Dental morphology of the Dawenkou Neolithic population in North China: implications for the origin and distribution of Sinodonty

We compare the incidence of 25 nonmetric dental traits of the people of the Neolithic Dawenkou culture (6300-4500 BP) sites in Shandong Province, North China with those of other East Asian populations. The Dawenkou teeth had an overwhelmingly greater resemblance to the Sinodont pattern typical of Northeast Asia than to the Sundadont pattern typical of Southeast Asia. Multidimensional scaling using Smith's mean measure of divergence (MMD) statistic place the Dawenkou sample near the Amur and the North China-Mongolia populations in the area of the plot indicating typical Sinodonty. The existence of the Sinodont population in Neolithic North China suggests a possible continuity of Sinodonty from the Upper Cave population at Zhoukoudian (about 34000-10000 BP) to the modern North Chinese. The presence of Sinodonty in Shandong Province shows that the Japan Sea and East China Sea were strong barriers to gene flow for at least 3000 years, because at this time the Jomonese of Japan were fully Sundadont. In addition, we suggest that the descendants of the Dawenkou population cannot be excluded as one of the source populations that contributed to sinodontification in Japan.     

Within-group human variation in the Asian Pleistocene: the three Upper Cave crania

Numerous studies on Pleistocene samples have shown that within-group cranial variation was greater than that seen today. The three anatomically modern Upper Cave crania (UC 101, UC 102, and UC 103) from Zhoukoudian, China provide one of the best samples available for addressing the issue of the antiquity of the modern pattern of within-group cranial variability because archaeological evidence indicates that they are spatially and temporally restricted. Research on the Upper Cave fossils usually only includes UC 101 and UC 103 because of postmortem damage to UC 102's cranial vault. However, the face of UC 102 is undamaged, allowing for most facial measurements to be performed accurately. In this study we use facial dimensions to compare all three Upper Cave specimens, and we evaluate whether the variation seen among them is larger than that observed in extant populations.Using a worldwide sample of modern populations to establish a baseline, the three Upper Cave crania were compared to each other. Since there is disagreement over the sex of UC 102, this specimen is treated alternately as a female and as a male. Results show that the Upper Cave specimens exhibit significantly more variation than do individuals within more recent human populations, especially if UC 102 is considered male. Furthermore, results indicate that the fossils never fall into the same modern human group, and that each specimen is significantly atypical of its nearest modern neighbor in multivariate space.We conclude that the three Upper Cave crania do not represent a family group but are representative of the larger contemporaneous heterogeneous Asian Pleistocene population. Our results support the contention that today's within-group homogeneity is a relatively recent phenomenon, and is likely the result of a Neolithic population expansion and its many effects.     

Into Eurasia: A geometric morphometric re-assessment of the Upper Cave (Zhoukoudian) specimens

Since the discovery of the human remains from the Upper Cave of Zhoukoudian in the 1930s there has been speculation over their affinities. In particular, the degree to which the three adult crania exhibit recent East Asian morphology, as well as their degree of within-group variability, has long been debated. Several early researchers described a resemblance to East Asian populations, but these findings have been for the most part rejected by more recent metric and non-metric analyses. Nevertheless, the Upper Cave specimens have not been classified conclusively into any recent modern human population to which they have been compared, and classification results differ for each cranium. Here, the question of the affinities of Upper Cave 101 and 103, the two better-preserved crania, is examined from the perspective of the Late Pleistocene human fossil record using the methodology of 3-D geometric morphometrics. The degree of morphological variation between the two specimens is also evaluated within the context of recent population variability. Neurocranial and facial morphology are analyzed separately so as to maximize comparative samples. Results show a morphological resemblance of the Upper Cave material to Upper Paleolithic Europeans. It is proposed that the Upper Cave specimens retain important aspects of modern human ancestral morphology, and possibly share a recent common ancestral population with Upper Paleolithic Europeans, in accordance with the Single Origin model of modern human origins.     

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。     

中国直立人形态特征的变异——颅骨测量数据的统计分析

近年,亚洲直立人化石特征的变异及其意义引起了学术界较多的关注。不断有学者提出周口店直立人无论在非测量性特征,还是在测量特征方面都具有不同于印度尼西亚及非洲直立人的表现特点,有人甚至对将周口店直立人化石特征作为直立人的典型特征的观点提出了置疑。为进一步探讨这些有争议的问题,本文采用多变量统计分析方法对33件非洲和欧亚地区直立人颅骨测量数据进行了分析。我们发现亚洲大陆的周口店和南京直立人与生活在东南亚群岛的印度尼西亚直立人具有不同的颅骨测量特征。中国标本以较窄的前额部和枕部,以及宽阔的颅骨中部为特点。而印度尼西亚标本的额部和枕部的宽度与颅骨中部的宽度相对较为接近。非洲直立人在这些颅骨测量特征的表现上与印度尼西亚直立人接近,呈现出相对宽阔的额部和枕部。中国的和县直立人在颅骨测量特征的表现上与印度尼西亚和非洲直立人接近,而与周口店和南京直立人明显不同。基于这些发现,本文就直立人头骨测量特征的稳定性、周口店直立人颅骨特征的表现特点、东亚直立人的地区变异与时代变化、头骨形态与测量特征的对应性等问题进行了讨论。     

北京房山十渡西太平洞晚更新世哺乳动物化石

北京市房山区十渡镇西太平村发现的动物化石是首次在该镇辖区发现的更新世化石。动物群由6目、15科、22属的22种组成,以岩羊、香麝及鼯鼠等为主,为典型的北方山区动物群。该动物群的时代为晚更新世晚期,~(14)C年代为距今29335～37350年,与山顶洞及田园洞动物群基本同期。西太平洞动物群中有76%的种曾出现于周口店田园洞动物群,而只有38%的种曾出现于山顶洞。目前在此发现的可鉴定到种的化石材料均可归入现生种,但其中有23%的种已经在北京地区消失,消失属种以大中型动物为主。在该地点发现的西伯利亚飞鼠和复齿鼯鼠材料是首次在华北地区发现的此类化石记录。该地点是我国北方地区已报道的第四纪化石点中含香麝和岩羊材料最丰富的地点之一。在国内有关文献中,岩羊化石的分类命名一直没有得到统一,这次发现的新材料,有利于澄清该类化石的分类命名问题。     

The Upper Cave at Zhoukoudian and the origins of the Mongoloids

The best evidence for identifying the inhabitants of northeast Asia in the terminal Pleistocene or early Holocene periods is provided by the human burials from the Upper Cave at Zhoukoudian, and in particular the “Old Man”. Apart from the Minatogawa finds on Okinawa, all Late Pleistocene human remains from East Asia that are reasonably well published are poorly preserved and often have equivocal dates. Since the time the Upper Cave was excavated it has been supposed that the human remains were the link between “Peking Man” and the modern Mongoloid complex. We have carried out multivariate analyses of the “Old Man” cranium employing new measurements of Weidenreich's cast of the skull and comparative data from Howells' survey of modern human groups. Despite our expectations the analyses have not shown the “Old Man” to be closely linked with the Mongoloids. Considering all the evidence available we conclude that the common belief of a close biological relationship between the people buried in the Upper Cave and the modern Mongoloids is not yet adequately demonstrated. Of crucial importance in interpreting the Upper Cave burials is their antiquity, which is still commonly thought to be in the order of at least 18 000 years. We believe that recent C-14 dates of about 11 000 years, determined from animal bones, indicate the earliest possible date for the burials. The time span between the Upper Cave burials and the earliest known modern Mongoloids in north China is in the order of about 4–5000 years. It is possible that a major population shift has occurred in north China between the terminal Pleistocene and the mid Holocene, when farming first appears. If this is so, the Upper Cave people may not have been closely allied to the Mongoloid groups that now inhabit East Asia and the Americas.     

Paleoamerican morphology in the context of European and East Asian late Pleistocene variation: implications for human dispersion into the New World

Early American crania show a different morphological pattern from the one shared by late Native Americans. Although the origin of the diachronic morphological diversity seen on the continents is still debated, the distinct morphology of early Americans is well documented and widely dispersed. This morphology has been described extensively for South America, where larger samples are available. Here we test the hypotheses that the morphology of Early Americans results from retention of the morphological pattern of Late Pleistocene modern humans and that the occupation of the New World precedes the morphological differentiation that gave rise to recent Eurasian and American morphology. We compare Early American samples with European Upper Paleolithic skulls, the East Asian Zhoukoudian Upper Cave specimens and a series of 20 modern human reference crania. Canonical Analysis and Minimum Spanning Tree were used to assess the morphological affinities among the series, while Mantel and Dow-Cheverud tests based on Mahalanobis Squared Distances were used to test different evolutionary scenarios. Our results show strong morphological affinities among the early series irrespective of geographical origin, which together with the matrix analyses results favor the scenario of a late morphological differentiation of modern humans. We conclude that the geographic differentiation of modern human morphology is a late phenomenon that occurred after the initial settlement of the Americas.     

周口店田园洞古人类化石点地层学研究及与山顶洞的对比

田园洞主体堆积厚度约2.5m,其动物群可分为上、下两个组合:上部组合物种多样性丰富,化石被啮齿类严重啮咬;下部组合化石种类单调,以鹿类和绵羊类为主,但化石丰富,极少有啮齿类咬痕。人类化石发现于下部组合;东洋界动物主要出现在上部组合,例如猕猴、猪獾、果子狸和鬣羚等。而马鹿和绵羊只出现于下部组合。沟齿鼯鼠和豪猪在下部组合开始出现,但主要发现于上部组合。梅花鹿是田园洞的优势种,在各个阶段都出现。通过统计比较,发现山顶洞3个地层单元(上室、下室和下窨)中所含化石属种基本一致,代表同一个动物群。尽管田园洞动物群中尚未发现可靠绝灭种类,但却有10种地区绝灭种,它与现生动物群有一定差异;而在堆积物特征及化石组合方面,与周口店山顶洞的更为接近。在田园洞和山顶洞出现的沟齿鼯鼠、猪獾、果子狸及鬣羚等是各自在华北地区的最早记录,可能代表了更新世末期自南而北的动物迁徙事件。     

与南京汤山直立人伴生的偶蹄类及其古环境浅析

在汤山葫芦洞大洞发现的偶蹄类化石共有 4个科、 5个属种 ,其中化石毛冠鹿为首次在华东地区发现。除德氏水牛相似种以外 ,其它属种与周口店第 1地点的标本相比具有个体较大(如李氏野猪、葛氏斑鹿和肿骨鹿 )或形态较进步 (如李氏野猪、似德氏水牛 )。这些动物所反映的古环境为植被丰富 ,并以阔叶乔木和灌木为主 ,间有局部开阔草地。当时的年平均气温与现在相似 ,但冬季偏冷。     

山顶洞人与现代华北人头骨非测量性特征比较及中国更新世晚期人类演化的一些问题

山顶洞人化石是迄今在东亚地区发现的数量最为丰富、保存状态最为完好的更新世晚期人类化石。多年来,山顶洞人作为东亚地区更新世晚期人类的代表,在研究东亚地区现代蒙古人种及美洲印第安人起源方面发挥着重要作用。随着对现代人起源与演化研究的深入,学术界对更新世晚期人类演化及现代人群形成过程的许多细节及演化机制予以了越来越多的注意,提出了现代人群出现时间及现代人群分化时间的概念。一些研究对山顶洞人的演化程度及其在东亚地区现代人群形成上的作用也提出了不同看法。为了深入探讨这些问题,本文对12项颅骨非测量特征在山顶洞人与现代中国人的表现情况进行了对比研究。发现有8项特征在山顶洞人与现代中国人之间具有不同的表现,作者认为山顶洞人在颅骨特征表现上较现代中国人具有更多的原始性。在此基础上,作者就更新世晚期人群内部变异、现代人群特征标准等问题进行了讨论。     

周口店山顶洞遗址年代的加速器质谱法再测定与讨论

本文报道了用加速器质谱方法测定山顶洞五个动物化石样品年龄的结果,在此基础上对山顶洞文化的年代范围进行了讨论。     

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.     

Major features of Sundadonty and Sinodonty, including suggestions about East Asian microevolution, population history, and late Pleistocene relationships with Australian aboriginals

The eight diagnostic morphological traits of the Sundadont and Sinodont divisions of the Mongoloid dental complex are identified. Intra- and intergroup variation for these crown and root features is plotted. The univariate frequency distributions provide useful evidence for several suggestions about East Asian prehistory, dental microevolution, and intergroup relationships. The case for local evolution of Sundadonty is strengthened by finding Australian teeth to be very similar to this pattern. Australian Aboriginal teeth are also generally like those of Jomonese and some Ainus, suggesting that members of the late Pleistocene Sundaland population could have initially colonized Sahulland as well as the continental shelf of East Asia northward to Hokkaido.     

A re-evaluation of the metric diversity within Homo erectus

Previous work by several researchers has suggested that the cranial sample from Zhoukoudian possesses a unique metric pattern relative to the African and Asian specimens assigned to Homo erectus. The current study readdresses this issue with an expanded fossil sample and a larger and more comprehensive set of cranial measurements. To test the patterns present in the assemblage, canonical variates analysis was performed using a covariance matrix generated from the Howells data set. From this, interindividual Mahalanobis distances were computed for the fossils. Random expectation statistics were then used to measure statistical significance of the Mahalanobis distances. The results show that the Zhoukoudian hominids exhibit a unique metric pattern not shared by the African and Indonesian crania sampled. In these tests the Hexian calvaria resembled the African and Indonesian specimens and differed significantly from the craniometric pattern seen in the Zhoukoudian fossils. The Zhoukoudian specimens are characterized by a wide midvault and relatively narrow occipital and frontal bones, while the African and Indonesian crania (including Hexian) have relatively broad frontal and occipital dimensions compared to their midvaults. These results do not suggest that a multiple-species scenario is necessary to encompass the variation present in the sample. Based on the current evidence it is more probable that this variation reflects polytypism influenced by environmental adaptation and/or genetic drift.     

Incidence of Carabelli's trait in Kenyan Africans and Asians

Examination for incidence of Carabelli's trait was done on 1267 Africans and 781 Asian school children, 298 dental plaster casts and 248 skulls of Africans. The African sample is composed of 80% Bantu, 20% Nilote, and Nilo-Hamitic people. When observed intraorally, the trait is present in 31–35% of Africans and 26–27% of Asians. In the dental casts and skull sample of Africans, the trait is present as pit in 23–28%, groove in 20%, and as tubercle and cusp in 22%. The total trait frequency in Africans is 68%.     

Dental variation among four prehispanic Mexican populations

In this paper, the dental morphology of prehispanic Mesoamerican populations is described, compared, and examined within the context of New World dental variation. Twenty-eight morphological dental traits were studied and compared in four samples of prehispanic Mexican populations. After eliminating intra- and interobserver error, the dental morphological characteristics observed show evidence of heterogeneity among the populations. In particular, the oldest population, Tlatilco (1300–800 BC ), was significantly different from the other three groups, Cuicuilco (800–100 BC ), Monte Albán (500 BC –700 AD ) and Cholula (550–750 AD ). When the four samples were compared to other Mongoloid populations, either univariately or multivariately, it was observed that the Mexican groups did not follow a strict Sinodont (characteristic of Northeast Asia)/Sundadont (characteristic of Southeast Asia) classification (Turner [1979] Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 51:619–636). From the traits examined, 27% presented frequencies consistent with Sinodont variation, while 73% of the traits showed similar incidence to Southeast Asian groups. Multivariately, the Mexican populations were found to fit an overall Sundadont classification. These results indicate that there is more dental morphological variation among American Indian populations than previously shown. © 1996 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

中国晚旧石器时代人类与其南邻(尼阿人及塔邦人)的关系

本文计算了中国旧石器时代晚期人类几个头骨与尼阿洞人之间的歧异系数,结果是柳江人与尼阿洞人的距离小于后者与澳大利亚大约同时期的人类的距离,也小于其与山顶洞人之距离。本文还根据一些形态特征的相似性讨论了尼阿洞人、塔邦洞人与亚洲大陆及澳大利亚古人类的关系。结论认为亚洲大陆对尼阿人有过相当大的影响,塔邦洞人也接受过一些来自北方的影响。     

Aeretesmelanopterus (Pteromyinae, Rodentia) from Tianyuan Cave near Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) in China

The materials of Aeretesmelanopterus from the Tianyuan Cave, a Late Pleistocene site with human fossils recovered recently near Zhoukoudian, are the richest of this species ever reported in North China. Aeretesmelanopterus is an endemic species of China, its relationship with Petaurista and Trogopterus is still controversal. Studies based on the dental characters show that Aeretesmelanopterus resembles Petaurista more closely than Trogopterus. The earliest fossil record of Aeretesmelanopterus was found in South China in Middle Pleistocene deposits. The earliest records in the Beijing area are from Upper Cave and Tianyuan Cave at Zhoukoudian are of late-Late Pleistocene age, around 30 kyrs BP. The geographical distributions of this species are very limited. In evolution, Aeretesmelanopterus experienced both the increase and the decrease in tooth size; but its crown height of cheek teeth was continuously increasing.