广西柳江土博甘前洞的铀系年代

本文报道晚期智人化石地点广西柳江博甘前洞新生碳酸盐岩和骨化石样的铀系测年结果。该地点表层钙板在约94Ka前开始形成,含化石粘土堆积叠压的钙板年代为约20ka,人牙化石应位于二者之间。二个动物化石样的二种铀系法年代范围为85－139ka,表明该地点与含化石堆积与表层钙板间无地层倒序现象,支持人牙化石大于100ka的结论。邻近的柳江晚期智人化石地点和柳州白莲洞人类遗址铀系测年的结果与本文一致。具现代解剖特征智人在中国南方出现的时间,很可能不晚于西非和非洲。在现代人类起源方面,中国不应是远离中心、滞后和被取代的地区。     

U-Series dating of Liujiang hominid site in Guangxi,Southern China

It has been established that modern humans were living in the Levant and Africa ca. 100ka ago. Hitherto, this has contrasted with the situation in China where no unequivocal specimens of this species have been securely dated to more than 30ka. Here we present the results of stratigraphic studies and U-series dating of the Tongtianyan Cave, the discovery site of the Liujiang hominid, which represents one of the few well-preserved fossils of modern Homo sapiens in China. The human fossils are inferred to come from either a refilling breccia or a primarily deposited gravel-bearing sandy clay layer. In the former case, which is better supported, the fossils would date to at least approximately 68ka, but more likely to approximately 111-139ka. Alternatively, they would be older than approximately 153ka. Both scenarios would make the Liujiang hominid one of the earliest modern humans in East Asia, possibly contemporaneous with the earliest known representatives from the Levant and Africa. Parallel studies on other Chinese localities have provided supporting evidence for the redating of Liujiang, which may have important implications for the origin of modern humans.     

在中国寻找第一把石刀

寻找最早的文化遗物是人类起源研究课题的重要组成部分,一直被各国考古学家所重视。在中国这方面的研究开展较早,已取得了一些成果,但也存在一些问题。如能扩大调查,多学科深入研究,有希望对此项研究做出重大的贡献。     

The micromammalian fauna from the Leilao, Yuanmou hominoid locality: implications for biochronology and paleoecology

The discovery of Lufengpithecus at Yuanmou, in Yunnan Province, China, provides important clues to understanding the evolution of early hominoids in eastern Asia. However, the age and paleoecology of the fauna remain to be established. An assemblage of micromammalian fossils, collected recently by screenwashing at Leilao, one of the hominoid-bearing localities at Yuanmou, contains 41 species belonging to 16 families and 4 orders, and represents the most diverse Neogene micromammalian fauna known from southwestern China. This paper presents an analysis of the taxonomy, age, and paleoecology of the micromammalian fauna. The Yuanmou hominoid fauna is now considered older than the Lufeng fauna, and is currently thought to correspond to an age of about 9 Ma. The micromammalian fauna indicates a predominantly forested habitat, with marginal environments consisting of bush-grassland.     

20世纪的中国人类古生物学研究与展望

本文回顾中国人类古生物学在20世纪的主要研究进展。中国的化石曾经数度入围最早期的人类。目前中国已有60余处地点发现了人类化石, 其中最古老的暂时要推云南元谋上那蚌的两颗门齿。对中国人类化石的研究提出了连续进化附带杂交的模式, 支持现代人起源的多地区进化说。中国各时期的化石人类有较显著的地区差异。中国人类的发展可能比喻为既有分支间的杂交融合, 又有小分支的绝灭和局部替代的河网状。     

Recent human evolution in East Asia and Australasia.

In both East Asia and Australasia arguments for evolutionary continuity between middle-late Pleistocene hominid populations and modern Homo sapiens are of long standing. In both regions, however, problems of chronological distribution, dating and preservation of hominid skeletal materials provide an effective barrier to extending regional sequences back to 'archaic' Homo sapiens or Homo erectus. The earliest securely dated modern Homo sapiens in East Asia are currently represented by Zhoukoudian Upper Cave at a minimum of 29 ka BP. In Australia skeletal remains of modern Homo sapiens have been dated to 26 ka BP, with archaeological materials at 38 to 50 ka BP. Late Pleistocene human skeletons from sites like Coobool Creek are morphologically and metrically outside the range of recent Australian Aboriginal populations. Similarly Liujiang and the Upper Cave crania can be distinguished from recent East Asian 'Mongoloids'. Evolutionary change within the Holocene needs to be taken into consideration when the evidence for regional evolutionary continuity is considered.     

Early evidence of the genus Homo in East Asia

The timing and route of the earliest dispersal from Africa to Eastern Asia are contentious topics in the study of early human evolution because Asian hominin fossil sites with precise age constraints are very limited. Here we report new high-resolution magnetostratigraphic results that place stringent age controls on excavated hominin incisors and stone tools from the Yuanmou Basin, southwest China. The hominin-bearing layer resides in a reverse polarity magnetozone just above the upper boundary of the Olduvai subchron, yielding an estimated age of 1.7Ma. The finding represents the age of the earliest documented presence of Homo, with affinities to Homo erectus, in mainland East Asia. This age estimate is roughly the same as for H. erectus in island Southeast Asia and immediately prior to the oldest archaeological evidence in northeast Asia. Mammalian fauna and pollen obtained directly from the hominin site indicate that the Yuanmou hominins lived in a varied habitat of open vegetation with patches of bushland and forest on an alluvial fan close to a lake or swamp. The age and location are consistent with a rapid southern migration route of initial hominin populations into Eastern Asia.     

云南西畴仙人洞动物化石铀系年代

本文报道晚期智人地点云南西畴仙人洞动物牙化石的铀系测年结果。4个样品的230Th234U年龄范围为47—105ka,测定了其中2个样品的227Th/230Th年龄,结果与230Th/234U法的一致。在没有进一步的地层和年代证据的情况下,将西畴人牙化石的年代暂定为47—105ka或许是合理的。但洞穴地点骨化石铀系年代总体偏年轻,上述年代范围很可能被低估。本文结果与我们已有研究的广西通天岩、前洞等地点一致,是晚期智人在我国出现比原认为的早得多的又一例证。     

Out of Africa and back again

If the genusHomo did indeed originate in Africa, then it must have spread by about 2 m.y. ago into Asia where it is represented at 1.8 m.y. ago byHomo erectus fossils. This latter species in turn eventually spread back into Africa, as indicated by the 1.4 m.y. old OH 9 calvaria from Olduvai, and into Europe, as indicated by the 800,000 year old Ceprano calvaria from Italy. These hominids are associated only with Oldowan style artefacts of cores, choppers and flakes and were apparently not conversant with Acheulean handaxe technology. It seems that they most probably evolved viaHomo heidelbergensis into the Neanderthals. Meanwhile, a completely separate development originating withHomo ergaster of about 1.7 m.y. ago in Africa and possessing Acheulean handaxe technology evolved via such forms as Ndutu and Steinheim intoHomo sapiens.     

The current state of korean paleoanthropology

The hominid fossil and Paleolithic archaeology records from the Korean Peninsula are extensive, but relatively little is known about the Korean human evolutionary record outside this region. The Korean paleoanthropological record is reviewed here in light of major research issues, including the hominid fossil record, relative and chronometric dating, lithic analysis, hominid subsistence, and the presence of bone tools, art and symbolism. Some of the major conclusions drawn from this review include: (1) hominid fossils have been found in nine separate sites on the Korean Peninsula; (2) possible Homo erectus fossils are present in North Korea; (3) Ryonggok Cave, in North Korea, has exposed the remains of at least five archaic Homo sapiens individuals; (4) a possible burial of an anatomically modern Homo sapiens child, discovered in Hungsu Cave in South Korea, has been tentatively dated to roughly 40,000 years ago; (5) handaxes and cleavers have been found at a number of sites near Chongokni and they appear to date to at least 100,000 years ago; and (6) taphonomic studies are necessary for addressing issues related to determining the nature of hominid-carnivore interaction over similar resources (e.g. carcasses and shelter); and the presence/absence of Early Paleolithic bone tools, art, and symbolism in Korea.     

Human origins in Asia?

New Pliocene hominoid fossils have recently been unearthed from Yuanmou county of central Yunnan province, southwestern China. This paper will provide free translation of the original chinese publications in which two new species of hominoid, a ramapithecine and a hominid were described and their associated faunas and stratigraphy. Comments on the taxonomic assignment of these fossils are presented as concluding remarks.     

On the systematic status of the late Neogene hominoids from Yunnan Province,China

Late Miocene and Pliocene hominoids from Yunnan Province in southern China have been recovered from four sites or site complexes: Xiaolongtan, Yangyi, Shihuiba and Yuanmou. Of these, Shihuiba and Yuanmou are among the most prolific fossil hominoid sites in Eurasia, and they have yielded important evidence that is critical for documenting the evolutionary history, biogeography and paleobiology of later Neogene hominids. The aim of this paper is to clarify their taxonomy and nomenclature, and to present a preliminary synthesis of their phylogenetic relationships and biogeography. The morphological pattern and degree of variation observed in the fossil samples is consistent with there being a single, sexually dimorphic species represented at each site. Provisionally, we consider the Shihuiba, Xiaolongtan and Yuanmou samples to belong to two separate species within a single genus. The valid names for these species are Lufengpithecus lufengensis (from Shihuiba) and L. keiyuanensis (from Xiaolongtan and Yuanmou). From a phylogenetic perspective, the currently available evidence suggests that Lufengpithecus is either a primitive hominid that represents the sister taxon of the Ponginae+Homininae or a primitive sister taxon to the Ponginae. We tend to favor the second alternative, but acknowledge that a more comprehensive comparative analysis is needed to substantiate the phylogenetic and taxonomic affinities of Lufengpithecus. Importantly, the Yunnan fossil apes provide a unique temporal perspective on the evolutionary history of hominoids. Their continued occurrence during the late Miocene and Pliocene (approximately 8-2Ma), when hominoids became extinct throughout the rest of Eurasia, suggests that southern China (and presumably southeast Asia in general) was an important refugium for hominoids, including the ancestors of the orang-utans and gibbons. The uplift of the Tibetan plateau and its impact on regional climatic conditions may have been an important contributing factor in isolating the hominoids geographically and ecologically. We speculate that changed climatic condition in the mid-Pliocene, and possibly the arrival of Homo soon after, may have precipitated the regional extinction of large hominoids in southern China and in mainland southeast Asia.     

Mass spectrometric U-series dating of Huanglong Cave in Hubei Province,central China: Evidence for early presence of modern humans in eastern Asia

Most researchers believe that anatomically modern humans (AMH) first appeared in Africa 160-190 ka ago, and would not have reached eastern Asia until ∼50 ka ago. However, the credibility of these scenarios might have been compromised by a largely inaccurate and compressed chronological framework previously established for hominin fossils found in China. Recently there has been a growing body of evidence indicating the possible presence of AMH in eastern Asia ca. 100 ka ago or even earlier. Here we report high-precision mass spectrometric U-series dating of intercalated flowstone samples from Huanglong Cave, a recently discovered Late Pleistocene hominin site in northern Hubei Province, central China. Systematic excavations there have led to the in situ discovery of seven hominin teeth and dozens of stone and bone artifacts. The U-series dates on localized thin flowstone formations bracket the hominin specimens between 81 and 101 ka, currently the most narrow time span for all AMH beyond 45 ka in China, if the assignment of the hominin teeth to modern Homo sapiens holds. Alternatively this study provides further evidence for the early presence of an AMH morphology in China, through either independent evolution of local archaic populations or their assimilation with incoming AMH. Along with recent dating results for hominin samples from Homo erectus to AMH, a new extended and continuous timeline for Chinese hominin fossils is taking shape, which warrants a reconstruction of human evolution, especially the origins of modern humans in eastern Asia.     

Hominid cranial remains from upper Pleistocene deposits at Aduma, Middle Awash, Ethiopia

The Upper Pleistocene localities of Aduma and Bouri have yielded hominid fossils and extensive Middle Stone Age (MSA) archaeological assemblages. The vertebrate fossils recovered include parts of four hominid crania from Aduma and a complete right parietal from Bouri. Archaeological associations and radiometric techniques suggest an Upper Pleistocene age for these hominids. The more complete cranium from Aduma (ADU-VP-1/3) comprises most of the parietals, the occipital, and part of the frontal. This cranium is compared to late Middle and Upper Pleistocene hominid crania from Africa and the Middle East. The Aduma cranium shows a mosaic of cranial features shared with "premodern" and anatomically modern Homo sapiens. However, the posterior and lateral cranial dimensions, and most of its anatomy, are centered among modern humans and resemble specimens from Omo, Skhul, and Qafzeh. As a result, the Aduma and Bouri Upper Pleistocene hominids are assigned to anatomically modern Homo sapiens.     

Species-specific albumin in fossil bones from Orce, Granada, Spain

A skull fragment (VM-0) from Orce, Granada, Spain, dated palaeomagnetically at about 1.6 Myr, is thought by some palaeontologist to be hominid, while others maintain it is equid. If hominid, it would be by far the oldest evidence ofHomo in Europe. Immunological studies on residual albumin in this fossil were carried out independently, and with different immunological methods, at the University of California, San Francisco (radioimmunoassay), and at the University of Granada, Spain (enzyme immunoassay). Other fossils attributed to hominids also studied wereVM1960 from Venta Micena, andCV-1 from Cueva Victoria, Murcia, Spain. Undisputed equid and bovid fossils from the same deposits and dated to a similar period as the Orce skull were also analyzed. Our results showed that species-specific albumin can be detected in 1.6 Myr-old hominid, equid and bovid fossils. The albumin from the Orce skull fragment and fromVM-1960 was immunologically closer to human albumin. These findings support the contention that theVM-0 andVM-1960 are hominid and that members of the genusHomo occupied southern Spain 1.6 Myr ago.     

A critique of the chronometric evidence for hominid fossils: I. Africa and the Near East 500-50 ka

The chronometric dating evidence for all hominid fossils from Africa and the Near East that have previously been dated to 500-50 ka is critically assessed using the concept of chronometric hygiene, and these dates are revised using Bayesian statistical analyses where possible. Sixteen relevant hominid sites lacking chronometric evidence are briefly discussed. Chronometric evidence from 37 sites is assessed in detail. The dates for many hominid fossils are poorly constrained, with a number dated by comparisons of faunal assemblages-a method that does not have good chronological resolution for much of the last million years. For sites with stratigraphic sequences of dates, it is generally possible to refine the dating, but in some cases, the revised chronology is less precise than previous chronologies. Fossils over 200 ka in age tend to be poorly dated, but for the last 200 kyr, dating is better due to the availability of electron-spin-resonance and thermoluminescence dating. Consideration of the chronologies favored by the proponents of the out-of-Africa and multiregional hypotheses of human evolution shows their selectivity. The chronological assessment of the fossils here is compatible with either hypothesis. If evolutionary schemes that do not rely on the morphology of the hominid fossils to decide the sequence of fossils are to be built, then further dating is required, alongside full publication of existing dates.     

Is the Narmada hominid an Indian Homo erectus?

In 1982 a fossil hominid calvaria was found in a middle Pleistocene deposit in the central Narmada valley of Madhya Pradesh, India, and was assigned to the new taxon Homo erectus narmadensis. Subsequently, morphometric studies of the specimen were conducted by two separate research teams from France and the United States, both in collaboration with Indian colleagues. Results of the most recent study, which includes morphometric and comparative investigations, lead to the conclusion that "Narmada Man" is appropriately identified as Homo sapiens. While the calvaria shares some anatomical features with Asian Homo erectus specimens, it exhibits a broader suite of morphological and mensural characteristics suggesting affinities with early Homo sapiens fossils from Asia, Europe, and Africa as well as demonstrating that the Narmada calvaria possesses some unique anatomical features, perhaps because the specimen reflects the incoherent classificatory condition of the genus Homo.     

关于元谋人化石地质时代的讨论

根据对元谋组(广义)的岩石地层,古生物地层和磁性地层的重新认识,确认由广义的元谋组建立上新统沙沟组、下更新统元谋组(狭义)和中更新统上那蚌组的划分。 元谋人化石产出在上那蚌组,时代为中更新世,处在古地磁极性柱的布容正向期的底部,其时代应不超过73万年,即可能为距今50—60万年。     

Middle Pleistocene human cranium from Tangshan (Nanjing), Southeast China: a new reconstruction and comparisons with Homo erectus from Eurasia and Africa

The morphology and affinities of early and middle Pleistocene Homo erectus in East Asia have been explored since the late nineteenth century. A fragmentary hominid cranium (Nanjing no.1) recovered in Tangshan near Nanjing, China bears directly on these issues. In the present study, the morphological features of Nanjing no.1 are described and compared with Homo erectus from both Eurasia and Africa. Our results indicate that this middle Pleistocene hominid fossil should be referred to as Homo erectus. The sharing of typical Homo erectus features with African and European counterparts demonstrates that Homo erectus is a widely distributed lineage that evolved during the million years after its Pliocene origins. The differences between Nanjing no.1 and Zhoukoudian suggest certain level of regional variation in East Asian Homo erectus.     

Foramen magnum position variation in Pan troglodytes, Plio-Pleistocene hominids, and recent Homo sapiens: implications for recognizing the earliest hominids

The anteroposterior position of the foramen magnum distinguishes living Homo sapiens from apes, and has been used as evidence for the hominid status of numerable fossils in the history of human paleontology. During the past decade, foramen magnum position has been cited as evidence of the hominid status of Ardipithecus and Sahelanthropus. Specifically, the basion of Ardpithecus is reported to be inline with the bicarotid chord, while the basion of Sahelanthropus is reported to both touch the biporion chord and intersect the bicarotid chord. In order to assess the effectiveness of anteroposterior foramen magnum position in distinguishing hominids from nonhominid apes, this study examined whether or not the positions of biporion and bicarotid relative to basion sufficiently distinguished Pan troglodytes from recent Homo sapiens and Plio-Pleistocene hominids. The distances from basion to the biporion chord (BSBIP) and from basion to the bicarotid chord (BSBIC) were measured on samples of chimpanzee (n = 69) and recent human (n = 42) crania and a sample of Plio-Pleistocene hominid fossils (n = 8). The data were used to test the hypothesis that BSBIP and BSBIC measurements do not sufficiently distinguish P. troglodytes from hominids. While basion to biporion (BSBIP) does not effectively distinguish P. troglodytes from Plio-Pleistocene hominids and humans when used univariately, basion to bicarotid (BSBIC), when used univariately or bivariately with BSBIP, can be used to test whether or not an unknown specimen is a hominid. These results are used to evaluate the hominid status of Ardipithecus and Sahelanthropus.