湖北郧西黄龙洞更新世晚期人类牙齿磨耗与使用痕迹

Tooth Wear and Tooth Use of Late Pleistocene Humans from Huanglong Cave in Yunxi of Hubei Province

对2004—2006年在黄龙洞发现的7枚人类牙齿磨耗与使用痕迹的观察显示:除具有正常牙齿相互接触造成的磨耗外,黄龙洞人类牙齿还呈现出一些特殊的使用痕迹,包括明显的前部牙齿釉质破损与崩裂、上颌侧门齿齿冠唇面釉质破损、上颌前部牙齿齿间邻接面沟等。根据这些牙齿使用痕迹集中在前部牙齿,釉质破损与崩裂主要分布在靠近切缘的上颌门齿唇面及下颌门齿舌面的情况,推测生活在黄龙洞的更新世晚期人类经常使用前部牙齿从事啃咬、叼衔、或剥离等动作,并可能将前部牙齿作为工具使用。分布在前部牙齿的齿间邻接面沟提示当时人类经常从事剔牙活动。黄龙洞人类前部牙齿的使用痕迹与当时人类获取、处理及食用附着在骨骼上的筋或肉的动作密切相关,当时人类的食物构成中可能包含有较多的肉类及粗纤维植物。

From 2004 to 2006 three excavations in the Huanglong Cave, Yunxi County, Hubei Province unearthed seven human teeth. In the present study, the tooth wear and tooth use were observed for the seven human teeth. The result indicates that except for the normal tooth wear caused by the tooth contacts, some special tooth use marks were also identified, which include enamel damage and chipping, enamel damage on the labial surface of upper lateral incisor and interproximal grooves in the upper anterior teeth. It＇s worth noting that all the tooth use marks were found in the anterior teeth regardless of upper and lower teeth. Among them, enamel damage and chippings are mainly found in the regions of crown labial side of upper incisors and crown lingual side all adjacent to incisal edges. With these findings, we guess that the late Pleistocene humans living in the Huanglong Cave used their anterior teeth for gnawing, holding, peeling, or maybe used their anterior teeth as tools. The interproximal grooves in the upper anterior teeth suggest that the humans conducted tooth-picking frequently. The tooth use marks of the Huanglong Cave humans were closely related to the activities of obtaining and processing the meat or ligaments attached in the bones. The Huanglong Cave human＇s food compositions may contain more meats.