许家窑-侯家窑遗址地层穷究

许家窑-侯家窑遗址是中国旧石器时代中期一处重要的考古遗址, 出土的化石"许家窑人"属于早期智人。按照现行地层古生物学常规判断, 其地层应该属于上更新统。目前, 许家窑组是泥河湾盆地乃至东亚地区发现的上更新统包含古人类及其旧石器文化遗物和古哺乳动物化石相当丰富的一个地层剖面, 但断代存在理念误区。     

许家窑遗址马科动物的死亡年龄

普氏野马(Equus przewalskii)和野驴(Equus hemionus)是许家窑遗址动物群中的优势属种。本文基于对这两种动物牙齿材料的测量与分析,确定了遗址中马科动物的死亡年龄,并对上、下文化层的死亡年龄分布进行了研究,以期探知古人类获取肉食资源的方式与特点。通过与马科动物在自然生存状态下以及死于不同原因(如疾病或营养衰竭、食肉动物猎杀、现代人类狩猎等)的年龄结构对比,结果表明:古人类在许家窑文化早期(下文化层)可能通过捡拾自然死亡的动物尸体、与食肉类动物抢夺猎物、主动狩猎等多种方式获取马科动物,而在许家窑文化晚期(上文化层)可能以主动狩猎作为获取马科动物的主要方式。此外,古人类在遗址的早期就可能已经具有捕获整个马科动物居群中任意年龄个体的能力,并能做出最优化判断,有选择地去捕猎脂肪和肉量较高的壮年动物群体。     

更新世中期中国古人类演化区域连续性与多样性的化石证据

以往,在东亚大陆发现的更新世中期人类化石被分别归入直立人和古老型智人。这种分类的主要依据是化石形态特征以及年代。魏敦瑞对周口店第一地点人类化石研究描述的一些头骨、下颌骨和牙齿特征通常被作为判定直立人的标准。根据这些化石的年代分布,一般将30万年前的中更新世晚期作为划分直立人与古老型智人的大致年代界限。近20年来,在非洲、欧洲和东亚新发现了一些更新世中期人类化石,目前古人类学界对中国更新世中期人类化石特征及演化有了与以往不同的认识。最近对大荔、许家窑、盘县大洞、许昌、华龙洞等人类化石的研究显示,近30万年以来东亚大陆人类演化呈现复杂的多样性,将这一时期人类全部归入古老型智人难以准确反映更新世中期中国古人类演化模式及规律。本文结合近年中国更新世中期人类演化研究进展,选择部分具有演化及分类价值的形态特征,分析这些特征在更新世中期中国古人类化石的表现特点。在此基础上,对更新世中期中国古人类演化模式做了尝试性探讨。本研究发现,周口店、和县、沂源、南京等中更新世早期人类化石呈现有较多的区域性特征,形态特征表现相对稳定;而大荔、金牛山、许家窑、许昌、华龙洞、马坝、盘县大洞等中更新世晚期人类在化石形态特征表现复杂多样,变异范围大。此外,在这一时期人类化石上发现较多与生存活动、健康、环境适应有关的证据。根据这些发现,作者认为中国中更新世早期组人类演化以形态连续性为主;进入中更新世晚期,中国古人类演化区域性特征减弱,演化模式以多样性为主。一系列新的化石发现和研究证据提示中更新世晚期东亚大陆可能生存有不同的古人类成员。根据目前掌握的化石形态和年代证据,大约30万年前是中国更新世中期演化变化关键时间节点。     

Hominin teeth from the early Late Pleistocene site of Xujiayao,Northern China

It is generally accepted that from the late Middle to the early Late Pleistocene (～340–90 ka BP), Neanderthals were occupying Europe and Western Asia, whereas anatomically modern humans were present in the African continent. In contrast, the paucity of hominin fossil evidence from East Asia from this period impedes a complete evolutionary picture of the genus Homo, as well as assessment of the possible contribution of or interaction with Asian hominins in the evolution of Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. Here we present a comparative study of a hominin dental sample recovered from the Xujiayao site, in Northern China, attributed to the early Late Pleistocene (MIS 5 to 4). Our dental study reveals a mosaic of primitive and derived dental features for the Xujiayao hominins that can be summarized as follows: i) they are different from archaic and recent modern humans, ii) they present some features that are common but not exclusive to the Neanderthal lineage, and iii) they retain some primitive conformations classically found in East Asian Early and Middle Pleistocene hominins despite their young geological age. Thus, our study evinces the existence in China of a population of unclear taxonomic status with regard to other contemporary populations such as H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis. The morphological and metric studies of the Xujiayao teeth expand the variability known for early Late Pleistocene hominin fossils and suggest the possibility that a primitive hominin lineage may have survived late into the Late Pleistocene in China. Am J Phys Anthropol 156:224–240, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Modern Human Origins in the Levant and Western Asia: The Fossil and Archeological Evidence

Upper Pleistocene human fossil and archeological evidence from the Levant and western Asia indicates continuity over the Middle/Upper Paleolithic transition and the transition from archaic to modern Homo sapiens. It also indicates that these transitions did not coincide with each other in time. Both data sets are examined in light of recent claims from molecular biology invoked by replacement advocates in support of the position that morphologically modern humans develop (or arrive) first in the Levant, coexist with archaic Homo sapiens, and then displace or extirpate archaic Homo sapiens. Replacement models that assume no admixture are not supported by the archeological or the human paleontological evidence. Those who would argue for replacement without gene flow must show how it could have occurred without leaving traces of disjunction in the typological and technological aspects of Levantine archeological assemblages, in those aspects of the archeofaunal record that monitor subsistence, and in the evidence from settlement pattern studies.     

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.     

中国早期智人牙齿化石

中国目前较为可靠的早期智人牙齿材料应包括在巢县、许家窑、长阳、周口店新洞和桐梓发现的人类牙齿化石,代表一类与早期组早期智人相当或十分相近的古人类。丁村人类牙齿化石可能是代表晚期组早期智人也可能是代表解剖学上的现代智人。就牙齿材料而言,尚无充分的证据能表明在中国曾同时存在过两种类型的早期智人。     

中更新世非洲Bodo人类头骨化石与周口店直立人的比较--中国与非洲人类头骨特征对比之三

发现于埃塞俄比亚MiddleAwash地区Bodo地点距今60万年的人类头骨化石是迄今发现的最为古老和完整的非洲中更新世人类化石。由于Bodo头骨化石在形态特征上兼有直立人与智人的特点,多年来学术界对其分类地位一直存在争议。Rightmire认为Bodo头骨化石与BrokenHill及Petralona等在分类上属于古老型智人的中更新世人类更为接近,是非洲直立人向古老型智人过渡的代表。至少在距今60万年的中更新世早期直立人向古老型智人转变的成种事件在非洲就已经发生。以Bodo头骨为代表的一批更新世中期非洲和欧洲人类化石构成了可能是后期人类祖先的人属海德堡种。这些观点导致了近年学术界对古老型智人在非洲及欧亚出现时间以及更新世中期非洲和欧亚地区古人类相互之间演化关系的关注。基于这样的背景,本文对年代与Bodo化石接近的周口店直立人头骨特征与Bodo头骨的相似及差异表现情况进行了对比研究。结果发现Bodo头骨在一系列特征上与周口店直立人相似,同时在包括颅容量在内的其它一些特征上呈现出后期智人的特点,但总体形态上似乎与直立人更为相似。作者认为尽管这种进化上的镶嵌现象在中国古人类化石记录上也广泛存在,但由于中国人类化石标本在年代上的不确定性,目前还没有可靠的证据说明这种集直立人与智人化石特征为一体的镶嵌性在中国古人类化石出现的时间接近或早于非洲。考虑到中国与非洲直立人生存年代的巨大差异及人类演化的不同步或地区间差异,具有较多后期人类特征表现的人类首先出现在非洲是完全可能的。根据这些研究对比,作者就人类演化的镶嵌现象、更新世中期非洲与亚洲地区人类演化上的差异等问题进行了讨论。     

许家窑遗址74093地点1977年出土石制品研究

许家窑遗址74093地点位于泥河湾盆地中部, 发现于1974年, 出土了早期智人化石以及大量的石制品和动物化石。该地点进行过多次发掘, 其中1977年在U3等探方共出土石制品共1765件, 类型包括石核、石器、完整石片、不完整石片和断块等。石制品原料取自梨益沟流水带来的河卵石, 以石英岩和脉石英为主。石制品以小型居多, 锤击法为主要剥片方法, 砸击法应用较少。石器毛坯以片状居多, 占63.6%; 石器类型多样, 以刮削器和石球为主; 石器由锤击法加工而成, 加工部位多集中分布在毛坯的单侧或者单端, 单向加工占72.4%, 且以正向为主; 双向加工占27.6%, 多以复向加工为主。年代测定表明古人类在该地点活动的时间大致发生在晚更新世早期。石器组合属于华北小石器工业传统, 大量石球的发现对于研究早期人类的剥片技术和生存行为具有重要意义。     

The large-mammal fauna from the Kibish Formation

The Kibish faunal remains are useful for reconstructing the habitat of the earliest documented Homo sapiens and for understanding the community within which early modern humans existed. A diverse assemblage of large mammals, including many species of bovids, suids, and equids, has been recovered from the Kibish Formation. There are no extinct large mammals represented in the fossil assemblage, and the overall taxonomic composition of the fossil fauna is similar to the modern-day wildlife community living near the Omo River. The fossil faunal assemblage shows a paucity of arboreal primates, and carnivore species are rare. However, the faunal sample includes possible Cephalophus (duiker) remains and Hylochoerus meinertzhageni (giant forest hog), taxa that are extremely rare in the African fossil record, and both indicate more closed habitats. Comparative analyses of the Kibish faunal remains using the ecological-diversity approach document close associations with edaphic grassland and woodland vegetation types. These vegetation forms are similar to current habitats surrounding the Omo River.     

山西襄汾石沟砂场发现人类枕骨化石

2012年,山西襄汾县南贾镇上鲁村石沟砂场发现一件人类枕骨化石。该化石埋藏于汾河西岸第Ⅲ级阶地的砂砾层,地质时代可能是中更新世晚期。本文对枕骨形态特征进行描述,并将其与亚洲直立人、早期智人、早期现代人相关标本进行对比。观察发现,石沟古人类具有印加骨的形态特征,为中国古人类印加骨高频出现增添了新的证据;枕鳞中部没有发育枕骨圆枕,而具有最上项线,显示出枕骨形态的进步性,推测石沟古人类可能属于早期现代人。石沟古人类枕骨化石对于探讨中国及东亚地区古人类的系统演化问题提供了证据。     

The environmental contexts of early human occupation of Georgia (Transcaucasia)

The hominid mandible and a third metatarsal found in Dmanisi (Republic of Georgia) are accompanied by a rich faunal assemblage and a core-chopper stone tool industry. The mandible represents a somewhat isolated morphological type of Homo erectus that appears, given the combination of its primitive and advanced traits and specific dental morphology, to be a forerunner of both late H. erectus and early archaic H. sapiens. The faunal assemblage mostly consists of Villafranchian mammals, with the majority of the species assigned to an early phase of the Upper Villafranchian (Late Villanian and Early Biharian). Faunal and paleobotanical evidence as well as the depositional nature of the site indicate that hominid occupation took place in a mosaic environment of open steppe and gallery forests. Both the concentration of resources and the warm climatic conditions in the Dmanisi region at the beginning of the early Pleistocene were favorable for hominid occupation. It is possible that hominids reached the Caucasus through the Levantine corridor, and that the environment of this region allowed them to establish a stronghold and later colonize adjacent areas.     

Early Upper Paleolithic Man and Late Middle Paleolithic Tools

The appearance of anatomically modern Homo sapiens in Europe, the Near East, and Africa must represent either an in situ evolution of Neandertals or a migration. Those who suggest the latter claim a sudden replacement of Neandertals by anatomically modern Homo sapiens. However, the "evidence" actually cited claims only the sudden replacement of Middle by Upper Paleolithic industries. We criticize the migration explanation on two grounds. (1) There is no "sudden replacement" of Middle Paleolithic by Upper Paleolithic industries, but rather a gradual change in the frequencies of already present tools. Numerous sites in these areas exhibit transitional industries. (2) Concomitantly, there is no morphological evidence indicating a "sudden replacement" of hominids. There is no absolute association between anatomically modern Homo sapiens and Upper Paleolithic industries. Instead, the evidence clearly shows that early anatomically modern Homo sapiens is a late Middle Paleolithic local phenomenon .     

New dates for the Fontéchevade (Charente, France) Homo remains

Homo I from the site of Fontéchevade, France, has long been an anomaly in the European fossil record. The specimen is a fragment of human frontal bone that lacks a supraorbital torus and appears to belong to an anatomically modern Homo sapiens. However, the level from which it was recovered in 1947 was dated on the basis of associated faunal and lithic material to the last interglacial or earlier. As a result, Homo I has been interpreted, among other things, as a representative of a pre-sapiens lineage in Europe. This paper reports on recent ESR and radiocarbon dates that indicate that the specimen almost certainly dates to oxygen isotope stage 3, which brings it in line with other evidence for the entry of modern Homo sapiens into Europe.     

Age and biostratigraphic significance of the Punung Rainforest Fauna, East Java, Indonesia, and implications for Pongo and Homo

The Punung Fauna is a key component in the biostratigraphic sequence of Java. It represents the most significant faunal turnover on the island in the last 1.5 million years, when Stegodon and other archaic mammal species characteristic of earlier Faunal stages were replaced by a fully modern fauna that included rainforest-dependent species such as Pongo pygmaeus (orangutan). Here, we report the first numerical ages for the Punung Fauna obtained by luminescence and uranium-series dating of the fossil-bearing deposits and associated flowstones. The Punung Fauna contained in the dated breccia is of early Last Interglacial age (between 128+/-15 and 118+/-3 ka). This result has implications for the age of the preceding Ngandong Fauna, including Homo erectus remains found in the Ngandong Terrace, and for the timing of Homo sapiens arrival in Southeast Asia, in view of claims for a modern human tooth associated with the Punung breccia.     

Validation of bone surface modification models for inferring fossil hominin and carnivore feeding interactions, with reapplication to FLK 22, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

Resolving the issue of how Early Stone Age hominins acquired large mammal carcasses requires information on their feeding interactions with large carnivores. This ecological information and its behavioral and evolutionary implications are revealed most directly from the tooth, cut, and percussion marks on bone surfaces generated by hominin and carnivore feeding activities. This paper employs a bootstrap method, a form of random resampling with replacement, to refine published neotaphonomic models that use the assemblage-wide proportions of long bones bearing feeding traces to infer the sequences in which Plio-Pleistocene hominins and carnivores accessed flesh, marrow, and/or grease from carcasses. Results validate the sensitivity of the models for inferring hominin feeding ecology, which have been questioned on grounds shown here to be unfounded. The bootstrapped feeding trace models are applied to the late Pliocene larger mammal fossil assemblage from FLK 22 (Zinjanthropus site), Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. High frequencies of tooth and percussion marking on long bone midshaft fragments from FLK 22 are most consistent with those feeding trace models that simulate hominin scavenging from carcasses defleshed by carnivores, while cut mark data indicate that hominins more often had access to upper forelimb flesh than upper hind limb flesh. Together, the bone surface modification data indicate that hominins typically gained secondary access to partially defleshed carnivore kills, but they also allow for the possibility of some carcasses being processed only by carnivores and only by hominins.     

陕西黄龙出土的人类头盖骨化石

黄龙人头盖骨是1975年在陕西省黄龙县徐家坟山的南坡挖到的。它出土于黄土层与红色土的交界处,从地层上看,可能属于更新世晚期。 该头盖骨保留了额骨和顶骨部分。从颅穹隆起程度、眶上区和颞区发育程度以及额鳞倾斜程度来判断,它属于晚期智人阶段。与晚期智人一般特征相比,它的矢状脊较突出,头骨骨壁较厚,额结节较不发育,前囟点位置较靠后。黄龙人头盖骨上现代特征和较原始特征的混合表明它代表了晚期智人中的一种过渡性的类型。     

The place of Neandertals in the evolution of hominid patterns of growth and development

This study uses the two developmental fields of dental maturation and femoral growth to determine if the pattern of growth and development in Neandertals (archaic Homo sapiens) was intermediate between that of Homo erectus and recent modern humans. Specimens used in the analysis included Neandertals and Upper Palaeolithic early modern Homo sapiens from Europe and individuals from two recent modern human populations. Ontogenetic data for the H. erectus adolescent KNM-WT 15000 and for Gorilla gorilla were included for comparison. Previous reports have indicated that H. erectus demonstrates a pattern of ontogeny characterized by earlier and more rapid linear growth than in modern humans. Results reported here demonstrate that Upper Paleolithic early modern Homo sapiens display a growth trajectory indistinguishable from that of recent modern humans. The pattern of Neandertal ontogeny is not intermediate between the pattern displayed in H. erectus and the derived pattern seen in the modern reference samples and the early modern H. sapiens sample. The Neandertal growth trajectory is consistent with either slow linear growth or advanced dental development.     

Late Pleistocene human remains from Wezmeh Cave, western Iran

Paleontological analysis of remains from Wezmeh Cave in western Iran have yielded a Holocene Chalcolithic archeological assemblage, a rich Late Pleistocene carnivore faunal assemblage, and an isolated unerupted human maxillary premolar (P(3) or possibly P(4)). Species representation and U-series dating of faunal teeth place the carnivore assemblage during oxygen isotope stages (OIS) 3 and 2, and noninvasive gamma spectrometry dating of the human premolar places it at least as old as early OIS 2. The human premolar crown morphology is not diagnostic of late archaic versus early modern human affinities, but its buccolingual diameter places it at the upper limits of Late Pleistocene human P(3) and P(4) dimensions and separate from a terminal Pleistocene regional sample. Wezmeh Cave therefore provides additional Paleolithic human remains from the Zagros Mountains and further documents Late Pleistocene human association with otherwise carnivore-dominated cave assemblages.     

Reconstructing recent human evolution.

The two most distinct models of recent human evolution, the multiregional and the recent African origin models, have different retrodictions concerning specific archaic-recent population relationships. The former model infers multiple regional archaic-modern connections and the ancient establishment of regional characteristics, whereas the latter model implies only an African archaic-all modern relationship, with recent (late Pleistocene) development of regionality. In this paper, four late archaic groups from Europe, southwest Asia, Africa and East Asia are compared with various fossil and recent Homo sapiens crania or cranial samples. The results of Penrose shape comparisons narrowly favour a late archaic African-modern special relationship over an East Asian-modern one, with European and southwest Asian Neanderthal groups much more distant. No specific archaic-recent regional relationships are indicated in the shape analyses, nor in separate examinations of patterns of regionality, which indicate a recent origin for present day regionality. The Skhul-Qafzeh sample provides an excellent shape intermediate between the archaic and recent samples.