Abstract: Fuyan Cave (formerly called Houbeishan cave site by local farmers) site, which was discovered in 1984, is an important Late Pleistocene cave. It is located in Tangbei village, Lefutang town,? Daoxian? County,? Hunan? Province? (latitude? 25°39′02.7′′N,? longitude? 111°28′49.2′′E,? 232? m? above? sea? level).?A? new? excavation? was? conducted? by? a? joint? team? from? the? stuff? of? Institute? of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Institute of Cultural? Relics ?and? Archaeology,? and? Office ?for? Cultural ?Relics ?Administration ?of ?Daoxian ?County? during September 10 to October 20, 2011. Five hominin teeth and a large number of mammalian fossils were unearthed.
The ?Fuyan ?Cave,? developed ?in ?the ?limestone? series ?of ?Upper ?Paleozoic,? is? located ?in? the ?hinter land? of? South? China? Plate,? and? south? margin? of? North? Subtropical? Zone.? The? karst? development? of? the cave belongs to the late stage of the karst developing system, which shows the peak forest karst? and? karst? basin? of? the? geomorpholocal? feature? in? the? adjacent? regions.? The? cave,? with? main? subject ?extent ?from ?north ?to? south,? belongs ?to? large ?sized ?pipeline ?type ?cave.??The ?Fuyan ?Cave ?was? formed ?by ?the ?vertical? vadose? fracture? water? dissolution? and ?transferred ?to ?horizontal? vadose? water? corrosion which became the dominant resorption pattern of the karst development. Sand gravel and red clay was developed in the cave which was rich in hominin fossil and mammalian fossils.
This ?excavation? can ?be ?classified ?into ?I? and? II? trenches? exposing? an ?area ?of ?totally ?20m2. Five hominin? teeth? and? large? number? of? mammalian? fossils? were? unearthed? from? this? excavation? season.? Judging? from? the? general? morphological? characteristics? of? the? human? teeth,? the? feature? of ?the? five ?teeth ?shows ?close? tie? with? Homo sapiens,? and ?the ?sizes ?of ?the ?teeth ?all ?full? into ?the? tooth ?size ?variation ?of? Chinese ?modern ?humans.? Thirty? nine? mammalian ?species,? including? some? undetermined? species,? have? been? recognized,? only? few? of? them? got? extinct,? e.g.? Ailuropoda baconi, Crocuta ultima, Stegodon orientalis, Megatapirus augustus and Sus cf. australis. Preliminary U-series dating shows that the sediments were formed after 141700±12100 BP, and the general feature of the mammalian fauna indicate a late Late Pleistocene formation process. Therefore, it can be deduced that hominin occupation in the cave most probably took place in the Late Pleistocene.
It? can ?be ?inferred ?from ?this ?excavation ?that ?the ?cave ?bears ?great? potential? perspectives ?for? excavation? in? the ?near ?future.? In? brief,? the? coming ?excavation ?and ?laboratory ?study? of? cave ?development, ?filling? sequence, hominin teeth morphology, dating, and environmental change from the Fuyan Cave as? well? as? some? caves? from? adjacent? area? will? bear? great? significance? in? the? research? of? human? evolution? and ?adaptive ?behavior? in? Southwest? Hunan,? east ?Guangxi,? and? north? Guangdong.?

Key words: Late ?Pleistocene;? Hominin? fossils; ?Excavation ?in? 2011; ?Daoxian;? Fuyan ?Cave