Upper pleistocene human remains from Vindija cave,Croatia, Yugoslavia

Human remains excavated from Vindija cave include a large although fragmentary sample of late Mousterian-associated specimens and a few additional individuals from the overlying early Upper Paleolithic levels. The Mousterian-associated sample is similar to European Neandertals from other regions. Compared with earlier Neandertals from south central Europe, this sample evinces evolutionary trends in the direction of Upper Paleolithic Europeans. Compared with the western European Neandertals, the same trends can be demonstrated, although the magnitude of difference is less, and there is a potential for confusing temporal with regional sources of variation. The early Upper Paleolithic-associated sample cannot be distinguished from the Mousterian-associated hominids. We believe that this site provides support for Hrdli?ka's “Neandertal phase” of human evolution, as it was originally applied in Europe.     

New data on the late Neandertals: Direct dating of the Belgian Spy fossils

In Eurasia, the period between 40,000 and 30,000 BP saw the replacement of Neandertals by anatomically modern humans (AMH) during and after the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. The human fossil record for this period is very poorly defined with no overlap between Neandertals and AMH on the basis of direct dates. Four new ¹⁴C dates were obtained on the two adult Neandertals from Spy (Belgium). The results show that Neandertals survived to at least ≈36,000 BP in Belgium and that the Spy fossils may be associated to the Lincombian–Ranisian–Jerzmanowician, a transitional techno‐complex defined in northwest Europe and recognized in the Spy collections. The new data suggest that hypotheses other than Neandertal acculturation by AMH may be considered in this part of Europe. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2009. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Re-analysis of the hominid radii from Cave of Hearths and Klasies River Mouth, South Africa

Two of the few postcranial fragments from the late Early Stone Age and/or the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa are the proximal radii from the Cave of Hearths and Klasies River Mouth. The Cave of Hearths fossil is metrically indistiguishable from both archaic (e.g., Neandertals) and recent humans, and presents a mosaic of primitive and modern features. The primitive include a relatively slender neck and thick cortical bone (the latter of which distinguishes recent humans from archaic, Early Modern, and Upper Paleolithic hominids); the modern includes an anteromedially (rather than medially) facing radial tuberosity. Its extreme collo–diaphyseal angle is unusual, although it can be matched by modern homologues. The neck–shaft angle of some Neandertal and Early Modern radii also appears to match that of the Cave of Hearths specimen. The Klasies River Mouth radius also has thick cortical bone of the neck. It is morphologically indistinguishable from Early Modern and Neandertal homologues. These, and other fossils, suggest a mosaic pattern of evolution in the postcranial skeleton of the late Early Stone Age and/or Middle Stone Age inhabitants of sub-Saharan Africa.     

Dating the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Levant: A view from Misliya Cave,Mount Carmel,Israel

The transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic in the Levant is a crucial event in human evolution, since it may involve the arrival of a new human population. In the current study, we present thermoluminescence (TL) dates obtained from 32 burnt flints retrieved from the late Lower Paleolithic (Acheulo-Yabrudian) and Early Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) layers of Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. Early Middle Paleolithic industries rich in Levallois and laminar products were assigned mean ages ranging from ∼250 to ∼160 ka (thousands of years ago), suggesting a production of this industry during MIS 7 and the early part of MIS 6. The mean ages obtained for the samples associated with the Acheulo-Yabrudian (strengthened by an isochron analysis) indicate a production of this cultural complex ∼250 ka ago, at the end of MIS 8. According to the Misliya TL dates, the transition from the Lower to the Middle Paleolithic in the site took place at the limit MIS 8/7 or during the early part of MIS 7. The dates, together with the pronounced differences in lithic technology strongly suggest the arrival of a new population during this period.     

中国旧石器时代早、中期石器技术多样性研究的新进展

关于中国石器技术发展轨迹和特点,其中一种观点认为,在更新世大部分时间内,中国石器技术以第1模式为主。本文结合近年的考古发现和研究成果,对中更新世早期至距今约4万年的中国石器技术面貌进行了简要总结。这段时间内的中国石器技术呈现出明显的多样性和复杂性,尤其自晚更新世以来,多种石器技术体系并存,其中包括以手斧、手镐和薄刃斧等大型工具为特色的阿舍利技术体系、以盘状石核和各类小型工具为特征的小型石片石器技术体系、以勒瓦娄哇石核和尖状器为特点的莫斯特技术体系、以及以基纳型刮削器为主的莫斯特技术体系,后两者具有明显的旧石器时代中期技术特点。多种石器技术体系共存,这一现象反映了技术发展的区域性和该阶段人群构成的多样性,这为探讨古人类环境适应行为以及区域间人群扩散交流提供了重要信息。     

河南织机洞旧石器遗址的洞穴堆积和沉积环境分析

MIS3阶段晚期是末次冰期中一个气候比较温暖的间冰阶,当时人类活动相当活跃,在世界各地这一时期的人类文化遗址不仅数量多,而且文化面貌也发生明显的变化。织机洞遗址是一处以旧石器时代中晚期为主的洞穴遗址,洞穴中堆积地层可以划分为四层:下部含丰富的打制石器称下文化层,属旧石器中晚期;中部不含石器;上部含少量打制石器称中文化层,属旧石器晚期;顶部含有裴李岗和秦汉时期的文化遗存称上文化层,属全新世时期。根据光释光年代测定,文化遗存最为丰富的下文化层,年龄为距今3·5—5万年,相当于MIS3阶段的中晚期,正处于"旧石器晚期革命"的前夕。孢粉分析结果表明,下文化层所处的MIS3阶段气候比较温暖湿润,为暖温带草原-疏树草原环境,良好的气候环境有利于当时古代人类的生存与繁衍。     

Human temporal bone from the lower Paleolithic site of Castel di Guido, near Rome, Italy

The Castel di Guido site, with an estimated age of approximately 300,000 years, has yielded abundant animal remains, Acheulian stone and bone bifaces, and small tools. On the surface of the original deposit, turned over by agricultural activities, fragments of human remains were discovered between 1980 and 1986, including a temporal bone described here.     

Inland human settlement in southern Arabia 55,000 years ago. New evidence from the Wadi Surdud Middle Paleolithic site complex, western Yemen

The recovery at Shi’bat Dihya 1 (SD1) of a dense Middle Paleolithic human occupation dated to 55 ka BP sheds new light on the role of the Arabian Peninsula at the time of the alleged expansion of modern humans out of Africa. SD1 is part of a complex of Middle Paleolithic sites cut by the Wadi Surdud and interstratified within an alluvial sedimentary basin in the foothills that connect the Yemeni highlands with the Tihama coastal plain. A number of environmental proxies indicate arid conditions throughout a sequence that extends between 63 and 42 ka BP. The lithic industry is geared toward the production of a variety of end products: blades, pointed blades, pointed flakes and Levallois-like flakes with long unmodified cutting edges, made from locally available rhyolite. The occasional exploitation of other local raw materials, that fulfill distinct complementary needs, highlights the multi-functional nature of the occupation. The slightly younger Shi’bat Dihya 2 (SD2) site is characterized by a less elaborate production of flakes, together with some elements (blades and pointed flakes) similar to those found at SD1, and may indicate a cultural continuity between the two sites. The technological behaviors of the SD1 toolmakers present similarities with those documented from a number of nearly contemporaneous assemblages from southern Arabia, the Levant, the Horn of Africa and North Africa. However, they do not directly conform to any of the techno-complexes typical of the late Middle Paleolithic or late Middle Stone Age from these regions. This period would have witnessed the development of local Middle Paleolithic traditions in the Arabian Peninsula, which suggests more complex settlement dynamics and possible population interactions than commonly inferred by the current models of modern human expansion out of Africa.     

安徽东至华龙洞古人类遗址哺乳动物化石的初步研究

华龙洞遗址发现于2004年,先后于2006和2014～2017年进行了5次发掘,期间发现了若干古人类化石和大量哺乳动物化石;本文是对2014～2016年出土哺乳动物化石的初步研究成果。目前已鉴定出8目24科43种(含未定种)哺乳动物,其中以偶蹄类化石最丰富。化石保存状况较差,以碎骨为主,牙齿较少,完整骨骼更少;但骨骼上鲜见啮齿类啮咬痕迹。华龙洞动物群与南京汤山猿人遗址、和县猿人遗址及重庆盐井沟等动物群较为相似,尤其是与和县猿人遗址及南京猿人遗址动物群最为接近,主要表现在如下方面:1)都含古人类化石;2)都不含第三纪动物群的孑遗分子;3)都含有大熊猫-剑齿象动物群的主要成员(大熊猫、剑齿象、巨貘及猪獾等),同时也都含一定量的北方属种,但华龙洞含北方成分相对较少,只发现翁氏麝鼩、麝鼹、变异仓鼠、布氏毛足田鼠、棕熊、李氏野猪、葛氏斑鹿及大角鹿等,华龙洞的大角鹿是该属分布最靠南的地点;4)都含有剑齿象而不含晚更新世常见的亚洲象;5)都含有大量头后骨骼,与以含单个牙齿为主的其它南方洞穴迥然有别。从化石保存状况及属种组成判断,华龙洞堆积时代与和县猿人遗址最为接近,也是中更新世。由于遗址尚未完全暴露,其堆积性质尚不清楚;但从蝙蝠类化石判断,很可能与洞穴堆积有关。     

New discoveries of skeletal elements of Hadropithecus stenognathus from Andrahomana Cave, southeastern Madagascar

Remains of what appears to be a single, subadult Hadropithecus stenognathus were recovered from a previously unexcavated site at Andrahomana Cave (southeastern Madagascar). Specimens found comprise isolated teeth and cranial fragments (including the frontal processes of the orbits), as well as a partial postcranial skeleton. They include the first associated fore- and hind-limb bones, confirming the hind-limb attributions made by Godfrey and co-workers in 1997, and refuting earlier attributions by Lamberton in 1937/1938. Of particular interest here are the previously unknown elements, including a sacrum, other vertebrae and ribs, some hand bones, and the distal epiphysis of a femur. We briefly discuss the functional implications of previously unknown elements. Hadropithecus displayed a combination of characters reminiscent of lemurids, others more like those of the larger-bodied Old World monkeys, and still others more like those of African apes. Yet other characteristics appear unique. Lemurid-like postcranial characteristics may be primitive for the Archaeolemuridae. Hadropithecus diverges from the Lemuridae in the direction of Archaeolemur, but more extremely so. Thus, for example, it exhibits a stronger reduction in the size of the hamulus of the hamate, greater anteroposterior compression of the femoral shaft, and greater asymmetry of the femoral condyles. Nothing in its postcranial anatomy signals a close relationship to either the Indriidae or the Palaeopropithecidae.     

陕西洛南龙牙洞小哺乳动物化石新材料

描述了1995~1997年东秦岭山地洛南盆地龙牙南洞洞穴遗址中发掘出土的小哺乳动物化石,包括甘肃鼹Scapanulus oweni,峨眉鼩鼹Nasillus andersoni,鼩鼹(属种未定)Uropsilinae gen.et sp.indet.,长尾鼩鼱Soriculus sp.,似高山鼠兔Ochotona cf.O.alpina,偏皮氏毛耳飞鼠Belomys parapearsoni,艾克氏异仓鼠Allocricetus ehiki,沟牙田鼠Proedromys bedfordi,欧洲异费鼠Allophaiomys deucalion,始鼢鼠Eospalax sp.,先社鼠Niviventer preconfucianus,亚洲姬鼠Apodemus asianicus,姬鼠Apodemus sp.,马来豪猪(华南亚种)Hystrix brachyura subcristata,居氏大河狸Trogontherium cuvieri等。该动物群同时包括南方型和北方型动物,其动物组合具有明显的南北过渡地带的特征。其中峨眉鼩鼹和似高山鼠兔为新发现的化石种。新发现的小哺乳动物化石组合类似于龙牙北洞,显示出比较古老的性质,时代上多为早更新世晚期或中更新世早期,但龙牙南洞遗址含化石地层对应的热释光(TL)年龄结果分别为(356.6±17.8)ka BP,(273.9±13.7)ka BP和(210.5±10.5)ka BP,最近新的回授光释光(TT-OSL)测年数据进一步验证了热释光测年结果,获得的地层年代亦为距今40~20万年左右。     

Reassessment of the paleoenvironment and preservation of hominid fossils from Hadar, Ethiopia.

Samples of paleosols from locality AL-333, known for numerous specimens of Australopithecus afarensis, were analyzed in order to reconstruct the original soils and environment of burial of the associated fossil hominids. The bones were found in swale-like features, within the calcareous and coarse-grained basal portion of a paleosol. This is more like an assemblage of bones buried during a single depositional episode, such as a flood, than an assemblage accumulated on a soil over a long period of time by carnivores or other means of death. What killed the hominids remains unclear, but considering the association of originally disarticulated bones of such hydraulically distinct types as phalanges and maxillae, it is very likely that they died and partially rotted at or very near this site. The paleosols at AL-333, here named the Fo and Go clay paleosols, have calcareous rhizoconcretions, granular surface horizons, prismatic peds, and shallow calcareous nodules and stringers like soils now supporting grassy woodland in semiarid regions. Although this group of hominids was buried in streamside gallery woodland, there is evidence from Laetoli, Tanzania, that A. afarensis ventured out into open wooded grassland as well. Evidence for this should be sought from other paleosols at Hadar.     

New hominid fossils from Woranso‐Mille (Central Afar,Ethiopia) and taxonomy of early Australopithecus

The phylogenetic relationship between Australopithecus anamensis and Australopithecus afarensis has been hypothesized as ancestor‐descendant. However, the weakest part of this hypothesis has been the absence of fossil samples between 3.6 and 3.9 million years ago. Here we describe new fossil specimens from the Woranso‐Mille site in Ethiopia that are directly relevant to this issue. They derive from sediments chronometrically dated to 3.57–3.8 million years ago. The new fossil specimens are largely isolated teeth, partial mandibles, and maxillae, and some postcranial fragments. However, they shed some light on the relationships between Au. anamensis and Au. afarensis. The dental morphology shows closer affinity with Au. anamensis from Allia Bay/Kanapoi (Kenya) and Asa Issie (Ethiopia) than with Au. afarensis from Hadar (Ethiopia). However, they are intermediate in dental and mandibular morphology between Au. anamensis and the older Au. afarensis material from Laetoli. The new fossils lend strong support to the hypothesized ancestor‐descendant relationship between these two early Australopithecus species. The Woranso‐Mille hominids cannot be unequivocally assigned to either taxon due to their dental morphological intermediacy. This could be an indication that the Kanapoi, Allia Bay, and Asa Issie Au. anamensis is the primitive form of Au. afarensis at Hadar with the Laetoli and Woranso‐Mille populations sampling a mosaic of morphological features from both ends. It is particularly difficult to draw a line between Au. anamensis and Au. afarensis in light of the new discoveries from Woranso‐Mille. The morphology provides no evidence that Au. afarensis and Au. anamensis represent distinct taxa. Am J Phys Anthropol 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Leporids as a potential resource for predators (hominins,mammalian carnivores,raptors): An example of mixed contribution from level III of Teixoneres Cave (MIS 3, Barcelona,Spain)

Apart from humans, other predators can take part in creating bone accumulations by generating waste materials that may have been mixed with those produced by hominids and leading to the formation of palimpsests. This is discussed here in the case of Middle Paleolithic leporid assemblages, to which carnivores have frequently contributed. Level III of Teixoneres Cave (MIS 3) is a sample that can be used to address the origin of leporid assemblages in archaeological contexts. Applying an archaeozoological and taphonomical methodology has made it possible to state that the assemblage of leporids in the site has been generated by a mix of contributions, in which small mammal carnivores and nocturnal raptors seem to play an important role, together with occasional hominid inputs. The aim of this paper is to present new data about Neanderthal activities at this site and support the hypothesis related to short-term human occupations in the cave.     

New discoveries of Gigantopithecus blacki teeth from Chuifeng Cave in the Bubing Basin, Guangxi, south China

Ninety two Gigantopithecus blacki teeth have recently been recovered in situ at Chuifeng Cave in the Bubing Basin, Guangxi, south China. The hominoid teeth are associated with a typical early Pleistocene fauna. In comparison with Gigantopithecus of known provenience, for which classification is problematic, the Chuifeng sample can be allocated definitively to G. blacki. The new collection represents the largest sample of this species known, with the exception of the material from Liucheng. Statistical analysis of the mammal fauna indicates that G. blacki is one of the dominant elements, comprising 9% of the fauna. Eleven teeth (12% of the sample) of G. blacki are diagnosed as having caries. In addition, wear on M₃ shows that G. blacki was adapted to consume tough or fibrous food and this wear may potentially imply relative longevity. Further study of this large sample of Gigantopithecus will provide additional insight into the paleobiology of this extinct hominoid.     

New Australopithecus robustus fossils and associated U-Pb dates from Cooper's Cave (Gauteng, South Africa)

Australopithecus robustus is one of the best represented hominin taxa in Africa, with hundreds of specimens recovered from six fossil localities in the Bloubank Valley area of Gauteng Province, South Africa. However, precise geochronological ages are presently lacking for these fossil cave infills. In this paper, we provide a detailed geological background to a series of hominin fossils retrieved from the newly investigated deposit of Cooper's D (located partway between Sterkfontein and Kromdraai in the Bloubank Valley), including uranium-lead (U-Pb) ages for speleothem material associated with A. robustus. U-Pb dating of a basal speleothem underlying the entire deposit results in a maximum age of 1.526 (±0.088) Ma for Cooper's D. A second U-Pb date of ca. 1.4 Ma is produced from a flowstone layer above this basal speleothem; since this upper flowstone is not a capping flowstone, and fossiliferous sediments are preserved above this layer, some of the hominins might be slightly younger than the calculated age. As a result, we can broadly constrain the age of the hominins from Cooper's D to between 1.5 and approximately 1.4 Ma. Extinct fauna recorded in this comparatively young deposit raise the possibility that the Bloubank Valley region of South Africa represented a more stable environmental refugium for taxa relative to tectonically more active East Africa. The sediments of the deposit likely infilled rapidly during periods when arid conditions prevailed in the paleoenvironment, although it is unclear whether sediment deposition and bone deposition were necessarily contemporaneous occurrences. We reconstruct the paleoenvironment of Cooper's D as predominantly grassland, with nearby woodlands and a permanent water source. The hominin teeth recovered from Cooper's D are all from juveniles and can be confidently assigned to A. robustus. In addition, two juvenile mandibular fragments and an adult thoracic vertebra are tentatively attributed to A. robustus.     

Neandertal mobility and large-game hunting: The exploitation of reindeer during the Quina Mousterian at Chez-Pinaud Jonzac (Charente-Maritime, France)

Neandertals were effective hunters of large ungulates throughout their geographic and temporal ranges. Equipped with this knowledge, researchers in paleoanthropology continue to seek insight on the relationships between hunting and subsistence strategies with other components of the Neandertals’ niche, such as mobility, site use, and lithic technology. The Quina Mousterian deposits from the rockshelter site of Chez Pinaud Jonzac (Charente-Maritime, France; hereafter Jonzac) offer an excellent opportunity to pursue these issues. This paper focuses on the extensive and well-preserved skeletal remains of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) recovered from recent excavations of the site, representing at least 18 individuals that were hunted by Neandertals during the fall through winter. Our zooarchaeological results indicate that all ages of reindeer were hunted but adult individuals predominate. No bias is evident in the comparable frequencies of males and females. These prey were butchered on-site, with abundant evidence of meat filleting and marrow exploitation. In the excavated sample, the absence of hearths and the almost complete lack of burned bones or stones suggest that Neandertals were not using fire to assist with processing the reindeer carcasses. The zooarchaeological results presented here indicate that reindeer were hunted during a restricted window of time when they were seasonally abundant in the local area near Jonzac. Taken together with the lithic industry based on bifacial elements, the evidence is consistent with a pattern of site use by highly mobile hunter-gatherers making frequent, short-term visits. Ongoing research at Jonzac and other Quina Mousterian localities will contribute to a better understanding of Neandertal behavior during cold climate phases.