郧西人遗址洞穴发育与埋藏环境初步观察

PRELIMINARY STUDY OF CAVE DEVELOPMENT AND BURIAL ENVIRONMENT AT THE YUNXI MAN SITE

湖北省黄龙洞“郧西人”遗址是2004年新发现的一处重要的更新世晚期古人类遗址。3年来已经进行过3次发掘,出土了距今约10万年的晚期智人牙齿化石及文化遗物,是在东亚地区发现时代最早的现代人遗址。黄龙洞处于秦岭东段南麓的两郧断裂带,发育于上震旦系陡山沱组细晶灰岩和泥灰岩地层中,周围紧闭褶皱和次级断裂发育,为岩溶的发育提供了先决条件。黄龙洞的形成表现为前期以岩溶裂隙水溶蚀为主,后期则转变为大型管道状溶洞。古人类进入洞穴的出入口可能从洞顶“天窗”型开口入洞。古人类遗物属原地埋藏环境,活动期气候以温暖、干燥为主。

The Huanglongdong Cave site （ named ＂ Yunxi Man Site＂ ） , which was discovered in 2004, is an important paleoanthropological site of Late Pleistocene in China. It is located in the Lishiguan Village, Xiangkou Town, Yunxi County, Hubei Province. The site has been excavated by a joint archeological team consisting of archaeologists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology （ Chinese Academy of Sciences）, the Institute of Archeology and Cultural Relics of Hubei Province and the Cultural Bureau of Yunxi County for three times from 2004 to 2006. A large number of human remains （including human teeth, stone artifacts, bone artifacts） , mammalian faunal remains, and other related materials were unearthed. U-series and ESR dating of the cultural layer have yielded an age of 100ka. This is the first Late Pleistocene hominid fossil site modem humans lived in China. The Huanglongdong Cave is located in the south piedmont of the East Qingling Orogenic Zone, with the Yunxi- Yunxian Fault passing through its adjacent areas. The cave was developed in the cryptomerous limestone and marlite of Doushantuo Formation of the Upper Sinian System. The well developed tight fold and fault form the base of the karst system. The former process of the cave development shows fracture water dissolution and the channel cave system was formed gradually as time went on. It should be noted that the cultural layer was covered by the upper layer of travertine, indicating that the human remains were buried in situ. Faunal deposit analysis indicated that the climate was warm and dry when hominids were living in the Huanglongdong Cave. The stone assemblage not only shows a close tie with the flake tool tradition in North China, but also express the pebble tool tradition in South China. It can be inferred that the hominids possibly entered the Huanglongdong Cave from the upper window-like holes on the roof instead of the current entrance of the cave.