云南祥云红土坡墓地出土人骨颅面特征研究——兼谈“昆明”族属问题

CRANIOFACIAL FEATURES OF HUMAN REMAINS FROM THE HONGTUPO CEMETERY IN XIANGYUN,YUNNAN,SOUTHWEST CHINA

红土坡墓地是滇西洱海地区青铜时代晚期的一处重要墓地。对红土坡墓地出土的3例颅骨标本进行性状观察、测量分析等综合研究,其颅面特征可以概括为长颅型、正颅型结合狭颅型,中等眶型和较阔的鼻型,中等面宽,偏低的面高,中等偏大的上面部扁平度。红土坡居民应属于亚洲蒙古人种范畴,与南亚类型在眶鼻和上面部形态上表现出更多的一致性。在与古代人群的对比中,与楚雄元谋磨盘山组最为相似,颅型方面皆为长颅型、正颅型,在眶型、鼻型、面宽、面高和面部扁平度等方面也非常接近;其次为华南地区的佛山河宕组和闽侯昙石山组。在综合分析的基础上,进一步探讨了云南地区古代居民颅面特征中"北方因素"的出现,以及红土坡居民所代表的"昆明"人的族属问题。

The Hongtupo cemetery(25°29’05.73″N,100°33’42.92″E)is located at the southeast of Erhai in Xiangyun County of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture,Yunnan Province.From 1987 to 1988,the Museum of Dali Bai Nationality Autonomous Prefecture and the Cultural Relics Management Institute of Dali Autonomous Prefecture conducted a rescue excavation in the area.Seventy-nine tombs dated from the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty were excavated.Later in 1993159 Brozen Age tombs were excavated by the Cultural Relics Management Institute of Xiangyun County.The time period of these tombs ranged from the Warring States Period to the Han Dynasty.Numerous grave goods were recovered,including bronze vessels,potsherds,and iron tools.The typology of these artefacts indicated that the Hongtupo cemetery belonged to the"Kunming"population.In Erhai,the cultural sequence from the Neolithic Age to the early Bronze Age has been briefly studied.From 2500 a B.P.to2000 a B.P.,however,the archaeological context in the area has not been fully understood.The discovery of the Hongtupo cemetery and the bronze vessels not only contributed to the limited extent of knowledge of the archaeological context in Erhai,but also provided new data for the reconstruction of its cultural sequence.Three human skulls were also excavated from the Hongtupo cemetery.Human remains have been rarely excavated from archaeological sites in Yunnan Province,due to the unfavorable natural environment.This research is the first study to analyse the craniofacial features of human skulls excavated in Erhai and dated to the Bronze Age.Craniofacial features and physical types of these skulls were examined by morphological observation and measurement analysis.The results showed that these skulls were characterized by dolichocrany,orthocephaly,narrow cranial type,mesoconch,chamaerrhine,moderate face width,and a relatively high degree of facial flatness.These characteristics indicated a craniofacial type of the Mongolian population.The orbitonasal and upper facial morphology further suggested that the Hongtupo population was related to the South Asian type of modern Asian Mongolian.Furthermore,a comparison with other ancient populations showed that the Hongtupo population was most related to the Mopanshan population excavated from Yuanmou,Yunnan Province,followed by the Hedang and Tanshishan populations excavated from South China.Based on these findings,the occurrence of the"northern factor"showed by the craniofacial features of ancient populations excavated from Yunnan were discussed,along with the origin of the Kunming population.This research concluded that the Kunming population was most likely to be the descendants of the aborigines in northwest or western Yunnan.