末次盛冰期环境恶化对中国北方旧石器文化的影响

Human Response to the Last Glacial Maximum: Evidence from North China

末次冰期间冰段时,中国北方地区水热条件普遍较好,旧石器文化也比较发达。然而,进入末次盛冰期后,随着气温的普遍降低和降水量的明显减少,草原和沙漠带急速向南扩张,动物群也大举南迁。对于这种严酷的生存环境,中国北方的旧石器文化是如何响应的呢?本文以宁夏彭阳PY01-02,PY03和PY05等地点的地层剖面和石制品的研究为基础,首先提出彭阳地点群地层沉积相由河湖相沉积迅速转变为黄土堆积说明由末次冰期间冰段到末次盛冰期自然环境发生了剧烈变化。其次,通过对上述两种不同沉积相中出土石制品的大小、重量、原料以及技术上的比较说明随着环境的变化石制品本身也发生了相应的变化。下层河湖相堆积中出土的石制品粗大笨重,主要以各种石英岩为原料,与同期泾水上游旧石器文化的特征相近,应是当地文化特征的一种具体体现。上层马兰黄土中的石制品的普遍较小,主要以石英和燧石为原料,其中用燧石制成的细石器具有宁夏灵武水洞沟下文化层同类制品的特征,而用石英制成的小石器则同海原一带的史前文化有着较为密切的联系,据此作者推测这可能与史前人类在环境日益恶劣的情况下向南迁移有关。山西南部地区的下川和柿子滩遗址的地层和石制品证据亦表明,末次盛冰期前后该地区旧石器文化的明显差异可能也与末次盛冰期环境恶化时人类的迁徙有关。最后,中国北方地区考古遗址的空间分布变化为上述史前人类南迁的推测提供了有力证据。因此,作者认为末次冰期的环境恶化对中国北方旧石器文化的影响具有普遍性。

Paleolithic cultures flourished in the warm and moist environment during the MIS 3. However, with the LGM it suddenly turned colder and drier leading to a southern expansion of grasslands, desert, and fauna in North China. How did hunter-gatherers adapt and respond to so harsh an environmental change？ Based on three geological sections and lithic assemblages at PY01 -02, 03 and PY05, we think firstly that stratigraphic changes from fluvial-lacustrine deposits to Malan Loess represented a great environmental change. Correspondingly, in terms of size, weight, material and technique, artifacts also showed the distinct differences between fluvial-lacustrine deposits and the Malan Loess. The lower layer, fluvial-lacustrine deposit, yielded big and heavy lithic artifacts, which are similar with those in upper reaches of Jing River reflecting the characters of local Paleolithic culture. But the artifacts in the upper layer or Malan Loess are generally small and can be divided into two groups： microlithic assemblages made of chert; and little artifacts of quartz. They are relatively similar to those found at Shuidonggou and Haiyuan, probably resulting from human immigration when the environment turned colder and drier in LGM. Likewise, the same lithic assemblage and stratigraphy change as Pengyang was recorded in southern Shanxi Province. Spatial distribution of Paleolithic sites in the MIS 3 and the LGM provide potential evidence for the idea of hunter - gatherers migrations, and so we conclude that environmental change in the LGM had an ever widely influence over Paleolithic cultures in North China.