From 1985 to 1987, four new localities with abundant fossil mammals were dis-covered by Cao, Tian and others in the Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) area, Beijing. They are theEast, West, Shangdian and Donglingzi caves. The ...From 1985 to 1987, four new localities with abundant fossil mammals were dis-covered by Cao, Tian and others in the Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) area, Beijing. They are theEast, West, Shangdian and Donglingzi caves. The East Cave fauna consists of 28 speices ofmammals and its age is middle Early Pleistocene. The East Cave assemblage shows that a tem-perature-falling event took place at around 1.20 Ma B.P. at Zhoukoudian. Sixteen species ofmammals were collected from the West Cave, which are mainly forms of late Early Pleistoceneage. The West Cave fauna represents a transitional fauna from the East Cave fauna (dry-cold)to the fauna (warm) at locality 9. The Shangdian Cave fauna is composed of four forms, beingMiddle Pleistocene in age. The Donglingzi Cave fauna contains 21 Late Pleistocene forms. Inthe cave two fossil horizons may be distinguished. The age of the lower horizon is early LatePleistocene, which is equivalent to that of the New Cave fauna; while the fauna of the upper ho-rizon may be correlated with the Upper Cave fauna.展开更多
The Zhoukoudian stock in Beijing is a concentric zoned complex intrusive body formed by two successive intrusions. Quartz-diorite formed by the first intrusion is scattered sparsely on the margins of the body, while g...The Zhoukoudian stock in Beijing is a concentric zoned complex intrusive body formed by two successive intrusions. Quartz-diorite formed by the first intrusion is scattered sparsely on the margins of the body, while granodiorite resulting from the second intrusion constitutes the main part of the intrusion. It exhibits three distinct petrographic zones macroscopically, and is chemically characterized by enrichment of high-temperature components, such as Mg, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn. Fe and Co, on its border and merely slight enrichment of some low-temperature components, such as Na and Si, in its central part. A series of structural features indicate that the deformation of the intrusion and thermo-metamorphic rocks becomes weaker with an increase of distance from the contact, and that the intrusive body is a product of ballooning or inflating diapiric emplacement. Based on calculations of the density, viscosity and yield strength of magma and the reasonable diffusion constants and oxygen isotopic data, the mechanism of the compositional zonation of the major part of the stock is discussed. It is considered that the Soret effect, combined with double-diffusive convection, can explain the compositional zonation of the intrusion. Calculation of the ascent rates of magma shows that successive upwelling of magma got faster and faster with the progress of time.展开更多
The recently discovered macaque fossils, including isolated teeth and mandible fragments, from Tianyuan Cave and the juvenile maxilla from Wanglaopu Cave near Zhoukoudian can be identified as Macaca mulatta; they repr...The recently discovered macaque fossils, including isolated teeth and mandible fragments, from Tianyuan Cave and the juvenile maxilla from Wanglaopu Cave near Zhoukoudian can be identified as Macaca mulatta; they represent the first recognized occurrence of fossil M. mulatta in the far north of China. Some previously unearthed but still unpublished Macaca specimens were also studied, including a cranium and the associated mandible from CKT Loc.13A, a maxilla and a mandible from Loc.1, a mandible from Loc.4, and a maxilla from Loc.20, as well as a mandible with complete toothrow from Zhoukoudian but without locality details, all of them can be referred to M. robusta. The study shows M. robusta is more closely related to M. mulatta than to M. anderssonL Zhoukoudian is the richest area of Macacina fossils in North China, totally 2 genera and 4 species were once recognized from 9 localities, namely, Procynocephalus wimani, M. cf. anderssoni, M. robusta and M. mulatta. The fossil records of Macacina in Zhoukoudian area were almost continuous through the Quaternary Period, and it＇s reasonable to assume that Zhoukoudian used to be an evolutionary center for macaques in North China. Therefore, the macaque population of M. mulatta once existed decades ago around Beijing probably originated from the Pleistocene ancestors in the local area, rather than being human-introduced as previously thought.展开更多
传统"灌输式"教学模式下,大部分学生采取"死记硬背"的学习方式,且学习效果不甚理想,严重影响了学生学习的积极性,而在基础教育改革深入开展的今天,思维导图现身于高中英语课堂,并取得理想的教学效果。英语作为一门...传统"灌输式"教学模式下,大部分学生采取"死记硬背"的学习方式,且学习效果不甚理想,严重影响了学生学习的积极性,而在基础教育改革深入开展的今天,思维导图现身于高中英语课堂,并取得理想的教学效果。英语作为一门语言学科,要想提高学习效率,就要帮助学生形成合理的知识体系,这样既能够降低学生学习的枯燥性,又能够提高学生学习的效率与质量。为此,笔者以"Unit 5 A Visit to the Zhoukoudian Caves"为例,探究了思维导图在高中英语新知识教学中的实践应用。展开更多
In order to provide direct evidence for the use of fire by humans at Locality 1,Zhoukoudian,we examine the burnt and unburnt sediments of newly excavated area in Layer 4 by detailed measurements of magnetic susceptibi...In order to provide direct evidence for the use of fire by humans at Locality 1,Zhoukoudian,we examine the burnt and unburnt sediments of newly excavated area in Layer 4 by detailed measurements of magnetic susceptibility,color,and diffuse reflectance spectrum.Results show that the magnetic susceptibility and redness of the burnt sediments are remarkably higher than those of other areas on the same level:up to*22 times for magnetic susceptibility and*3 times for redness of those of the adjacent unburnt sediments.Fine-grained(superparamagnetic/stable single-domain)magnetite and hematite grains make dominant contributions to the distinctly high values of magnetic susceptibility and redness in the burnt sediments.Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy results show that the burnt sediments contain more hematite than those of other areas and localities 2 and 3.High-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements demonstrate that the burnt sediments have been heated above 700°C.Those changes in low-frequency magnetic susceptibility and redness are impossibly resulted from natural fires,thus most likely signaling the human activities of controlled use of fire.However,further work is needed to confirm whether or not these heat-affected sediments were produced in situ.展开更多
Migmatite-like rocks transformed from strongly metamorphosed and deformed enclave- bearing felsic plutons usually make people confuse with the true migmatites and mistake in interpreta- tion of their petrogenesis and ...Migmatite-like rocks transformed from strongly metamorphosed and deformed enclave- bearing felsic plutons usually make people confuse with the true migmatites and mistake in interpreta- tion of their petrogenesis and tectonic implications. Here we report a suite of rocks that have long been called as migmatites from the Guandi complex in Zhoukoudian region, southwest of Beijing. The rocks are dominated by felsic gneisses with garnet-free amphibolites. Field occurrence, petrography and geochemistry indicate that the felsic gneisses and amphibolites were metamorphosed from protoliths of intermediate-acid and basic igneous rocks, respectively. New LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating and geothermobarometry study further reveal that precursor magmas of the two types of rocks were emplaced at 2.54-2.56 Ga and the rocks subsequently underwent medium P/T-type metamorphism with upper amphibolite facies conditions of 0.55-0.90 GPa and 670-730℃ at -2.48-2.50 Ga. Geochemically, precursor magmas of the amphibolites were suggested to be derived from an enriched lithospheric mantle source in continental arc setting, and those of the felsic gneisses are characterized by tonalitic to trondhjemitic magmas that are usually considered to be generated by partial melting of hydrated, thickened metamorphosed mafic crust with garnet as residues, suggesting that the rock associations are not of true migmatites but migmatite-like rocks. Our study reveal that protoliths of the migmatite-like rocks from the Guandi complex, were likely formed via magmatism in a continental arc setting, followed by accretion and collision of the continental arc as well as the intro-oceanic arc terranes to the Eastern Block of the North China Craton in the transition from the Late Neoarchean to Early Paleoprnterozuic.展开更多
In 1985, during the mapping on 1:50000 in the Zhoukoudian area, Cao Boxun et al. discovered a cave-fissure site (called east cave) with abundant mammal fossils. The site is located on the north slope of the Taipingsha...In 1985, during the mapping on 1:50000 in the Zhoukoudian area, Cao Boxun et al. discovered a cave-fissure site (called east cave) with abundant mammal fossils. The site is located on the north slope of the Taipingshan Hill, about 2km northeast of the Loc. 1(the 'Peking man'site) and about 140m above the sea level. Cao et al. collected some mammal fossils from the locality and studied sediments in stratigraphy, sporopollen展开更多
During 1985—1987, the authors discovered new fossiliferous strata bearing ice wedge casts of Early Pleistocene on the northern Taipingshan in Zhoukoudian, and established Taipingshan Formation （Q<sub>1</sub...During 1985—1987, the authors discovered new fossiliferous strata bearing ice wedge casts of Early Pleistocene on the northern Taipingshan in Zhoukoudian, and established Taipingshan Formation （Q<sub>1</sub>t）.展开更多
The Hongshuizhuang Formation is a Meso-Neoproterozoic high-quality source rock in the North China Craton(NCC),comprising abundant organic matter.The present study focuses on the analysis of the Hongshuizhuang Formatio...The Hongshuizhuang Formation is a Meso-Neoproterozoic high-quality source rock in the North China Craton(NCC),comprising abundant organic matter.The present study focuses on the analysis of the Hongshuizhuang Formation in the Zhoukoudian area of the Jingxi sag,discussing its genesis and mechanisms of organic matter enrichment through geological and geochemical methods.The Hongshuizhuang Formation is divided into three members from bottom to top respectively as the lower,middle and upper member.Trace elements analysis indicate that the Hongshuizhuang Formation developed restricted neritic facies in an extensional environment within a continental island arc under a post-orogenic background.The lower and upper members were deposited in a relatively shallow,strongly retained water mass within a suboxic and saline environment influenced by subhumid climate,while the middle member was deposited in an anoxic deep-water environment with relatively low salinity and weak restrictions.The PAAS-normalized rare earth element distributions of the middle and upper members show an enrichment of LREEs and a depletion of HREEs,and a low mean Y/Ho ratio with a positive Eu anomaly,indicating that the regional deposition has been affected by hydrothermal fluids.The negativeδ13 C andδ18 O values and the positive87 Sr/86 Sr values confirm that the deposition of the middle and upper members was accompanied by crustal hydrothermal activities.Accumulation of organic matter and enrichment of Baxsand P indicate that productivity is the basis of organic matter enrichment in the Hongshuizhuang Formation,where high-quality source rocks are concentrated in the middle member.In addition,reduced water mass controls the preservation of organic matter.Hydrothermal activity,humid climate,and salinity support a higher primary productivity and the formation of reduced water masses.However,due to limitations in depth,the high-quality source rocks in the Jingxi sag are thinner than the Jibei sag.展开更多
The Tianyuan Cave is the only human fos-sil-bearing site containing rich mammalian fossils found in the last decades near Zhoukoudian. Up to now more than 34 specimens of the human body have been recovered, and the ma...The Tianyuan Cave is the only human fos-sil-bearing site containing rich mammalian fossils found in the last decades near Zhoukoudian. Up to now more than 34 specimens of the human body have been recovered, and the mammalian fossils can be put into 29 species. Cervids domi-nate the fauna, and carnivores are very rare. Based on the primary examination, the human fossils can be attributed to the species Homo sapiens. All the mammalian fossils, except one between tooth of Crocuta belong to the species that still exist today. But some of them are the first records in fossil form north of the Yellow River, such as Arctonyx and Capri-cornis. Based on the mammalian fauna study, it seems that the Tianyuan Cave can be correlated with the Upper Cave. Sixty-three percent of the species of the mammalian fauna from the Tianyuan Cave are also present in the Upper Cave. The characters of the deposits also share some similarities between the Tianyuan Cave and the Upper Cave; both of them are mainly composed of breccia without cement. The dating using the U-series method on deer tooth samples in-dicates that the geological age of the new site is around 25 thousand years B.P. This is the first discovery of human sites outside the core area of the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian, which throws new light onto this world famous site complex.展开更多
For decades,the so-called Peking Man(Homo erectus pekinensis)at Zhoukoudian has been considered to be a hominin that engaged in the controlled production and management of fire.However,relatively recent analyses have ...For decades,the so-called Peking Man(Homo erectus pekinensis)at Zhoukoudian has been considered to be a hominin that engaged in the controlled production and management of fire.However,relatively recent analyses have cast doubt on this assertion.The most compelling reason for this doubt was the absence of siliceous aggregates in the Zhoukoudian deposits.This study presents evidence establishing the controlled use of fire by Homo erectus pekinensis through analyses of four soil samples sourced from Layers 4 and 6 at Zhoukoudian Locality 1.These results demonstrate that all four specimens contain siliceous aggregates as well as elemental carbon,and the potassium content of the insoluble residues of these specimens ranges between 1.21%and 2.94%.The analyses provide strong evidence of the in situ use of fire by Homo erectus pekinensis.展开更多
Traditional descriptive observation and advanced geometric morphometric are employed to study the morphological characteristics of Zhoukoudian mandibular premolars, and simultaneously with the specimens of Australopit...Traditional descriptive observation and advanced geometric morphometric are employed to study the morphological characteristics of Zhoukoudian mandibular premolars, and simultaneously with the specimens of Australopithecus, African early Homo, Homo erectus in other areas of Asia except Zhoukoudian, Europe Pleistocene fossil hominins, and recent Chinese (72 P3 and 69 P4 on the whole) being included as comparisons. Results suggest obvious evolutionary changes in the occlusal morphology and crown outline shape of mandibular premolars. Australopithecus P3s are found with extremely asymmetrical crown outlines, prominent mesial and distal vertical grooves on the buccal side, open foveas, and well-developed talonids, and P4s with similarly asymmetrical crown outlines, distinct mesial and distal vertical grooves on the buccal side, and "H" type of grooves combination. These characteristics are also expressed in the later hominin specimens, but with a decreased extent and lower frequency. The P3s of recent Chinese, slightly asymmetrical in the crown lingual contours, and P4s, basically symmetrical in the crown outlines, become faint or disappeared in the mesial or distal vertical buccal grooves, and decreased in the talonid size. It is suggested that Zhoukoudian mandibular premolars preserve some primitive traits of earlier hominins, including asymmetrical crown outlines and prominent mesial and distal vertical grooves of buccal side. Moreover, Zhoukoudian specimens exhibit obvious morphological variation between individuals, expressed mainly by aspects of mesial and distal vertical buccal grooves in various degrees, symmetry or asymmetry extent of crown lingual contour, relative location of polygon to the corresponding surrounding outline, as well as the relative size of talonid. When compared with Homo erectus from the other areas of Asia, Zhoukoudian specimens show their similarity with those of Xichuan and S-1, and at the same time great discrepancy with S-6 in the occlusal morphology and crown outline shape. When it comes to the relationship between specimens of Europe Pleistocene and Zhoukoudian, disparity is expressed in a stronger way than the corresponding similarity.展开更多
Elemental carbon?EC) is a C-rich, O-H-S-N-depleted substance that is necessarily produced in the process of combustion. Due to the logn-term use of fire by cave-inhabiting ape-men, considerable amounts of 揺lemen-tal ...Elemental carbon?EC) is a C-rich, O-H-S-N-depleted substance that is necessarily produced in the process of combustion. Due to the logn-term use of fire by cave-inhabiting ape-men, considerable amounts of 揺lemen-tal carbon?would be necessarily left behind in the corre-sponding strata inside the cave. The sepaation of EC was effected by the chemical method and the contents of carbon were determined on an element analyser and a self-made measuring system. The concentration of Ec in the hearth,the exhibited ash samples collected from near the hearth un-earthed in the 1930s, and the three samples of accumulated material collected from the tenth bed are 43.74%, 1.77%,3.88%,1.87% and 1.11%,respectively; those of the equivalent samples from the tenth bed outside the cave and samples from the fourth and seventh beds are at least one order of magnitude lower than the former抯. The above re-sults show that the sampling location of the tenth bed may be close to the hearth. Sampling over a wider range may lead to the finding of a location where the concentrations of EC are corresponding to the maximum values of EC in the hearth. The determination and study of EC may provide new evi-dence for the use of fire by Peking Man.展开更多
Endocasts are important materials used for the study of human brain evolution,and allow examination of the external features of brain anatomy from the inside the cranium.Studies examining brain asymmetries in fossil h...Endocasts are important materials used for the study of human brain evolution,and allow examination of the external features of brain anatomy from the inside the cranium.Studies examining brain asymmetries in fossil hominids are usually limited to scoring of differences in hemisphere protrusion rostrally and caudally,or to comparing the width of the hemispheres.In the present study,using 3D laser scanning,we examined asymmetries of the hemisphere volumes and surface areas in the Zhoukoudain (ZKD) Homo erectus,dated to 0.4-0.8 Ma.Compared with modern endocasts,we found that the absolute hemisphere volumes and surface areas exhibited no significant asymmetries in the ZKD or in modern specimens.However,the relative hemisphere volumes against surface areas differed between the two groups.When comparing the relative sizes between the left and right hemispheres,the ZKD specimens exhibited a greater variation than in the modern humans;there were no differences in the two hemispheres in the ZKD specimens,while in the modern endocasts the left hemisphere was significantly greater than the right hemisphere.These data suggest that brain asymmetries originated from relative brain sizes rather than absolute brain volumes during human evolution.These anatomical changes are likely related to the origin of human brain lateralization.展开更多
基金This study was a contribution to the 30th IGC Project 96-30-16 supported by the State Planning Commission and the Beijing Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.Yuan Lingsheng,Li Chang'an,Li Longyin,Chen Lianfang,Chi Zhenqing and Zhang Xujiao also took
文摘From 1985 to 1987, four new localities with abundant fossil mammals were dis-covered by Cao, Tian and others in the Zhoukoudian (Choukoutien) area, Beijing. They are theEast, West, Shangdian and Donglingzi caves. The East Cave fauna consists of 28 speices ofmammals and its age is middle Early Pleistocene. The East Cave assemblage shows that a tem-perature-falling event took place at around 1.20 Ma B.P. at Zhoukoudian. Sixteen species ofmammals were collected from the West Cave, which are mainly forms of late Early Pleistoceneage. The West Cave fauna represents a transitional fauna from the East Cave fauna (dry-cold)to the fauna (warm) at locality 9. The Shangdian Cave fauna is composed of four forms, beingMiddle Pleistocene in age. The Donglingzi Cave fauna contains 21 Late Pleistocene forms. Inthe cave two fossil horizons may be distinguished. The age of the lower horizon is early LatePleistocene, which is equivalent to that of the New Cave fauna; while the fauna of the upper ho-rizon may be correlated with the Upper Cave fauna.
文摘The Zhoukoudian stock in Beijing is a concentric zoned complex intrusive body formed by two successive intrusions. Quartz-diorite formed by the first intrusion is scattered sparsely on the margins of the body, while granodiorite resulting from the second intrusion constitutes the main part of the intrusion. It exhibits three distinct petrographic zones macroscopically, and is chemically characterized by enrichment of high-temperature components, such as Mg, Ca, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn. Fe and Co, on its border and merely slight enrichment of some low-temperature components, such as Na and Si, in its central part. A series of structural features indicate that the deformation of the intrusion and thermo-metamorphic rocks becomes weaker with an increase of distance from the contact, and that the intrusive body is a product of ballooning or inflating diapiric emplacement. Based on calculations of the density, viscosity and yield strength of magma and the reasonable diffusion constants and oxygen isotopic data, the mechanism of the compositional zonation of the major part of the stock is discussed. It is considered that the Soret effect, combined with double-diffusive convection, can explain the compositional zonation of the intrusion. Calculation of the ascent rates of magma shows that successive upwelling of magma got faster and faster with the progress of time.
基金supported by the Key Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grants No.KZZD-EW-15 and No.KZZD-EW-03)the Project from the P.R.C. Ministry of Land and Resources (Grant No. 201211005-3)
文摘The recently discovered macaque fossils, including isolated teeth and mandible fragments, from Tianyuan Cave and the juvenile maxilla from Wanglaopu Cave near Zhoukoudian can be identified as Macaca mulatta; they represent the first recognized occurrence of fossil M. mulatta in the far north of China. Some previously unearthed but still unpublished Macaca specimens were also studied, including a cranium and the associated mandible from CKT Loc.13A, a maxilla and a mandible from Loc.1, a mandible from Loc.4, and a maxilla from Loc.20, as well as a mandible with complete toothrow from Zhoukoudian but without locality details, all of them can be referred to M. robusta. The study shows M. robusta is more closely related to M. mulatta than to M. anderssonL Zhoukoudian is the richest area of Macacina fossils in North China, totally 2 genera and 4 species were once recognized from 9 localities, namely, Procynocephalus wimani, M. cf. anderssoni, M. robusta and M. mulatta. The fossil records of Macacina in Zhoukoudian area were almost continuous through the Quaternary Period, and it＇s reasonable to assume that Zhoukoudian used to be an evolutionary center for macaques in North China. Therefore, the macaque population of M. mulatta once existed decades ago around Beijing probably originated from the Pleistocene ancestors in the local area, rather than being human-introduced as previously thought.
文摘传统"灌输式"教学模式下,大部分学生采取"死记硬背"的学习方式,且学习效果不甚理想,严重影响了学生学习的积极性,而在基础教育改革深入开展的今天,思维导图现身于高中英语课堂,并取得理想的教学效果。英语作为一门语言学科,要想提高学习效率,就要帮助学生形成合理的知识体系,这样既能够降低学生学习的枯燥性,又能够提高学生学习的效率与质量。为此,笔者以"Unit 5 A Visit to the Zhoukoudian Caves"为例,探究了思维导图在高中英语新知识教学中的实践应用。
基金supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China(2007FY110200)
文摘In order to provide direct evidence for the use of fire by humans at Locality 1,Zhoukoudian,we examine the burnt and unburnt sediments of newly excavated area in Layer 4 by detailed measurements of magnetic susceptibility,color,and diffuse reflectance spectrum.Results show that the magnetic susceptibility and redness of the burnt sediments are remarkably higher than those of other areas on the same level:up to*22 times for magnetic susceptibility and*3 times for redness of those of the adjacent unburnt sediments.Fine-grained(superparamagnetic/stable single-domain)magnetite and hematite grains make dominant contributions to the distinctly high values of magnetic susceptibility and redness in the burnt sediments.Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy results show that the burnt sediments contain more hematite than those of other areas and localities 2 and 3.High-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements demonstrate that the burnt sediments have been heated above 700°C.Those changes in low-frequency magnetic susceptibility and redness are impossibly resulted from natural fires,thus most likely signaling the human activities of controlled use of fire.However,further work is needed to confirm whether or not these heat-affected sediments were produced in situ.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41672060)the Undergraduate Teaching Projects of China University of Geosciences (Nos. ZL201610 and 2018G36)
文摘Migmatite-like rocks transformed from strongly metamorphosed and deformed enclave- bearing felsic plutons usually make people confuse with the true migmatites and mistake in interpreta- tion of their petrogenesis and tectonic implications. Here we report a suite of rocks that have long been called as migmatites from the Guandi complex in Zhoukoudian region, southwest of Beijing. The rocks are dominated by felsic gneisses with garnet-free amphibolites. Field occurrence, petrography and geochemistry indicate that the felsic gneisses and amphibolites were metamorphosed from protoliths of intermediate-acid and basic igneous rocks, respectively. New LA-ICP-MS zircon U-Pb dating and geothermobarometry study further reveal that precursor magmas of the two types of rocks were emplaced at 2.54-2.56 Ga and the rocks subsequently underwent medium P/T-type metamorphism with upper amphibolite facies conditions of 0.55-0.90 GPa and 670-730℃ at -2.48-2.50 Ga. Geochemically, precursor magmas of the amphibolites were suggested to be derived from an enriched lithospheric mantle source in continental arc setting, and those of the felsic gneisses are characterized by tonalitic to trondhjemitic magmas that are usually considered to be generated by partial melting of hydrated, thickened metamorphosed mafic crust with garnet as residues, suggesting that the rock associations are not of true migmatites but migmatite-like rocks. Our study reveal that protoliths of the migmatite-like rocks from the Guandi complex, were likely formed via magmatism in a continental arc setting, followed by accretion and collision of the continental arc as well as the intro-oceanic arc terranes to the Eastern Block of the North China Craton in the transition from the Late Neoarchean to Early Paleoprnterozuic.
基金the Ministry of Geology and Mineral Resources of China and Bingjing Burean of Geology andMineral Resources
文摘In 1985, during the mapping on 1:50000 in the Zhoukoudian area, Cao Boxun et al. discovered a cave-fissure site (called east cave) with abundant mammal fossils. The site is located on the north slope of the Taipingshan Hill, about 2km northeast of the Loc. 1(the 'Peking man'site) and about 140m above the sea level. Cao et al. collected some mammal fossils from the locality and studied sediments in stratigraphy, sporopollen
文摘During 1985—1987, the authors discovered new fossiliferous strata bearing ice wedge casts of Early Pleistocene on the northern Taipingshan in Zhoukoudian, and established Taipingshan Formation （Q<sub>1</sub>t）.
基金Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of China(35832019010)National Natural Science Foundation of China(41802169)。
文摘The Hongshuizhuang Formation is a Meso-Neoproterozoic high-quality source rock in the North China Craton(NCC),comprising abundant organic matter.The present study focuses on the analysis of the Hongshuizhuang Formation in the Zhoukoudian area of the Jingxi sag,discussing its genesis and mechanisms of organic matter enrichment through geological and geochemical methods.The Hongshuizhuang Formation is divided into three members from bottom to top respectively as the lower,middle and upper member.Trace elements analysis indicate that the Hongshuizhuang Formation developed restricted neritic facies in an extensional environment within a continental island arc under a post-orogenic background.The lower and upper members were deposited in a relatively shallow,strongly retained water mass within a suboxic and saline environment influenced by subhumid climate,while the middle member was deposited in an anoxic deep-water environment with relatively low salinity and weak restrictions.The PAAS-normalized rare earth element distributions of the middle and upper members show an enrichment of LREEs and a depletion of HREEs,and a low mean Y/Ho ratio with a positive Eu anomaly,indicating that the regional deposition has been affected by hydrothermal fluids.The negativeδ13 C andδ18 O values and the positive87 Sr/86 Sr values confirm that the deposition of the middle and upper members was accompanied by crustal hydrothermal activities.Accumulation of organic matter and enrichment of Baxsand P indicate that productivity is the basis of organic matter enrichment in the Hongshuizhuang Formation,where high-quality source rocks are concentrated in the middle member.In addition,reduced water mass controls the preservation of organic matter.Hydrothermal activity,humid climate,and salinity support a higher primary productivity and the formation of reduced water masses.However,due to limitations in depth,the high-quality source rocks in the Jingxi sag are thinner than the Jibei sag.
文摘The Tianyuan Cave is the only human fos-sil-bearing site containing rich mammalian fossils found in the last decades near Zhoukoudian. Up to now more than 34 specimens of the human body have been recovered, and the mammalian fossils can be put into 29 species. Cervids domi-nate the fauna, and carnivores are very rare. Based on the primary examination, the human fossils can be attributed to the species Homo sapiens. All the mammalian fossils, except one between tooth of Crocuta belong to the species that still exist today. But some of them are the first records in fossil form north of the Yellow River, such as Arctonyx and Capri-cornis. Based on the mammalian fauna study, it seems that the Tianyuan Cave can be correlated with the Upper Cave. Sixty-three percent of the species of the mammalian fauna from the Tianyuan Cave are also present in the Upper Cave. The characters of the deposits also share some similarities between the Tianyuan Cave and the Upper Cave; both of them are mainly composed of breccia without cement. The dating using the U-series method on deer tooth samples in-dicates that the geological age of the new site is around 25 thousand years B.P. This is the first discovery of human sites outside the core area of the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian, which throws new light onto this world famous site complex.
基金supported by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(XDA05130202)was identified as a Major Basic Research Project of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China(2007FY110200)Support was also received from the State Administration of Work Safety
文摘For decades,the so-called Peking Man(Homo erectus pekinensis)at Zhoukoudian has been considered to be a hominin that engaged in the controlled production and management of fire.However,relatively recent analyses have cast doubt on this assertion.The most compelling reason for this doubt was the absence of siliceous aggregates in the Zhoukoudian deposits.This study presents evidence establishing the controlled use of fire by Homo erectus pekinensis through analyses of four soil samples sourced from Layers 4 and 6 at Zhoukoudian Locality 1.These results demonstrate that all four specimens contain siliceous aggregates as well as elemental carbon,and the potassium content of the insoluble residues of these specimens ranges between 1.21%and 2.94%.The analyses provide strong evidence of the in situ use of fire by Homo erectus pekinensis.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40772016)International Cooperation Program of MST of China (Grant No. 2007DFB20330)Cultural Relics Protected Program in Danjiangkou Reservoir Area of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project Held by Hubei Cultural Relics Bureau (Grant No. NK13)
文摘Traditional descriptive observation and advanced geometric morphometric are employed to study the morphological characteristics of Zhoukoudian mandibular premolars, and simultaneously with the specimens of Australopithecus, African early Homo, Homo erectus in other areas of Asia except Zhoukoudian, Europe Pleistocene fossil hominins, and recent Chinese (72 P3 and 69 P4 on the whole) being included as comparisons. Results suggest obvious evolutionary changes in the occlusal morphology and crown outline shape of mandibular premolars. Australopithecus P3s are found with extremely asymmetrical crown outlines, prominent mesial and distal vertical grooves on the buccal side, open foveas, and well-developed talonids, and P4s with similarly asymmetrical crown outlines, distinct mesial and distal vertical grooves on the buccal side, and "H" type of grooves combination. These characteristics are also expressed in the later hominin specimens, but with a decreased extent and lower frequency. The P3s of recent Chinese, slightly asymmetrical in the crown lingual contours, and P4s, basically symmetrical in the crown outlines, become faint or disappeared in the mesial or distal vertical buccal grooves, and decreased in the talonid size. It is suggested that Zhoukoudian mandibular premolars preserve some primitive traits of earlier hominins, including asymmetrical crown outlines and prominent mesial and distal vertical grooves of buccal side. Moreover, Zhoukoudian specimens exhibit obvious morphological variation between individuals, expressed mainly by aspects of mesial and distal vertical buccal grooves in various degrees, symmetry or asymmetry extent of crown lingual contour, relative location of polygon to the corresponding surrounding outline, as well as the relative size of talonid. When compared with Homo erectus from the other areas of Asia, Zhoukoudian specimens show their similarity with those of Xichuan and S-1, and at the same time great discrepancy with S-6 in the occlusal morphology and crown outline shape. When it comes to the relationship between specimens of Europe Pleistocene and Zhoukoudian, disparity is expressed in a stronger way than the corresponding similarity.
文摘Elemental carbon?EC) is a C-rich, O-H-S-N-depleted substance that is necessarily produced in the process of combustion. Due to the logn-term use of fire by cave-inhabiting ape-men, considerable amounts of 揺lemen-tal carbon?would be necessarily left behind in the corre-sponding strata inside the cave. The sepaation of EC was effected by the chemical method and the contents of carbon were determined on an element analyser and a self-made measuring system. The concentration of Ec in the hearth,the exhibited ash samples collected from near the hearth un-earthed in the 1930s, and the three samples of accumulated material collected from the tenth bed are 43.74%, 1.77%,3.88%,1.87% and 1.11%,respectively; those of the equivalent samples from the tenth bed outside the cave and samples from the fourth and seventh beds are at least one order of magnitude lower than the former抯. The above re-sults show that the sampling location of the tenth bed may be close to the hearth. Sampling over a wider range may lead to the finding of a location where the concentrations of EC are corresponding to the maximum values of EC in the hearth. The determination and study of EC may provide new evi-dence for the use of fire by Peking Man.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40972017)the Knowledge Innovative Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (KZCX2-YW-159 and XDA05130100)the International Cooperation Program of MST of China (2009DFB20580)
文摘Endocasts are important materials used for the study of human brain evolution,and allow examination of the external features of brain anatomy from the inside the cranium.Studies examining brain asymmetries in fossil hominids are usually limited to scoring of differences in hemisphere protrusion rostrally and caudally,or to comparing the width of the hemispheres.In the present study,using 3D laser scanning,we examined asymmetries of the hemisphere volumes and surface areas in the Zhoukoudain (ZKD) Homo erectus,dated to 0.4-0.8 Ma.Compared with modern endocasts,we found that the absolute hemisphere volumes and surface areas exhibited no significant asymmetries in the ZKD or in modern specimens.However,the relative hemisphere volumes against surface areas differed between the two groups.When comparing the relative sizes between the left and right hemispheres,the ZKD specimens exhibited a greater variation than in the modern humans;there were no differences in the two hemispheres in the ZKD specimens,while in the modern endocasts the left hemisphere was significantly greater than the right hemisphere.These data suggest that brain asymmetries originated from relative brain sizes rather than absolute brain volumes during human evolution.These anatomical changes are likely related to the origin of human brain lateralization.
