Table of Content

15 June 2010, Volume 29 Issue 02

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A preliminary excavation of the Shirengou Paleolithic Site, Helong County, Yanbian City in 2005

CHEN Quan-jia; ZHAO Hai-long; FANG Qi; WANG Chun-xue

2010, 29(02):  105-114. 

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The Shirengou site (42°11'20''N，128°48'45''E)，located on the second terrace of the left bank of the Hongqi river is in Helong County, Yanbian City, Jilin Province. It was discovered in 2004 and excavated in 2005. Some 1291 stone artifacts were found in situ on the surface of the site. The sediments are divided into six layers, with the stone artifacts found mainly from 2—4 layers. These artifacts included retouched tools, cores ( flake and microblade core ), flakes, blades, microblades, chips and chunks. Obsidian was the major raw material. Retouched tools included used flakes, scrapers, burins, a backed knife, a borer; with scrapers being the dominative tool type. The stone assemblage at the Shirengou site shows the distinctive character of the microlithic industrial tradition of the Upper Paleolithic in North China. According to the characteristics of these artifacts, and the stratum from which the artifacts were located, we suggest that the site is probably attributed into the late period of the Late Pleistocene or the Late Paleolithic.

The first lower Paleolithic site of Dongpo discovered in the middle Nihewan Basin

LIU Yang; HOU Ya-mei; WEI Qi; LIU Chun-ru

2010, 29(02):  115-122. 

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Located in the middle part of the Nihewan Basin, the Dongpo(DP)site (40°09'53''N， 114°29'18''E) was discovered in 1999 and excavated tentatively in 2001. It is 880m above the sea-level and 60cm below the surface with distance of 800m far from east Hutouliang village.
The excavation was carried out in four square meters and dug down at 10 cm interval for each spit. Consisting of 11 layers in 78 meters at thickness of the stratigraphy, the cultural remains of DP site belong to typical fluvial-lacustrine sedimentary sequence of “Nihewan Bed” in North China. The cultural layer is eighth layer in the eighth layer deposits of yellow silty sand and 20— 30cm at thickness.
The unearthed materials include 32 stone artifacts and some fragmentary bones. The stone artifact assemblage includes cores, flakes, retouched tools and chunks. The stone artifacts look not transported for long distance. Among them 13 stone artifacts are noted to be made originally on high weathered rhyolite raw materials and supposed to be taken as a unusual technological behavior of the tool maker.
The general features of these artifacts are summarized as follows: 1) Six sorts of raw material were utilized in core reduction and tool manufacture at the site: rhyolite, chert, quartz, quartzose sandstone, slate and quartz diorite.
They are identical from the gravel layer in vicinity. Rhyolite is the predominant raw material used for producing stone artifacts at the site. 2) Among total 32 stone artifacts, flakes and chunks are the largest number of them. The others include one bigger core and 9 retouched tools. Two pieces can be refitted as a convex-edged scraper. 3) The retouched tools include scrapers, end scrapers, notched scrapers and denticulates. 4) The lithic industry appears quite similar character to many other Lower Paleolithic sites of the region. It belongs to the small tool industry of the Lower Paleolithic culture tradition of North China.
The average age of DP site is given about 321 ± 15ka through dating method of ESR that indicates a period of the Lower Paleolithic(LP). As a first discovered LP site in the middle part of the Nihewan Basin, the discovery and excavation of Dongpo site are important for enriching the information of the LP culture in Nihewan Basin and helpful to study the early human’s technique and behavior in this region.

A study of refitted artifacts from the Chibaling Paleolithic site in the Three Gorges Region

MA Ning; PENG Fei; PEI Shu-wen

2010, 29(02):  123-131. 

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The Chibaling site located in Fengdu County, Chongqing, is one of the important Paleolithic sites in the Three Gorges Region in China. It was excavated in 2007 by archaeologists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (Chinese Academy of Sciences), as part of the salvage archeology in this region. The excavation area was divided into A and B trench, which exposed area of 500 m2 and 14m2 respectively. The excavation of trench A yielded 200 lithic artifacts including cores, flakes, retouched artifacts and chunks. Among them, 9 or 4. 5% could be refitted into four groups. The study of the refitted artifacts indicates that raw materials exploited at the site were procured from local abundant cobbles buried in the ancient riverbeds. Direct hard hammer percussion was the dominant flaking technique, but anvil chipping was also used. The refitted groups consisted of core & core and core & flake classes, which showed low degrees of flaking. It can be inferred from the refitted artifacts that although specimens from trench A were buried immediately after manufacture, they were transported a short distance away from the original cultural layer.
The Three Gorges region is one of the highest density areas of Paleolithic site in China, where a large number of cave and open-air localities are distributed along the Yangtze River. The lithic technology shows distinctive characters of the Pebble Tool Tradition in South China. Studies of refitting can be used to interpret the formation and function of artifacts, cognitive competence in manufacturing, and occupation and survival strategies used by early humans. In addition, refitting analysis can also provide insights into the evolution and migration of early humans as well as providing evidence for the exchange, penetration and influence of lithic industries between North and South China during the Pleistocene.

Morphometric analysis of Chinese teeth: crown shapes and their variations in maxillary and mandibular premolars of a recent Chinese population

XING Song; ZHOU Mi; LIU Wu

2010, 29(02):  132-149. 

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This study analyzes the outline and polygon shapes of maxillary and mandibular premolars of recent Chinese collected from archeological sites at Xichuan, Henan Province, and from Yunxian, Dan Jiang Kou, Hubei Province. The following conclusions from this research have been made. The outline of P1 is symmetrical with the buccal part extending mesially and distally; its polygon shape is an irregular rhombus with the lingual tip moving mesially. The outline of P2 is also symmetrical, and the extent to which the buccal part extends mesially and distally varies among individual teech; its polygon shape is an irregular rhombus due mainly to the mesially displaced lingual tip. The mesiolingual edge of P1 contracts inside, which makes its outline asymmetrical as a whole; its polygon approaches the mesiolingual edge of the outline, with its shape being similar to a square. The P2 possesses a centered occlusal polygon, irregular rhombus in shape but with a basically symmetrical outline. Both shapes of the outline and polygon overlap little between P1 and P2. The extent of variation extent and manner of both the outline and the polygon collectively resembles each other between P1 and P2 . The P1could be sorted into two categories on the basis of the distance between the tip of the buccal cusp and its neighboring edge of outline. Based on the extent of the buccal part of the outline there could be two groupings of P2 . Tooth variations are greater in the mandibular premolars compared to their maxillary counterparts, with differences found mainly in the distolingual part of the outline, distal fovea, and the tip of the lingual cusp. Three types of P1 or P2 could be attained when cousidering the proportion of buccolingual and mesiodistal distances, locality of distal fovea, and the lingual cusp tip. Allometric analysis indicates that the shapes of all four premolars are not obviously impacted by their sizes.

More on the strongly projecting nasal bones of Nanjing Homo erectus and climatic adaptation

ZHANG Yin-yun; LIU Wu

2010, 29(02):  150-158. 

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This research examines the dates for Homo erectus from Nanjing (known as Nanjing 1), and an interpretation of climatic adaptation based on nasal bone features with a comparative sample including Bodo, Kabwe, Petralona and Atapurca SH5. The results show that:
1) The Nanjing 1 dates of 580-620 Kyr are acceptable. During this period, highly projecting nasal bones have not been found in crania from Africa, Europe and West Asia. Theerefore, these nasal feature of Nanjing 1 cannot be used as an evidence of western affinities.
2) Highly projecting nasal bones are products of adaptation to cold and/or dry climates. As an adaptative feature, this structure results from genetic changes and thus has a permanent effect on the population even if the environment changes. It is not surprising therefore that a fossil hominid with highly projecting nasal bones (such as Nanjing 1) lived in an environment that was different from its ancestors.
3) There is no relationship between the nasal feature of Nanjing 1 and gene flow from European population or from the Bodo lineage.
The results of this research support the view that the highly projecting nasal bones of Nanjing 1 are products of climatic adaptation rather than gene flow.

An analysis of dermatoglyphics density of the Han nationality from Guangdong

CHEN Xiao-yan; YU Zhi-jian; CHEN Xiu-hu

2010, 29(02):  159-162. 

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The purpose of this research was to obtain the basic parameters in the density of dermatoglyphics of the Han nationality in Guangdong. With informed consent, ink prints of the palmar patterns of 307 health students aged 18-21 years (157 males and 150 females) were collected. Palmar ridge counts were measured by stereomicroscope and the density of dermatoglyphics was calculated with the following results: a-bRC (36.19 ± 5.58), b-cRC (25. 86 ± 5. 21), c-dRC (32. 83 ± 5. 57), a-dRC (75. 43 ± 13. 11) and t-dRC (90. 66 ± 13. 50). Males are higher than females except for the following characteristics: c-dRC, a-bDD, b-cDD, c-dDD, a-dDD, t-dDD and △atdDD are 16. 76 ± 1. 98, 17. 68 ± 2. 39, 16. 89 ± 1. 85, 14. 49 ± 2. 24, 14. 42 ± 1. 67 and 5. 54 ± 0. 75 respectively. Females were all higher than males. The results of this work showed dermatoglyphic differences between the Han nationalities of Guangdong and Jianxi, with the Tibetan people in Tibet. The density of dermatoglyphics in the Han nationality in Guangdong have their own features, but with the general characteristics of Mongoloids. These feature to colonial origin and difference of habitat.

An anthropological study of human hands in the Bouyei nationality

LUO Wen-bin; LI Jian-fu; YU Yue-sheng; WANG Kai-ming

2010, 29(02):  163-170. 

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Objective: To explore the morphology of adult hands in the Bouyei nationality, and provide morphological interpretations affecting orthopedics, use of machinery and equipment, the manufacture of tools, and the protection of the hands. Methods: According to international standards of measurement, 44 morphological indices of the hand of 312 adults (153 males, 159 females) of the Bouyei nationality aged 20 to 55 years from Xiasi town, Dushan County, Guizhou Province were measured. Results: In every measurement, males were larger than females (P < 0. 01). Right-side measurements were 75% larger in males and and 81. 82% in females. Thickness, circumference, length and breadth of shape showed significant differences ( P < 0 . 0 5 or P <0. 01). The average of the metacarpal index was 96. 56 in males and 93. 84 in females, and the average in the hand index was 46. 12 in males and 45. 66 in females. Conclusion: This work shows evidence for asymmetry in the morphological data and obvious differences in hand shape by sex. Generally, hands were described as short and wide, and finger type as short and thick.

Stature estimation and gender discriminant of Yi adults in Sichuan from measurements of hand

MUER-Cheer; ZHENG Xing-bin; ZHANG Li-xia; ZHANG Li-hua

2010, 29(02):  171-175. 

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Objective: The purpose of this study was to obtain regression equations for estimating stature and discriminating gender of Yi adults in Sichuan province, China from measurements of the hand. Method: A total of 460 (male 354, female 106) healthy adults aged between 20 and 50 years were sampled. For each individual, the length of the right hand and the five fingers, width of the hand and true stature were measured. Results: Twenty-two regression equations for stature estimation from the hand measurements, and two equations for discriminating by gender (including statistical significance) were established. Conclusion: The equations determined from this work can be used for estimating stature and discriminating gender, but the results of stature estimation from the length of the hand, and gender discriminating from the length and width of the hand were better than the other analyzed features.

A study of the adult somatotype of the Mang, Deng, Lhoba and Monba using the heath-carter method

ZHENG Lian-bin; LU Shun-hua; ZHANG Xing-hua; LUO Dong-mei; YU Hui-xin; XU Bo-song

2010, 29(02):  176-181. 

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Ten anthropometric features ( weight, stature, upper arm girth, calf girth, biepicondylar breadth of the humerus, biepicondylar breadth of the femur, triceps skinfold, subscapular skinfold, supraspinale skinfold and medial calf skinfold) of the Mang, Deng, Lhoba and Monba peoples were investigated in Yunnan and Tibet from 2006 to 2007. The somatotype components of Heath-Carter somatotype were then calculated with the following results. In the southern ethnic groups, the physical characteristics of the Mang were short stature, light weight, thin body, low sebum and weak muscles. The physical characteristics of the Deng were short stature, light weight and thin body. The Deng males had strong muscles and a middle sebum, whereas the Deng females were stronger and had thicker sebum. The physical characteristics of the Lhoba and Monba showed high stature, heavy weight, a healthy body, thick sebum and strong muscles.
Monba males are considered endomorphic mesomorphs, whereas the Mang, Deng and Lhoba are considered balanced mesomorphs. The females belonging to the Deng, Lhoba and Monba peoples are mesomorphic endomorphs, whereas Mang females are endomorphic mesomorphs. The males of the Mang, Deng and Lhoba belong to the South Asian type, while Monba males belong to the North Asian type. Mang females also belong to the South Asian type, whereas Deng, Lhoba and Monba females belong to the North Asian type.

Gene frequencies of ten genetic traits in the Miao and Shui peoples from Guizhou

ZHANG Qing-zhong; LU Yu-jiong; SONG Guo-qin; YU Yue-sheng

2010, 29(02):  182-188. 

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To investigate ten genetic characters of the Miao and Shui peoples from Guizhou province (sample totals = Miao 448; Shui 465). The results of this work is as follows: significant differences ( P < 0. 05 ) between the Miao and Shui peoples based on three genetic characters (eyelash, thumb style, hair of middle finger), and insignificant differences (P > 0. 05) in the other seven genetic characters (curly top of tongue, curly sides of tongue, front style of the hair, cerumen, nose top, style of fore and ring finger, curl of little finger). There are few correlations between the ten characters of the Miao and Shui peoples from Guizhou Province.

Polymorphism and genetic relationship analysis of 17 Y-STR in the Yunnan Luxi Han population

NIE Sheng-jie; YAO Jin-yong; CHEN Bi-feng; ZHUANG Qin-yong; ZHANG Wen; LUO Sheng-jun; XIAO Chun-jie

2010, 29(02):  189-196. 

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Seventeen human Y-chromosomal STR loci were selected to investigate the genetic polymorphisms of males in the Yunnan Luxi Han population, and to evaluate their forensic application values and genetic relationships with 16 other populations. The selected Y-STR markers included in the AmpF?STR?Yfiler Amplification Kit were amplified in 156 unrelated Luxi Han males, and the PCR products were analyzed on the ABI Prism?3100 Genetic Analyzer. The AMOVA (analysis of molecular variance) method was applied to measure the genetic distance between populations. A total of 154 haplotypes were identified, of which 152 were unique. The observed haplotypes diversity value was 0. 9998. The allele diversity values for each locus ranged from 0.3901 (DYS437) to 0.9632 (DYS385a/b). Among the domestic populations, the genetic distance between the Luxi Han and Hunan Han was the nearest (0. 005), whereas the genetic distance between the Luxi Han and Minnan Han was the farthest (0. 035). Compared with populations outside of China, the genetic distance between Luxi Han and the Singapore Chinese was the closest (0.015), whereas the genetic distance between the Luxi Han and Japanese and Malaysia Indians was the farthest (0. 060). The combined Y-chromosome STR polymorphisms provide a powerful discrimination tool for forensic applications, and the study of genetic diversity among different populations is useful for the research of their origins, migrations and their interrelationships.

Studies on diet of the ancient people of the Yangshao Cultural sites in the Central Plains

ZHANG Xue-lian; QIU Shi-hua; ZHONG Jian; ZHAO Xin-ping; SUN Fu-xi; CHENG Lin-quan; GUO Yong-qi; LI Xin-wei; MA Xiao-lin

2010, 29(02):  197-207. 

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Isotopic analysis of human bones using 13 C and 15 N is used to determine the diet of ancient peoples from the Yangshao Culture sites of the Central Plains including the Xishan site in Zhengzhou, Yuhuazhai site in Xian and the Xipo site in Lingbao. The results of this work show that these people consumed C4 plants as a staple food. Isotopic analysis of 15 N shows that there is some meat in their diet. For this research，animal bones from related regions were also analyzed, which indicate that the diet of domesticated animals was similar to the diet of the people. Dietary analysis has also been linked to social rank through the analysis of burial tombs for the Yangshao period.

Exploring the natural living environment of the Yuanmou hominoid in Yunnan

WU Yu-shu

2010, 29(02):  208-213. 

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Was the living environment of the Yuanmou hominoid forest grassland, savanna or dense forest? Was the climate cool and dry, or was it warm and humid? This article analyzes the abundant data on plant fossils and palynology in six representative Miocene sedimentary basins. The results indicate that during Miocene Epoch there was widespread distribution of tropical or subtropical evergreen broad-leaf forest or mixed deciduous-evergreen broad-leaf forest in Yunnan. The climate during that time was warm and humid. During the period of the latest Miocene, the distribution areas of deciduous broad-leaf forest and conifer forest expanded at which time the climate became cool and dry. The Lufeng hominoid, a neighboring locality of the Yuanmou hominoid，experienced the same environmental change. Therefore, the living environment of the Yuanmou hominoid was a dense forest with a warm and humid climate. Other issues regarding this environmental analysis can be found in the book Yuanmou Hominoid.

Artiodactyla associated with Gigantopithecus from Baeryan, Bijie, Guizhou Province

DONG Wei; ZHAO Ling-xia; WANG Xin-jin; CAI Hui-yang; ZHENG Yuan-wen; ZHANG Zhong-wen

2010, 29(02):  214-226. 

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A series of excavations on the fissure deposits at Baeryan (27°22′12′′N，105°15′16′′ E)，Bijie Municipality, Guizhou Province, have been carried out since 2001. Some Gigantopithecus teeth and many mammalian fossils were uncovered. The bottom of deposits measures 1630 m above sea level, or 40 m above nearby river surface. The Artiodactyla uncovered from the deposits are as follow: “Dicoryphochoerus ” ultimus, Muntiacus sp. , Cervavitus? fenqii, Cervus ( R. ) cf. C. ( R. ) unicolor, Budorcas sp. , Caprinae gen. et sp. indet. , Gazella sp. , Leptobos (Smertiobos) sp. The artiodactyls from Bijie have five same taxa as those from Gigantopithecus Cave of Liucheng and Longgudong of Jianshi, three or less as those from Longgupo of Wushan, Danawu of Yuanmou and Renzidong of Fanchang. It implies its age should be between that of the Gigantopithecus Cave and Longgudong and, likely, the early stage of the early Pleistocene. Based on the habitats and nature of artiodactyls, the identified taxa from Bijie imply an eco-environment with both jungles and open grass lands (slopes), enchased with some forests and water areas and in a subtropical-temperate climate, very favorable for inhabitation of higher primates as Gigantopithecus.