关键词: 早期智人;牙齿

Abstract: The dental remains whieh were believed to be of early Homo sapiens* were found at several sites in China: Chaoxian, Xujiayao, Changyang, New Cave of ZKD, Tongzi and Dingeun. Unfortunately, these remains have never been systematically compared with each other. So it is not surprising that the teeth of Tongzi were recently reconsidered to be of Homo erectus rather than of early Homo saplens. Furthermore, the work on Xujiayao teeth led to an open question of two types of early Homo sapiens coexisted in China.
In this paper, all the human teeth from the sites mentioned above are compared, the dental characters of early Homo sapiens are summarized, and the coexistance of two types of early Homo sapiens is diseussed.
The sites, except Dingeun, yielded 23 teeth in total. As a whole, these teeth resemble those of Homo erectus in nonmetric characters. The measurements of these teeth show that the canines and posterior teeth are hardly distinguished from those of Homo erectus while the incisors tend to be broader. The dental remains of Chaoxian, Xujiayao, Changyang, New Cave of ZKD and Tongzi, taken together, should represent a group of early Homo sapiens, equivalent to or closely related to the early group of this grade. It is also suggested by their dating.
As to the three teeth of Dingcun, their reliable dating is still awaited. The inei-sors and molar appear to be modern. However, the molar presents some additional characters which are common to the late group of early Homo sapiens. Conservatively speaking, the Dingcun teeth might represent either the late group of early Homo sapiens or the anatomically modern Homo sapiens. By morphological "dating", the teeth of Dingeun are much younger than those of Xujiayao in age.
The view that two types of early Homo sapiens coexisted in China can not be supported by the dental remains so far discovered.

Key words: Early Homo Sapiens; Tooth