With National Science Foundation support, Dr. Lawrence Straus and his collaborators will continue research at two paleolithic archaeological sites, both located in Southern Belgium. Preliminary work was conducted at both in 1990 and excavation indicated that in situ archaeological materials were present. Trou Magrite is a cave which contains an extended sequence which spans Mousterian (prior to ca. 40,000 years ago) through following Upper Paleolithic times. A second site, Huccorgne, is located in open air and contains a single archaeological horizon which dates to Gravettian times ca. 23,000 years ago. This marks an extremely cold period when glaciers extended far South in Europe. Both sites are rich in cultural materials including well preserved faunal material. Dr. Straus and his collaborators will return to both in the summer of 1992 and conduct archaeological excavations. A variety of materials will then be analyzed to reconstruct the changing environment and human adaptation to it. Archaeologists are extremely interested in this time period in Europe for several reasons. First, approximately 40,000 years ago a major transition in both culture and human physical type took place. Neanderthal peoples who manufactured distinctive Mousterian type stone tools disappeared from the archaeological record. About this time the first anatomically modern humans (as determined through skeletal remains) first appear in Europe. A different type of culture with a new stone tool technology and practices such as the production of art accompany this transition. Although this change can be observed, the underlying processes responsible for it are little understood. It is unclear whether one group replaced another or whether in situ development took place. Dr. Straus excavations should shed light on this question. They should also provide additional insight into the methods humans with a simple technology employed to cope with a harsh and changing environment. This research is important for several reasons. It will provide data of interest to a large number of archaeologists. It will increase our understanding of the emergence of modern humans and the adaptive strategies associated with this.
