四川汉源富林遗址石制品再研究

富林遗址出土的细小石器在20世纪发现之初便引起了广泛关注,是南方小型石制品组合的典型代表且具有特殊的研究价值。本文结合已有报告对石制品进行再研究,认为富林遗址石器工业整体仍以石核-石片技术为主导,包含小型石片产品和似石叶产品,未见细石叶技术相关产品。在石器修理与使用方面,除较为常见的刃部正向修理之外,对石片未加工刃缘的直接使用也较为突出;并观察到对装柄部位修理的例子,指示了复合工具的使用。富林遗址的石制品技术反映的是青藏高原边缘地带人群在更新世末-全新世初对气候环境、原料条件及人口规模变化作出的适应。在更新世末-全新世中期,中国南方的小型石制品组合远不止富林遗址这一例,各地人群为适应生态环境而发展出了多样的石制品组合,形成了较为多元化的格局。     

2004年丹江口库区调查发现的石制品

2004年在丹江口库区发现并复查了43处旧石器旷野地点, 共采集石制品367件。石制品包括石核、石片和石器, 石器类型主要有刮削器、砍砸器、石球、手镐、手斧等。这些旷野地点分布在沿江两岸的第2、第3和第4级阶地上, 时代从旧石器早期延续到晚期。各阶地的石器工业面貌较为一致, 表现出以砾石及大中型石片加工而成的重型工具为主的特点。手镐、手斧等具有阿舍利技术特征的重型工具的发现, 促使我们重新思考东、西方早期文化之间的异同, 并为进一步探讨早期人类的迁徙、扩散和区域间的文化交流提供了重要材料。     

丹江口库区宋湾旧石器地点发掘简报

丹江口库区宋湾旧石器地点位于河南省淅川县盛湾镇宋湾村三组, 埋藏于丹江右岸第三级基座阶地的红色黏土层中。2009年3～4月对该地点进行抢救性发掘, 揭露面积800㎡, 出土石制品353件。石制品包括石器、石核、石片类和断块等。古人类选择阶地底部河卵石为原料进行剥片和加工石器; 硬锤锤击法为剥片的主要技术; 石制品总体以小型和中型居多; 石器主要以石片为毛坯, 刮削器是主要类型; 石器多由古人类在石片的两侧采用锤击法加工而成。石制品特点显示中国南方砾石工业的面貌, 同时石制品组合中出现了小型刮削器和石片等北方石片工业的元素。地貌和地层对比显示该地点形成于中更新世。     

河南灵宝旧石器考古调查报告

2016年以来,河南省文物考古研究院等单位在河南三门峡地区进行旧石器考古调查,在灵宝窄口水库周边发现旧石器地点8处、石制品74件及少量动物化石;石制品中有47件出自地层。石制品主要埋藏在黄土堆积和河流相堆积中,原料以石英岩为主,类型包括石器、石核、石片、断块等。石核包括单台面石核、双台面石核、盘状石核和多台面石核;石片以锤击石片为主;石器主要为刮削器和砍砸器,也有似手斧和凹缺器等。从技术和类型上判断,该地区的石器工业属于中国北方旧石器时代早期普遍存在的石核-石片工业。石制品多出自黄土-古土壤条带L11～S5之间,年代范围为0.99～0.48 MaBP,属旧石器时代早期。本次调查成果表明,该地区具有发现更多、更重要旧石器时代遗址并开展深入考古发掘与研究的潜力。     

1994年丹江口库区调查发现的石制品研究

本文报道了1994年在南水北调中线工程丹江口库区多处地点采集的624件石制品。石制品类型有石核、石片和石器;石器占44%以上, 类型丰富, 包括手斧、手镐、薄刃斧、砍砸器、石球、尖状器、刮削器和石锤; 石器素材主要为砾石, 大多数个体粗大。这一石器组合与中国南方的砾石石器工业有较多的相似之处; 手斧工具的出现表明,这些石制品在探讨东、西方的旧石器文化交流方面也是非常重要的材料。     

怀来盆地2014年度旧石器考古调查简报

2014年7-8月在河北怀来盆地开展的旧石器考古调查工作新发现确认10处旧石器地点,获得20余件石制品及动物化石。石制品类型包括石核、石片、工具以及断块,总体来看包含了石片石器技术和细石叶技术两套技术组合。石制品原料以火山岩为主,应为就地取材;石核剥片与工具修理均主要采用锤击法。永定河两岸第二、三级阶地是文化遗物埋藏的主要地貌部位,依相关地貌、地层资料以及石制品的类型特征,初步推测新地点的时代主要为中、晚更新世。     

江苏句容放牛山发现的旧石器

放牛山等是江苏南部地区第一个露天类型的旧石器早期石器地点,1999年发掘,面积300m^2。发掘和采集的石制品共54件,包括石核、石片、砍砸器、刮削器、石球、镐、薄刃斧、雕刻器等,石制品出自下蜀黄土中,时代为中更新世中晚期,距今40-20万年,文化面貌与安徽水阳江旧石器地点群十分接近,属于中国南方砾石石器工业。     

安徽巢湖地区2019年旧石器考古调查的新发现

2019年10月,安徽省文物考古研究所在巢湖地区开展旧石器考古野外调查,新发现16处旧石器地点、1处动物化石地点,并对20世纪80年代发现的望城岗地点群进行复查,共获得石制品939件,动物化石4件。石制品原料以石英岩砾石为主,类型可划分为剥片类、废片类、修理类和砸击品。石核开发利用程度较高,周身自然砾石面占比较低;废片类包括石片、断块和碎片,石片以V型和II型为主,存在一定数量长度大于10 cm的大石片,部分石片保留直接使用痕迹;修理类多为以石片为毛坯,类型以刮削器为主,同时存在少量大型切割工具。根据对张家湾地点OSL年代学测试结果推测,巢湖地区发现旧石器地点的绝对年代不晚于距今12.5万年。这些地点的石器技术的典型特点是早期人类从大型石核上剥取大石片,并以之为毛坯加工重型工具。本次发现对进一步讨论中更新世人类在长江下游地区的石器技术多样性及该地区阿舍利技术大石片存在状况等具有重要学术意义。     

烟墩堡遗址研究

烟墩堡遗址位于三峡地区重庆市丰都县,地处长江干流的第四级阶地,出土1300余件石制品。遗址底部的似网纹红土层是石制品的原生层位;上部的粘土层和粉砂层是流水等从高处搬运、二次堆积形成的,除石制品外,还混入新石器时代的陶片。石制品应为一套文化组合,以磨圆度较高的河床砾石为原料,类型包括石锤、断块、碎屑、石核、石片和石器,以大型和中型者为主;石片占大多数;石器以刮削器和砍砸器为主,加工简单,属中国南方旧石器时代早期砾石石器工业。零台面石片的出现对“摔碰法”技术的起源提供了线索。     

华北晚更新世的石片石器

本文首先简要梳理了晚更新世华北地区石片石器发展历程;进而探讨石片石器与南邻的砾石工业,北部边疆地区新发现的莫斯特文化遗存,以及更晚来自西北方向的石叶/细石器技术的交流互动。在此基础上,重点讨论晚更新世华北石片石器与现代人在该地区出现与发展历程之间的关系,提出石片石器是华北地区旧石器文化发展的主流,亦是追溯该地区现代人出现与发展课题至关重要的考古学证据。     

现代人的出现与扩散——中国的化石证据

自2002年在周口店附近的田园洞发现大约4万年前的现代人化石以来,相继在湖北郧西黄龙洞、广西崇左智人洞等地点发现了早期现代人化石。这些化石发现证实大约10万年前早期现代人在华南地区已经出现。最近在湖南道县福岩洞发现的人类牙齿化石及相关研究进一步揭示具有完全现代形态的人类8万-12万年前在华南局部地区已经出现;而在这个时间段的华北地区,以许家窑人为代表的人类化石形态仍较原始,其演化尚未进入早期现代人阶段。这些研究发现提示,在中国地区,华南是现代人形成与扩散的中心区域,早期现代人以及完全现代类型的人类都可能首先在华南地区出现,然后向华北地区扩散。现有的化石形态证据显示,更新世晚期华南地区人类具有较大的演化变异,可能同时生存有几种不同的演化类群。智人洞属于从古老型智人向现代人演化的过渡类型,而道县则代表着演化进入完全现代类型的人类。基于前人研究及本文的分析,作者认为柳江、资阳、丽江、田园洞等更新世晚期人类化石特征比较进步,在演化上属于与道县相似的现代类型人类。值得注意的是,这些研究进展在引起对现代人在东亚地区出现和扩散关注的同时,古人类学界对其中涉及的许多问题还存在争论。本文在回顾分析这些研究进展的基础上,就相关问题进行了讨论。     

The Arabian cradle: mitochondrial relicts of the first steps along the southern route out of Africa

A major unanswered question regarding the dispersal of modern humans around the world concerns the geographical site of the first human steps outside of Africa. The "southern coastal route" model predicts that the early stages of the dispersal took place when people crossed the Red Sea to southern Arabia, but genetic evidence has hitherto been tenuous. We have addressed this question by analyzing the three minor west-Eurasian haplogroups, N1, N2, and X. These lineages branch directly from the first non-African founder node, the root of haplogroup N, and coalesce to the time of the first successful movement of modern humans out of Africa, ～60 thousand years (ka) ago. We sequenced complete mtDNA genomes from 85 Southwest Asian samples carrying these haplogroups and compared them with a database of 300 European examples. The results show that these minor haplogroups have a relict distribution that suggests an ancient ancestry within the Arabian Peninsula, and they most likely spread from the Gulf Oasis region toward the Near East and Europe during the pluvial period 55-24 ka ago. This pattern suggests that Arabia was indeed the first staging post in the spread of modern humans around the world.     

Technological complexity and the global dispersal of modern humans

Anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) dispersed out of Africa roughly 120,000 years ago and again after 75,000 years ago. The early dispersal was geographically restricted to the Arabian Peninsula, Levant, and possibly parts of southern Asia. The later dispersal was ultimately global in scope, including areas not previously occupied by Homo. One explanation for the contrast between the two out‐of‐Africa dispersals is that the modern humans who expanded into Eurasia 120,000 years ago lacked the functionally and structurally complex technology of recent hunter‐gatherers. This technology, which includes, for example, mechanical projectiles, snares and traps, and sewn clothing, provides not only expanded dietary breadth and increased rates of foraging efficiency and success in places where plant and animal productivity is low, but protection from cold weather in places where winter temperatures are low. The absence of complex technology before 75,000 years ago also may explain why modern humans in the Levant did not develop sedentary settlements and agriculture 120,000 years ago (i.e., during the Last Interglacial).     

‘What's larvae got to do with it?’ Disparate patterns of post‐glacial population structure in two benthic marine gastropods with identical dispersal potential

In marine environments, many species have apparently colonized high latitude regions following the last glacial maximum (LGM) yet lack a life-history stage, such as a free-living larva, that is clearly capable of long-distance dispersal. Two hypotheses can explain the modern high latitude distributions of these marine taxa: (1) survival in northern refugia during the LGM or (2) rapid post-glacial dispersal by nonlarval stages. To distinguish these two scenarios, I characterized the genetic structure of two closely related northeastern Pacific gastropods that lack planktonic larvae but which have distributions extending more than 1000 km north of the southern limit of glaciers at the LGM. Despite having identical larval dispersal potential, these closely related species exhibit fundamentally different patterns of genetic structure. In Nucella ostrina, haplotype diversity among northern populations (British Columbia and Alaska) is low, no pattern of isolation by distance exists and a coalescent-based model of population growth indicates that during the LGM population size was reduced to less than 35% of its current size. In the congeneric and often sympatric N. lamellosa, northern populations harbour a diversity of ancient private haplotypes, significant evidence of isolation by distance exists and regional subdivision was found between northern (Alaska) and southern (southern British Columbia, Washington and Oregon) populations. Estimates of coalescent parameters indicate only a modest reduction in population size during the LGM and that northern and southern populations of N. lamellosa split approximately 50 Kyr before the LGM. The patterns are consistent with the hypothesis that N. ostrina recently reinvaded the northeastern Pacific but N. lamellosa survived the LGM in a northern refuge. A comparison of similar studies in this region indicates that depleted levels of genetic variation at high latitudes--evidence suggestive of recent colonization from a southern refuge--is more common among intertidal species that live relatively high on the shore, where exposure times to cold stress in air are longer than for species living lower on the shore. These data suggest that for some faunas, ecological differences between taxa may be more important than larval dispersal potential in determining species' long-term biogeographical responses to climate change.     

Southern hemisphere biogeography inferred by event-based models: plant versus animal patterns

The Southern Hemisphere has traditionally been considered as having a fundamentally vicariant history. The common trans-Pacific disjunctions are usually explained by the sequential breakup of the supercontinent Gondwana during the last 165 million years, causing successive division of an ancestral biota. However, recent biogeographic studies, based on molecular estimates and more accurate paleogeographic reconstructions, indicate that dispersal may have been more important than traditionally assumed. We examined the relative roles played by vicariance and dispersal in shaping Southern Hemisphere biotas by analyzing a large data set of 54 animal and 19 plant phylogenies, including marsupials, ratites, and southern beeches (1,393 terminals). Parsimony-based tree fitting in conjunction with permutation tests was used to examine to what extent Southern Hemisphere biogeographic patterns fit the breakup sequence of Gondwana and to identify concordant dispersal patterns. Consistent with other studies, the animal data are congruent with the geological sequence of Gondwana breakup: (Africa(New Zealand(southern South America, Australia))). Trans-Antarctic dispersal (Australia <--> southern South America) is also significantly more frequent than any other dispersal event in animals, which may be explained by the long period of geological contact between Australia and South America via Antarctica. In contrast, the dominant pattern in plants, (southern South America(Australia, New Zealand)), is better explained by dispersal, particularly the prevalence of trans-Tasman dispersal between New Zealand and Australia. Our results also confirm the hybrid origin of the South American biota: there has been surprisingly little biotic exchange between the northern tropical and the southern temperate regions of South America, especially for animals.     

Reconstructing Indian-Australian phylogenetic link

Background  

An early dispersal of biologically and behaviorally modern humans from their African origins to Australia, by at least 45 thousand years via southern Asia has been suggested by studies based on morphology, archaeology and genetics. However, mtDNA lineages sampled so far from south Asia, eastern Asia and Australasia show non-overlapping distributions of haplogroups within pan Eurasian M and N macrohaplogroups. Likewise, support from the archaeology is still ambiguous.     

Global invasion history of the Mediterranean recluse spider: a concordance with human expansion

The dispersal of modern humans from their African origins to the rest of the occupied world is a topic of lively debate centering principally on single versus multiple dispersals. The Mediterranean recluse spider Loxosceles rufescens, a significant pest, has gained much of its current distribution through commensalism with humans. Therefore, the matrilineal history of this spider should reflect dispersal patterns of human females. Here, an assessment of genetic variation at mitochondrial markers in 347 colonies of L. rufescens from 104 geographic sites worldwide reveals a north African origin of the global populations of L. rufescens. This involves at least three separate events among which two involve coincidental dispersals, including one to north Africa, Europe, Asia, North America, and Australia and the other to north Africa, Europe, and Asia only. North African L. rufescens appear to have expanded initially into Israel and subsequently spread into Greece, where a subset of these populations went eastward into Iran and southeastern Asia. This corresponds to the modern human southern dispersal theory. Chinese populations appear to have expanded approximately 42 710–46 008 yr ago. The initial split between the Greek and Chinese populations dates to 41 412–44 444 yr ago, which coincides with the expansion of modern humans into Southeast and East Asia. Thus, the matrilineal history of Asian L. rufescens tracks the history of human dispersals over tens of thousands of years.     

The First Modern Human Dispersals across Africa

The emergence of more refined chronologies for climate change and archaeology in prehistoric Africa, and for the evolution of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), now make it feasible to test more sophisticated models of early modern human dispersals suggested by mtDNA distributions. Here we have generated 42 novel whole-mtDNA genomes belonging to haplogroup L0, the most divergent clade in the maternal line of descent, and analysed them alongside the growing database of African lineages belonging to L0’s sister clade, L1’6. We propose that the last common ancestor of modern human mtDNAs (carried by “mitochondrial Eve”) possibly arose in central Africa ~180 ka, at a time of low population size. By ~130 ka two distinct groups of anatomically modern humans co-existed in Africa: broadly, the ancestors of many modern-day Khoe and San populations in the south and a second central/eastern African group that includes the ancestors of most extant worldwide populations. Early modern human dispersals correlate with climate changes, particularly the tropical African “megadroughts” of MIS 5 (marine isotope stage 5, 135–75 ka) which paradoxically may have facilitated expansions in central and eastern Africa, ultimately triggering the dispersal out of Africa of people carrying haplogroup L3 ~60 ka. Two south to east migrations are discernible within haplogroup LO. One, between 120 and 75 ka, represents the first unambiguous long-range modern human dispersal detected by mtDNA and might have allowed the dispersal of several markers of modernity. A second one, within the last 20 ka signalled by L0d, may have been responsible for the spread of southern click-consonant languages to eastern Africa, contrary to the view that these eastern examples constitute relicts of an ancient, much wider distribution.     

Historical demography and colonization pathways of the widespread intertidal seaweed Hormosira banksii (Phaeophyceae) in southeastern Australia

The palaeoceanography of southern Australia has been characterized by fluctuating sea levels during glacial periods, changing temperature regimes and modified boundary currents. Previous studies on genetic structuring of species in southeastern Australia have focused mainly on the differentiation of eastern and western populations while the potential role of Bass Strait as a region of overlap for three biogeographic provinces (Peronia, Maugea, and Flindersia) has been largely ignored. This study aimed to explore the likely roles of historic and contemporary factors in determining divergence patterns in the habitat‐forming intertidal seaweed Hormosira banksii in southeastern Australia with a special focus on postglacial dispersal into Bass Strait. We examined the genetic diversity of 475 Hormosira specimens collected from 19 sites around southern Australia using DNA sequence analysis of cytochrome oxidase 1. Three major haplotype groups were identified (western, centre and eastern) corresponding with the three existing biogeographical provinces in this region. Historic break points appeared to be retained and reinforced by modern day dispersal barriers. Phylogeographic grouping of Hormosira reflected a combination of historic and contemporary oceanography. As western and eastern group haplotypes were largely absent within Bass Strait, re‐colonization after the last glacial maximum appeared to have originated from refuges within or near present day Bass Strait. Patterns of genetic structure for Hormosira are consistent with other marine species in this region and highlight the importance of biogeographical barriers in contributing to modern genetic structure.     

Driven by the West Wind Drift? A synthesis of southern temperate marine biogeography,with new directions for dispersalism

Aim Twentieth century biogeographers developed intriguing hypotheses involving West Wind Drift dispersal of Southern Hemisphere biota, but such models were largely abandoned in favour of vicariance following the development of plate tectonic theory. Here I present a synthesis of southern temperate marine biogeography, and suggest some new directions for phylogeographic research. Location The southern continents, formerly contiguous components of Gondwana, are now linked only by ocean currents driven by the West Wind Drift. Methods While vicariance theory certainly facilitates the development of testable hypotheses, it does not necessarily follow that vicariance explains much of contemporary southern marine biogeography. To overcome the limitations of narratives that simply assume vicariance or dispersal, it is essential for analyses to test biogeographic hypotheses by incorporating genetic, ecological and geological data. Results Recent molecular studies have provided strong evidence for dispersal, but relatively little evidence for the biogeographic role of plate tectonics in distributing southern marine taxa. Despite confident panbiogeographic claims to the contrary, molecular and ecological studies of buoyant macroalgae, such as Macrocystis, indicate that dispersal predominates. Ironically, some of the better supported evidence for marine vicariance in southern waters has little or nothing to do with plate tectonics. Rather, it involves far more localized and recent vicariant models, such as the isolating effect of the Bassian Isthmus during Pleistocene low sea‐level stands (Nerita). Main conclusions Recent phylogeographic studies of southern marine taxa (e.g. Diloma and Parvulastra) imply that passive rafting cannot be ignored as an important mechanism of long‐distance dispersal. I outline a new direction for southern hemisphere phylogeography, involving genetic analyses of bull‐kelp (Durvillaea) and its associated holdfast invertebrate communities.