甘肃西山坪遗址5000年水稻遗存的植物硅酸体记录

西山坪遗址水稻遗存的植物硅酸体记录和炭屑以及碳化种子加速器^14C测年显示甘肃天水5000年前已开始种植水稻,是我国西北部有精确定年的最古老的稻作遗存,也是水稻种植的最西北端。西山坪水稻遗存将稻作农业记录向西拓展了至少2个经度。这一发现有助于准确判定5000年这一重要时点东亚水稻种植的区域以及了解水稻的种植与传播对农业和环境产生的影响。     

水稻遗存在陕西华县东阳遗址的发现与探讨

稻作的起源与传播一直是学术界关注的热点,然而水稻何时传入黄河中游并扩散至关中地区,则是需要进一步探讨的问题。华县东阳遗址是关中地区仰韶早中期的过渡性遗存(ca. 5900-5600 cal. BP)。本文借助植硅体分析,并结合炭化植物遗存,探讨了东阳遗址水稻的栽培和利用情况,并尝试分析水稻在关中地区出现的动因及传播过程。研究显示,东阳先民在以种植粟黍为主的同时,已经开始少量的栽培水稻,稻粟兼作的种植模式在此时出现。本研究发现的东阳遗址水稻遗存是目前关中地区最早的水稻遗存,指示了水稻至少在距今5800年时传入关中地区。仰韶晚期至龙山早期关中稻作获得较大发展,至龙山晚期则鲜少发现。该研究刷新了中国北方半干旱-半湿润区最早的水稻遗存记录,为进一步了解稻作起源与传播提供了基础数据。     

海南史前农业活动研究取得新进展

正稻作起源与传播是学术界关注的热点问题。一般说来,南方地区浮选获得的水稻大植物遗存较少,难以深入探讨这一重要科学问题。相对而言,植硅体具有耐腐蚀和易保存特征,常常大量保存在考古遗址和沉积物中,因此,水稻植硅体分析成为获取和鉴定稻作遗存的一个重要且有效的手段。稻作农业南传是稻作农业传播的重要领域之一,它与南亚语系和南岛语系的人群在内陆和东南亚地区的扩张密切相关。海南岛地域独特,应该是稻作     

河南鹿台遗址炭化植物遗存揭示的新石器时代晚期的人类生计活动

鹿台遗址出土了丰富的炭化植物遗存,作物组合显示仰韶时期农业经济是单纯的种植粟黍的旱作农业,龙山时期农作物新品种开始出现,作物种植结构趋于多样化。基于龙山时期成熟粟类作物和不成熟粟类作物的量化分析,鹿台遗址龙山时期聚落很可能存在作物加工活动,不同阶段的加工活动可能是在聚落内不同区域,以小规模的核心家庭为基础开展。综合相关研究,豫北地区仰韶时期仍是单一的种植小米的旱作农业经济,稻作农业并未影响到这一区域,龙山时期水稻、大豆和小麦等新农作物开始出现,农业多样化逐渐显现。与此同时,豫北地区龙山时期不同遗址在农作物种植结构方面存在些许差异,这一差异很可能与遗址微观地貌、聚落和特定人群的主观选择有关。鹿台遗址炭化植物遗存研究深化了对中原地区新石器时代晚期环境、生业与社会关系的认识。     

水稻扇型植硅体野生–驯化特征研究进展

近年来,植硅体分析方法被广泛应用于考古学领域,为世界农业起源、演化研究提供了新的手段和关键证据,其中在稻作农业起源和传播的研究中,水稻扇型植硅体对于发现、鉴定水稻遗存起到了重要的作用。研究农业起源的关键,是找到地质考古记录中的植物遗存,并准确鉴定野生–驯化特征,本文介绍了水稻扇型植硅体鉴定方法从定性到定量研究的历史,重点阐述了现代野生稻生长区、驯化水稻田、旱稻田表土中水稻扇型植硅体鱼鳞状纹饰研究的新进展,明确了野生、驯化水稻扇型植硅体研究中关于个体鉴定、选择和鱼鳞状纹饰计数的标准,在此基础上讨论了野生和驯化水稻扇型植硅体纹饰产生差异的可能原因和机制。希望通过本文的总结与讨论,能够使植硅体分析方法在作物起源和传播的研究中得到更准确、更广泛的应用。     

安徽临泉宫庄遗址大汶口文化早期与龙山文化时期稻作农业发展的植硅体证据

新石器时代晚期(7.0-5.0ka BP)是淮河中游地区单一稻作农业向稻旱兼作农业转变的关键阶段,然而,由于相关研究资料的匮乏,目前学术界对这一转变过程以及该时期淮河中游地区农作物的驯化水平等问题依然不清楚。本文利用植硅体分析方法,结合相对应年代分析结果,对安徽临泉宫庄遗址大汶口文化早期、龙山文化时期的的农业发展与植物资源利用情况进行了研究,结果在宫庄遗址大汶口文化早期和龙山文化时期的大多数土样中都发现有水稻特征型植硅体,且水稻植硅体的百分含量随时间推移呈现出逐渐增加的趋势,同时未发现粟、黍等其它农作物遗存的证据。这一结果表明大汶口文化早期和龙山文化时期,该遗址先民从事的是单一稻作农业,基本沿袭着淮河中游地区新石器时代中期以来的稻作农业传统。对水稻扇型植硅体边缘鱼鳞状纹饰数量统计结果显示,宫庄遗址大汶口文化早期水稻的驯化水平已接近于现代栽培稻。此外,本研究还在该遗址所有样品中发现有较丰富的竹亚科植物特征型植硅体,推测宫庄遗址先民可能较普遍的利用竹亚科植物作为工具、建筑、食物等的原材料。本文研究结果可为淮河中游地区新石器时代晚、末期先民的植物资源利用概况,农作物结构演替,水稻的驯化历程等研究提供重要的科学依据。     

大河与稻作农业起源

正人类起源、农业起源和文明起源一直是世界考古学界三大攻关课题。其中,农业起源是人类历史发展进程中的一个重要转折点,而在低纬度地区,农业起源最重要的组成部分就是稻作起源问题。水稻是世界上最主要的粮食作物之一,养活了全球近一半人口。同时,现今世界上种植的水稻几乎都是亚洲栽培稻。亚洲栽培稻起源于普     

从文坎沟东地点的植物遗存分析南阳盆地先秦时期的农业活动

南阳盆地,作为地理过渡地带和文化交汇区,其考古学文化面貌呈现出南北交融的典型特征。文坎沟东地点是南阳盆地淅川县龙山时代晚期和西周时期的重要遗存,本文综合运用大植物和植硅体分析的方法,结合已有的植物考古证据和最新的测年结果,全面探讨了文坎先民先秦时期的种植模式和特点。研究结果显示,龙山时代晚期,文坎先民是以粟、黍为主的旱作农业为生,兼种少量水稻和小麦,小麦和水稻在先民生活中的作用比较微弱;西周时期,延续了旱作农业为主的生产模式,种植规模略有扩大,未见炭化水稻的踪迹,但植硅体分析显示仍有水稻种植的现象;受中原宗周势力的影响和版图扩张的需求,小麦逐渐开始在先民生活中占据一席之地。文坎沟东地点植物遗存的发现与研究,为揭示豫西南先秦时期的文化面貌和与中原地区的文化交流提供了新的材料。     

江苏泗洪顺山集遗址植硅体分析及其环境意义

江苏泗洪顺山集遗址是淮河中下游地区迄今为止发现年代最早的新石器时代遗址之一。本文对遗址三个不同文化时期连续剖面土壤堆积物中的植硅体进行分析,结果显示该遗址先民早在距今8 500年左右已经开始种植水稻,并一直延续到遗址三期(7 500 BP)。植硅体组合分析结果表明,顺山集遗址所处时期的气候总体上较温暖湿润,但存在气候波动,从一期至三期大体上经历了温暖—偏凉—回暖的过程,可能对应了全新世高温期到来之前的气候转暖。从顺山集遗址水稻遗存的连续发现以及水稻驯化水平不断提高来看,气候变冷并未抑制当地稻作农业的发展,相反在一定程度上可能促进了其发展与扩散。本文研究结果对研究全新世早中期中国中东部气候变化背景下人类适应策略提供了重要的科学依据。     

河南郑州汪沟遗址出土的植硅体

汪沟遗址是豫中地区仰韶文化晚期一处高等级的中心性聚落遗址。在2014-2016年三个季度的发掘中我们系统采集了植硅体土样并进行了分析。研究结果显示：汪沟聚落仰韶文化晚期的农作物有粟、黍和水稻;黍粟比例较高,水稻的比例较低;稻作农业较旱作农业规模小,种植少,但水稻和粟黍的出土概率相差很小,说明水稻和粟黍一样都是汪沟先民日常食用的作物,是汪沟先民植物性食物的重要组成部分。我们根据炭化植物遗存分析的结果推测,汪沟遗址的粟黍和水稻在不同的季节以连杆带穗的方式收割,然后在壕沟南部区域对谷物进行集中脱粒,脱粒后的粟黍和稻被共同储藏在房址周围,个体家庭需要食用的时候在房屋内或周围进行脱壳。大规模的谷物收割和在特定场所集中进行的脱粒加工活动说明,汪沟聚落有着较强的劳动组织能力,有较大型社会生产组织的存在,大家庭或家族公社是聚落生产与生活中的基本组成单位。     

磨沟墓地古代居民头骨的形态学分析

本文对甘肃省甘南藏族自治州临潭县磨沟墓地保存情况良好的295例成年个体进行了头骨形态学的分析,其中283例(男性164例,女性119例)个体来自齐家文化时期的墓葬,距今大约4000~3500年,12例个体(男性7例,女性5例)出自寺洼文化时期的墓葬,大约距今3500~3000年,磨沟组齐家文化居民和寺洼文化居民在体质特征上具有一致性,接近现代亚洲蒙古人种中的东亚类型。在与若干近代组和古代组的对比中,磨沟组古代居民则是与代表东亚蒙古人种的华北组和华南组以及古代组中同处甘青地区的火烧沟组和核桃庄组较为接近。     

A late pleistocene and holocene vegetation and environmental record from Lake Wangoom, Western Plains of Victoria, Australia

Pollen, microfaunal and sedimentological evidence from the top 20 m of sediment in a closed volcanic crater lake is used to construct a detailed record of vegetation and environmental conditions through the Holocene and a substantial part of the Late Pleistocene. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the sequence covers tha last 51,000 yr or so. High lake-levels and the presence of forest or woodland vegetation indicate that the Holocene and the basal few thousand years of the record experienced wet and warm conditions. The earliest period was succeeded by a long phase of lower but variable moisture levels before more arid conditions resulted in the replacement of forest and woodland by herbaceous vegetation and frequent lake drying. Periods of slight amelioration occurred between about 27,000 and 19,000 and before 15,000 radiocarbon yr ago. Maximum aridity occurred between about 19,000 and 10,000 yr B.P., a period incorporating the height of the last glacial. During the Pleistocene, the lake became gradually more saline but has been fresh during the Holocene, even under low lake-levels.

An increase in charcoal values is recorded, probably around 20,000 years ago, and this could have resulted from increased burning as a result of the activities of Aboriginal people. This may have also caused a change in understorey vegetation from one composed largely of Asteraceae, to grassland.

The record is compared with others from southeastern Australia and there is good correspondence through the last 20,000 or 30,000 yr but, before this, problems of dating and the condensed nature of most sequences prevent detailed correlation.     

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.     

The salt lakes of western Canada: A paleolimnological overview

The northern Great Plains of western Canada contain many saline and hypersaline lakes. Deadmoose and Waldsea Lakes in south-central Saskatchewan are meromictic, with saline Mg-Na-SO₄-Cl waters overlying denser brines of similar composition. Mineralogical, chemical, palynological, and stable isotope analyses of the sediments in the Waldsea basin indicate the lake was much shallower about 4 000 years ago in response to a warmer and drier climate. Since that time water levels have generally increased in the basin giving rise to higher organic productivity and greater inorganic carbonate precipitation. Within this overall trend there is also evidence of several lower water stages during the last 3 000 years. The stratigraphy preserved in the Deadmoose basin suggests considerably lower water levels about 1 000 years ago.Ceylon Lake, located about 350 km south of the Waldsea-Deadmoose area, is presently a shallow, saline playa. The basin originated about 15 000 years ago as a glacial meltwater spillway. Stratigraphic variation in evaporite and carbonate mineralogy shows that the basin evolved from a relatively low salinity, riverine lake to one in which initially Na-rich and then Mg-rich hypersaline brines dominated.Lake Manitoba is a large, hyposaline lake located in the eastern Great Plains about 700 km from the Deadmoose-Waldsea area. Stable oxygen and carbon isotope analyses of the endogenic carbonates in the basin indicate gradually increasing levels of organic productivity but decreasing temperatures between 9 000 and 5 000 years B.P. Between about 4 000 and 2 000 years ago the isotope ratios suggest relatively stable temperatures followed by a strong decrease during the most recent 2 000 year period.     

Earliest Pottery on New Guinea Mainland Reveals Austronesian Influences in Highland Environments 3000 Years Ago

Austronesian speaking peoples left Southeast Asia and entered the Western Pacific c.4000-3000 years ago, continuing on to colonise Remote Oceania for the first time, where they became the ancestral populations of Polynesians. Understanding the impact of these peoples on the mainland of New Guinea before they entered Remote Oceania has eluded archaeologists. New research from the archaeological site of Wañelek in the New Guinea Highlands has broken this silence. Petrographic and geochemical data from pottery and new radiocarbon dating demonstrates that Austronesian influences penetrated into the highland interior by 3000 years ago. One potsherd was manufactured along the northeast coast of New Guinea, whereas others were manufactured from inland materials. These findings represent the oldest securely dated pottery from an archaeological context on the island of New Guinea. Additionally, the pottery comes from the interior, suggesting the movements of people and technological practices, as well as objects at this time. The antiquity of the Wañelek pottery is coincident with the expansion of Lapita pottery in the Western Pacific. Such occupation also occurs at the same time that changes have been identified in subsistence strategies in the archaeological record at Kuk Swamp suggesting a possible link between the two.     

Paoay Lake,northern Luzon,the Philippines: a record of Holocene environmental change

The last 7000 years of environmental history for Paoay Lake and its surrounding landscape is examined through the analysis of pollen, diatoms, charcoal, mineral magnetics and AMS dating. Basal sediments contain shells of Cerithiidae and the saline‐tolerant diatom Diploneis indicating that this was an estuarine environment before becoming a freshwater lake after 6000 bp . Pollen analysis shows that submontane forests, characterized by Pinus pollen, underwent a major disturbance around 5000 years ago, recovering to previous levels by 1000 years ago. Charcoal as an indicator of fire is abundant throughout record, although the highest levels occur in the earlier part of the record, between 6500 and 5000 years ago. An aspect of the project was to examine whether there is evidence of land clearance and agricultural development in the region during the late Holocene. While a clear signal of human impact in the record remains equivocal, there appears to be a correspondence between submontane forest decline and mid‐Holocene ocean data that depict warmer and possibly drier conditions for the region. The study highlights the vulnerability of these montane forests to forecasts of a warmer and drier climate in the near future.     

Flying shells: historical dispersal of marine snails across Central America

The geological rise of the Central American Isthmus separated the Pacific and the Atlantic oceans about 3 Ma, creating a formidable barrier to dispersal for marine species. However, similar to Simpson's proposal that terrestrial species can 'win sweepstakes routes'-whereby highly improbable dispersal events result in colonization across geographical barriers-marine species may also breach land barriers given enough time. To test this hypothesis, we asked whether intertidal marine snails have crossed Central America to successfully establish in new ocean basins. We used a mitochondrial DNA genetic comparison of sister snails (Cerithideopsis spp.) separated by the rise of the Isthmus. Genetic variation in these snails revealed evidence of at least two successful dispersal events between the Pacific and the Atlantic after the final closure of the Isthmus. A combination of ancestral area analyses and molecular dating techniques indicated that dispersal from the Pacific to the Atlantic occurred about 750 000 years ago and that dispersal in the opposite direction occurred about 72 000 years ago. The geographical distribution of haplotypes and published field evidence further suggest that migratory shorebirds transported the snails across Central America at the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico. Migratory birds could disperse other intertidal invertebrates this way, suggesting the Central American Isthmus may not be as impassable for marine species as previously assumed.