Since 2004, three excavations have been carried out at a late Pleistocene human fossil site of Huanglong Cave in Yunxi County, Hubei Province of China, which unearthed seven human teeth, dozens of stone tools, mammal ...Since 2004, three excavations have been carried out at a late Pleistocene human fossil site of Huanglong Cave in Yunxi County, Hubei Province of China, which unearthed seven human teeth, dozens of stone tools, mammal fossils and other evidence indicating human activities. During the third excavation in 2006, in the same layer as the human teeth, we found some patches of black materials embed- ded in the deposit. We doubted that this black deposit layer is the remains of burning or even human use of fire at the cave. To further explore the possibility of human fire use at the Huanglong Cave, we examined samples directly taken from the black deposit layer and compared them with samples taken from several places in the cave using three methods: micromorphology, element content determination and deposit temperature analysis. Our results indicate that the contents of carbon element in the black deposit reach 64.59%―73.29%. In contrast, contents of carbon element of the comparative samples from other parts in the cave are only 5.82%―9.49%. The micromorphology analysis of the black deposit samples reveals a plant structure like axial parenchyma, fibrocyte, uniseriate ray and vessel. High-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements suggest that the stratum possibly underwent a high temperature in the nature. Based on these lab analyses, we are sure that the black layer in the Huanglong Cave is the remains of fire and combustion did occur in the cave 100000 years ago. Taking other evidence of human activities found in the Huanglong Cave into consideration, we believe that the evidence of fire from the Huanglong Cave was caused by the human activities of controlled use of fire.展开更多
The microscopic structure of charcoals was determined in two sites of Bronze Age, Chifeng area by using the scanning electronic microscope. The results showed that these charcoals are all timbers of Mongolian oak (Que...The microscopic structure of charcoals was determined in two sites of Bronze Age, Chifeng area by using the scanning electronic microscope. The results showed that these charcoals are all timbers of Mongolian oak (Quercus mongolica). It has powerful climatic indicative significance. Based on the assemblage of pollen composition, their eco-climatic index and character of community, the vegetation reconstruction of Bronze Age was obtained. The reconstruction showed that the zonal vegetation was Mongolian oak forest and Chinese pine forest in the loess hills in the Chifeng area, which suggested that the climatic condition was warmer and wetter at that time than present time.展开更多
The pollen flux in coniferous and deciduous broadleaved mixed forest in the Changbai Mountains is presented in one year's experiments. The results indicate that arboreal pollen percentages are more than 65% and po...The pollen flux in coniferous and deciduous broadleaved mixed forest in the Changbai Mountains is presented in one year's experiments. The results indicate that arboreal pollen percentages are more than 65% and pollen flux is higher than 5000 grain·cm-2·a-1,while less than 2% and lower than 1000 grain·cm-2·a-1 for shrubby pollen,and less than 20% and lower than 3000 grain·cm-1·a-1 for herbaceous pollen for most samples at different heights. The pollen assemblages are similar to those in the samples under 8 m height where Pinus and Ouercus are dominant and followed by the few non-local pollen types,and Fraxinus percentages are high with a few non-local pollen types at 16 m to 32 m height as well as non-local pollen clearly increased at 40 m height. Comparisons between pollen assemblages and vegetation composition suggest that similarities are higher for pollen trap samples than for surface moss samples.展开更多
基金Supported by Knowledge Innovation Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. KZCX2-YW-106)National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40772016)+1 种基金National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB806400)International Cooperation Program of MST of China (Grant No. 2007DFB20330)
文摘Since 2004, three excavations have been carried out at a late Pleistocene human fossil site of Huanglong Cave in Yunxi County, Hubei Province of China, which unearthed seven human teeth, dozens of stone tools, mammal fossils and other evidence indicating human activities. During the third excavation in 2006, in the same layer as the human teeth, we found some patches of black materials embed- ded in the deposit. We doubted that this black deposit layer is the remains of burning or even human use of fire at the cave. To further explore the possibility of human fire use at the Huanglong Cave, we examined samples directly taken from the black deposit layer and compared them with samples taken from several places in the cave using three methods: micromorphology, element content determination and deposit temperature analysis. Our results indicate that the contents of carbon element in the black deposit reach 64.59%―73.29%. In contrast, contents of carbon element of the comparative samples from other parts in the cave are only 5.82%―9.49%. The micromorphology analysis of the black deposit samples reveals a plant structure like axial parenchyma, fibrocyte, uniseriate ray and vessel. High-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements suggest that the stratum possibly underwent a high temperature in the nature. Based on these lab analyses, we are sure that the black layer in the Huanglong Cave is the remains of fire and combustion did occur in the cave 100000 years ago. Taking other evidence of human activities found in the Huanglong Cave into consideration, we believe that the evidence of fire from the Huanglong Cave was caused by the human activities of controlled use of fire.
基金This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 49831008).
文摘The microscopic structure of charcoals was determined in two sites of Bronze Age, Chifeng area by using the scanning electronic microscope. The results showed that these charcoals are all timbers of Mongolian oak (Quercus mongolica). It has powerful climatic indicative significance. Based on the assemblage of pollen composition, their eco-climatic index and character of community, the vegetation reconstruction of Bronze Age was obtained. The reconstruction showed that the zonal vegetation was Mongolian oak forest and Chinese pine forest in the loess hills in the Chifeng area, which suggested that the climatic condition was warmer and wetter at that time than present time.
基金Supported by the Preliminary Special Foundation for National Key Basic Research (Grant No. 2003CCA01800)the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40571166 and 40672107)+1 种基金Hebei Special Foundation for Ph.D (Grant No. 06547006-3)the Key National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40331011)
文摘The pollen flux in coniferous and deciduous broadleaved mixed forest in the Changbai Mountains is presented in one year's experiments. The results indicate that arboreal pollen percentages are more than 65% and pollen flux is higher than 5000 grain·cm-2·a-1,while less than 2% and lower than 1000 grain·cm-2·a-1 for shrubby pollen,and less than 20% and lower than 3000 grain·cm-1·a-1 for herbaceous pollen for most samples at different heights. The pollen assemblages are similar to those in the samples under 8 m height where Pinus and Ouercus are dominant and followed by the few non-local pollen types,and Fraxinus percentages are high with a few non-local pollen types at 16 m to 32 m height as well as non-local pollen clearly increased at 40 m height. Comparisons between pollen assemblages and vegetation composition suggest that similarities are higher for pollen trap samples than for surface moss samples.
