陕西黄龙出土的人类头盖骨化石

ON A FOSSIL HUMAN CALVA UNEARTHED FROM HUANGLONG COUNTY, SHAANXI PROVINCE

黄龙人头盖骨是1975年在陕西省黄龙县徐家坟山的南坡挖到的。它出土于黄土层与红色土的交界处,从地层上看,可能属于更新世晚期。 该头盖骨保留了额骨和顶骨部分。从颅穹隆起程度、眶上区和颞区发育程度以及额鳞倾斜程度来判断,它属于晚期智人阶段。与晚期智人一般特征相比,它的矢状脊较突出,头骨骨壁较厚,额结节较不发育,前囟点位置较靠后。黄龙人头盖骨上现代特征和较原始特征的混合表明它代表了晚期智人中的一种过渡性的类型。

The fossil human calva was collected from the south slope of Xujiafen Hill, Huanglong County, Shaanxi Province in 1975. It was preserved at the boundary of the yellow clay (upper layer) and the red clay (lower layer). Its geological age is probably Late Pleistocene.The calva comprises parts of the frontal and parietals. It is a representative of Late Homo sapiens judging from its high vault, weak brow ridge and other modern features of the supraorbital region. At the same time, when compared with the other representatives of the same type, it shows a series of primitive characteristics, such as more strongly developed sagittal crest, thicker bone-wall, less developed frontal tuberosity and more backward shifted position of bregma.The mixture of modern and archaic features implies that the Huanglong calva represents either transitional or hybrid population, as suggested by G. Brauer (1981) after observing the frontal from Hahnofersand, West Germany. As far as the Asian Homo sapiens is concerned, the latter explanation is less possible because of no evidence of contemporaneous existence of Late Homo sapiens (Homo sapiens sapiens) and other human subspecies in Asia.