Bunn, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Mr. Christopher O'Brien will collect data for his doctoral dissertation thesis. He will spend twelve months in northern Tanzania and work with a group of Hadza speaking hunters and gatherers to collect a large series of faunal remains. At the end of this period, he should have teeth from a number of different species and these should span the yearly range of environmental variation. He will then section these specimens to examine the annuli or incremental growth structures which are characteristic of mammalian species and to determine the relationship between the development of these annuli and seasonality. Extensive research has demonstrated that in temperate environments with well defined summer and winter seasons, a clear relationship exists between seasonality and annuli development. On this basis, it is possible for archaeologists to examine sites which contain fauna, section teeth, and determine the times of year they were occupied. It is not known, however, whether such a relationship exists among tropical species, and Mr. O'Brien postulates that in areas such as Tanzania which have alternating rainy and dry periods, annuli development may also be seasonally determined. The large series collected should allow him to examine this hypothesis on a species by species basis. This research is important for several reasons. The technique, if it works, will prove a valuable tool useful not only to archaeologists but to biologists as well. From an anthropological perspective, it would prove particularly important because it would shed light on the behavior of early hominids who populated eastern Africa several million years ago. Remains of butchered animals have been recovered from many sites in this region. The project is also important because it will assist in the training of an extremely promising young scientist.
