中国狩猎采集者的模拟研究

狩猎采集者在中国这块土地上生存了上百万年,尤其在晚更新世之末全新世之初他们的适应模式发生了根本的改变,而我们对这个问题的研究相对比较单一。本文提出一个简约的模型来模拟狩猎采集者可能的适应行为的变化。这个模型利用我国431个气象站三十年的气候材料,模拟狩猎采集者的生态环境与可能的食物资源,然后参考民族学上狩猎采集者的材料来推定我们假想的狩猎采集者的生计特征,进而预测他们可能的适应行为的变化,尤其是这些变化的地理分布,这对于我们探讨史前狩猎采集者适应行为变迁的规律可能有一定的启示作用。     

郑州地区晚更新世中期人类的生计方式——老奶奶庙遗址动物遗存研究

本文对郑州晚更新世老奶奶庙遗址从动物考古学的视角进行研究。埋藏学观察显示动物遗存的堆积是人类活动的结果。动物遗存主要由马科和原始牛构成,还包含羚羊、鹿类、野猪、犀牛等。对马科动物的分析表明:人类很可能把猎物整体搬运到遗址上进行屠宰。动物骨骼中的骨髓与油脂被充分提取,成为人类饮食的重要构成,反映了狩猎采集者最大化地获得食物的生计策略。马科动物和原始牛的死亡年龄结构显示:人类以获取成年个体为主,暗示了人类狩猎能力和集体协作行为的发展。本研究试图为进一步认识中原地区晚更新世人类生计方式与文化发展提供依据。     

晚更新世东北亚现代人迁移与交流范围的初步研究

民族考古学曾运用相似性概念对许多地区狩猎采集者的行为进行了研究,相关的民族考古学资料为研究旧石器时代晚期现代人的迁移性提供了可能。随着东北亚地区出土黑曜岩遗物遗址的增加,相应的黑曜岩产地分析研究也日益增多,目前有关长白山黑曜岩产地研究的资料已显著累积。本文参考了现今狩猎采集者的民族学资料,以产自长白山的黑曜岩遗物及分布于特定区域的有柄尖刃器为研究对象,发现晚更新世时期(MIS 2)东北亚现代人拥有广大的直接或间接活动范围。对现代人迁移性的研究不仅为区域石器制作技术的对比分析提供了便利,也为了解古人类的生存环境及适应策略提供了重要资料。     

从石制品技术特征视角探讨史前狩猎采集者的流动性

流动采食是狩猎采集者适应环境,获取生存资源的重要策略。对不同时空范围内狩猎采集群体的流动性具体特征进行探讨,有利于我们更加深入全面地理解史前狩猎采集者的人地互动模式、文化演进、社会转型等重要问题。本文以石制品技术组织理论为视角,结合相关研究案例,探讨如何通过分析考古出土的石制品特征,推断史前狩猎采集者不同形态特征的流动性策略,并讨论了通过石制品视角推断流动性特征的局限性及所需注意的事项。     

古人类对赭石的利用行为在其演化中的意义

长期以来赭石利用行为被视为人类行为现代性的标志之一,受到国内外考古学界的普遍关注。本文回溯和梳理了全球背景下赭石利用的起源、发展及其与人类演化史的关系。在现代人广泛分布于全球之后,赭石利用行为更加丰富和多样化地出现在各地,然而现有考古证据表明该行为并不是解剖学意义上的现代人突变性的发明。赭石利用不能被单纯地定义为现代人行为,而应是有着长久演化积累的现代性行为之一。在长期传播与演化过程中,赭石的功能从意识形态、艺术表达等逐渐扩展到作为矿物成分被用于实际生产生活。赭石的利用历史可追溯到中更新世中期,但其广泛分布仍与晚更新世以来现代人的广泛扩散直接相关,对于理解现代人的意识形态、社会组织方式以及艺术表达、精神文化发展都具有重要的意义。国内目前所发表的相关考古学证据相对较少,以下马碑遗址为代表的材料,也恰处于现代人在全球广泛扩散的窗口期,并伴有进步的细小石器镶嵌使用的证据,成为认识东亚现代人行为的关键性考古证据。     

甘肃省徐家城旧石器遗址的年代

庄浪县徐家城遗址是甘肃省新发现的含丰富旧石器文化遗物的遗址,主要埋藏于水洛河第二级阶地上覆的马兰黄土中。AMS14C测年及气候事件对比相结合的综合年代研究显示, 遗址主要文化层时代集中在距今4.6~2.3万年间, 属于晚更新世晚期。遗址所在的陇西盆地发现近50处晚更新世旧石器遗址, 测年、黄土地层学等的综合年代学研究利于建立该地区晚更新世完整的年代学框架, 为我们进一步讨论晚更新世人类行为演化、人类行为与环境变化的互动等重要学术问题提供了基础。     

水洞沟第12地点古人类用火研究

水洞沟遗址第12地点在2007年的考古发掘中从距今约1.1万年前的灰烬层中出土大量破碎的石块。对这些石块的形态观察、大小统计和岩性分析表明它们是被人类选择、加热、利用而后破碎的。用同类石料所做的模拟实验表明, 这些石块是在经历高温热烧后被浸入水中崩解破碎的, 即它们是生活在遗址的先民用来烧水和烹煮液体食物的"烧石"。对遗址区地下水和地表水所做的水质检测分析显示, 该地的生水中大肠杆菌含量严重超标, 不能被直接食(饮)用,但煮沸后此项危害得以消除; 生态环境资料表明当地晚更新世末以来生长着多种可被人类食用的植物, 其中的一些可食性籽粒必须经过烹煮方可被享用。该地点的烧石是首次被确认和论证的旧石器时代先民复杂、间接用火的考古证据, 对探讨该遗址古人群对特定环境的适应生存方略与聪明才智, 以及古人类用火能力与方式的发展演化, 具有重要的学术意义。     

泥河湾初探——蔚县盆地考古发掘记

<正>享誉世界的泥河湾盆地位于河北省张家口市和山西大同市,属汾渭裂谷东北端的一个晚新生代断陷盆地。截至目前,泥河湾盆地内已发现早更新世至晚更新世之末的旧石器时代遗址共计300余处,时代跨越距今170多万年至1万年前后,构建起了华北地区人类演化与旧石器时代文化序列的框架,被誉为“东方人类的故乡”。蔚县盆地地处广义泥河湾盆地的东南部,其河湖相地层内保留丰富的早期人类活动信息,在研究中国北方更新世人类演化和生存行为领域具有重要意义。     

桦甸仙人洞遗址出土的动物化石与孢粉

桦甸仙人洞旧石器遗址的上、下文化层出土了大量动物化石, 本文通过动物化石的分布状况、出土状态分析, 复原了上、下文化层沉积时期古人类的狩猎和处置猎物的行为, 总体来看, 远古人类生计方式以狩猎为主, 晚期古人类比早期对猎物资源开发得更彻底。另外, 从洞穴内大量碎骨片和石制品来看, 该洞穴可能为临时的营地或者屠宰场。通过对动物群组成、年代和孢粉分析的综合研究, 认为该遗址所处环境经历了剧烈的变化, 总体处于寒冷干燥的气候环境中, 植被以草原为主, 伴有少量森林。这一研究为探讨中国东北地区晚更新世人类的生存行为和演化特征提供了重要的研究材料和数据。     

蔚县盆地2017-2018年旧石器考古调查简报

蔚县盆地地处泥河湾盆地(广义)的东南端,是更新世人类活动的重要区域。2017-2018年,中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所等在盆地内开展系统的旧石器考古调查,新发现并确认了27处旧石器地点。相关地貌、地层对比显示,新地点年代可大致分为中更新世和晚更新世晚期两个阶段,文化遗物分别埋藏于泥河湾河湖相堆积和黄土堆积中。中更新世石制品类型包括石核、石片、石器和断块等,原料以火山岩为主,均采用锤击法进行剥片和修理石器;晚更新世晚期遗址包括石核、石片和细石叶等,原料以白云岩和燧石居多,火山岩次之,以硬锤锤击法为主要剥片技术,软锤技术少量发现。对石制品初步分析表明,蔚县盆地中更新世地点表现出了一套与阳原盆地早-中更新世不同的原料及石制品组合,且在蔚县盆地晚更新世晚期存在小型石片石器和细石器两种工业。本次调查扩大了泥河湾盆地古人类活动的地理范围与文化内涵,为揭示泥河湾盆地(广义)早期人类的迁徙与适应行为提供了有价值的线索。     

Origin and Diet of the Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers on the Mediterranean Island of Favignana (ègadi Islands,Sicily)

Hunter-gatherers living in Europe during the transition from the late Pleistocene to the Holocene intensified food acquisition by broadening the range of resources exploited to include marine taxa. However, little is known on the nature of this dietary change in the Mediterranean Basin. A key area to investigate this issue is the archipelago of the Ègadi Islands, most of which were connected to Sicily until the early Holocene. The site of Grotta d’Oriente, on the present-day island of Favignana, was occupied by hunter-gatherers when Postglacial environmental changes were taking place (14,000-7,500 cal BP). Here we present the results of AMS radiocarbon dating, palaeogenetic and isotopic analyses undertaken on skeletal remains of the humans buried at Grotta d’Oriente. Analyses of the mitochondrial hypervariable first region of individual Oriente B, which belongs to the HV-1 haplogroup, suggest for the first time on genetic grounds that humans living in Sicily during the early Holocene could have originated from groups that migrated from the Italian Peninsula around the Last Glacial Maximum. Carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses show that the Upper Palaeolithic and Mesolithic hunter-gatherers of Favignana consumed almost exclusively protein from terrestrial game and that there was only a slight increase in marine food consumption from the late Pleistocene to the early Holocene. This dietary change was similar in scale to that at sites on mainland Sicily and in the rest of the Mediterranean, suggesting that the hunter-gatherers of Grotta d’Oriente did not modify their subsistence strategies specifically to adapt to the progressive isolation of Favignana. The limited development of technologies for intensively exploiting marine resources was probably a consequence both of Mediterranean oligotrophy and of the small effective population size of these increasingly isolated human groups, which made innovation less likely and prevented transmission of fitness-enhancing adaptations.     

The significance of the oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in the late Holocene environments of west and west central Africa: A further consideration

Abundant archaeological evidence of the occurrence of the endocarp of the oil palm,Elaeis guineensis, in the rain forest and woodland savanna zones of west and central Africa from about 5000 B.P. has shown the tree to be an important element in the subsistence economy of the region; its pollen also has been recorded in most of the regional terrestrial sediments studied so far. The distinct and consistently sudden and more marked increases in this pollen during the late Holocene when compared with the late Tertiary and late Pleistocene frequencies strongly indicate that the late Holocene upsurges were due to both natural and human factors favourable for the expansion of this heliophytic tree. Reasons are given for suggesting that upsurges in oil palm pollen during the late Holocene period in this region can be used as indices of plant cultivation. While the oil palm is known from early Tertiary deposits in west Africa, its earliest palynological record from terrestrial sediments in the west central part dates back only to the early Holocene. More palynological studies of Tertiary and Quaternary terrestrial cores are required to establish with more certainty the antiquity ofE. guineensis in west central Africa.     

Role of wild plant foods among late Holocene hunter-gatherers from Central and North Patagonia (South America): an approach from dental evidence

This study evaluates the role of plant foods in the subsistence of hunter-gatherers that inhabited the Central East, Northwest, and Northeast Patagonia (Argentina) during the late Holocene (ca. 3,000-500 years BP). The goal of the present study is to assess the temporal variation of dental caries ratio and wear rate in skeletal samples to ascertain if the biological information supports the dietary shift toward greater consumption of wild plant foods around 1,500 years BP, suggested by other types of evidence. The authors registered caries, antemortem and postmortem tooth loss, and tooth wear from eight samples belonging to hunter-gatherers from Patagonia for which chronological sequences from early late Holocene (ca. 3,000-1,500 years BP) up to final late Holocene (ca. 1,500-500 years BP) are available. The results indicate that caries percentages in Patagonian samples fall within the range established for hunter-gatherers but there are significant geographical differences. In addition, caries ratio does not change significantly through time, so the amount of carbohydrates consumed seems to have remained fairly constant since 3,000 years BP. In contrast, there is a marked temporal trend toward the reduction of wear rates in the three areas, suggesting a faster rate in early late Holocene than in final late Holocene. These results would reflect a change to less hard and/or abrasive diets in the final late Holocene, probably owing to differences in food processing methods employed.     

楔形石核概念内涵与细石核分类初探

细石叶技术是晚更新世末-全新世早期在东北亚及北美地区流行的石制品生产技术,其中楔形石核技术的研究格外引人关注,在楔形石核的内涵和研究中,存在很大分歧.本文回顾楔形石核的研究历史,就目前楔形石核最为关键的分类标准和技术内涵问题,尝试运用操作链的理念,借鉴“概念型版”的思想,建立细石叶技术分类系统,揭示楔形石核技术的内涵....     

Holocene Demographic Changes and the Emergence of Complex Societies in Prehistoric Australia

A continental-scale model of Holocene Australian hunter-gatherer demography and mobility is generated using radiocarbon data and geospatial techniques. Results show a delayed expansion and settlement of much of Australia following the termination of the late Pleistocene until after 9,000 years ago (or 9ka). The onset of the Holocene climatic optimum (9-6ka) coincides with rapid expansion, growth and establishment of regional populations across ~75% of Australia, including much of the arid zone. This diffusion from isolated Pleistocene refugia provides a mechanism for the synchronous spread of pan-continental archaeological and linguistic attributes at this time (e.g. Pama-Nyungan language, Panaramitee art style, backed artefacts). We argue longer patch residence times were possible at the end of the optimum, resulting in a shift to more sedentary lifestyles and establishment of low-level food production in some parts of the continent. The onset of El Niño - Southern Oscillation (ENSO; 4.5-2ka) restricted low-level food production, and resulted in population fragmentation, abandonment of marginal areas, and reduction in ranging territory of ~26%. Importantly, climate amelioration brought about by more pervasive La Niña conditions (post-2ka), resulted in an intensification of the mobility strategies and technological innovations that were developed in the early- to mid-Holocene. These changes resulted in population expansion and utilization of the entire continent. We propose that it was under these demographically packed conditions that the complex social and religious societies observed at colonial contact were formed.     

Chydorid Ephippia as Indicators of Past Environmental Changes – A New Method

I present a new method, ephippium analysis, to investigate past environmental changes which may have affected chydorid Cladocera (Anomopoda, Chydoridae). I studied chydorid ephippia from sediments of two small lakes (Kaksoislammi and Rutikka) in southern Finland. The relative adundance of chydorid ephippia periodically increased during the Holocene. Ephippia were abundant during the late Pleistocene/early Holocene transition, reflecting the severe climate (short open-water season) that existed prior to the onset of rapid postglacial warming. Both lakes experienced an environmental change in the late Holocene. In Kaksoislammi there was a dramatic change in predator–prey relationships following a decline in pH. All chydorids responded with increased gamogenesis. Prehistoric anthropogenic activities caused a rise in the trophic state in Rutikka and probably caused changes in the predator/food web. One chydorid, Alona affinis, reacted first with increased gamogenesis and then almost disappeared. These first results of ephippium analysis indicate that the method has a great potential in detecting periods of environmental change during the Holocene.     

10,000 year history of plant use at Bosumpra Cave,Ghana

Investigations of hunter-gatherer subsistence, early food production, and the development of agroforestry systems during the Later Stone Age (LSA) of West Africa have proven challenging because of limited recovery and analysis of archaeological evidence relating directly to subsistence. This paper examines changes in the use of plant resources over a 10,000 year period at Bosumpra Cave, southern Ghana. Large quantities of recovered Canarium schweinfurthii (incense tree) and Elaeis guineensis (oil palm) endocarp preserved at the site allow for the assessment of previous observations about changes in the relative importance of tree fruit resources over time. Results point to the possibility that C. schweinfurthii was a managed resource and may be useful as a marker of forager subsistence in tropical forest regions. The exploitation of C. schweinfurthii persisted in the early and middle Holocene, but was eventually overshadowed in the late Holocene by Kintampo food-producing economies based on Pennisetum glaucum (pearl millet), Vigna unguiculata (cowpea) and E. guineensis. The Bosumpra deposits also yielded domesticated pearl millet and cowpea, allowing for the comparison of LSA hunter-gatherer and early food producer subsistence practices and cultural interactions in southern Ghana.     

Holocene vegetation change and the mammal faunas of South America and Africa

Aim Although sharing many similarities in their vegetation types, South America and Africa harbour very dissimilar recent mammal faunas, not only taxonomically but also in terms of several faunistic patterns. However late Pleistocene and mid‐Holocene faunas, albeit taxonomically distinct, presented many convergent attributes. Here we propose that the effects of the Holocene climatic change on vegetation physiognomy has played a crucial role in shaping the extant mammalian faunistic patterns. Location South America and Africa from the late Pleistocene to the present. Methods Data presented here have been compiled from many distinct sources, including palaeontological and neontological mammalian studies, palaeoclimatology, palynology, and publications on vegetation ecology. Data on Pleistocene, Holocene and extant mammal faunas of South America and Africa allowed us to establish a number of similar and dissimilar faunistic patterns between the two continents across time. We then considered what changes in vegetation physiognomy would have occurred under the late Pleistocene last glacial maximum (LGM) and the Holocene climatic optimum (HCO) climatic regimes. We have ordained these proposed vegetation changes along rough physiognomic seral stages according to assumptions based on current botanical research. Finally, we have associated our hypothesized vegetation changes in South America and Africa with mammalian faunistic patterns, establishing a putative causal relationship between them. Results The extant mammal faunas of South America and Africa differ widely in taxonomical composition; the number of medium and large species they possess; behavioural and ecological characteristics related to herbivore herding, migration and predation; and biogeographical patterns. All such distinctions are mostly related to the open formation faunas, and have been completely established around the mid‐Holocene. Considering that the mid‐Holocene was a time of greater humidity than the late Pleistocene, vegetation cover in South America and Africa would have been dominated by forest or closed vegetation landscapes, at least for most of their lower altitude tropical regions. We attribute the loss of larger‐sized mammal lineages in South America to the decrease of open vegetation area, and their survival in Africa to the existence of vast savannas in formerly steppic or desertic areas in subtropical Africa, north and south of the equator. Alternative explanations, mostly dealing with the disappearance of South American megamammals, are then reviewed and criticized. Main conclusions The reduction of open formation areas during the HCO in South America and Africa explains most of the present distinct faunistic patterns between the two continents. While South America would have lost most of its open formations within the 30° latitudinal belt, Africa would have kept large areas suitable to the open formation mammalian fauna in areas presently occupied by desert and semi‐arid vegetation. Thus, the same general climatic events that affected South America in the late Pleistocene and Holocene also affected Africa, leading to our present day faunistic dissimilarities by maintaining the African mammalian communities almost unchanged while dramatically altering those of South America.     

Long-Term Resilience of Late Holocene Coastal Subsistence System in Southeastern South America

Isotopic and molecular analysis on human, fauna and pottery remains can provide valuable new insights into the diets and subsistence practices of prehistoric populations. These are crucial to elucidate the resilience of social-ecological systems to cultural and environmental change. Bulk collagen carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis of 82 human individuals from mid to late Holocene Brazilian archaeological sites (∼6,700 to ∼1,000 cal BP) reveal an adequate protein incorporation and, on the coast, the continuation in subsistence strategies based on the exploitation of aquatic resources despite the introduction of pottery and domesticated plant foods. These results are supported by carbon isotope analysis of single amino acid extracted from bone collagen. Chemical and isotopic analysis also shows that pottery technology was used to process marine foods and therefore assimilated into the existing subsistence strategy. Our multidisciplinary results demonstrate the resilient character of the coastal economy to cultural change during the late Holocene in southern Brazil.     

台湾海峡西部海域哺乳动物化石

本文简要记述了出自台湾海峡西部海域的170件哺乳动物化石,其中的102件分属于Ursussp,Elephasmaximus,Dicerorhinussp,Cervusunicolor,Cervusnippon,Sussp,和Bubalusbubalus,时代为更新世晚期;67件属全新世早期,包括Cetaceagen.etsp．idet,Elephassp,SusscrofaCervusunicolor和Cervusnippon等;属于第三纪晚期的仅有1件鹿超科角化石。台湾海峡西部海域更新世晚期和全新世早期的哺乳动物组合不同于已知的我国海域其他地点的哺乳动物组合,也异于福建中、西部山区的哺乳动物组合。