关键词: 旧石器时代晚期;水洞沟第7地点;哺乳动物化石;埋藏学;动物考古学

Abstract: The Shuidonggou Locality 7 (SDG7), one of the newly discovered and excavated sites in the Shuidonggou Site Cluster, is c. 300 m southeast of SDG1. Preliminary OSL dating shows that hominin occupied the site most probably took place at 27 to 25 ka BP. More than 2000 of animal fossils or bone fragments were unearthed from the site during the excavation seasons of 2003~2005. However, most bones from this site are strongly fragmented and only a comparatively small proportion of the fossils can be taxonomically identified to species or genus level. Of the fossil species identified so far, wild ass (Equus hemionus), buffalo (Bubalus sp.), and gazelle (Procapra przewalskyi) are quite dominant in number. Based on its taphonomic characteristics, the faunal remains from SDG7 is proposed to be essentially preserved in a primary context to some extent and only slightly disturbed by flowing water; and the seemingly small number of cut-marked bones from SDG7, however, does not negate the dominant role played by humans in the accumulation of the faunal remains. The evenness value for the SDG7 fauna is lower relative to that for the fauna of SDG12, which is contradictory to the predicted results of the climatic cycles and may therefore indicate that human population at SDG7 is noticeably small, at least compared to that at SDG12. Adapted to the small population size at this period, humans at SDG7 exploited the large and middle-sized animals on the one hand and neglected the small-sized ones on the other.

Key words: Late Paleolithic; Shuidonggou Locality 7; Mammalian fossils; Taphonomy; Zooarchaeology