For the past 20 years the modern hu- man origins debate has received a significant amount of attention in paleoanthropological research. Primar- ily supported by the evidence of earlier dates of anatomically modern hu...For the past 20 years the modern hu- man origins debate has received a significant amount of attention in paleoanthropological research. Primar- ily supported by the evidence of earlier dates of anatomically modern human fossils and genetic studies, the “Out of Africa” hypothesis is based on the belief that the ancestor of all modern humans, in- cluding modern Chinese, came from Africa. The op- posite hypothesis “Mutiregional evolution” proposes that continuous evolution occurred on a regional scale, for which human paleontology offers strong support. However, due to the paucity of hominid fos- sils in China between 100 and 50 ka, support to the latter hypothesis is currently weak. This is a report here of five human fossil teeth, and associated stone tools and mammal fossils from a newly discovered cave site, Huanglong Cave, located in Yunxi County, Hubei Province, China. Preliminary studies indicate: (1) the morphological features of the human fossils resemble those of late Pleistocene human fossils from China; (2) the stone tools display patterns of both the southern and northern Paleolithic cultures of China; (3) the mammal fossils represent the “Ailuro- poda-Stegodon” faunal unit which lived in southern China throughout the Pleistocene. ESR and U-series dating on animal teeth and a stalagmite derived from the same layer as the human teeth indicate two possible ages: 103±1.6 ka and 44±12.5 ka. In addi- tion to other evidence presented here, it is believed that hominid occupation of the cave was likely around 100 ka. If this age is further substantiated, Huanglong Cave will be the first late Pleistocene hominid fossilsite in China where anatomically modern humans lived about 100 ka. The human fossils and other re- lated materials from Huanglong Cave will provide important information for research on the origin of modern Chinese.展开更多
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
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Grant Nos. 40472106 , 40572104） the Major Basic Research Projects of Ministry of Science and Technology of China （Grant No. 2006CB806400）.
文摘For the past 20 years the modern hu- man origins debate has received a significant amount of attention in paleoanthropological research. Primar- ily supported by the evidence of earlier dates of anatomically modern human fossils and genetic studies, the “Out of Africa” hypothesis is based on the belief that the ancestor of all modern humans, in- cluding modern Chinese, came from Africa. The op- posite hypothesis “Mutiregional evolution” proposes that continuous evolution occurred on a regional scale, for which human paleontology offers strong support. However, due to the paucity of hominid fos- sils in China between 100 and 50 ka, support to the latter hypothesis is currently weak. This is a report here of five human fossil teeth, and associated stone tools and mammal fossils from a newly discovered cave site, Huanglong Cave, located in Yunxi County, Hubei Province, China. Preliminary studies indicate: (1) the morphological features of the human fossils resemble those of late Pleistocene human fossils from China; (2) the stone tools display patterns of both the southern and northern Paleolithic cultures of China; (3) the mammal fossils represent the “Ailuro- poda-Stegodon” faunal unit which lived in southern China throughout the Pleistocene. ESR and U-series dating on animal teeth and a stalagmite derived from the same layer as the human teeth indicate two possible ages: 103±1.6 ka and 44±12.5 ka. In addi- tion to other evidence presented here, it is believed that hominid occupation of the cave was likely around 100 ka. If this age is further substantiated, Huanglong Cave will be the first late Pleistocene hominid fossilsite in China where anatomically modern humans lived about 100 ka. The human fossils and other re- lated materials from Huanglong Cave will provide important information for research on the origin of modern Chinese.
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.
