试论岭南中石器时代

作者在分析了岭南地区一批石器时代遗址后指出,这批遗址在时代上晚于本区的旧石器时代晚期,但早于本区的新石器时代早期,是具有明显的由旧石器时代晚期向新石器时代早期过渡的性质,应属于中石器时代。这批遗址有广西的武鸣苞桥A洞,来宾盖头洞,崇左矮洞,广东的阳春独仔岩,封开黄岩洞等12处。     

东山陆桥动物化石上的人工痕迹

去年１１月 ,中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所的祁国琴先生、中国社会科学院考古研究所的韩康信先生以及台湾自然科学博物馆的何传坤先生 ,应邀到福建东山岛考察。他们在东山县博物馆一批来自东山海域的哺乳动物化石中 ,发现数件标本上带有人类加工或使用的痕迹 ,这无疑对了解东山陆桥史前文化 ,是一个重要的线索。随后 ,笔者对东山县博物馆所有馆藏的来自东山海域的动物化石进行了比较全面和细致地观察 ,又在一些标本上发现了同样的痕迹 ,笔者尝试着对这些痕迹进行解释 ,并力图对“东山陆桥”的史前文化有个初步印象。一标本的来源东山…     

Metapopulation的概念及其在植物种群生态学中的应用（I）Metapopulation概念的理解和辨析

Ｍｅｔａｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎ的概念及其在植物种群生态学中的应用（Ｉ）Ｍｅｔａｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎ概念的理解和辨析叶万辉关文彬（黑龙江中医学院哈尔滨１５００４０）（东北林业大学哈尔滨１５００４０）刘正恩（黑龙江中医学院哈尔滨１５００４０）Ｃｏｎｃｅｐｔ...     

Meta分析及其在生态学上的应用

１Ｍｅｔａ分析的概念和它的发展应用Ｍｅｔａ分析（Ｍｅｔａ－Ａｎａｌｙｓｉｓ）是一种定量综合研究结果的方法．这种方法的思想起源于本世纪３０年代,６０年代用于教育、心理等社会科学领域,１９７６年由Ｇｌａｓ命名为术语“Ｍｅｔａ－Ａｎａｌｙｓｉｓ”［１］。Ｇ...     

海岱地区史前居民的拔牙习俗

在海岱地区古代居民中,北辛文化居民最早出现拔牙现象,都是拔除双侧上颌侧门齿,单一形式且高出现率的拔牙现象可能与成年仪式相关。结合考古材料和民族学资料来看,凿、敲或打应该是海岱地区史前居民去除牙齿的主要方式,具体操作应该是用细小且坚硬的工具抵在需去除的牙齿上,然后用石块等工具进行敲打。海岱地区古代居民对去除后的牙齿进行了相对随意或特意的处理,且原牙位空间没有进行其他填充。这种拔牙现象的消逝可能始于大汶口文化晚期,进入龙山文化时期海岱地区的这种拔牙现象出现了整体性的衰落。     

长江流域的史前文化

长江流域的史前文化文津长江是我国的第一大河，在世界上仅次于非洲的尼罗河和南美州的亚马逊河，位居第三。它西起源于青藏高原唐古拉山主峰格拉丹东雪山的西南侧，东流至祟明岛入海。全长６３侧公里，拥有７００多条主流，流经青海、西藏、云南、四川、贵州、湖南、湖北...     

黄河流域的史前文化

黄河流域的史前文化文园黄河是我国仅次于长江的第二大河。它西起源于青海巴颜喀拉山北麓的约古宗列盆地，东至山东监利入海，全长５４００多公里。它拥有流域面积达１００平方公里以上的支流２１９条，流经青海、甘肃、宁夏、内蒙、陕西、山西、河南、河北、山东等九个省...     

略論新石器时代的一些打制石器

一打制石器是人类开始劳动的产物,从旧石器时代初期起便已經被应用了。这种粗糙的生产工具,在漫长的人类生产斗爭过程中起了显著的作用。到了中石器时代,开始在石器上出現局部磨光的現象;至于磨制石器則盛行于新石器时代,直到青銅器时代初期也还占着比較主要的地位。从生产工具的不同发展阶段,充分說明了人类生产力及其物貭文     

Meta一种群结构及其遗传后果

Ｍｅｔａｐｏｐｕｌａｔｉｏｎ最初是由Ｌｅｖｉｎｓ[1 ] 提出 ,用于表示种群的种群 ,他的这个概念得到广泛接受。由于该词的多义以及在植物种群生态学中也用于表示构件种群 ,因此国内对该词的译法差别较大 ,叶万辉等人对此作了探讨[2 ] 。为防止概念的混淆 ,笔者在本文中采用ｍｅｔａ 种群。Ｍｅｔａ 种群概念被广泛接受的原因之一是它将景观生态学中时空尺度的观点应用于经典种群生态学 ,使其从局域扩展到一定的区域 ,因而更适合于物种的保护和管理 ,徐宏发等人[3] 对此也作了比较详细的论述。ｍｅｔａ 种群结构不仅在种群数量方面 ,对经…     

浮光掠影台湾岛

“我爱我的台湾啊，台湾是我家乡。……”这是上个世纪５０年代初期流行的一首台湾民歌，每当涉及台湾，这首歌就会在我的脑海里情不自禁地萦绕浮现。台湾是美丽的，也是令人非常向往的。２００２年９月，台湾历史语言研究所所长黄宽重先生邀请我到台湾科学访问。有幸在台湾做了一次环岛考古旅行。拜访考古老寿星石璋如先生９月１３日上午，历史语言研究所陈仲玉教授急匆匆跑来告诉我，石老现在正在研究所。等待拜见石先生的机会终于来临，我立即跟随陈先生前往研究所。石老在他办公室愉快地接见了我，据说他非常乐意接待大陆来的客人。石老…     

Postpleistocene evolution of the brain?

The number of extraneurons (N_c) has been calculated with the formulae of Jerison ('63) for prehistoric population samples to check the hypothesis that N_c may not only increase by increasing of cranial capacity but also by decreasing of body-weight (gracilisation). Body weight of skeletal populations has been estimated by the formula of Debetz ('67). Samples from the Western part of Europe and Egypt support the hypothesis, but Eastern europoid samples display opposite relations: N_c increases with robusticity. It seems (as Jerison already suggested) that N_c is no measurement of the level of behavior in the populations of H. sapiens; but it may point towards allometric differences between West and East, which are also known for other characters.     

Tooth wear in Australian aboriginal populations from the River Murray Valley

The study of tooth wear among prehistoric and recent populations has frequently been concerned with the rate and pattern of wear over the dental arches. In this report we considered the question of tooth wear variation among collections of Australian Aboriginal crania recovered from several sites along the Murray River in Southeastern Australia. These crania represent the remains of relatively recent populations from about 2,000 years ago until the early 19th century. The degree of tooth wear for each dental arch was recorded by an established method of determining the ratio of exposed dentin. The pattern or distribution of wear over each arch was summarized by principal component analysis. The mean wear degree and pattern were compared among four geographical grouping of crania separated by up to 700 miles of river frontage. Our results showed, as expected, a significant difference between the well-defined population at the Lower Murray site (Swanport) and the three upriver groups. However, there were significant differences among these three collections as well. Sexual dimorphism was noted but was only significant in the Lower Murray group; the mean wear was greater and also more variable among the males. At the second of the Middle Murray sites the pattern of wear was different and the degree of wear was significantly less than in the other groups. A possible explanation for this diversity may be environmental and subsistence base differences. The evidence from the Lower Murray supports this possibility, but the differences among the other three groups are not as clearly established. However, our results do suggest that the Murray Black collection, from which these crania were obtained, may not be as homogeneous a group as previously believed.     

Holocene Human Footprints in North America

Reports of human footprints from North American archaeological sites are summarized and described. Although some human footprints have been claimed to be of Pleistocene and earlier ages, the earliest authenticated prints in America north of Mexico, as distinct from Central or South America, date to the Holocene. The earliest of these prints is at least 5,070 years old, and the youngest are late prehistoric period, only about 400 years old. Footprint sites are reported in the U.S. Southeast, Southwest, and California. Activities indicated by ancient North American human footprints include the mundane, such as daily tasks in a riparian zone and domestic behaviors inside a habitation. Footprints were also left by prehistoric peoples undertaking more esoteric activities deep in cave interiors, including exploration, mineral extraction, and ritual.     

Histological enamel indicator of childhood stress in prehistoric skeletal samples.

Although previous paleopathological studies have used disturbances in enamel formation as indicators of childhood stress, the full potential of this technique has not been realized. This paper presents a test case which demonstrates that the frequency of disturbed enamel formation (i.e., Wilson bands) is associated with other stress indicators (i.e., probability of dying and infectious lesions) in three prehistoric skeletal samples representing the Middle Woodland (10.3%), Mississippian Acculturated Late Woodland (21.4%), and the Middle Mississippian (40.0%). Additionally, the mean ages at death of individuals with at least one Wilson band are lower than those without bands.These results suggest that Wilson bands are an indicator of the relative proportion of individuals who are high susceptibles in prehistoric populations. The data also corroborate the hypothesis that the adoption of maize agriculture in the prehistoric American Midwest is associated with increased stress.     

Defective enamel histology of prehistoric teeth from illinois

Histological enamel defects have been used as indicators of childhood morbidity and nutritional inadequacy. However, the usefulness of these defects has been hampered by a lack of clear criteria for differentiating normal and defective enamel. This report demonstrates that the criteria of abnormal prism structure can accurately differentiate defective enamel (i.e., pathological bands) from normal enamel. In addition, pathological bands can be divided into three distinct subtypes: distorted structure bands, black spot pathological bands, and structureless pathological bands. It has been assumed that the patterning of pathological bands and enamel hypoplasia is the same for all populations. Comparisons between populations show that each population has its own unique pattern. It has also been assumed that striae of Retzius, pathological bands, and enamel hypoplasias represent three grades of severity of the same phenomenon. Correlations between these three features demonstrate instead that this patterning is possibly influenced by the morphology of the teeth.     

Archaeobotanical remains of hulled and naked cereals in the Iberian Peninsula

Archaeobotanical finds in Spain show differences in the representation of the different wheats and barleys. From the beginning of agriculture (around 5000 B.C.) onwards, all wheats and barleys can be found at the sites of the eastern Peninsula. But in later periods of the early Neolithic, free-threshing wheat becomes more important in the northeast and the southeast, compared to the hulled wheats (emmer and einkorn). Nevertheless, both naked and hulled barleys can be found in similar frequencies in this period. Seed analyses in the southeast and the east of Spain show the importance of naked barley compared with hulled barley in the third millenium uncal B.C. This is not the case in the northeast, where hulled barley has a similar frequency in this period until the Iron Age, when both hulled barley and free-threshing wheat are the most important taxa. The substitution of naked barley for hulled barley in the south-east Iberian Peninsula is very significant in the period of greatest growth of the Argar culture. Free-threshing wheat can be found at a similar frequency throughout the study area, and was an important human food source together with the barleys. Hulled wheats seem to have played a secondary role as food in all periods, although they are constantly present in our samples. Nevertheless spelt wheat does not appear until the Roman period, when it is only found on the Cantabrian north coast, where it is important.     

Bone strontium in pregnant and lactating females from archaeological samples

Because plants and animals consume or absorb different amounts of strontium and calcium, anthropologists are able to use strontium/calcium (Sr/Ca) ratios from archaeologically recovered human bone to estimate the relative contributions of meat and plants to paleodiets. Often females exhibit higher Sr/Ca ratios than males, a fact usually attributed to lower meat intake among women. However, in vivo and in vitro experiments with laboratory animals show that pregnancy and lactation elevate maternal bone strontium and depress maternal bone calcium because 1) strontium is discriminated against in favor of calcium in the transport of ions to the placenta and mammary glands and 2) pregnancy and lactation facilitate absorption of alkaline earth metals from the gut. In this study, bone Sr/Ca ratios and strontium concentrations were compared between reproductive-age females, postmenopausal females, and adult males from two late prehistoric Native American sites in Georgia: the King site (N = 43) and the Etowah site (N = 51). At the King site, the mean Sr/Ca ratio of females was over 14% greater than that of males. At Etowah, the mean strontium level of reproductive-age females exceeded that of postmenopausal females by almost 25%. Most of the difference, it is argued, is due to pregnancy and lactation. A dietary preference among pregnant and lactating women for foods high in alkaline earths, particularly nuts and corn, may also be partially responsible. Until we assess the influence variables other than nutrition exert on trace element concentrations, our reconstructions of paleodiets will be suspect.     

Microevolution in prehistoric andean populations: I. Chronologic craniometric variation

Mahalanobis D² statistics (with size and shape components) were computed for nine craniometric variables among five prehistoric groups representing steps in the microevolutionary history of a coastal population in Northern Chile. Roughly 80% of craniometric variation was found to be explained by chronologic distance covering a period of roughly 6500 years. Kinship decreases in this population at a relatively constant rate of 8.6 × 10^?5 per year.