甘肃庆阳晚更新世萨拉乌苏组中发现陶器残片

PIECES OF POTTERY FROM LATE PLEISTOCENE SALAWUSU FORMATION IN QINGYANG DISTRICT, GANSU PROVINCE

甘肃庆阳地区沿河谷萨拉乌苏组分布普遍，在庆阳附近和环县曲子该组底部砂砾层和上部粘土层中发现了陶片。同一层位产哺乳动物化石，其地质时代属晚更新世。１４Ｃ测年资料也反映它是一套距今约三万年前的堆积，与根据哺乳动物化石所确定的地质年代相一致。这一发现把陶器出现的年代提前了大约２万年。

Piece of pottery had not been found previously from the sediments of 10000 years old in China and abroad. During a research of the Quaternary stratigraphy in Qingyang district, Gansu Province, some pieces of pottery have been discovered from the upper silty clay layer and basal gravel bed of the Salawusu Formation In the same horizon, many mammalian fossils and human cultural remains, such as the palaeoliths, ashes and charcoal bits, have also been found Among the mamalian fossils are such taxa as Palaeoloxodon naumanni, Coelodonta antiquitatis, Equus prsewalskyi, Crocuta ultima, Megaloceros ordosianus, Spirocerus kiakhtensis, Ovis ammon, Bos primigenius etc., which are typical for the Late Pleistocene 14 C dating for the calcareous nodule of the upper part of Salawusu Formation at Shilipodi of Jiaozichuan in Qingyang suggests a age about 25290 ±500aB P , which is consistent with the geological age indicated by the mammalian fossils Therefore, the age of these Pieces of pottery discovered in the Salawusu Formation should also be the Late Pleistocene The new discovery suggests that the history of human pottery making could be further traced back from about 10000 years ago to about 30000 years ago