A newly discovered Gigantopithecus fauna from Sanhe Cave, Chongzuo, Guangxi, South China

Among the most important faunas in the Late Cenozoic, the Gigantopithecus faunas have received a good deal of attention. The Gigantopithecus fauna recently discovered in Sanhe Cave consists of more than 80 mammal species, including cf. Hominidae, Pongo sp., Hylobates sp., Sinomastodon yangzien-sis, Stegodon preorientalis, Cervavitus fenqii, Dicoryphochoerus ultimus and Sus xiaozhu. It is the southernmost Gigantopithecus fauna found so far in China. Its geological age is estimated to be Early Pleistocene bas...     

U-series dating of Zhangkou Cave in Yiliang, Yunnan Province: Evidence for human activities in China during 40–100 ka

The cultural deposits at pits T1 and T2 in Zhangkou Cave are intercalated with several flowstone layers. U-series dates show that the capping and 2nd flowstone layers are Holocene of age. The 4th and 5th flowstone layers are ca. 55 and 110 ka old respectively. The lithic artifacts bracketed by them provide unequivocal evidence for hominid presence during this time interval. The ┐temporal gap” of hominid fossil, widely quoted as in support of the out-of-Africa hypothesis, is most probably an artifact due to systematic errors of dating techniques. The infillings under 6th flowstone layer date to > 300 ka, much older than the previous estimate at 15 ka based on classical¹⁴C dating of fossil bones, providing one more example of the limited reliability of this chronometer. With rich relics and favorable conditions for precise dating, this site is promising for further multidisciplinary studies to address issues concerning recent human evolution in China.     

A preliminary report on the newly found Tianyuan Cave, a Late Pleistocene human fossil site near Zhoukoudian

The Tianyuan Cave is the only human fossil-bearing site containing rich mammalian fossils found in the last decades near Zhoukoudian. Up to now more than 34 specimens of the human body have been recovered, and the mammalian fossils can be put into 29 species. Cervids dominate the fauna, and carnivores are very rare. Based on the primary examination, the human fossils can be attributed to the species Homo sapiens. All the mammalian fossils, except one between tooth of Crocuta belong to the species that still exist today. But some of them are the first records in fossil form north of the Yellow River, such as Arctonyx and Capricornis. Based on the mammalian fauna study, it seems that the Tianyuan Cave can be correlated with the Upper Cave.Sixty-three percent of the species of the mammalian fauna from the Tianyuan Cave are also present in the Upper Cave.The characters of the deposits also share some similarities between the Tianyuan Cave and the Upper Cave; both of them are mainly composed of breccia without cement. The dating using the U-series method on deer tooth samples indicates that the geological age of the new site is around 25 thousand years B.P. This is the first discovery of human sites outside the core area of the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian,which throws new light onto this world famous site complex.     

Huanglong Cave, a new late Pleistocene hominid site in Hubei Province, China

For the past two decades, the modern human origins debate has received significant interest from both the scientific community and the public. The two hypothe- ses “Out of Africa” and “Mutiregional evolution” are focuses of this debate[1-3]. In partic…     

中国现代人起源的年代学新证据

现代人起源是当前古人类学研究的热点,“多地区连续演化”和“非洲起源”两种主要假说已争论多年。近年来新的分子生物学和年代测定技术在这一领域中的应用,使论战愈加激化。本实验室基于铀系测年技术,研究了我国南方多个中、晚更新世人类遗址的年代,结果表明中国也存在约10万年前的现代人遗址。现代人在中国出现的时间很可能不晚于非洲和西亚。上述年代学新证据不支持中国现代人起源于非洲的假说。     

U-series dating of Zhangkou Cave in Yiliang,Yunnan Province:Evidence for human activities in China during 40—100 ka

The cultural deposits at pits T1 and T2 in Zhangkou Cave are intercalated with several flowstone layers. U-series dates show that the capping and 2rid flowstone layers are Holocene of age. The 4th and 5th flowstone layers are ca. 55 and 110 ka old respectively. The lithic artifacts bracketed by them provide unequivocal evidence for hominid presence during this time interval. The ““temporal gap““ of hominid fossil, widely quoted as in support of the out-of-Africa hypothesis, is most probably an artifact due to systematic errors of dating techniques. The infillings under 6th flowstone layer date to ＞300 ka, much older than the previous estimate at 15 ka based on classical 14C dating of fossil bones, providing one more example of the limited reliability of this chronometer. With rich relics and favorable conditions for precise dating, this site is promising for further multidisciplinary studies to address issues concerning recent human evolution in China.     

Early Pleistocene hominid teeth recovered in Mohui cave in Bubing Basin, Guangxi,South China

Since the 1950s, researchers who examine the issue of human beginnings often turn to Africa where there is a picture of human origins and evolution based on African hominid fossils with ages that are constantly revised to be older and older. However, there are many other unsolved problems about early human origins and evolution that may be solved by looking outside Africa. Over seventy years ago, Asia was described as a dispersal center of the earliest human industry, and a key arena for huma…     

广西森林溪流淡水鱼类区系研究

通过调查发现，分布于广西森林溪流中淡水鱼类有92种，分别隶属于5目、16科、63属。鲤形目占64．1％，鲇形目占11．96％，鲈形目占20．65％，合鳃目占1．01％，Jiang形目占2．72％。其中鲤科鱼类占总种数的46．7％。可划分为热带平原、江河平原、中印山区、上第三纪、北方平原5个区系复合体。在不同的海拔高度鱼类分布不同，具有明显的山区特征，广西森林溪流淡水鱼类区系形成与广西自然环境的历史演变有密切关系。     

Modern human behaviors during the late stage of the MIS3 and the broad spectrum revolution: Evidence from a Shuidonggou Late Paleolithic site

The last glacial period was vital for the distribution and evolution of early modern humans in Asia. The Shuidonggou Late Paleolithic site, dated at 30-20 ka BP, accumulated cultural remains during the important late stage of MIS 3 period in the last glacial. These remains represent characteristics of typical Late Paleolithic conditions in North China:high degree of standardization and morphological variability of tool types, exploitation of bone materials, systematic use of body decorations, extensive use of earth-pit hearths, distinct functional spatial organization within habitations, and conversion of subsistence patterns. These characteristics illustrate early modern human behaviors during the late MIS3 period, and provide clues and perspectives for the analysis of early modern human origins in China. At the same time, the conversion of subsistence patterns is considered to be a combination of multiple early modern human behaviors, as well as the result of the Broad Spectrum Revolution. In this paper, we argue for the dynamic mechanism of Broad Spectrum Revolution from a human behavioral and ecological perspective.     

北京西山清水期侵蚀及其地貌环境演变

根据马兰期地貌与沉积的分布与其与清水期浸蚀与地貌的关系,推得清水河流域最深侵蚀谷即为清水期侵蚀地貌,由此可以确定清水期侵蚀地貌与沉积在地貌断面上的位置。马兰期堆积有上下２层,按堆积层特征和地层相互推叠关系,断定清水期侵蚀谷内初期充填物的堆积时代大致相当于萨拉乌苏层,时间应在（５￣７）×１０＾４ａＢ．Ｐ．．在此基础上讨论了清水河流域晚更新世以来地貌的成因与演化。