“北京人”头盖骨失踪之谜

事情发生在1929年,随着寒冬的来临,周口店龙骨山野外发掘也将告结束,地质所人员返城了,担任考古发掘总负责人杨钟健教授的助手、年仅25岁的裴文中被留下,负责现场扫尾工作。12月2日下午4时,裴文中和工人们用箩筐盛土从洞中吊起抬出洞外,处理完这一堆砂土便准备收工。此时,一位工人在铲土时意外地在缝隙的底部凿穿了一个洞,这个神秘的洞穴引起了斐文中的注意,于是他坠绳进入洞内,     

Editor’s note

This year is the 80th anniversary of the discovery of the first skull-cap of Homo erectus from Zhoukoudian （Peking Man）. The first fossil of Peking Man was found in 1921 or 1923. Among the specimens unearthed at Zhoukoudian and transported to Sweden a premolar of hominid was identified in 1926. The announcement of this finding made Zhoukoudian well known in the world. A well preserved hominid molar was found in 1927 in situ based on which the new genus and species, Sinanthropus pekinensis was proposed. On December 2, 1929 a complete skull-cap was found.     

北京周口店地区新发现距今73—90万年地层与古冰楔遗迹初步研究

1985—1987年,作者等在北京周口店太平山北坡发现一新的早更新世含化石和古冰楔遗迹地层,建立了太平山组(Q_1t)。 一、太平山组(Q_1t)剖面简述 剖面位于北纬39°42′N,东径115°56′E左右(图1),发育在残存的上新世唐县期侵蚀面上,海拔150m。为奥陶系石灰岩中一裂隙状熔洞——洼地环境堆积,上宽16m,往下收缩,深9m多未见底。太平山剖面情况见图2。     

10亿年前的地-日-月关系: 来自叠层石的证据

对北京周口店地区中元古界铁岭组叠层石进行的研究发现, 叠层石明暗纹层对厚度呈周期性变 化, 这些周期性变化被解释为月节律和季节节律, 结合S型叠层石的形态特征初步得到如下古天文信 息: 10亿年前的中元古代晚期, 一年至少有516±20天、12.9±0.5个月, 一个月有40天, 一天最多16.99±0.66小时, 古黄赤交角为29.2～30.6°.     

房山世界地质公园和CG表达手段（下）

在中国的世界地质公园中,人文遗迹最为丰富的当属房山世界地质公园,在其中除了一处世界文化遗产保护单位（周口店北京人遗址）,还有六处国家级文物保护单位、七处北京市级保护单位以及区级文物保护单位二十多处。怎样利用CG手段表达变迁频繁的人文遗迹就是一个重要的课题了。     

周口店太平山地区本溪组沉积环境及意义

北京周口店太平山地区本溪组含角岩、板岩、灰岩和砾岩地层,岩性组合很特别,其沉积特征、沉积环境及其代表的海侵变化值得探讨。太平山南坡本溪组按岩性可分为6层,厚度约40m;北坡则分为2层,厚度约30m,临近的环境,具有不同的成因。本文阐述对其考察分析得出其成因与沉积环境解释。     

汉中区的史前文化

在西北大学演讲史前的文化,其时代甚为古远,而惜为吾国前人所不及知,此项文化,实包括石器时代的文化,而所谓石器时代文化者,在欧洲亦目一八六○年以后,始为学术界所共,可见此智之发觉时晚也。西人所谓石器时代文化者,又包括(一)旧石器,及(二)新石器,凡两大时期,吾国在十余年前,在杯平房山县周口店,始发现旧石器文化。两人定为周口店后期,约为六     

周口店猿人遗址样品“元素碳”浓度及其应用于人类用火证据探究的可能性

元素碳(EC)是燃烧过程必然产生的富碳贫O-H-S-N物质, 穴居猿人长期用火必然在洞内相应地层遗留相当数量EC. 通过化学方法分离EC, 采用元素分析仪及自制系统测定碳含量. 20世纪30年代出土的炉床、近炉床灰烬展品样、第10层3个堆积物样等的EC浓度分别为43.74‰, 1.77‰, 3.88‰, 1.87‰和1.11‰; 洞外第10层相同层位样品以及第4, 7层样品EC浓度均比前者至少降低一个数量级. 上述结果表明: 第10层取样部位可能接近炉床; 更广范围取样, 可能获得与炉床相对应的EC高浓度区. EC测定研究为北京猿人用火新证据寻找带来新希望.     

Identification of Zhoukoudian <Emphasis Type="Italic">Homo erectus</Emphasis> brain asymmetry using 3D laser scanning

Endocasts are important materials used for the study of human brain evolution, and allow examination of the external features of brain anatomy from the inside the cranium. Studies examining brain asymmetries in fossil hominids are usually limited to scoring of differences in hemisphere protrusion rostrally and caudally, or to comparing the width of the hemispheres. In the present study, using 3D laser scanning, we examined asymmetries of the hemisphere volumes and surface areas in the Zhoukoudain (ZKD) Homo erectus, dated to 0.4–0.8 Ma. Compared with modern endocasts, we found that the absolute hemisphere volumes and surface areas exhibited no significant asymmetries in the ZKD or in modern specimens. However, the relative hemisphere volumes against surface areas differed between the two groups. When comparing the relative sizes between the left and right hemispheres, the ZKD specimens exhibited a greater variation than in the modern humans; there were no differences in the two hemispheres in the ZKD specimens, while in the modern endocasts the left hemisphere was significantly greater than the right hemisphere. These data suggest that brain asymmetries originated from relative brain sizes rather than absolute brain volumes during human evolution. These anatomical changes are likely related to the origin of human brain lateralization.