关键词: 人化石; 晚更新世; 台湾海峡

Abstract: In 1998, while fishing in the vast area of the Taiwan Straits from 23°30′—25°00′N and 119°20′—120°30′E, the fishermen of Xiangzhi village, Shishi City, Fujian Province salvaged more than five thousand pieces of fossil mammals, an almost complete fossil human humerus, 1 piece of bone artifact and several pieces of animal skeletons with marks of artificial cutting and scraping marks.This paper is a report of study on the fossil human humerus. The human right humerus is highly petritied.It is brown in color and lacks capitulum and troch- lea.The specimen shows no sign of being worn.On the surface of bone there are remains of coral and polychaete attaching to it later.The size and robustness of the bone, the well-developed deltoid tuberosity and greater and lesser tubercles and the completely fusion of the physis with the shaft show that it belongs to a male adult.Based on the length of the humerus after restoration, the stature of the individual is estimated as 170—172 cm.According to the coexistent fossil mammals, it may be determined that this fossil human is late Late Pleistocene and belongs to Late Homo sapiens.For convenience sake, it is referred to as “Straits man”. There are some fossil materials of Late Homo sapiens in China.Among them, however, those who have humeri are only “Ordos man” in Inner Mongolia[ 5], “Jianping man” in Liaoning[ 6] and “Dongs- han man” in Fujian[ 7].There are two pieces of adult male left humeri of “Ordos man” but without description or measurement.Thus comparison is impossible.There remains only 57.9 mm length of the shaft of the right fossil humerus of “Dongshan man”.Therefore it is difficult to make comparison.The common point lies in the similar burying environment.Nevertheless, the extent of the petrification of “Dongshan man” is lower, indicating that the age of “Dongshan man” is later than that of “Straits man”. The comparison of the humerus of “Straits man” with the male humerus of “Jianping man” leads to the conclusion that the extent of petrification of “Jianping man” is lower.The humerus of “Straits man” looks thicker and stronger.And the deltoid tuberosity is well developed.The flexion at mid-shaft is outward and the axes of the upper and lower parts are not on the same line.This is what can not be found in “Jianping man”.The sulcus for the radial nerve of “Straits man” is not so well developed as that of “Jianping man”, and the edges on the internal and external sides are not so sharp as theirs. Outside China, the comparable humeri in the stage is that of “Minatogawa man” of Okinawa and German “Obercassel man” who belongs to Cro-Magnon. A comparison between the right humerus of “Straits man” and the male humerus of “Minatogawa man” shows that they are similar in the angles between head and shaft.Both have well-developed del- toid tuberosity.The flexion at the mid-shaft of the two is outward.The axes of upper and lower parts of the shaft make an angle.The angle of male “Minatogawa man” is 8°( Fig.1, A).The difference lies in the shapes of the cross-section ( Fig.1, B). Comparison between the humerus of “Straits man” and that of “Obercassel man ” shows that they are very much alike.They are similar in the length and thickness as well as the angles between head and shaft.Both have well-developed deltoid tuberosity.The flexion at the mid-shaft of the two is out- ward.The angle made by the upper and lower parts of the shaft of “Obercassel man” is 8.4°( Fig.1, A).The sulci for the radial nerves of both specimens are shallow and flat.The cross-sections of the shaft are similar in both specimens.The subtle difference lies in the fact that the marginal ridges of the humerus of “Straits man” are duller, while those of “Obercassel man” sharper. The above comparison shows that the humeri of “Straits man” and “Obercassel man” are the most alike in shape.Next comes “Minatogawa man”.It is quite different from that of “Jianping man”. The brawy shaft and the larger angle formed by the upper and lower parts of the shaft are considered by the author as representing primitive characters possessed by the humeri found from the Straits, Minatogawa and Obercassel, while the humeri of Jianping, Neolithic sites and modern humans do not have these characters.These facts may suggest the humeri found from the Straits, Minatogawa and Obercassel belonging to the same stage of evolution, while that from Jianping is later.The lower extent of petrification of the Jianping humerus may also verify this suggestion.

Key words: Fossil human; Late Pleistocene; Taiwan Straits