Post by Admin on Oct 23, 2021 4:29:23 GMT
Yahuai Cave, Guangxi Province, China
Yahuai Cave is located in Long’an County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, South China (107° 45′ 35″ E, 23° 6′ 25″ N), 100 km northwest of Nanning City (Fig. 3). The main rockshelter and inner cave enclose a total area of more than 100 m2. Three seasons of excavation were conducted between 2015 and 2018 by an archaeological team led by co-author Xie from the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relic Protection and Archaeology10. The excavation was divided into four areas (A, B, C, and D), with a total exposure of 50 m2. Total depths reached 7.5 m at the rock floor in Area A, but cultural deposits are up to 5 m thick, most dating from 44,000 through 16,000 BP by AMS 14C dating.
Figure 3
Map and views of Yahuai Cave, Guangxi, China (map generated by G. Xie from map.bmcx.com/, under a CC BY license).
A complete human skull with a partial mandible was discovered beneath layer 6 in Area B, and dated by three associated charcoal samples to 16,000 BP10 (Table 1). As the post-cranial skeleton was not exposed, sex determination is based on the skull. The perpendicular and elevated frontal bone, small mastoid processes, and the smoothness of the occipital muscle attachment area are all female characteristics.
Two hearths were found in the Pleistocene deposits at Yahuai. Tens of thousands of stone artifacts, some shell and bone tools, and an abundance of animal and plant remains (including wild rice phytoliths) were recovered. The lithic assemblage is dominated by small amorphous flakes and pebble tools of quartzite, sandstone, flint, tektite and quartz crystal11.
Other comparative hunter-gatherer sites
Huiyaotian Shell Midden, Guangxi Province, China
The well-preserved Huiyaotian Shell Midden is located on the first terrace of the Yongning River in Qingxiu District, Nanning City, Guangxi. The site was discovered in 1973 and first excavated by a joint archaeological team from the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (currently the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relic Protection and Archaeology) and the Nanning City Museum in 2006. Co-authors Li, Matsumura, Hung and L. C. Nguyen then conducted further research in 201212. The thickness of the cultural component is about 60–120 cm, in a matrix primarily composed of river shells. Three samples, including two charred Canarium sp. seed fragments and one human tooth, produced AMS C14 dates of 9000–8300 BP (Table 1). The assemblage belongs to the Dingsishan Cultural Phase in the Yongning River Basin, which pre-dated the arrival of rice-farming economies from the Middle-Lower Yangtze Basin3,5. In total, 64 inhumations were recovered, including flexed, squatting and some dismembered burials, all without grave goods. The artifacts recovered in association with the human remains included polished stone axes and adzes; a bone assemblage of adzes, arrowheads, awls, needles and fish-hooks; shell tools; and sherds of cord-marked pottery.
Liyupo, Guangxi Province, China
The Liyupo open site is located in Jianan Village, Dingdang Town, Long’an County, Guangxi. Surrounded by karst limestone hills, it consists of a 32 × 20 m soil mound. Liyupo was excavated in 2009 by the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (currently the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relic Protection and Archaeology), Nanning City Museum, and the Cultural Relic Management Institute of Long’an County. Since 2012, Matsumura, Hung, and L. C. Nguyen have collaborated with Li on the interpretation of the Liyupo bio-anthropological and archaeological materials12.
The excavation area in 2009 included three trenches totalling 26 m2. The deposit contained shells and artifacts, including polished stone axes and adzes, grindstones, small bone awls, and shell shovel-like artifacts. AMS C14 dates on charred Canarium sp. seeds, charcoal, and human bones and a tooth give a chronology of c. 8000–6700 BP (Table 1). In total, 40 flexed skeletons were unearthed, many deliberately protected under large stones12.
Hang Cho Cave, Hoa Binh Province, Vietnam
Hang Cho is a limestone cave site located near Cao Ram Village, Luong Son District, Hoa Binh Province, northern Vietnam. French archaeologist Madeleine Colani led the primary excavation in l926 and 1932, uncovering Hoabinhian stone tools13. Further investigation occurred by the Vietnamese Institute of Archaeology in l997–1998. In 2003, a research team from Hanoi National University and Seoul National University obtained freshwater shell AMS C14 dates of c. 19,500 and c. 8400 BP14.
In 2004, another multinational excavation project including Matsumura and L. C. Nguyen uncovered a flexed human skeleton (04HCH3M1) at the cave entrance15. Its pelvis has an obtuse-angled greater sciatic notch that suggests a female. Direct AMS radiocarbon analysis of a single tooth dates the skeleton to approximately 11,000 BP (Table 1). A total of 1523 Hoabinhian lithics were found in stratigraphic association with the skeleton, including a few edge-ground axes as well as pebble and flake tools.
Mai Da Dieu Cave, Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam
Located near Ha Trung Village, Ba Thuoc District, Thanh Hoa Province, northern Vietnam, Mai Da Dieu was excavated by the Institute of Archaeology and the Thanh Hoa Provincial Museum between 1984 and 1989. L. C. Nguyen participated in the excavation at this time16,17,18. The site contains a long cultural sequence with C14 dates ranging between 19,700 and 3500 BP. Twenty six human burials have been recovered from the site, among them a young adult (84MDD1) found in well-preserved condition 0.7 m below the surface. The pelvis of this individual has an obtuse-angled greater sciatic notch, suggesting a female. Indirect C14 dating on charcoal indicates an age of c. 8000 BP for this individual, within a Hoabinhian archaeological context (Table 1).
Bau Du Shell Midden, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam
Bau Du is a shell midden located in Phu Trung Village, Nui Thanh District, Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam. The site was excavated initially in 1983–1984 by the Vietnam History Museum in Hanoi and the Quang Nam Provincial Museum20. In 2017, an international team including co-authors Matsumura, Hung, K.T.K. Nguyen, L.C. Nguyen, T.N. Nguyen, and several others (including Marc Oxenham, Ngoc Kinh Dang, Nguyen Kim Dung, and Hoang Bach Linh Nguyen) conducted another joint excavation on the site, with detailed results yet to be published. AMS analysis of 6 charcoal samples from this shell midden dates it to 5590–5270 BP (Table 1).
Bau Du produced pebble and flake tools, but no polished tools and no pottery. Several flexed human skeletons were found sealed in pits beneath the shell midden. This study examines the nearly complete skull of one of them (14BDHIL5M4) discovered in 201420. The sex assignment as female is based on its obtuse-angled greater sciatic notch.
Xiaoma Cave, Taidong, Taiwan
Xiaoma is a limestone cave located in Chenggong Town, Taidong County, southeast Taiwan. The site was excavated in 1988–1990 by Huang and the National Taiwan University archeological team21,22,23. The excavation uncovered a flake tool assemblage, probably related to the late Changbin (Preceramic) cultural phase of east coastal Taiwan, and a burial pit dated on marine shell to c. 6200–5700 BP (Table 1). The Xiaoma human burial is the only known pre-Neolithic burial from the main island of Taiwan, and it was placed in a squatting position. Following its excavation in 1988, it was stored, without cleaning or reconstruction until this study, in the Anthropology Museum of National Taiwan University.
The short stature, short limbs, and small cranial size of the Xiaoma individual indicate a close affinity to Negrito (Ayta) groups in the Philippines. Although the Austronesian-language oral traditions of Formosan populations contain references to the existence of small-statured and dark-skinned people on the island at some time in the past24, this reference never has been confirmed by skeletal data, until now. Therefore, Hung, Matsumura, and L. C. Nguyen initiated a joint project on this skeleton in 2016, resulting in the reconstructed cranium presented here. Although the innominate bone of this individual is too damaged for sex determination, it is assumed to be female because of its gracile cranium, small mastoid processes, smooth occipital muscle attachment area, perpendicular and elevated frontal bone, and the smooth contour of its mandibular base.
Yahuai Cave is located in Long’an County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, South China (107° 45′ 35″ E, 23° 6′ 25″ N), 100 km northwest of Nanning City (Fig. 3). The main rockshelter and inner cave enclose a total area of more than 100 m2. Three seasons of excavation were conducted between 2015 and 2018 by an archaeological team led by co-author Xie from the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relic Protection and Archaeology10. The excavation was divided into four areas (A, B, C, and D), with a total exposure of 50 m2. Total depths reached 7.5 m at the rock floor in Area A, but cultural deposits are up to 5 m thick, most dating from 44,000 through 16,000 BP by AMS 14C dating.
Figure 3
Map and views of Yahuai Cave, Guangxi, China (map generated by G. Xie from map.bmcx.com/, under a CC BY license).
A complete human skull with a partial mandible was discovered beneath layer 6 in Area B, and dated by three associated charcoal samples to 16,000 BP10 (Table 1). As the post-cranial skeleton was not exposed, sex determination is based on the skull. The perpendicular and elevated frontal bone, small mastoid processes, and the smoothness of the occipital muscle attachment area are all female characteristics.
Two hearths were found in the Pleistocene deposits at Yahuai. Tens of thousands of stone artifacts, some shell and bone tools, and an abundance of animal and plant remains (including wild rice phytoliths) were recovered. The lithic assemblage is dominated by small amorphous flakes and pebble tools of quartzite, sandstone, flint, tektite and quartz crystal11.
Other comparative hunter-gatherer sites
Huiyaotian Shell Midden, Guangxi Province, China
The well-preserved Huiyaotian Shell Midden is located on the first terrace of the Yongning River in Qingxiu District, Nanning City, Guangxi. The site was discovered in 1973 and first excavated by a joint archaeological team from the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (currently the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relic Protection and Archaeology) and the Nanning City Museum in 2006. Co-authors Li, Matsumura, Hung and L. C. Nguyen then conducted further research in 201212. The thickness of the cultural component is about 60–120 cm, in a matrix primarily composed of river shells. Three samples, including two charred Canarium sp. seed fragments and one human tooth, produced AMS C14 dates of 9000–8300 BP (Table 1). The assemblage belongs to the Dingsishan Cultural Phase in the Yongning River Basin, which pre-dated the arrival of rice-farming economies from the Middle-Lower Yangtze Basin3,5. In total, 64 inhumations were recovered, including flexed, squatting and some dismembered burials, all without grave goods. The artifacts recovered in association with the human remains included polished stone axes and adzes; a bone assemblage of adzes, arrowheads, awls, needles and fish-hooks; shell tools; and sherds of cord-marked pottery.
Liyupo, Guangxi Province, China
The Liyupo open site is located in Jianan Village, Dingdang Town, Long’an County, Guangxi. Surrounded by karst limestone hills, it consists of a 32 × 20 m soil mound. Liyupo was excavated in 2009 by the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (currently the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relic Protection and Archaeology), Nanning City Museum, and the Cultural Relic Management Institute of Long’an County. Since 2012, Matsumura, Hung, and L. C. Nguyen have collaborated with Li on the interpretation of the Liyupo bio-anthropological and archaeological materials12.
The excavation area in 2009 included three trenches totalling 26 m2. The deposit contained shells and artifacts, including polished stone axes and adzes, grindstones, small bone awls, and shell shovel-like artifacts. AMS C14 dates on charred Canarium sp. seeds, charcoal, and human bones and a tooth give a chronology of c. 8000–6700 BP (Table 1). In total, 40 flexed skeletons were unearthed, many deliberately protected under large stones12.
Hang Cho Cave, Hoa Binh Province, Vietnam
Hang Cho is a limestone cave site located near Cao Ram Village, Luong Son District, Hoa Binh Province, northern Vietnam. French archaeologist Madeleine Colani led the primary excavation in l926 and 1932, uncovering Hoabinhian stone tools13. Further investigation occurred by the Vietnamese Institute of Archaeology in l997–1998. In 2003, a research team from Hanoi National University and Seoul National University obtained freshwater shell AMS C14 dates of c. 19,500 and c. 8400 BP14.
In 2004, another multinational excavation project including Matsumura and L. C. Nguyen uncovered a flexed human skeleton (04HCH3M1) at the cave entrance15. Its pelvis has an obtuse-angled greater sciatic notch that suggests a female. Direct AMS radiocarbon analysis of a single tooth dates the skeleton to approximately 11,000 BP (Table 1). A total of 1523 Hoabinhian lithics were found in stratigraphic association with the skeleton, including a few edge-ground axes as well as pebble and flake tools.
Mai Da Dieu Cave, Thanh Hoa Province, Vietnam
Located near Ha Trung Village, Ba Thuoc District, Thanh Hoa Province, northern Vietnam, Mai Da Dieu was excavated by the Institute of Archaeology and the Thanh Hoa Provincial Museum between 1984 and 1989. L. C. Nguyen participated in the excavation at this time16,17,18. The site contains a long cultural sequence with C14 dates ranging between 19,700 and 3500 BP. Twenty six human burials have been recovered from the site, among them a young adult (84MDD1) found in well-preserved condition 0.7 m below the surface. The pelvis of this individual has an obtuse-angled greater sciatic notch, suggesting a female. Indirect C14 dating on charcoal indicates an age of c. 8000 BP for this individual, within a Hoabinhian archaeological context (Table 1).
Bau Du Shell Midden, Quang Nam Province, Vietnam
Bau Du is a shell midden located in Phu Trung Village, Nui Thanh District, Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam. The site was excavated initially in 1983–1984 by the Vietnam History Museum in Hanoi and the Quang Nam Provincial Museum20. In 2017, an international team including co-authors Matsumura, Hung, K.T.K. Nguyen, L.C. Nguyen, T.N. Nguyen, and several others (including Marc Oxenham, Ngoc Kinh Dang, Nguyen Kim Dung, and Hoang Bach Linh Nguyen) conducted another joint excavation on the site, with detailed results yet to be published. AMS analysis of 6 charcoal samples from this shell midden dates it to 5590–5270 BP (Table 1).
Bau Du produced pebble and flake tools, but no polished tools and no pottery. Several flexed human skeletons were found sealed in pits beneath the shell midden. This study examines the nearly complete skull of one of them (14BDHIL5M4) discovered in 201420. The sex assignment as female is based on its obtuse-angled greater sciatic notch.
Xiaoma Cave, Taidong, Taiwan
Xiaoma is a limestone cave located in Chenggong Town, Taidong County, southeast Taiwan. The site was excavated in 1988–1990 by Huang and the National Taiwan University archeological team21,22,23. The excavation uncovered a flake tool assemblage, probably related to the late Changbin (Preceramic) cultural phase of east coastal Taiwan, and a burial pit dated on marine shell to c. 6200–5700 BP (Table 1). The Xiaoma human burial is the only known pre-Neolithic burial from the main island of Taiwan, and it was placed in a squatting position. Following its excavation in 1988, it was stored, without cleaning or reconstruction until this study, in the Anthropology Museum of National Taiwan University.
The short stature, short limbs, and small cranial size of the Xiaoma individual indicate a close affinity to Negrito (Ayta) groups in the Philippines. Although the Austronesian-language oral traditions of Formosan populations contain references to the existence of small-statured and dark-skinned people on the island at some time in the past24, this reference never has been confirmed by skeletal data, until now. Therefore, Hung, Matsumura, and L. C. Nguyen initiated a joint project on this skeleton in 2016, resulting in the reconstructed cranium presented here. Although the innominate bone of this individual is too damaged for sex determination, it is assumed to be female because of its gracile cranium, small mastoid processes, smooth occipital muscle attachment area, perpendicular and elevated frontal bone, and the smooth contour of its mandibular base.