Age and Living Environment of Yunxian Man

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Age and Living Environment of Yunxian Man

• Li Tianyuan
• Archaeological Institute of Hubei

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Inscription of Professor Jia LanpoYunxian Man
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(A EV9001 B EV9002)
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The Restored Yunxian Man Cranium (EV9002)
Facial View
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The Restored Yunxian Man Cranium (EV9002)
Lateral View
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I. Age of Yunxian Man

• Faunal Correlation
• ESR Dating
• Paleomagnetic Dating
• Conclusion

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1. Faunal
ComparisonFauna Yunxian Man Site
Lantian Man Site Golden Monkey
Rhinopithecus lantianensis
Rhinopithecus lantianensisPorcupine
Hystrix sp.
Hystrix
suberistataDhole Cuon sp.

Cuon sp.Giant Panda
Ailuropoda melanoleuca wulingshanensis A. m.
fovealisBear Ursus cf.
etruscus
Ursus cf. etruscusBadger
Arctonyx collaris
Meles cf. leucurusHyaena
Hyaena licenti
Hyaena
siensisSabre-toothed cat Homotherium sp.

Megantereon antianensisLeopard
Panthera pardusWild cat
Felis peii
Felis peiiStegodon
Stegodon orientalis
Stegodon orientalisHorse
Equus yunnanensis
Equus sanmenensisTapir
Tapirus sinensis
Megatapirus
augustusRhinoceros Rhinoceros
sinensis
Dicerhins cf. merckiPig
Sus xiaozhu
Sus xiaozhuWild boar
Sus lydekkieri
Sus lydekkieriGiant elk
Megaloceros sp.
M. gongwanglinensisRu
sa deer Rusa yunnanensis
Elaphodus
cephalophusDeer Cervus
elegansMuntjac Muntiacus
sp.Ox Leptobos
brovicornis
Leptobos brovicornis Water buffalo
Bubalus sp.
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There are three different elements in the Yunxian
fauna a) certain Tertiary relics such as the
Homotherium sp., b) typical early Pleistocene
species, such as Rusa yunnanensis, Cervus
elegans, Hyaena licenti and Ailuropoda
melanoleuca wulingshanensis, etc. c) modern
living forms. The entire fauna can be compared to
the fauna from the Lantian Gongwangling site.
They have more than 60 of genera and species in
common, showing that the two faunas are similar
in age. The Gongwangling fauna is early
Pleistocene, approximately 1.15 mya.
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2. ESR Dating
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The Archaeological Laboratory of Beijing
University utilized fossil teeth excavated from
the Yunxian Man site to conduct ESR dating
research. They recognized the 3rd stratum to date
from approximately 580 kya. Prof. Chen Tiemei,
noted that, the amount of uranium in the sample
was very high, which could lead to the ESR
signal being saturated, the result could be that
the age estimate is underestimated. The ESR age
and the Paleomagnetic age are therefore very
close to one another.
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3. Paleomagnetic Dating
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4. Conclusions

• Summing up the various lines of research, we
  recognize that the Yunxian Man site is early
  Pleistonece in age, close to one million ya.

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II. The Living Environment of Yunxian Man

• The fauna reflects the geographical climate and
  environment of the time
• The age at death of the animal fossils reflects
  the hunting methods of Yunxian Man
• Paleomagnetic research reflects the climate and
  environment of the time.

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1. The Fauna Reflects the Geographical Climate
and Environment of the Time

• The Yunxian faunal assemblage includes both
  northern and southern Chinese representatives.
  All the southern Chinese elements of the
  Stegodon-Ailuropoda fauna are present. This
  demonstrates that the uplift of the Qinling
  Mountains separating the northern and southern
  Chinese faunal zones from one another had not yet
  taken place and animals could freely disperse
  between north and south China. The climate would
  have been warmer and wetter than todays.

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Representative Northern Chinese Faunal Elements

• Wild cat Felis peii
• Hyaena Hyaena licenti
• Deer Cervus elegans
• Giant elk Megaloceros sp.
• Wild boar Sus lydekkieri
• Wild oxen Leptobos brovicornis

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Representative Southern Chinese Faunal Elements

• Golden monkey Rhinopithecus lantianensis
• Giant panda Ailuropoda melanoleuca
  wulingshanensis
• Stegodon Stegodon orientalis
• Horse Equus yunnanensis
• Tapir Tapirus sinensis
• Rhinoceros Rhinoceros sinensis
• Wild pig Sus xiaozhu
• Muntjac Muntiacus sp.
• Water buffalo Bubalus sp.

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2. The Hunting Methods of Yunxian Man

• Herbivorous mammals are the dominant forms in the
  fauna. In terms of age structure, young and old
  specimens predominate. This indicates that
  Yunxian Mans hunting methods were relatively
  primitive, in that they could only hunt
  animals with limited defensive abilities.

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Carnivore (Cuon javanicus)
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Carnivore (Cuon javanicus)
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Carnivore (Ailuropoda melanoleuca
wulingshanensis)
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Carnivore (Hyaena licenti)
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Carnivore (Hyaena licenti)
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Herbivore (Tapirus sinensis)
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Herbivore (Equus yunnanensis)
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Herbivore (Rusa yunnanensis)
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Herbivore (Sus lydekkieri)
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Herbivore (Sus scrofa)
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Juveniles (Tapirus sinensis)
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Old (Rhinoceros sinensis )
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3. Paleomagnetic Research Reflects Climate and
Environment

• The result of the paleomagnetic research
  shows that the magnetization level of the
  deposits (k) and the strength of the surplus
  magnetization signal ( Jr ) can reflect
  paleoclimate. A relatively high relative value
  expresses a relatively temperate climate, the
  opposite value reflects relatively cool climate.
  The time during which Yunxian Man lived was
  trending from warm to cool within a short period
  of cool to warm. The results of paleomagnetic
  research demonstrate that during the time of the
  living environment of Yunxian Man precipitation
  was relatively great.

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4. Conclusions

• During the time of the living environment of
  Yunxian Man rainfall was abundant, and the
  climate was mild. The Qinling Mountains had not
  yet undergone their dramatic uplift. Animals
  could disperse from south to north and vice
  versa. The material culture of Yunxian Man-its
  stone tools was relatively primitive. Hunting
  ability was still relatively undeveloped. Within
  the harsh environment they lived in they created
  a simple ancient culturethe Yunxian Man Culture

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III. The Yunxian Man Culture
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A total of 493 stone tools and raw materils wee
discovered at the Yunxian Man site. There were
417 stone tool artifacts constituting 84.58 of
the assemblage. Complete pebble tools were
15.42.Four bifaces, one chopping tool, and one
scraping tool (6 total) were collected from the
vicinity of the Yunxian site.
Pebble tools
Stone tools
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Total Artifacts Among the 417 stone artifacts
discovered at the Yunxian Man site, 293 or 70.26
could be subjected to analysis. In addition there
were 10 pebbles that showed bashing marks, 3
pebbles that had been fractured, 45 chunks and 66
fragments for a total of 124 pieces or 29.74.
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Worked Stone Artifacts There are 293 worked
stone artifacts discovered at the Yunxian Man
Site that can be classified. Among these are 83
cores (28.33), 118 flakes (40.27), and 92 stone
tools (31.40)
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Stone Cores The 83 cores can be divided into
three different types. There are 58
(69.88)single platform cores, 20 (24.10) double
platform cores and 5 (6.24) multiple platform
cores. The most distinctive specimens are
unifacially struck around the periphery of the
pebble towards its center.
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Single Platform Core
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Single Platform Core
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Flakes There are 118 specimens that can divided
into those with natural striking platforms (92
sp., 77.97), plain striking platforms (18 sp.,
15.25), scarred striking platforms (2 sp.,
1.69), crested striking platforms (2 sp.,
1.69), and punctiform striking platforms (1 sp.,
0.85).There are also 3 specimens in which the
striking platform is lost.
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Flake with Cortex Platform
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Flake with Cortex Platform
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Flake with a Crested Platform
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Stone Tools There are 92 stone tool specimens,
including 57 chopping tools (61.96), 26 scrapers
(28.26), 3 thin edged axes (3.26), 1 graver
(1.87), 1 biface (1.87) and 3 stone hammers
(3.26).
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Chopping Tools The 57 chopping tools can be
divided into the following types single edge
chopping tools (28 sp., 49.12),end chopping
tools (7 sp., 12.28), double edged chopping
tools (15 sp., 26.32), multiple edged chopping
tools (4 sp., 7.02) and Yunxian chopping tools
(3 sp., 5.26). The Yunxian chopping tool is
peculiar to the Yunxian Fossil Man site.
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End Chopping-tool
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End Chopping-tool(drawing)
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End Chopping-tool
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End Chopping-tool(drawing)
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Yunxian Chopping-tool
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Yunxian Chopping-tool
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Yunxian Chopping-tool(drawing)
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Yunxian Chopping-tool
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Conjoined Speciments
Conjoined specimens include 22 groups comprised
of 54 pieces or 13.19 of the total assemblage.
These can be divided into 5 types

• Type 1Flakes conjoined with flakes, 9 groups (
  1,2,3,5,10,13,15,17,22 ) 21 pieces
• Type 2 cores conjoined with flakes or flake
  fragments, 6 groups (8,11,16,18,19,20) 18 pieces
• Type 3 Flake fragments conjoined with flakes (or
  flake fragments), 3 groups (4,9,21) 8 pieces
• Type 4 chunks conjoined with chunks, 2 groups
  (6,7) 4 pieces
• Type 5 Tools conjoined with flakes, 2 groups
  (12,14) 4 pieces.

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Conjoined Specimens(11th Group)
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Conjoined Specimens(11th Group)
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Conjoined Specimens(21th Group)
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Conjoined Specimens (14th Group)
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Features of the Yunxian Man Culture
The following features of the Yunxian Man Culture
can be described

• Pebbles are the raw material used for the
  manufacture of stone tools. The composition of
  the pebbles is identical to those coming from the
  lower terraces of the Han River.
• Pebble tools constitute the primary component of
  the cultural remains.
• The majority of cores and flakes have natural
  striking platforms, secondarily are plain
  striking platforms. No specimens with prepared
  striking platforms were found.
• The reworking technique of the stone tools is
  very primitive. Direct percussion is the primary
  reworking technique utilized.
• Artifact types are simple, chopping tools and
  scrappers constitute the majority of tools, other
  types of tools are relatively scarce.
• Particularly representative tool types are the
  peripherally struck cores and Yunxian chopping
  tools.