文化现代性与行为超级适应性之路 ——中科院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所系列课程纪要

本文是康纳德教授在中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所所做系列讲座的内容概要,包括对旧石器时代考古发掘方法的介绍,及其团队通过对四处重要遗址（群）长期发掘所研究的人类演化重要学术问题的成果：1) Schöninge遗址及相关问题;2)南非Sibudu遗址和其他石器时代中期遗址及早期现代人行为;3)Tönchesberg, Wallertheim等遗址的发掘与尼安德特人石器技术的多样性;4) Swabian Jura洞穴发掘和艺术、音乐的起源。通过此次系列讲座,他与中国学者分享国外旧石器时代考古的发掘方法、旧大陆西部不同区域遗址的考古学材料及相关研究成果,并希望未来能够加强交流与合作研究,共同推进旧石器时代考古的发展。     

旧石器时代遗址发掘与记录方法讨论

随着技术的发展和研究理念的转变,旧石器时代考古遗址的发掘和记录方法也发生着变化。20世纪30年代周口店遗址发掘方法的改革是中国旧石器时代考古发掘史上的重大转折,奠定了中国旧石器时代考古发掘、记录方法的基础。90年代,中美联合考古在泥河湾地区的开展使中国旧石器时代考古遗址的发掘和记录方法与国际接轨,更加规范化、科学化。进入21世纪,新技术、新理念的应用使旧石器时代考古遗址发掘的记录方法更加多样化、提取的遗存信息更加科学化、综合化。本文以周口店遗址和泥河湾盆地旧石器时代遗址的发掘历史为主线,简要回顾旧石器时代考古发掘记录方法的变革;以东谷坨遗址的新发掘为例,介绍该遗址发掘和记录的一般规则和具体方法,呼吁建立具有科学性和包容性的旧石器时代遗址考古发掘操作规程。     

晋西南旧石器考古学研究现状及其展望

晋西南古称河东,位于汾渭地堑中部,包括临汾盆地、运城盆地以及中条山南麓黄河沿岸。这里自古就是中华民族文明重要发祥地,也是研究人类起源、发展、演化的重要地区。20世纪50年代以来,考古工作者在山西地堑发现了300余处旧石器时代遗址和地点。这些发现业已证明晋西南的临汾、运城以及中条山南麓黄河沿岸,从早更新世初期直到更新世结束一直有人类在这片土地上繁衍生息。其中西侯度遗址、匼河遗址群、丁村遗址群、下川遗址群、柿子滩遗址群,代表了东亚旧石器时代人类200万年以来从能人→直立人→早期智人→晚期智人各个不同发展阶段一个完整的演化历程。因此,这里成为中国大陆一个非常重要的远古人类演化场。本文试图通过对这一区域旧石器考古的回顾,找出我们工作中的不足以及需要努力的方向,并向本地区考古学研究的开拓者贾兰坡、王建、王择义等老一辈考古学家致敬。     

2011年以来丁村遗址群考古新进展

丁村遗址是我国一处重要的旧石器时代遗址群,也是我国少数几个几未间断、持续探索的旧石器考古遗址之一。60年来,历经几代人共同努力,丁村遗址的考古与研究取得了较为丰硕的成果。2011年以来我们在丁村遗址群周边进行了深入广泛的考古调查,在柴庄附近和汾河东岸至塔儿山之间的黄土塬区的沟谷梁峁地带发现近百处旧石器地点,并对其中的九龙洞遗址、过水洞遗址和老虎坡遗址进行了连续多年深入细致的考古发掘,发现了老虎坡人类活动营地、过水洞人类生活营地、九龙洞石器打制营地等多个原地埋藏的旧石器时代遗址。为我们进一步认识丁村远古人类的活动范围、生活轨迹及其行为链条提供了极为重要的线索和宝贵资料。在与大崮堆山南坡角页岩基岩出露相通的北涧沟→沙女沟→上庄沟一线的沟谷中发现大量石制品和原地埋藏的人类遗址;而在其他不含角页岩石料的北寨沟和柴村沟中基本没有发现人类活动的迹象;显示了丁村人对角页岩原料的亲近性和依赖性。使我们对丁村遗址一带远古人类的活动范围、行为模式有了进一步了解和认识,同时也说明丁村遗址群的考古工作还有着很长的路要走。     

吉林青山头遗址哺乳动物群及其地质时代

近年来在吉林省前郭县青山头第四纪地层中陆续发现了旧石器时代晚期的人类化石、新时器时代早期的人类遗骸和大量文化遗物及共生的动物群。本文着重讨论该遗址的两个不同哺乳动物群的性质及时代,这将对确定该区更新世与全新世地层界线、探索猛犸象-披毛犀动物群后期的演化提供了新的资料。     

关于旧石器时代遗址发掘报告撰写的思考

考古发掘报告是遗址原始资料公布的主要形式,重要性不言而喻。目前,以专著形式发表的旧石器时代遗址发掘报告相对较少,且随着从业人员的多样化,旧石器时代遗址发掘报告体例和内容不一,部分报告缺失基本信息,不利于构建有效的学术交流平台。本文在回顾中国旧石器时代遗址发掘报告发展历史的基础上,讨论旧石器时代遗址发掘报告编写的基本框架。本文认为,在以遗址和人类行为为中心的研究视角下,遗址发掘报告需“由表及里”地报道遗址的基本信息。内容至少应包括遗址的地理位置,发现、发掘和研究历史,地质、地貌,发掘方法和流程,地层、年代和古环境,出土遗存（遗迹和遗物）情况等。作者希望本文可促进同行思考旧石器时代遗址发掘报告的编写方式,以达成及时有效交流新考古发现所蕴含考古信息的目的。     

大同青磁窑旧石器遗址的发掘

在青磁窑旧石器遗址中发现了石制品近1000件,哺乳动物化石8种。遗址的地质时代为中更新世晚期,文化上属旧石器时代早期的后一阶段。这是大同市首次发现的旧石器时代早期文化遗址。     

河北阳原泥河湾盆地籍箕滩遗址发现的新材料

河北阳原泥河湾盆地的籍箕滩旧石器时代晚期旷野遗址群于上世纪80年代被发现并系统发掘,目前,曾出土了丰富的细石叶制品及动物碎骨的第2地点(T2)由于后期工程建设的原因己不复存在,原记录中的第1地点(T1)、第3地点(T3)也均受到了不同程度的人为破坏或自然力侵蚀.为探明遗址堆积保存状况,工作队对遗址第1、3地点进行了复查...     

从河流埋藏环境看丁村遗址群的文化性质——与张森水先生商榷

丁村遗址是我国旧石器时代中期文化的重要代表。晚近有一种观点将丁村54:100和54:102地点的石制品组合从丁村文化范畴中分离出来,归入以周口店第1地点为代表的“中国北方旧石器时代工业”中,而将该遗址的其它地点划归“丁村文化B组工业。”本文认为丁村文化是一个不可分割的整体,而且丁村遗址是一个经过河流搬运埋藏的遗址群,各地点之间石制品大小和类型等特点的差异主要是由河流搬运埋藏的特点所造成的,并不是两种“工业”或两种文化传统的差异。     

贵州毕节老鸦洞遗址2013年发掘报告

老鸦洞遗址是贵州省毕节市七星关区一处旧石器时代晚期遗址,该遗址上世纪80年代被发现并发掘,出土大量石制品及动物碎骨。为进一步研究该遗址,明确遗址文化及年代性质,2013年7月至8月,发掘队对该遗址进行了再次系统发掘,出土包括石制品、骨制品、古人类牙齿化石、动物化石、植物果核、碳屑在内的标本两千余件,其中,石制品在制作技术上显示了典型的小石片石器传统特征。另有未统计碎骨上万件。碳十四测年结果表明,这些出土物及遗迹记录了旧石器时代晚期距今37000-20000年,以及距今14000年古人类在老鸦洞内生存的历史,是毕节地区旧石器时代晚期最初阶段古人类生存栖息的证据。多个石制品及碳屑、灰烬富集的层位表明了古人类对该洞穴的长时间反复利用,以及末次冰期最盛期期间人类活动的消退现象。     

Geographic views of human development

Human development can be divided into three stages: human ancestors (Lower Palaeolithic), early human races (Middle Palaeolithic) and modern humans (Upper Palaeolithic). Regional differentiation has been detected in the Lower Palaeolithic and is strongly developed in the Middle Palaeolithic but continues into the Upper Palaeolithic less marked. Clearly mixture at all levels accounts for this. Early humans absorbed the pre-existing regionalizations even as they further differentiated. Modern humans resulted from Upper Palaeolithic people spreading across the world and again absorbing the previous differentiations.     

The Exploitation of Ungulate Bones in Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens

Analysis of ungulate bones recovered from a number of Upper and Middle Palaeolithic sites in southern Italy revealed differences in the presence of anatomical elements. There is a lack of clear evidence of carnivore activities, and differences can be attributed to human activity. Indeed, these differences were probably due to different patterns of skeletal exploitation between Homo neanderthalensis and H. sapiens. Small limb bones (carpals, tarsals, sesamoids, long bone epiphyses and especially phalanges) are rarely found in Middle Palaeolithic deposits, but are abundant in the Upper Palaeolithic. The observation of unidentified bone fragments at these sites indicates that during the middle Palaeolithic, marrow extraction regarded essentially the treatment of long bones. First and second phalanges were not frequently used for this practice, but they were often fragmented by H. sapiens. Lack of these bones among the remains of meals of Neanderthal suggests that these bones were probably destroyed by their utilisation as fuel.     

The Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition in Cova Gran (Catalunya, Spain) and the extinction of Neanderthals in the Iberian Peninsula

The excavations carried out in Cova Gran de Santa Linya (Southeastern PrePyrenees, Catalunya, Spain) have unearthed a new archaeological sequence attributable to the Middle Palaeoloithic/Upper Palaeolithic (MP/UP) transition. This article presents data on the stratigraphy, archaeology, and ¹⁴C AMS dates of three Early Upper Palaeolithic and four Late Middle Palaeolithic levels excavated in Cova Gran. All these archaeological levels fall within the 34-32 ka time span, the temporal frame in which major events of Neanderthal extinction took place. The earliest Early Upper Palaeolithic (497D) and the latest Middle Palaeolithic (S1B) levels in Cova Gran are separated by a sterile gap and permit pinpointing the time period in which the Mousterian disappeared from Northeastern Spain. Technological differences between the Early Upper Palaeolithic and Late Middle Palaeolithic industries in Cova Gran support a cultural rupture between the two periods. A series of 12 ¹⁴C AMS dates prompts reflections on the validity of reconstructions based on radiocarbon data. Thus, results from excavations in Cova Gran lead us to discuss the scenarios relating the MP/UP transition in the Iberian Peninsula, a region considered a refuge of late Neanderthal populations.     

Human dental microwear from Ohalo II (22,500-23,500 cal BP), southern Levant

Dietary hardness and abrasiveness are inferred from human dental microwear at Ohalo II, a late Upper Palaeolithic site (22,500-23,500 cal BP) in the southern Levant. Casts of molar grinding facets from two human skeletons were examined with a scanning electron microscope. The size and frequency of microwear was measured, counted, and compared to four prehistoric human groups from successive chronological periods in the same region: pre-pottery Neolithic A, Chalcolithic (this study); Natufian, pre-pottery Neolithic B (Mahoney: Am J Phys Anthropol 130 (2006) 308-319). The Ohalo molars had a high frequency of long narrow scratches, and a few small pits, suggesting a tough abrasive diet that required more shearing rather than compressive force while chewing. These results imply that the diet of the two late Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers did not focus on very hard foods. Aquatic foods with adherent contaminants, as well as grit from plant grinding tools seemed likely causal agents. The size of the pits and scratches on the Ohalo molars were most similar to microwear from the pre-pottery Neolithic A period, though they also compared well to the Chalcolithic period. These results contrasted with the larger pits and scratches from the Natufian hunter-gatherers and pre-pottery Neolithic B farmers, implying that there is no simple increase or decrease in dietary hardness and abrasiveness across the late Upper Palaeolithic to Chalcolithic development in the Southern Levant.     

Late Quaternary human settlement patterning in the Jebel Gharbi

This paper presents the latest results of geoarchaeological research on the Upper Pleistocene sequence in the Jebel Gharbi (previously called Jebel Nafusah), a mountain range located in Tripolitania, northwestern Libya. Numerous archaeological sites are found adjacent to springs that formed as a consequence of tectonic activities. The springs originated when Upper Pleistocene earthquakes produced ground displacements that created water outlets, some of which are still active. Springs are spread all along the massif and at the foot of the mountains in Jebel Gharbi. We suggest that they offered attractive resources to populations coming from drier parts of North Africa or the near-by Sahara. The earliest sites associated with the springs include Aterian lithic techno-complexes that have been dated between 80,000 and 40,000 BP. Since then, these springs have attracted many populations, as documented here by settlements belonging to the Later Stone Age (Upper Palaeolithic), Iberomaurusian (Late Upper Palaeolithic or Epipalaeolithic), Neolithic, Roman period, and present time.     

Not only Chauvet: Dating Aurignacian rock art in Altxerri B Cave (northern Spain)

The discovery and first dates of the paintings in Grotte Chauvet provoked a new debate on the origin and characteristics of the first figurative Palaeolithic art. Since then, other art ensembles in France and Italy (Aldène, Fumane, Arcy-sur-Cure and Castanet) have enlarged our knowledge of graphic activity in the early Upper Palaeolithic. This paper presents a chronological assessment of the Palaeolithic parietal ensemble in Altxerri B (northern Spain). When the study began in 2011, one of our main objectives was to determine the age of this pictorial phase in the cave. Archaeological, geological and stylistic evidence, together with radiometric dates, suggest an Aurignacian chronology for this art. The ensemble in Altxerri B can therefore be added to the small but growing number of sites dated in this period, corroborating the hypothesis of more complex and varied figurative art than had been supposed in the early Upper Palaeolithic.     

Some aspects of the Upper Palaeolithic period in Sindh,Pakistan

The study of the Upper Palaeolithic of Sindh is still in its infancy. Although it has slightly improved during the last twenty years, and a few more sites have been discovered in different parts of the province, we are still far from achieving a good knowledge of the sequence of the events that took place during the final stages of the Pleistocene in this region of the Indian Subcontinent. Despite the archaeological importance of the southern part of the country, the Arabian Sea coast in particular, which represents the suggested route followed by Modern Humans to move to India and farther east, most of this territory has not yielded any tangible trace of their passage. The scope of this paper is to update the evidence available for the Upper Palaeolithic of Sindh, and to discuss it within the general framework of the Upper Palaeolithic period of the Indian Subcontinent.     

Le Paléolithique Supérieur dans la moyenne vallée de l’Ebre

After 30 years of research, we begin to perceive an incipient outline of the Upper Palaeolithic in the central Ebro Valley. The assembled data permit us to speak of human occupation on the Southern face of the Pyrenees, but also on the borders of the Iberian Mountains and of the Ebro basin. All these sites seem to mark the passageways from and to the neighbour territories, emphasizing the communication pathway role of the Iberian basin.     

Humanizing European Paleolithic art: A new visual evidence of human/bird interactions at L’Hort de la Boquera site (Margalef de Montsant,Tarragona, Spain)

This paper reports the discovery of a new example of portable art in North-eastern Iberia dating to the Late Upper Palaeolithic (12.250 ± 60 BP). The piece is analysed in relation to the European Palaeolithic art assemblage to determine its significance and how it contributes to our understandings of Palaeolithic artistic practices. Both the motifs depicted (birds and humans) and the patterns of composition (a narrative scene) are unusual in Palaeolithic assemblages. In addition, this new find contributes to filling a geographic gap in the artistic record as evidence of Palaeolithic art is rare in Catalonia. The anatomical features of one of the birds suggest that it is a crane, a species that has been depicted in a limited number of sites, as summarized in this paper. Moreover, there are only three known example of birds and humans interacting in a narrative scene in Palaeolithic art. Exhibiting innovations in media, subject matter and compositional norms, this new find has the potential to change the classic definition of European Upper Palaeolithic art and integrate the region in the artistic trends circulating along Mediterranean Iberia during the Upper Magdalenian.     

First epigravettian ceramic figurines from europe (vela spila, croatia)

Recent finds of 36 ceramic artifacts from the archaeological site of Vela Spila, Croatia, offer the first evidence of ceramic figurative art in late Upper Palaeolithic Europe, c. 17,500-15,000 years before present (BP). The size and diversity of this artistic ceramic assemblage indicate the emergence of a social tradition, rather than more ephemeral experimentation with a new material. Vela Spila ceramics offer compelling technological and stylistic comparisons with the only other evidence of a developed Palaeolithic ceramic tradition found at the sites of Pavlov I and Dolní Věstonice I, in the Czech Republic, c. 31,000-27,000 cal BP. Because of the 10,000-year gap between the two assemblages, the Vela Spila ceramics are interpreted as evidence of an independent invention of this technology. Consequently, these artifacts provide evidence of a new social context in which ceramics developed and were used to make art in the Upper Palaeolithic.