垩质年轮法在旧石器时代动物考古学中的应用

在旧石器时代考古遗址研究中,动物的死亡年龄往往能够反映古人类的生存能力及猎物选择趋向;死亡季节则是研究古人类人口数量变化、聚居模式等生存适应问题的重要途径。牙齿垩质切片研究表明,垩质的沉积与树木年轮的生长相似,具有较强的季节规律性和终生生长的特点,可被用于同时推断动物的死亡年龄与季节。垩质年轮法在国外已经有不少较为成功的应用范例,但由于其自身局限及我国旧石器时代动物考古学的发展状况,这一方法至今并未得到较好的应用。本文主要介绍垩质年轮法原理及其在旧石器时代考古学研究中的应用实例,并对该方法在国内遗址相关研究中的应用前景做出展望。

Determining Age and Seasonality in Paleolithic Faunal Remains by Cementum Increment Analysis

Age-at-death distributions, or mortality profiles from Paleolithic archaeological faunal assemblages, are important for reconstructing critical aspects of ancient behaviours such as hunting strategies and the use of resources. Seasonality, as well, provides a powerful tool in studying the residential mobility, foraging activity, dispersion and aggregation of populations of ancient people. The study of numerous thin sections of dental cementum has shown that the growth structures observed in recent mineralized tissues are in correspondence with homologous structures observed in fossil specimens of the same species and thus can be used to analyze animal fossils from archaeological sites. Considering the potential importance of the method for archaeological research in general, this article presents the theory and methodology of cementum increment analysis and describes some applications in Paleolithic archaeological studies. Furthermore, attention is given to the method’s future application at Paleolithic archaeological sites in China.