中更新世晚期中国古人类化石的形态多样性及其演化意义

近年对许家窑、许昌、华龙洞、澎湖、夏河、哈尔滨等人类化石开展的系统研究,引发了学界对中更新世晚期人类演化及分类的不同认识。基于对相关中国人类化石形态特征的分析,作者提出这一时期中国人类化石形态特征表现为四种类型：1）以中更新世晚期人类共有特征为主;2）以原始特征为主;3）以现代特征为主;4）独特形态组合。多数化石形态特征表现为前三种类型,而许昌和许家窑这种以硕大的头骨和巨大颅容量构成的独特形态组合在其他同时期化石还没有发现。化石形态的多样性提示,不同类型的中更新世晚期中国古人类对现代人的形成贡献不同。作者认为在该时期的人类化石形态多样性规律还未阐明的情况下,将具有混合或镶嵌特征的相关人类化石归入分类地位不确定的人群较为合适。     

水洞沟遗址第2地点古人类“行为现代性”及演化意义

解剖学意义上的现代人及其行为的演化与扩散是古人类学和旧石器考古学关注的重大科学问题。本文对水洞沟第2地点生态、技术、经济社会组织和象征行为方面的行为特征进行分析,于不同的文化层揭示出了不同的创新行为,它们分别预示了不同的演化意义。距今4~2万年间中国北方连续发展的石片石器技术系统从人类行为角度支持中国古人类连续演化的假说,在此理论背景下,探求中国古人类的行为创新需要关注人类行为的演化历程,进而总结创新表现,而非将总结自欧非等地区的现代行为清单与中国的考古学材料简单比对,进而讨论行为的现代与否。现代人出现后中国古人类行为的特殊性和多样性,促使研究者更多地关注行为变异性及不同适应策略产生的原因,而非将一系列的特征总称为现代行为;同时提醒学者们不应以总结自旧大陆西部的现代行为清单衡量和定性中国乃至东亚旧石器时代晚期人群的生物学属性和社会行为能力。     

柳江人头骨形态特征及柳江人演化的一些问题

为深入探讨柳江人化石形态特征的表现特点、进化程度及其与其年代数据的吻合性,本文对柳江、山顶洞、资阳、丽江等主要中国更新世晚期人类头骨化石及1 114例全新世以来不同地区现代中国人头骨进行了对比分析,结果发现:柳江人头骨绝大多数特征的出现情况位于现代中国人的变异范围,只有极个别特征与现代人不同;柳江人头骨具有的低眶等特征也可见于其他中国更新世晚期人类化石,说明柳江人化石上保留有少量常见于更新世晚期人类的原始特征,但与其他中国更新世晚期人类,尤其是山顶洞人头骨相比,柳江人显得要现代的多;柳江人与山顶洞人之间头骨形态特征的差异以体现头骨原始性及粗硕强壮程度上的差别居多,而个别特征差异或许与气候环境适应有关。我们认为:柳江人在形态进化上与现代中国人已经非常接近,他们之间的差别非常小;柳江人与山顶洞人头骨特征表现上的差异主要反映了他们之间在演化程度上的差异,同时也在一定程度上体现了各自的生存环境;现有的形态学证据不大可能为柳江人较早的时代提供支持。     

河南许昌灵井旧石器遗址哺乳动物群的性质及时代探讨

系统记述了在近两年从河南省许昌市灵井旧石器遗址出土的食肉目、长鼻目和奇蹄目化石:宽吻灵猫相似种(Viverra cf. zibetha)、熊未定种(Ursus sp.)、中国硕鬣狗相似种(Pachycrocuta cf. sinensis)、古菱齿象未定种(Palaeoloxodon sp.)、披毛犀(Coelodonta antiquitatis)、梅氏犀(Dicerorhinus mercki)、普通马(Equusca ballus)和蒙古野驴(Equus hemionus),并对灵井哺乳动物群的性质和年代进行了探讨,指出灵井动物群含有的北方种类较多,与北方区的很多动物群可以比较,属于北方区动物群,其生态环境为以平原草地为主,镶嵌有零散的森林,属北温带半湿润-半干旱大陆性季风气候,年平均温度似低于现在。灵井动物群中绝灭种类占44.4%,其时代应为晚更新世早期,其绝对年龄与许家窑接近,约在100kaBP。     

河北阳原姜家梁新石器时代遗址头骨非测量性状的观察与研究

本文对河北阳原姜家梁新石器时代遗址头骨进行了非测量性状的观察。选择了在时间和空间上与之相关的12个人群作为研究对比组,求出各对比组之间的平均差异度（MMD）值,以MMD值为基础进行了聚类分析和主坐标分析。结果表明,姜家梁新石器时代居民在非测量性状上有着比较明显的特点：既与其它某些人群（特别是与贝加尔人群、华北组）有着某种联系,但现在还没有证据说明这种联系的密切程度以及是何种方式的联系;同时,姜家梁组可能是因为还存在着某些独立的特征（比如其较高的或者较低的非测量性状特征）,使之不能完全地归入到某种人群中去。我们期待从这一地区及其周邻地区发现更多的古人骨材料,以期从研究中得出更细致的结论。     

广西柳江土博出土的人牙化石及共生的哺乳动物群

在广西柳江县土博公社发现一洞穴,地层中含有人类化石和哺乳动物化石。其时代初步定为更新世晚期。人类化石仅是牙齿九枚,根据其形态特征,这些材料的系统地位似应与柳江人相当,分类上可归属晚期智人。     

早期新石器时代贾湖遗址人类的体质特征及与其他地区新石器时代人和现代人的比较

河南省舞阳县贾湖村遗址是新石器时代早期文化遗存。根据非测量性特征,贾湖人具有一般蒙古人种的特点,其人种属性应归属于蒙古人种。根据测量性特征,贾湖人的体质特征主要表现在颅指数属于园颅型;颅长高指数Ⅰ和Ⅱ都属于高颅型;颅宽高指数属于中颅型;全面指数（M395）属于狭面型;上面指数（pr）属于中上面型;眶指数Ⅰ（mf-ek）和眶指数Ⅰ（d-ek）都属于中眶型;鼻指数属于中鼻形;腭指数属于阔腭型;枕大孔指数属于阔型;总面角属于平颌型（下限）。把贾湖人与其他新石器时代人组和现代人组（共15组,11个体质特征项目）,运用多元统计分析方法的系统聚类、BIPLOT法及判别分析法加以统计并作比较分析,可把所比较群体划分为3大类群：①新石器时代组的北方类群;②新石器时代组的南方类群;③我国现代人类群。贾湖新石器时代人属于新石器时代组的北方类群。在新石器时代组的北方类群这个小范围内,贾湖新石器时代人的体质特征与本省内的下王岗新石器时代人的体质特征又较接近些。通过比较,可看到现代人类与新石器时代人类之间的区别大于现代南方人和现代北方人之间的区别;在从新石器时代人类向现代人类进化发展的几千年过程中,处于南方、北方地理位置上的人类在体质上的差异有趋于缩小的趋势; 此外 , 在此进化发展过程中 , 各地不同的新 石器时代人类基因的扩散速度、 范围和方向也都不尽相同。     

湖北郧县肖沟旧石器时代遗址发掘简报

肖沟遗址位于湖北省郧阳区安阳镇钟家河村,埋藏于丹江口库区汉江左岸第二级堆积阶地,遗址所在地三面环水,北靠低山。2010年10月-12月对该地点进行抢救性发掘,揭露面积近1500 m~2,出土石制品413件。石制品类型包括石器、石核、石片、断块断片和碎块碎片等。古人类利用河流砾石,就地取材加工石制品;硬锤锤击是主要剥片方法;石制品总体以小型居多,石器主要以石片为毛坯,边刮器为主要类型。石制品特点显示石片工业特点。石制品类型以石片类和断块类为主体,石制品拼合率近10%,是一处原地埋藏的古人类遗址。通过与丹江口库区相关旧石器遗址的比较,结合地貌地层特点,推测该遗址形成于旧石器时代晚期。     

Micromammals (rodents and insectivores) from the early Late Pleistocene cave site of Bois Roche (Charente, France): Systematics and paleoclimatology

We present the study of rodents and insectivores from the 1995 season of excavation at the early Late Pleistocene site of Bois Roche (Charente, France). The site is a small cave with a low ceiling, used as a den by hyenas. It contains a large herbivore assemblage (mainly bovids and equids) with a smaller representation of medium-size taxa (cervids), many microvertebrates, abundant coprolites and deciduous hyena teeth, and a few lithic artifacts (Middle Paleolithic) introduced into the cave by gravity and slope wash. The rodent fauna consists of Eliomys quercinus cf. quercinus, Apodemus sp., Microtus gregalis, Microtus oeconomus, Arvicola terrestris and Dicrostonyx torquatus. Insectivores are represented by Neomys cf. fodiens. The most common species is M. gregalis which forms 93.7% of the total MNI. The micromammal fauna suggests an open landscape, with some vegetation mainly of the steppe or tundra type, with areas of water and more wet vegetation and some areas with trees. The micromammal association of Bois Roche is characteristic of a cold or very cold dry climate.     

Paleoreconstruction of Pleistocene environments of human habitats in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene near the Charyshskii Naves cave, Central Altai, Russia

The results of the study of the small mammal fauna from the Charyshskii Naves cave (Central Altai, Russia) in the 2003 field season are provided. The dynamics of fossil small mammals was studied and the natural habitats of the ancient man were reconstructed on this basis. Two stages of sedimentation, corresponding to the domination of different biotopes, were recognized.     

秦岭汉江流域新发现旧石器遗址的地层与释光年代

汉江流域旧石器时代文化遗存丰富,南方砾石石器工业和北方小石片石器工业类型的遗存并存,对研究中国南北旧石器文化交流和发展演化具有重要的意义。2016-2018年夏天,我们在汉江流域进行野外调查,新发现十个含更新世晚期旧石器遗存的地点,利用热转移光释光（TT-OSL）方法对各遗址的地层进行了测年。测年结果表明,这几处旧石器地点的古人类活动主要发生在距今20-5万年之间,涵盖了L₂、S₁和L₁三个阶段,与之前汉江流域第二级阶地发现的旧石器遗址年代基本一致。新发现的十个旧石器地点丰富了汉水流域旧石器遗存,为进一步研究该区域古人类旧石器遗址年代学和石器技术提供了新的材料。     

Mummified fossil of Keteleeria from the Late Pleistocene of Maoming Basin,South China,and its phytogeographical and paleoecological implications

Keteleeria is a small genus of Pinaceae now mainly restricted to eastern Asia. Although this genus has been documented with a wide distribution in the geologic record of Europe, North America, and Asia, its history in low‐latitude areas (including South China) has remained obscure. In this paper, a fossil wood of Keteleeria sp. is described from the Late Pleistocene (29–27 ka BP) of the Maoming Basin, South China. This wood is the most ancient megafossil evidence of Keteleeria within the modern distribution area of this genus. The fossil records of Keteleeria suggests that this thermophyllous genus migrated into South China by the Middle Pleistocene escaping from glacial cooling and became widespread over this region in the Late Pleistocene beginning from the interglacial stage preceding the Last Glacial Maximum. The analysis of growth rings in the fossil wood and its comparison with those of modern Keteleeria davidiana (Bertrand) Beissner indicates that in the Late Pleistocene of Maoming Basin (29–27 ka BP) there was a humid climate with less pronounced seasonality of precipitation than that seen in the subtropical monsoonal climate of modern northeastern Vietnam. Apparently, the Maoming Basin was influenced by interglacial regime with summer–monsoon circulation. The previously proposed method to distinguish between evergreen and deciduous conifers based on growth ring anatomy, is not reliable because of the wide variance and ambiguity in its results.     

Discovery of a second human molar and cranium fragment in the late Middle to Late Pleistocene cave of Ma U'Oi (Northern Vietnam)

In November 2002, during the second season of work by a Vietnamese-French-Japanese team, we discovered a human molar and a fragment of an occipital bone in the late Middle to Late Pleistocene cave of Ma U'Oi (Bacon et al., Geobios. 37 (2004) 305). The layer from which this material comes is the same as that in which a human lower molar was found in 2001. Both molars can be attributed to archaic Homo, and both exhibit archaic and modern traits.     

Variability of the upper incisors in the cave bears (Carnivora,Ursidae) from the Caucasus and Urals

Morphometric and morphotypic variability of the cave bear upper incisors from two different geographic regions (Caucasus and Urals), different stratigraphic periods (middle and late Pleistocene), and bearing different mitochondrial haplogroups (kudarensis and ingressus) was studied. The specific diet of the cave bears, i.e. hard vegetables, led to noticeable differences between their incisors and the incisors of the brown bear (Ursus arctos). It was found that the upper incisors of the Caucasian cave bears from different stratigraphic periods demonstrate consistent development of their morphology. The late Pleistocene cave bears from the Urals show a greater similarity to the Caucasian cave bears from earlier periods than with the cave bears from later periods. Our results suggest that the incisor morphology has evolved independently in the Caucasian and Ural cave bears as they belong to different phylogenetic lineages and display different ways of adaptation to local environmental conditions.     

Initial excavation and dating of Ngalue Cave: A Middle Stone Age site along the Niassa Rift, Mozambique

Direct evidence for a systematic occupation of the African tropics during the early late Pleistocene is lacking. Here, we report a record of human occupation between 105-42 ka, based on results from a radiometrically-dated cave section from the Mozambican segment of the Niassa (Malawi/Nyasa) Rift called Ngalue. The sedimentary sequence from bottom to top has five units. We concentrate on the so-called “Middle Beds,” which contain a Middle Stone Age industry characterized by the use of the discoidal reduction technique. A significant typological feature is the presence of formal types such as points, scrapers, awls, and microliths. Special objects consist of grinders/core-axes covered by ochre. Ngalue is one of the few directly-dated Pleistocene sites located along the biogeographical corridor for modern human dispersals that links east, central, and southern Africa, and, with further study, may shed new light on hominin cave habitats during the late Pleistocene.     

广东英德青塘遗址黄门岩2号洞地点2016年度的发掘

英德青塘遗址系岭南地区一组含晚更新世晚期至全新世初期堆积的洞穴遗址。2016年夏对其中的黄门岩2号洞地点进行首次正式发掘,该地点发现有连续多层的文化堆积,探方出土以及地表采集了大量砾石制品、种类丰富的动物遗存、以及若干件早期陶片,部分胶结地层堆积中可见包含了大量螺蚌壳。文化遗存中的砾石石器多选用河滩砾石,使用硬锤在砾石的一端或一侧单面陡刃加工的技术特点突出,有望为探讨中国岭南地区与东南亚大陆地区晚更新世晚期至全新世初期的砾石石器工业之联系提供新证据。