Similarities play an important role in the reconstruction of human physical,cultural and technological evolution.The two sites presented in this paper,the Middle Palaeolithic site Lingjing in China Layer 10 and 11 and...Similarities play an important role in the reconstruction of human physical,cultural and technological evolution.The two sites presented in this paper,the Middle Palaeolithic site Lingjing in China Layer 10 and 11 and the Lower Palaeolithic site Schöningen 13Ⅱ-4,the socalled Schöningen Spear Horizon in Germany,show striking similarities.The archaeological record of both sites includes lithic artifacts as well as a very large assemblage of fossil bones.The preservation of the material at both sites is excellent and the faunas encountered at both sites show many similarities.The faunal lists of both sites include a diverse carnivore guild,an elephant species,two different rhinoceros species,two different equids,different cervids and large bovids.Both sites also yielded bone retouchers as well as a unique record of bone hammers that show identical,unusual flaking and percussion damage.These similarities are remarkable if one takes into account the difference in age(ca 200 kaBP)and the geographical distance between the two sites of ca 8000 km.Therefore,we do not assume a close cultural link between the hominin populations active at both sites.The authors assume that the observed similarities show more or less identical,opportunistic hominin behaviour at both sites located in a comparable environment with more or less similar taphonomic conditions.展开更多
文摘Similarities play an important role in the reconstruction of human physical,cultural and technological evolution.The two sites presented in this paper,the Middle Palaeolithic site Lingjing in China Layer 10 and 11 and the Lower Palaeolithic site Schöningen 13Ⅱ-4,the socalled Schöningen Spear Horizon in Germany,show striking similarities.The archaeological record of both sites includes lithic artifacts as well as a very large assemblage of fossil bones.The preservation of the material at both sites is excellent and the faunas encountered at both sites show many similarities.The faunal lists of both sites include a diverse carnivore guild,an elephant species,two different rhinoceros species,two different equids,different cervids and large bovids.Both sites also yielded bone retouchers as well as a unique record of bone hammers that show identical,unusual flaking and percussion damage.These similarities are remarkable if one takes into account the difference in age(ca 200 kaBP)and the geographical distance between the two sites of ca 8000 km.Therefore,we do not assume a close cultural link between the hominin populations active at both sites.The authors assume that the observed similarities show more or less identical,opportunistic hominin behaviour at both sites located in a comparable environment with more or less similar taphonomic conditions.
