Table of Content

15 June 2004, Volume 23 Issue 02

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A study of lithic assemblages from 1995 excavation at Longyadong cave , Luonan basin, China

WANG She-jiang; ZHANG Xiao-bing; SHEN Chen; HU Song-mei; ZHANG Xue-feng

2004, 23(02):  93-110. 

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This article focuses on the Middle Pleistocene lithic artefacts from the disturbed layer 10 and upper Layer 4 in the Longyadong cave site excavated in 1995, Luonan Basin,China. The database comprises lithic artefacts excavated from the inner cave dated to over 250 kyr ago. A total of 18608 lithic artefacts were examined from more than 77000 items. The article describes the way raw materials were exploited and provides a brief typo-technological analysis of stone artefacts.
The attributes ananlysis suggests that early hominids selected a wide variety of raw materials for tool manufacture. All of the raw materials occur locally in riverbank gravels, and were easily procured and transported to site by the occupants. The most preferred raw material is high quality cream quartzite although dark grey quartzite, greywacke, and quartz were frequently used as well.
The lithic assemblage is made up of seven groups. Cores are dominated by specimens with single cortical platform. Double cortical platform is also a common platform type.The lower flake scar frequency on the cores suggest that they were discarded in early stages and indicate the utilisation of abundant raw material resources nearby. This represents a relatively opportunistic approach that did not require the conservation of raw materials. It reflects uneconomical use of raw material, and a percussion technique that was generally unsystematic with the exception of Levallois core preparation.
Most of the flakes are small.Bipolar percussion was infrequently recorded within the assemblage. Direct hard hammer percussion and anvil techniques were the main technological strategies used to reduce stone by early hominids. The percussion techniques used on quartz differ from the other raw materials, evidenced by the lower proportion of anvil technique flakes and a high ratio of bi-polar products. Furthermore, the raw materials appear to have had and influence on the types of the retouched tools produced in cave.
Only three kinds of simple flake toos were identified from the assemblage: scrapers, points, and burins, no heavy-duty tools such as choppers, hand-axes, cleavers, bifacially modified trihedrals, or spheroids were identified, suggesting that a significant functional difference existed between the cave and the surrounding open-air sites. Overall, the complete flakes and the broken flakes are clearly smaller than the retoched flakes in their mean size and average weight. This appears to be the case in the European Middle Palaeolithic studies as well and suggests a deliberate selection of specific size classes for tool manufacture.
The composition of lighic artefacts in the Longyadong cave is similar to the simple Palaeolithic “core-flake tools” cultural pattern found from cave sites and some open-air sites in China during the Middle Pleistocene. However, the lithic assemblage differs significantly from the Lower Palaeolithic open-air sites in Lantian, and the open-air site in South China. Typologically it is very distinct from those collected from the 223 open-air sites in the Luonan Basin as well. The predominance of small flakes and retouched flake tools indicates that the hominid behaviour did not involve heavy-duty activi-ties at the site.

Linear enamel hypoplasia of lufengpithecus lufengensis

ZHAO Ling-xia

2004, 23(02):  111-118. 

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Linear enamel hypoplasia (LEH) is a developmental defect of enamel appearing as one or more horizontal lines or grooves on the surface of a tooth crown. The defect forms when physiological stress, such as disease or poor nutrition, and disturbs enamel matrix formation, resulting in a deficiency of enamel thickness. The expression of LEH is a sensitive dental indicator of physiological stress. This paper focused on linear enamel hypoplasia of late Miocene Lufengpithecus lufengensis from Shihuiba site, Lufeng county of Yunnan of China.Specimens including 246 permanent teeth of 26 mandibles were examined with a 10X hand lens for the presence of surface disturbances of enamel formation. To diversity degrees, almost 100 % individuals of 26 mandibles of Lufengpithecus lufengensis showed LEH. 85. 0 % of permannent teeth (209 of 246) were affected by LEH. Most of the teeth, especially canines showed repetitive LEH (rLEH), and the spacing between episodes of rLEH was almost uniform. Based on perikymata counts between episodes of rLEH, the periodicity of rLEH of Lufengpithecus lufengensis showed a semi-annual pattern. The apparent ubiquity of twice yearly stress was attributed to regular seasonal cycles which could lead to both disease and nutritional stress.
Although linear enamel hypoplasia was ubiquitous among the permanent teeth of Lufengpithecus lufengensis, the LEH incidence of the first permanent molars, which were the earliest forming permanent teeth, was so much low as only 5.7 % among 35 first permanent moalrs. The decidous teeth almost had no incidence of LEH.The fact indicates Lufengpithecus lufengensis was not easily affected by LEH at the very early age, or before the age of 2-3 years old.
Based on the analysis on the paleoclimate, habitat and diet of Lufengpithecus lufengpithecus, the author suggested that higher LEH incidence of Lufengpithecus lufengpithecus might be caused by nutri-tional stress which depended on the intensified seasonal habitat of Lufengpithecus lufengensis.

The comparisons between the middle pleistocene human cranium from Bodo, ethiopia and the Homo erectus of Zhoukoudian

LIU Wu; WU Xiu-jie; ; ZHANG Yin-yun

2004, 23(02):  119-129. 

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The cranium found at Bodo of Middle Awash area in Ethiopia is derived from Middle Pleis-tocene deposits with the age about 0.6 Ma. The Bodo cranium is the most complete and oldest Middle Pleistocene human fossil ever found in the world. Because both the morphological features of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens can be identified on the Bodo cranium, the affinity of Bodo cranium has been in debate.Rightmire believes that the Bodo cranium with more resemblance to the archaic Homo sapiens of Broken Hill and Petralona is the representative of the transitions from Homo erectus to archaic Homo sapiens in Africa. At least as early as 0.6 Ma the speciation event of the transition from Homo erectus to the archaic Homo sapiens happened in Africa,which is much earlier than in Asia and Europe. The human fossils represented by the Bodo cranium and otherMiddle Pleistocene specimens form Africa and Europe constitute an assemblage of Homo heidelbergensis,which may be the direct ancestor of later humans. These opinions led to the discussions of the emergence time of the archaic Homo sapiens in Africa and Eurasia, and the relationship between the humans of Middle Pleistocene in Africa and Eurasia.
For this background, in this paper the comparisons of morphological features between the Bodo cranium and the Homo erectus of Zhoukoudian were carried out. Out results show that several feature of the Bodo cranium resemble those of Zhoukoudian Homo erectus. Some other features including the cra-nial capacity exhibits the patterns of later Homo sapiens. In its overall morphology, the Bodo cranium seems to be closer to Homo erectus. The authors believe that even though the morphological mosaic pattern of human evolution can be found in the human fossil records of China, the uncertainty of the ages of Chinese human fossils makes no reliable evidence to demonstrate contemporary or earlier occurrence of the mosaic pattern of Homo erectus and archaic Homo sapiens as in Africa. Taking the big time gap of between African and Asian Homo erectus, and the unsynchronism and regional variations of human evolution into considerations, it is possible for the humans with more advanced features first appeared in Africa. Based on the comparisons in the present study, the mosaic patterns in the human evolution, and the differences of the Middle Pleistocene human evolution in Africa and Asia are discussed.

Human fossil teeth newly discovered in Nanshan cave of Fusui, Guangxi

WANG Wei; MO Jin-you

2004, 23(02):  130-137. 

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Human teeth and mammalian fossils were unearthed at Nanshan cave of Fusui County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The human teeth include a left lower M3 and a right lower M2. Their morphological features are similar to that of late Homo sapiens unearthed from other caves in Guangxi, belong to late Homo sapiens. Most of the mammalian fossils are members of Ailuropoda-Ste-godon fauna in south China. However, Equus hemionus is a new record of late Pleistocene fauna in this district.All the fossils in Nanshan cave were collected from brown fine sandy-clay. Ages of U-series dating on the second flow-stone are around 30 to 40 ka. The appearance of Equus hemionus suggests that the south China mainland had possibly ever been cool climate at the latest glacial period.

The paleoliths from Beishan site ,Hunchun County, Yanbian Cicy, Jilin Province

CHEN Quan-jia; ZHANG Yue

2004, 23(02):  138-145. 

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Fifty-two stone artifacts were collected from loessic sediment at the Beishan site, Hunchun County,Jilin Province, and they include cores, flakes, blades and tools made on flakes. Scrapers, points and a broken spear head are recognized. Obsidian is the major raw material, constituting 86. 5 % of the assemblage. According to the characteristics of these artifacts, the stratum from which the artifacts were, and the fact that no polish stone tools and pottery sherds were found with them,we suggest that the site is probably in the late period of the Late Pleistocene or of the Late Palaeolithic.

Paleolithic artifacts from Tutang Locality in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province

YU Zhen-long; SHI Jin-ming

2004, 23(02):  146-151. 

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The Tutang Paleolithic locality is situated at the north of Tutang Village, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province and its geographical position is 38°00′10″N, 112°25′50″E. Stratigraphically, the deposits constist of 11 layers, more than 18 meters in thickness. Twenty stone artifacts were collected from this site in 2000. The original position of the artifacts can be traced to the fifth paleosol layer.
Artifacts consist of flakes, cores, scrapers, chopper chopping tools, spheroids, etc. Hornfel is the most frequently used raw material. The chopper-chopping tools are the majority of the stone tools, and can be further classified into side choppers, side chopping tools and end choppers.
Based on the analysis of geomorphology and stratigraphy, the age of Tutang Site has been estima-ted to be the Middle Pleistocene, i. e. the Lower Paleolithic.
Tutang site is the first Paleolithic site discovered in north of the Taiyuan Basin.

Physical characters of Heiyi Zhuang nationality in Guangxi

LI Pei-chun; PU Hong-qin; WU Rong-min; QIN Li-miao; ZHONG Bin; MO Shao-ze

2004, 23(02):  152-158. 

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Based on the methods and standard of the anthropology, 332 adults of Heiyi Zhuang nationality (166 males, 166 females) living in Napo county in Guangxi were observed and measured. 17 items of observations and 33 measurements were made.The physical characters of Heiyi Zhuang people were summarized. On the basis of the “Rm” and “D” value of Heiyi Zhuang nationality and some other nationalities, the Heiyi Zhuang is closer to the Shui in Guizhou and Yi, Dong in Guagnxi, whereas it is remotely related to the Kazaks in Xinjiang.

Development of Chinese children in eleven coastal province

ZHANG Ying-xiu

2004, 23(02):  159-163. 

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This paper analysed the statas of growth in 2000, and the secular change of growth in the past 15 years (1985—2000)in Chinese children aged 7—18 in eleven coastal provinces including Li-aoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan. The result shows that stature, body weight, chest measurement, body mass index (BMI) and secular change of growth of children in Liaoning, Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Zhejiang were higher than the averages of those items in China, and those in Hainan,Guangdong, Guangxi were lower.In general, the levels of growth in coastal provinces were higher than the average in China. Moreover, the differences in the regionaldistribution were quite significant: the children' s growth in 2000 and secular change of growth in eastern coastal provinces were higher than those in southern ones.

A Dermatoglyphic study of Korean nationality in Yanbian area of China

ZHANG Zi-bo; YANG Kang-juan; WANG Xin-hao; JIN Xiong-ji; JIN Yan-hua; HUANG Xiang-ning

2004, 23(02):  164-168. 

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Characteristics of the dermatoglyphs including fingerprint patterns, finger ridge counts and total finger ridge counts, a-b finger ridge, actual variety percentage of dermatoglyphic patterns of palm, palm patterns and atd angles of Chinese Korean in Yanbian were investigated among 200 males and 200 females. Sex differences of various items and comparison with the data of other races and nations have been studied. The result shows that dermatoglyph of Chinese Korean have some particular characters different from others.

Study on blood group of Shui nationality in Sandu, Guizhou

QIN Xiao-yan; ZHANG Shu-ping; YANG Lin; DAI Jing-feng

2004, 23(02):  169-171. 

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Random sample including 500 persons has been taken for investigating the distribution of ABO blood group in Shui nationality in Sandu county, Guizhou Province. The results show that the distribution of ABO blood group are A =29.41 %, B=22.05 %, O =44.12 %, AB=4.41 %; O >A > B >AB.The gene frequency for ABO blood group are p =0.1871, q =0.1430, r=0.6699, The index of nationality in Shui is 1.278. Conclusion: A higher O gene frequency exists in Shui nationality of Guizhou province, so they are similar to other populations living in South China.