نوع مقاله : پژوهشی

نویسنده

استادیار گروه باستان‌شناسی، دانشگاه تربیت ‌مدرس، تهران

چکیده

پروفسور رابین دنل در باستان‌شناسی و دیرین‌انسان‌شناسی متخصصی بسیار برجسته در زمینۀ مطالعات آسیا شناخته می‌شود. کتاب موردبحث در این نوشتار استقرارهای پارینه‌سنگی آسیا از انتشارات کمبریج سنتزی هنرمندانه و قدرت‌مند از شواهد باستان‌شناسی پارینه‌سنگی، دیرین‌انسان‌شناسی، و دیرین‌اقلیم‌شناسی قارۀ کهن است. این کتاب دربردارندۀ ایده‌های مهم و نوآورانه‌ای است که نویسنده درطول حیات علمی خویش بدان‌ها دست یافته و بسیاری از آن‌ها را پیش از انتشار کتاب در نوشتارهای جداگانه‌ای پرورانده بود. برای نمونه، می‌توان به ایدۀ گسترش علف‌زارهای وسیع از شمال شرق آفریقا تا شرق آسیا اشاره کرد. برطبق نظر دنل، این کمربند علف‌زارها (ساوانا) موجب تسهیل در پراکنش گروه‌های انسانی و خروج برخی از آن‌ها از آفریقا شد. ایدۀ دیگر دنل در این کتاب احتمال گونه‌زایی و پیدایش انسان راست‌قامت از آسیاست که در نوع خود بسیار چالش‌برانگیز می‌نماید. قسمت عمدۀ کتاب درمورد تحولات اقلیمی و تطور و پراکنش گروه‌های انسانی در دوره‌های پلیئستوسن قدیم و میانی است. بیش‌تر اطلاعات کتاب درمورد ویژگی‌های گروه‌های انسانی و جانوری و نیز نوسانات اقلیمی در پهنه‌هایی است که محوطه‌های مهمی از دوران پارینه‌سنگی قدیم حاوی سنگ‌واره‌های انسانی دارند و نیز مطالعات دیرین‌اقلیم‌شناسی در آن‌ها به‌خوبی انجام شده است. این کتاب امروزه یکی از نخستین تلاش‌های جامع و موفقیت‌آمیز برای تعدیل دیدگاه آفریقامحوری در باستان‌شناسی پارینه‌سنگی قدیم در نظر گرفته می‌شود.

کلیدواژه‌ها

موضوعات

عنوان مقاله [English]

A Review of the Book “The Paleolithic Settlement of Asia”

نویسنده [English]

  • Seyyed Milad Hashemi

Assistant Professor of Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran,

چکیده [English]

Professor Robin W. Dennell is a well-known British archaeologist specialized in Asian Paleolithic studies. One of his books, entitled “The Paleolithic Settlement of Asia”, published by Cambridge University Press, is reviewed here. It is considered a skillful synthesis of archaeological, paleoanthropological, and paleoclimatological evidence of Early and Middle Pleistocene periods in Asia. The book comprises some important and rather innovative ideas about the subject which the author had been developing during his academic life; for instance, among them are the idea of the presence of an extensive grassland belt stretching from northeast Africa to east Asia during Early Pleistocene, which facilitated the dispersal of hominins out of Africa (Out of Africa I). Another novel hypothesis that is discussed in the book is the controversial idea that Asia could be considered where Homo erectus was originated. Apart from what is mentioned, a large part of the book is dedicated to the climatic fluctuations and the evolution and dispersal of hominins during Early-Middle Pleistocene periods. The evidence used in the book has been recovered from well-known archaeological sites containing hominin fossils and faunal remains, as well as from major maritime and continental sites within which paleoclimatic investigations have been conducted. The mentioned book is considered one of the pioneering attempts to modify the absolute Afrocentric view in Lower Paleolithic Archaeology.

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • Asia
  • Early and Middle Pleistocene Periods
  • Archaeological sites
  • Climatic Fluctuations
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