Between 1995 and 1999 the Longyadong cave site and 50 open air Paleolithic sites were investigated and excavated in the Luonan Basin of China. A total of 1?751 stone artifacts were collected from open air sites, and f...Between 1995 and 1999 the Longyadong cave site and 50 open air Paleolithic sites were investigated and excavated in the Luonan Basin of China. A total of 1?751 stone artifacts were collected from open air sites, and fossils from about 20 animal species as well as 65?000 lithic artifacts were excavated from the cave site. This paper provides a preliminary study of site lithic stratigraphics in their geological context as well as the results of thermoluminescence (TL) dating. The TL dates of five soil samples place the sites into the middle to late period of the Middle Pleistocene (Q 2 2—3 ). Upon further taking into account strata relationships, three cultural periods were identified in Longyadong cave. When compared with the TL dates and stratigraphy from Zhoukoudian Locality 1, loess deposits in Shaanxi Luochuan, red earth in Anhui and deep sea records, Longyadong is in the range of 500—250 kyr, approximately the same timeframe as Zhoukoudian Locality 1.展开更多
Luonan Basin, formed during Neo\|tectonic movements, is one of the small block basins in East Qinling Mountain. Three faults, Tieluzi Fault, Dajing\|Guojiayuan Fault and Beisi Fault bound it. The west part of the basi...Luonan Basin, formed during Neo\|tectonic movements, is one of the small block basins in East Qinling Mountain. Three faults, Tieluzi Fault, Dajing\|Guojiayuan Fault and Beisi Fault bound it. The west part of the basin is higher than the east part. The elevation, usually more than 1100meters in the west, decreases gradually to less than 800meters in the east. The Cenozoic deposit in Luonan Basin is thin in the west part and becomes increasingly thick towards the east part. The total thickness of both the Eogene and the Neogene is only more than 100meters at Dajing. At Duishan, a place close to Luonan county town, it is about 400meters, and at Gucheng, it becomes nearly 1750meters. The strata crop out in the west part of the basin, usually the Eogene and the Neogene, are older than those in the east part which are usually the Quaternary deposits. The pattern of the Cenozoic deposits in Luonan Basin is similar to that in Shangzhou Basin (Li Kaoshe, personal communication), a basin locating just to the south of Luonan Basin.展开更多
The Luonan Basin is a key region of early human settlement in Central China with more than 300 discovered Paleolithic sites. Artifact layer 1 of the Liuwan site was dated to approximately 0.6 million years (Ma) based ...The Luonan Basin is a key region of early human settlement in Central China with more than 300 discovered Paleolithic sites. Artifact layer 1 of the Liuwan site was dated to approximately 0.6 million years (Ma) based on correlation with the well-dated loess-paleosol sequence of the central Chinese Loess Plateau. This study reassessed the age of the Liuwan artifact layer via an absolute dating method, namely, <sup>26</sup>Al/<sup>10</sup>Be burial dating. We determined the burial age of artifact layer 1, which was most likely at least 0.60 ± 0.12 Ma (1ơ), using three simple burial ages. The new burial age confirmed the previous estimated age and provided a considerably accurate age range. Therefore, we suggest the use of the <sup>26</sup>Al/<sup>10</sup>Be burial dating method in thin loess-covered Paleolithic sites around the Qinling Mountain Range is helpful to understand the early human behavior.展开更多
The catchment of South Luohe River in Central China is an important region for investigating modern pollen-environment relationship, because it is located in the transitional zone between south and north China, an env...The catchment of South Luohe River in Central China is an important region for investigating modern pollen-environment relationship, because it is located in the transitional zone between south and north China, an environment which is sensitive to climate changes. In this study, 40 surface samples under ten vegetation types were collected to reveal the relationship between pollen assemblages and vegetation. The results show that the surface pollen assemblages reflect the vegetation quite well. In forest topsoils, the average of arbo- real pollen content is greater than 40%, and the Selaginella sinensis spore is high. As to sparse forest grassland and shrub community, the average arboreal pollen is 13.2% and 16.6% respectively, and the shrub pollen is relatively higher than that of grassland samples. The grassland and farmland are characterized by low percentage of tree and shrub pollen （〈10% and 〈1%）, and high percentage of herbs （〉80%）. Pinus, Quercus and some other arboreal pollen can indicate the regional vegetation because of their dispersal ability. Quercus pollen is under-representative and so is Pinus. Artemisia pollen is significantly over-represented, has poor correlation with the plant coverage, and may reflect human dis- turbance. Gramineae can indicate plant quite well, but with low representation. High content of Chenopodiaceae probably suggests human impact. Predominant Selaginella sinensis can be used as an indicator of forest environment. Cluster analysis and principal components analysis of pollen assemblages can distinguish forest and non-forest vegetation well. The former method is better at separating pine and mixed forests, while the latter is more stable and could better differentiate farmland and other non-forest area. The first axis of PCA mainly reflects the humidity.展开更多
The present paper reports three lizard fossils from the Middle Pleistocene (493±55 ka B.P.) Qinling caves in Luonan County, Shaanxi, China. Two lacertids reported here, Eumeces sp. (Fig.1, 3～6) and Eremias sp. (...The present paper reports three lizard fossils from the Middle Pleistocene (493±55 ka B.P.) Qinling caves in Luonan County, Shaanxi, China. Two lacertids reported here, Eumeces sp. (Fig.1, 3～6) and Eremias sp. (Fig.1, 7～8) document the geologically first record of the fossil genus from China, and suggested that they are ancestors of modern genus and species in this area. The specimen of Conicodontosaurus is documented a new species: Conicodontosaurus qinlingensis sp. nov. (Fig.1, 1～2).展开更多
文摘Between 1995 and 1999 the Longyadong cave site and 50 open air Paleolithic sites were investigated and excavated in the Luonan Basin of China. A total of 1?751 stone artifacts were collected from open air sites, and fossils from about 20 animal species as well as 65?000 lithic artifacts were excavated from the cave site. This paper provides a preliminary study of site lithic stratigraphics in their geological context as well as the results of thermoluminescence (TL) dating. The TL dates of five soil samples place the sites into the middle to late period of the Middle Pleistocene (Q 2 2—3 ). Upon further taking into account strata relationships, three cultural periods were identified in Longyadong cave. When compared with the TL dates and stratigraphy from Zhoukoudian Locality 1, loess deposits in Shaanxi Luochuan, red earth in Anhui and deep sea records, Longyadong is in the range of 500—250 kyr, approximately the same timeframe as Zhoukoudian Locality 1.
文摘Luonan Basin, formed during Neo\|tectonic movements, is one of the small block basins in East Qinling Mountain. Three faults, Tieluzi Fault, Dajing\|Guojiayuan Fault and Beisi Fault bound it. The west part of the basin is higher than the east part. The elevation, usually more than 1100meters in the west, decreases gradually to less than 800meters in the east. The Cenozoic deposit in Luonan Basin is thin in the west part and becomes increasingly thick towards the east part. The total thickness of both the Eogene and the Neogene is only more than 100meters at Dajing. At Duishan, a place close to Luonan county town, it is about 400meters, and at Gucheng, it becomes nearly 1750meters. The strata crop out in the west part of the basin, usually the Eogene and the Neogene, are older than those in the east part which are usually the Quaternary deposits. The pattern of the Cenozoic deposits in Luonan Basin is similar to that in Shangzhou Basin (Li Kaoshe, personal communication), a basin locating just to the south of Luonan Basin.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China,No.41572155,No.41690111The Global Change Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China,No.2016YFA0600503
文摘The Luonan Basin is a key region of early human settlement in Central China with more than 300 discovered Paleolithic sites. Artifact layer 1 of the Liuwan site was dated to approximately 0.6 million years (Ma) based on correlation with the well-dated loess-paleosol sequence of the central Chinese Loess Plateau. This study reassessed the age of the Liuwan artifact layer via an absolute dating method, namely, <sup>26</sup>Al/<sup>10</sup>Be burial dating. We determined the burial age of artifact layer 1, which was most likely at least 0.60 ± 0.12 Ma (1ơ), using three simple burial ages. The new burial age confirmed the previous estimated age and provided a considerably accurate age range. Therefore, we suggest the use of the <sup>26</sup>Al/<sup>10</sup>Be burial dating method in thin loess-covered Paleolithic sites around the Qinling Mountain Range is helpful to understand the early human behavior.
基金Foundation： National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41072122, No.40930103, No.41321062 The ＂Strategic Priority Research Program＂ of CAS, No.XDA05120704, No.XDA05130201
文摘The catchment of South Luohe River in Central China is an important region for investigating modern pollen-environment relationship, because it is located in the transitional zone between south and north China, an environment which is sensitive to climate changes. In this study, 40 surface samples under ten vegetation types were collected to reveal the relationship between pollen assemblages and vegetation. The results show that the surface pollen assemblages reflect the vegetation quite well. In forest topsoils, the average of arbo- real pollen content is greater than 40%, and the Selaginella sinensis spore is high. As to sparse forest grassland and shrub community, the average arboreal pollen is 13.2% and 16.6% respectively, and the shrub pollen is relatively higher than that of grassland samples. The grassland and farmland are characterized by low percentage of tree and shrub pollen （〈10% and 〈1%）, and high percentage of herbs （〉80%）. Pinus, Quercus and some other arboreal pollen can indicate the regional vegetation because of their dispersal ability. Quercus pollen is under-representative and so is Pinus. Artemisia pollen is significantly over-represented, has poor correlation with the plant coverage, and may reflect human dis- turbance. Gramineae can indicate plant quite well, but with low representation. High content of Chenopodiaceae probably suggests human impact. Predominant Selaginella sinensis can be used as an indicator of forest environment. Cluster analysis and principal components analysis of pollen assemblages can distinguish forest and non-forest vegetation well. The former method is better at separating pine and mixed forests, while the latter is more stable and could better differentiate farmland and other non-forest area. The first axis of PCA mainly reflects the humidity.
文摘The present paper reports three lizard fossils from the Middle Pleistocene (493±55 ka B.P.) Qinling caves in Luonan County, Shaanxi, China. Two lacertids reported here, Eumeces sp. (Fig.1, 3～6) and Eremias sp. (Fig.1, 7～8) document the geologically first record of the fossil genus from China, and suggested that they are ancestors of modern genus and species in this area. The specimen of Conicodontosaurus is documented a new species: Conicodontosaurus qinlingensis sp. nov. (Fig.1, 1～2).
