Christopher J. Norton

Zhoukoudian Upper Cave Revisited

As with many archaeofaunal assemblages that were excavated before the 1970s, the faunal collection from the Late Paleolithic site of Zhoukoudian Upper Cave suffers from excavation‐ and curation‐related differential discard and loss of particular kinds of skeletal elements. Yet taphonomic analysis of the mortality profiles and bone surface modifications indicates (1) that the Lower Recess probably served as a natural trap and (2) that hunter‐gatherers processed cervids on site. This study supports the hypotheses originally proposed by Wenchung Pei.

Hominin–carnivore interactions during the Chinese Early Paleolithic: Taphonomic perspectives from Xujiayao

The ability of archaic Homo sapiens to survive in more northerly latitudes was contingent on securing a regular source of animal fat and protein. We present a taphonomic study that examines how successful these hominins were at acquiring these food sources during the latter part of the Early Paleolithic in Northeast Asia. This study focuses on the long bone midshaft surface modifications observed on the faunal remains from Xujiayao, a middle-late Pleistocene open-air site located at 40 degrees latitude in the western Nihewan Basin, northern China. The faunal assemblage is dominated by equid remains. Analysis of the percussion, tooth, and cut mark frequencies on the long bone midshafts demonstrates that the Xujiayao hominins had primary access to high utility (meat-bearing and marrow-rich) long bones. Investigation of the dual-patterned (tooth-marked and butchery-marked) bone fragments suggests that hominins were under little pressure from competing carnivores to abandon their kills. The lack of significant differences between the size of fragments with only percussion-marks and those with only tooth-marks supports these findings. Fragmentation ratios indicate that forelimbs were more intensively processed than hind limbs. Based on the water rounding and abrasion data, the Xujiayao assemblage is likely of autochthonous origin. Since the age of Xujiayao is still in question, we can only conclude that archaic Homo sapiens were successful predators of large game in Northeast Asia some time during the latter part of the Early Paleolithic.

Sedentism, Territorial Circumscription, and the Increased Use of Plant Domesticates Across Neolithic–Bronze Age Korea

As evidenced from the Korean archaeological record, there is an increased use of plant domesticates and a decrease in other food sources during the Holocene. These changes in overall human diet breadth culminate with the Late Neolithic–Bronze Age (c. 3500 B.P.) transition where dependence on hunted and gathered food packages decreases during the former period and full-scale agriculture becomes the norm during the latter cultural stage. This dietary shift appears to coincide with Holocene shoreline stabilization and overall large-scale population increase and movement through time. It is proposed here that two primary reasons exist for the change in overall diet breadth: (1) increasing shoreline stabilization during the Holocene and (2) an increase in hunter-gatherer population pressure due to a sedentary lifestyle. Both of these factors would have led to some degree of territorial circumscription, resulting in a progressive decline in overall hunter-gatherer foraging e‰ciency. In turn, this would have prompted the Holocene Korean Peninsular peoples to find other ways to offset their lowered overall foraging efficiency that had originally focused primarily on higher-ranked food resources (e.g., deer, wild boar). In this case, Korean peoples expanded their overall diet breadth to include a lower-ranked set of food packages (e.g., fish, shellfish) that by the advent of the Bronze Age eventually included plant domesticates regularly.

Rethinking the Palearctic-Oriental Biogeographic Boundary in Quaternary China

This paper reviews the Chinese Quaternary biogeographic record, which has traditionally been divided into the Palearctic (North China) and Oriental (South China) biozones. Notable findings are: (1) Open-steppe taxa (e.g., Equus sanmeniensis, E. yunnanensis, E. hemonius, Mammuthus) are found in the Oriental region during the Early and Late Pleistocene; (2) Beremendia is found in large numbers at the Early Pleistocene Renzidong site located in the Oriental region, though it had previously been known only from the Palearctic biozone; (3) Oriental taxa are found in Middle Pleistocene deposits in northern China, though an increase in the winter monsoon intensity after 520 ka probably forced many of the warm climate taxa back southwards; (4) A higher number of primate taxa is present in the Oriental region, increasing in species diversity from the Early Pleistocene to the Holocene; and (5) Most of central-east China is less than 1,000 m above sea level and served as a continuous migration corridor between the Palearctic and Oriental biogeographic zones during the Quaternary. The general conclusion that we draw from this brief review is that the utility of a strict division between the Palearctic and Oriental biogeographic zones is not valid. In light of fluctuating paleoenvironmental pressures, Palearctic faunas often migrated southward during stadials and Oriental taxa were able to expand northward during interstadials. More detailed reconstructions of the eastern Asian biogeographic record, along with linking the data to the loess-soil, deep sea oxygen isotope, paleobathymetric, and pollen records, will facilitate a deeper understanding of how the paleoenvironment influenced hominin dispersals and evolution during the Quaternary.

The East Asian Middle Paleolithic Reexamined

The criteria to define the Middle Paleolithic in East Asia have traditionally been presence/absence of archaic Homo sapiens fossils, biostratigraphy, lithostratigraphy, the Middle-Late Pleistocene transition, and lithic technology. In this paper, we examine the use of the Middle-Late Pleistocene shift as a valid criterion for characterizing the Middle Paleolithic in East Asia. Our review indicates that the most representative “Middle Paleolithic” sites in China (Zhoukoudian Locality 15, Dingcun, Xujiayao, Dali) all have chronometric ages that bracket the Middle-Late Pleistocene transition. However, the age range for these sites is extremely wide, extending from the middle Middle Pleistocene (c. 500 ka) to the middle Late Pleistocene (75 ka). This very large chronometric span suggests that the Middle-Late Pleistocene transition (140–100 ka) is of little use for defining a distinct Middle Paleolithic in East Asia. Other evidence to support a distinct East Asian Middle Paleolithic is also not strong, particularly distinct changes in lithic technology. Accordingly, we argue that an “Early” Paleolithic, representing the originally designated Lower and Middle Paleolithic sites, is more applicable to the uniqueness of the East Asian archaeological record.

Asian Paleoanthropology: An Introduction

In the days of Ernst Haeckel, Eugene Dubois, Henry Fairfield Osborn, and Roy Chapman Andrews, Asia was often considered the center where major events in human evolution occurred. Since the middle of the twentieth century, however, the focus of paleoanthropology shifted to Africa, due (at least in part) to the many significant hominin fossils found there (Dennell 2001). It is now generally accepted that most of the major human evolutionary events during the late Neogene and the early Early Pleistocene took place in Africa, rather than Asia.

Central-East China – A Plio-Pleistocene Dispersal Corridor: The Current State of Evidence for Hominin Occupations

Early hominins moved out of Africa and arrived in China sometime after 1.8 Ma. Using Majuangou, North China (1.71–1.66 Ma) and Yuanmou, South China (1.7 Ma) as the two tentative reference points for early hominin activity, we argue that similar paleoanthropological evidence should be present between these two localities in Central-East (CE) China. In particular, since the floral and faunal data strongly indicate that the region served as a continuous migration corridor throughout the Plio-Pleistocene, CE China should contain a diversity of evidence of early hominin activity. In this paper, we review the current state of Early and Middle Pleistocene paleoanthropological evidence in CE China. We note that there are questions/problems with some of the current evidence or interpretations of this evidence. However, the dataset forms a solid foundation from which to develop more detailed research programs and hypotheses to test. The key to investigating this region more thoroughly is systematic field and laboratory research conducted by a multi-disciplinary team of scientists.