河南栾川发现直立人化石及其演化意义

Middle Pleistocene hominins from the Sunjiadong site, Luanchuan county, Henan Province, Central China

洛阳考古研究院2012年5月至10月在栾川孙家洞作抢救性发掘,于原生层位发现古人类化石,同时伴有大量哺乳动物化石,以及少量人工石制品。根据伴生动物群的初步鉴定,栾川古人类的生存时代为中更新世。6件古人类化石代表3个个体:1个成年人和2个未成年人,未成年人的牙齿生长发育阶段分别与6～7岁和11～12岁的现代青少年相当。栾川孙家洞古人类牙齿具有一定的原始性,明显区别于现代人,其形态大小位于周口店直立人牙齿的变异范围内,可归入直立人的形态范畴;同时具有东亚古人类及现代蒙古人群的地区性特征。基于幼年个体上下颌骨的牙齿发育,推测栾川古人类第一臼齿萌出年龄可能接近6岁,提示具有接近于现代人的牙齿生长模式和生活史特点。栾川中更新世古人类化石的发现为中国古人类连续演化假说提供了新证据。

New fossil hominins associated with rich large mammal fauna and a few stone artifacts, were discovered from the Sunjiadong cave site during 2012 excavation season by the Luoyang Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute and the Luanchuan Heritage Management Centre. The geological age of the Luanchuan hominins is Middle Pleistocene according to the faunal assemblage. The six hominin fossils are identified as the follows： juvenile left maxillary fragment with upper M1, juvenile left mandible fragment with lower M1, and four isolated teeth identified as a left upper p2 germ, left lower M2 germ, right lower lateral adult 12, and juvenile M2.These isolated teeth represent three individuals, respectively age 6-7, age 11-12 and one adult. Dental development of the juvenile maxilla and mandible and two isolated tooth germs, which might all belong to the same individual, match dental development patterns in Juvenile modem humans. The age of M1 emergence of the Luanchuan hominins was possibly six years old. Tooth size and morphology of the six teeth match Homo erectus from Zhoukoudian. The Luanchuan hominins, with typical regional dental traits, provide new fossil evidence for the continuity hypothesis of human evolution in East Asia.