MINERVA projek

Die Marie Sklodowska-Curie-projek ‘Mid-Pleistocene environments of the lower Vaal river‘ (MINERVA) ondersoek hoe vroeë Homo sapiens aangepas het by omgewings wat verander en hoe dit hulle bestaanstrategie beïnvloed het in die droë binneland van Suider-Afrika. ‘n Multidissiplinêre ondersoek (wat isotopiese data en die analise van dierbene onder andere insluit) van argeologiese materiaal van Pniel asook ‘n vergelyking met ander argeologiese terreine in die gebied is gebruik om hierdie ondersoek moontlik te maak.

Projek Twitter-rekening (@MINERVA_MSCA) is nou gesluit.

Projekduur
Mei 2019 – April 2021

Hoofondersoeker
Dr. Michaela Ecker

Hoof medewerkers

  • David Morris, McGregor Museum Kimberley and Sol Plaatje University Kimberley, South Africa & Co-permit holder
  • Lloyd Rossouw, National Museum Bloemfontein, South Africa
  • Chris Green, University of Oxford, UK
  • Hilary Duke & Michael Chazan, University of Toronto, Canada
  • Marine Frouin, Stony Brook University, USA
  • Dominic Stratford & Kelita Shadrach, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
  • Cheryl Makarewicz & Nils Andersen, University of Kiel, Germany

Uitreik

ArcGIS StoryMap “History and Archaology of Pniel 6, South Africa”. Also available in German.

Voortdurend

Research into absolute dating and into lithic aspects of the MINERVA and the Beaumont excavations are ongoing.

Befondsing

Hierdie projek het befondsing ontvang van die Europese Unie se “Framework Programme for Research and Innovation Horizon 2020” (2014-2020) onder die Marie Skłodowska-Curie-toekenningsooreenkoms No. 837730: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/837730

Publikasies

Politt, S. S., Pribliczki, H., Dickinson, M. R., Andersen, N., Henderson, A., Morris, D., Makarewicz, C. A., Penkmann, K., Ecker, M., Insights into the Middle Pleistocene fauna of South Africa: Zooarchaeology, stable isotopes and dating of Pniel 6. Journal of Quaternary Science (2025). https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.70002

Ecker, M., Morris, D. 2023. Pniel 1 and 6, South Africa. In: Beyin, A., Bouzouggar, A., Olszewski, D., Wilkins, J., Wright, D. (eds.), Handbook of Pleistocene Archaeology of Africa: Hominin Behavior, Geography, and Chronology. Springer.

Ecker, M., Bank. C.-G., Chazan, M., Chen, Y., Green, G., Morris, D., Stoikopoulos, N., Shadrach, K., Stratford, D., Duke, H., Revisiting Pniel 6: the 2017-2019 excavations. South African Archaeological Bulletin 76(214), 57-69.

Ecker, M. 2019, Pniel 6. Excursion guidebook, Association of Southern African Professional Archaeologists Meeting, Kimberley.

Ecker, M. 2018, Renewed survey and excavations at Pniel, South Africa. Quaternary Newsletter 146, 32-34.

Ecker, M. 2017, Evolution and the Environment: The First Season of Excavations at Pniel, South Africa. Archaeological Institute of America Toronto Society Newsletter Fall 2017.

Die volgende studente het hul Meesters projekte afgehandel

Helena Pribliczki, 2024, CAU Kiel “Analysis of Faunal Remains from the Middle Stone Age Open-Air Site Pniel 6, South Africa”.

Sophia Politt, 2023, CAU Kiel “Herbivore teeth from Pniel 6, South Africa. Environmental reconstruction via species classification and stable isotope analysis”.