The Upper Palaeolithic site of Kalavan 1 (Armenia): An Epigravettian settlement in the Lesser Caucasus

The open-air site of Kalavan 1 is located in the Aregunyats mountain chain (at 1640 m above sea level) on the northern bank of Lake Sevan. It is the first Upper Palaeolithic site excavated in Armenia. Led by an Armenian-French team, several excavations (2005–2009) have revealed a well preserved palaeosoil, dated to around 14,000 BP (years before present), containing fauna, lithic artefacts, as well as several hearths and activity areas that structure the settlement. The initial studies enable placement of the site in its environment and justify palaeoethnological analysis of the Epigravettian human groups of the Lesser Caucasus.     

云南省耿马佛洞地遗址发掘简报

佛洞地遗址位于云南省临沧市耿马傣族佤族自治县勐简乡勐简村大军赛村民小组燕子洞,坐落于一处东南开口的二叠纪灰岩穿洞,南临南汀河。2016～2017年,临沧市文物管理所在公路考古调勘期间发现该遗址;为进一步认识滇西地区旧石器时代晚期文化,2017～2018年对该遗址开展考古发掘工作。发掘区域位于洞内第四台面到第五台面间,共发掘20 m²,出土了包括石制品、动植物化石等在内的大量遗物。初步地层年代学分析显示,遗址时代为距今18400～14000年,共包含3期连续文化,文化遗物以石制品为主,总数达到9735件。佛洞地遗址作为一处热带-亚热带生境下的史前遗址,为我们构建旧石器时代晚期滇西地区文化序列、探讨特定自然生态背景下史前人类的文化适应提供了重要参考。     

Late Quaternary Palaeoichnological Sites from the Southern Atlantic Coast of Buenos Aires Province,Argentina: Mammal,Bird and Hominid Evidence

Palaeontological and palaeoichnological studies were made along the southeastern coast of Buenos Aires province, Argentina. Continental Late Pleistocene and continental, transitional and marine Holocene stratigraphic units were identified. The former are represented by fossil mammal bones and ichnites dated from 16,000 to 12,000 y. B.P. Continental Early Holocene beds dated circa 8,100 years B.P. contain fish, rodent and bird remains. Middle Holocene sediments 6,930 to 6,570 years B.P. are recorded by deposits bioturbated by estuarine crabs. During the Late Holocene, between 5,000 and 4,800 B.P., a marine transgression is recorded by a very rich mollusc fauna. The palaeoenvironmental variety recorded along a few tens of kilometers of the coast is a distinctive feature of this part of the Argentine coastal region. At Monte Hermoso beach, in the eastern part of the studied zone, archaeological materials were dated 7,300 years B.P., and human footprints dated 7,125 years B.P. were also recorded. In January 2005 some isolated human footprints were found at Pehuen-Co palaeoichnological site, which are older than those found at Monte Hermoso beach and of the same age as the oldest human archaeological findings in Patagonia, that is about 12,000 yeas B.P.     

The Vallonnet cave on the northern Mediterranean border: A record of one of the oldest human presences in Europe

Prehistoric sites testifying to human presence older than one million years in Europe are rare, and in the current state of knowledge, the oldest of them have been dated to around 1.4–1.5 Ma. The Vallonnet cave at Roquebrune-Cap-Martin in the Alpes-Maritimes, on the Mediterranean border, is one of the oldest sites in France to have yielded evidence of human activity: a lithic assemblage of about a hundred pieces and traces of butchery on bones of an Epivillafranchian fauna. The archaeological levels of this small cave were recently dated between 1.1 and 1.2 Ma by U-Pb correlated with paleomagnetic data. The site was occupied alternately by large carnivores that used it as a den or a lair, and by hominins that stayed there briefly in bivouac. The lithic remains are mainly percussion tools, shaped pebbles, flakes and cores, whose raw materials are local, or even semi-local, and on the whole not very diversified with mainly limestone, and to a lesser extent sandstone, quartzite, flint and quartz. This assemblage is attributed to a Mode 1 technology (Oldowayen), among which macro-tools (hammerstones, shaped and fractured pebbles) are found alongside rarer elements resulting from debitage operating chains aimed at producing sharp-edged flakes, very rarely retouched. The bipolar-on-anvil flaking technique could be identified from the characteristics of some artifacts. Several refitting flakes on shaped pebbles or percussion tools attest to knapping and percussion activities in the cave. Hominins consumed the remains of large herbivore carcasses, as attested by the presence of cutting and fracturing marks on some bones. The presence of a freshwater source in the immediate vicinity, and the knapping and butchering activities here therefore document the subsistence behavior of Lower Pleistocene human groups, certainly in competition with the carnivores present.     

辽宁庙后山遗址研究的新进展

本文简要介绍了中国东北已知最早的古人类遗址——辽宁省本溪市庙后山遗址的研究成果, 同时对新出土的少量石制品及哺乳动物化石进行了描述。庙后山石制品在技术和类型上与北京人石器工业十分接近。观察分析表明, 庙后山动物群由北京周口店动物群的基本成员组成, 时代为中更新世, 可追溯到距今50万年。     

Latest Pleistocene—Holocene paleoceanographic trends on the continental margin of eastern Canada: Foraminiferal,dinoflagellate and pollen evidence

Micropaleontological studies were made of cores from four shelf basins on the eastern Canadian Margin: Emerald and Canso basins on the Scotian Shelf (44°–46° N), Notre Dame Channel, Newfoundland Shelf (50° N) and Cartwright Saddle, Labrador Shelf (55°). Events were correlated using a combination of¹⁴C dates and pollen stratigraphies. Surface- and bottom-water changes were compared on the basis of dinoflagellates and benthic foraminifera, respectively. The results indicate significant paleoceanographic shifts along a north—south gradient both prior to and during the Holocene.Distinct Late Pleistocene—Holocene paleoceanographic events were distinguished in the Emerald, Canso and Notre Dame basins; these events are less obvious in Cartwright Saddle which is in deeper water and further off-shore. Pleistocene glaciomarine sediments in all basins contain a fauna dominated byElphidium excavatum f.clavata; dinoflagellates and pollen are rare or absent. The widespreadElphidium fauna probably reflects turbid glacial meltwater and/or a permanent ice shelf cover from 20,000-10,000 yrs BP. The Notre Dame core also penetrates older sediment with an outer Labrador Current fauna which may represent a late Wisconsinian interstade at about 23,000 yrs BP. From 7,000–10,000 yrs BP a cold water fauna occurred which is similar to modern outer Labrador Current faunas. From about 5000–7000 yrs BP, a warm interval is indicated by a relatively warm-water calcareous benthonic foraminiferal fauna and increased representation of typical Gulf Stream dinoflagellates. The most recent change occurred in the last 2000 years with an abrupt cooling associated with stronger flow of the arctic inner Labrador Current. This cooling event is marked by an increase in arctic dinoflagellates and by an exclusively agglutinated benthonic foraminiferal fauna at two sites (Canso and Notre Dame). These Holocene paleoceanographic changes are not clearly seen in the benthic fauna of the deep northern basin (Cartwright Saddle) although dinoflagellate data at this site indicate that surface-water changes have occurred that are similar to those found in shallower basins.Shifts in the zonal position of the Gulf Stream and changes in the relative mass transports of the West Greenland and Labrador currents are mechanisms which may account for the paleoceanographic events. The glacial—interstadial—glacial sequence recorded in the Notre Dame Channel, in conjunction with other theories on glacial triggering mechanisms, provides biostratigraphic evidence which suggests the onset of a glacial stage in the near future.     

Datation par la méthode 40Ar / 39Ar de la couche de cendres volcaniques (couche VI) de Dmanissi (Géorgie) qui a livré des restes d'hominidés fossiles de 1,81 Ma

The exceptional prehistoric site of Dmanisi, in the South of Georgia, has yielded several hominid fossil remains, including three skulls and three mandibles assigned to Homo ergaster, in volcanic ashes and fluvio-lacustrine sands lying directly on a basalt flow. These levels also contain an archaic lithic industry consisting of pebble tools, cores and flakes, and large mammal remains attributed to the beginning of the Lower Pleistocene (Biharian). The basalt flow has been previously dated to about 1.85 Ma, but the overlying volcanic ash level had not yet been dated. In this paper, we present ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of plagioclase and glass from the volcanic ash level that has yielded Quaternary fauna, lithic artefacts and several human remains, which gives an age of 1.81±0.05 Ma. The subcontemporaneity of Hominid presence and volcanic ash deposition makes Dmanisi the oldest prehistoric site currently known in Europe and proves human presence at the gates of Europe 1.81 Ma ago. To cite this article: H. de Lumley et al., C. R. Palevol 1 (2002) 181–189.     

旧石器时代装饰品研究:现状与意义

装饰品(personal ornament)是旧石器时代中晚期遗址中一类较特殊的遗存,作为早期人类现代行为的重要标志,它的出现及其学术意义一直受到国际学术界的关注和重视。西方考古学界对装饰品的研究开始较早,理论方法成熟,成果丰硕。我国此遗存发现较少,在研究手段和程度方面与西方存在一定的差距。本文从装饰品的定义与分类、发现与研究现状、功能与作用、出现原因及研究意义的探讨等方面入手,对西方学术界对装饰品的研究现状和进展进行梳理,对我国发现的相关材料与研究进展做简要介绍与评述,希望能对我国旧石器时代装饰品的研究提供有价值的参考资料与思路。     

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.     

Human cannibalism in the Early Pleistocene of Europe (Gran Dolina, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain).

Human remains belonging to at least six individuals were found in an exploratory excavation made at the site of Gran Dolina (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). These remains were recovered from the Aurora Stratum of Unit TD6. This stratum has a thickness of approximately 30 cm. The area of the exploratory excavation is about 7 m(2). According to palaeomagnetic analyses, Unit TD6 shows reversed polarity, which is considered to belong to the Matuyama chron. This unit is immediately below TD7, where the Matuyama-Brunhes boundary has been detected, indicating an age of around 780,000 years BP. There is no specific distribution, treatment, or arrangement of the human remains, which were found randomly mixed with abundant faunal remains and stone tools. Most of the faunal and human fossil bones from the Aurora Stratum have human induced damage. Stone tool cutmarks are frequent, and peeling (a type of fracture similar to bending a fresh twig between the hands) provides a specific breakage pattern together with percussion marks and chopmarks. Both nonhuman and human remains show similar intensive exploitation. Slight differences, however, have been observed between fauna and humans (e.g., peeling frequent in humans, rare in fauna), that appear related to different musculature, weight, and bone structure. The characteristics of this fossil assemblage suggest that it is solely the result of consumptive activities as there is no evidence of ritual or other intention. The possibility of distinguishing between dietary vs. survival cannibalism is discussed here.     

湖北郧县曲远河口人类颅骨的形态特征及其在人类演化中的位置

１９８９和１９９０年在湖北省郧县青曲镇曲远河口学堂梁子上相继发现两具远古人类的颅骨化石。伴生的哺乳动物化石已鉴定的有１８种,其中大熊猫武陵亚种、桑氏鬣狗、爪哇豺、中国猴莫、云南马、小猪等具有鲜明的时代特色,表明该地点的时代属中更新世早期或稍早。两具颅骨的形态特征比较复杂,既有明显的直立人特征,又具有某些早期人的性状。综合观察分析,直立人的特征占主要,归入直立人范畴更合适,与中国已发现的人类化石比较     

Montousse 5 (Hautes-Pyrenees), un nouveau remplissage de fissure a faune de vertebres du Pleistocene inferieur

The Montoussé 5 fauna which presently countains 68 species, is an unknown faunal assemblage in WesternEurope, especially rich in little and middle size Vertebrata. The mammalian microfauna is correlated with the level of Osztramos 3 (Hungary) which could be dated from the end of the middle Villafranchian stage. It indicates the passage from a cold to a warm phasis at the end of the Tiglian.     

内蒙古和林格尔县新店子墓地古代居民的身高研究

本文对内蒙古和林格尔县新店子墓地出土东周时期的长骨标本进行了观察和测量,并根据相关公式推测出该组居民的身高,研究结果表明,该组男性居民的身高在内蒙古长城地带同时期的人群中最低,而女性居民则最高,是一个男女两性居民身高差异较小的古代群体。     

黑龙江十八站遗址的新材料与年代

黑龙江省十八站遗址经过再次调查发掘,地层中出土石制品38件,地表采集20件。石核具有修理台面和对向剥片的技术,石片中石叶技术特征明显,石叶技术与水洞沟遗址相近,石器以轻型为主,主要类型为刮削器。采集的两面器和端刮削器则在华北地区、俄罗斯远东地区南部的几个遗址中有相似标本发现。采用光释光的方法对遗址的绝对年代进行测定,结果为距今2.5—1万年。     

Neandertals paleoenvironment in Western Provence: The contribution of Les Auzières 2 (Méthamis,Vaucluse, France)

The site of Les Auzières 2 (Méthamis, Vaucluse) was excavated from 2001 to 2005. It yielded an original and diverse fauna, unique in southeastern France (Provence). The spectrum of large mammals comprises 14 species including hyena, horse, ibex, woolly rhinoceros, giant deer and mammoth. Lithic artifacts are rare but testify to the presence of a Mousterian industry. All of these remains derive from layers that have been dated to 60 ± 10 ka by ESR/U-series method. Les Auzières 2 is of special importance for examining the issue of human/carnivore interaction in the Pleistocene since it has yielded a large assemblage of carnivore remains, and probably represents a hyena den. The diverse fauna offers a more comprehensive picture of Upper Pleistocene biodiversity in southeastern France than that usually provided by sites with a stronger anthropogenic signal.     

吉林省白城市双塔遗址东周时期人骨研究

双塔遗址是近年来松嫩平原先秦时期最为重要的考古发现,该遗址为建立白城西部乃至科尔沁沙地东部地区汉以前考古学文化的编年序列,廓清相关诸考古学文化的谱系关系,奠定了重要基础;为判断同类遗存年代提供了重要标尺,特别是东周时期人骨标本的发现,是迄今在科尔沁沙地东部地区发现的唯一一份保存较为完整的人骨资料。本文对出土9例东周时期的颅骨(男性6例,女性3例)进行了体质人类学的研究,该组颅骨在种族特征上可归入现代亚洲蒙古人种中的北亚人种范围。在若干古代和现代对比组中,双塔组东周时期居民的体质特征与井沟子东周时期居民、近代蒙古人最为接近,属于先秦时期我国北方地区的"古蒙古高原类型",佐证了这一时期该地区的人口流动。     

Holocene emergence in the Cook Islands,South Pacific

There is evidence of Holocene emergence on several of the Cook Islands. On Suwarrow Atoll there are extensive outcrops of emergent, but truncated, reef on the northern atoll rim, radiocarbon-dated 4680–4310 years B. P., overlain by younger cemented boulder conglomerates. On the northeast of the atoll there are fossil algal ridges indicating up to 1 m of emergence; the landwardmost has been dated 4220 years B. P., the intermediate one 3420 years B. P. and the present one 1250 years B. P. On Mitiaro, a makatea island in the Southern Cooks, there are emergent reefal deposits in the centre of the reef flat dated 5140–3620 years B. P. Similar thought poorly preserved deposits occur on Mauke, and an erosional bench and notch occurs on Atiu. Emergence on all islands appears synchronous with that reported on Mangaia, where a relative fall of sea level of at least 1.7 m in the last 3400 years has been reported. The evidence for emergence is broadly similar to that described from French Polynesia, though timing of emergence appears to differ.     

Coleopteran diversity and abundance in different habitats near Kihansi waterfall, in the Udzungwa Mountains, Tanzania

Coleoptera diversity at the family level was investigated along the Kihansi gorge near a 700 m high waterfall system which will be taken to hydropower use, and the current river flow will be diverted due to dam construction. The coleopteran communities of three micro-habitats: spray zone, forest site and riverine site were compared by sweepnetting and pitfall trap methods. The highest Coleopteran family level diversity was found in the spray zone where the Shannon–Weaver index of diversity was 0.71 (forest site 0.31; riverine site 0.50). Coleopterans were most abundant in the forest site where 44% of all sampled individuals were found (spray zone 31%; riverine site 23%). Most of less frequently recorded families were found in the spray zone. Coleoptera families were found to be unequally partitioned in all three micro-habitats. The highest percentage similarity index (85%) was found between forest and riverine sites (spray/forest 76%; spray/riverine 79%). Distributions of abundances of coleopteran families were significantly different between all studied habitats. The study revealed that the spray generated by the waterfall provide a special micro-habitat for Coleoptera. It is suggested that conservation efforts and monitoring in the study area using selected taxonomic indicator Coleopteran groups should be carried out in order to help to adjust mitigation measures.     

Short human occupations in the Middle Palaeolithic level I of the Abric Romani rock-shelter (Capellades, Barcelona, Spain)

This paper presents a multidisciplinary study on the size of the occupied surfaces, provisioning strategies and behaviour planning at the Romani rock-shelter, using the Middle Palaeolithic record of the level i. This level is dated around 46.000 BP through U/Th ages. A behavioural interpretation is proposed, which emphasises the activities and the systemic value of the archaeological artefacts and structures. Occupation patterns are identified on the basis of the accumulations formed by human activities. These archaeological accumulations, consisting of artefacts and hearths, are easily defined visually as spatial units. The relationships between these accumulations, established by means of refitted remains, indicate that differences can be established between: 1) small and medium-sized occupation surfaces; 2) restricted and diversified provisioning strategies. This variability suggests that different modes of occupation are represented in the same archaeological level. The human activities reveal the generalization of fire technology. In almost all sizes of the occupation surfaces, the exploitation of vegetal resources near the Abric Romani marks the threshold of the restricted provisioning strategy. Limited use and fragmented knapping activities are recorded in the lithic assemblage. Faunal remains show differential transport. The exploitation of lithic, faunal and vegetal resources characterizes the diversified provisioning strategy. The small occupation surfaces and restricted provisioning strategies suggest short settlements in the Abric Romani. This shorter occupation model complements the longer diversified provisioning strategy recorded in both small and medium-sized occupied surfaces. The selection of precise elements for transport and the possible deferred consumption in the diversified provision strategy suggest an individual supply. In this respect, Neanderthal occupations in the Romani rock-shelter show a direct relation to: 1) hunting strategic resources; 2) high, linear mobility.