Taphonomic and Faunal Parameters From Pleistocene Hominid Site Assemblages in China
type: CreativeWork
description: China possesses numerous hominid bearing sites spanning the Pleistocene. As such, China provides an excellent opportunity to examine hominid adaptations to extra-African environments. Understanding the context of Chinese hominid finds has taken on a special importance in view of the current controversy concerning the geographic and temporal origins of anatomically modern humans. Although the hominid record in China has been studied intensively with regard to hominid morphology and lithic technology, the associated faunal assemblages have been assessed only in terms of their paleontological and zoogeographical significance. Analytic techniques assessing taphonomic processes have not been readily applied, particularly in controlled cross-site comparisons. This paper uses faunal analytic techniques and taphonomic indicators to address issues of site comparability and early hominid site use strategies. A series of hominid sites are compared both with each other and with a paleontological control site to assess patterns in the associated faunal assemblages. Defining the faunal patterns can lead to a means of differentiating hominid occupation sites from sites containing hominid remains due to other collecting agents.
abstract: China possesses numerous hominid bearing sites spanning the Pleistocene. As such, China provides an excellent opportunity to examine hominid adaptations to extra-African environments. Understanding the context of Chinese hominid finds has taken on a special importance in view of the current controversy concerning the geographic and temporal origins of anatomically modern humans. Although the hominid record in China has been studied intensively with regard to hominid morphology and lithic technology, the associated faunal assemblages have been assessed only in terms of their paleontological and zoogeographical significance. Analytic techniques assessing taphonomic processes have not been readily applied, particularly in controlled cross-site comparisons. This paper uses faunal analytic techniques and taphonomic indicators to address issues of site comparability and early hominid site use strategies. A series of hominid sites are compared both with each other and with a paleontological control site to assess patterns in the associated faunal assemblages. Defining the faunal patterns can lead to a means of differentiating hominid occupation sites from sites containing hominid remains due to other collecting agents.
author: Bakken, Deborah Ann
keywords: Anthropology, Archaeology, Anthropology, Physical
date published: 2014-12-17T22:16:41Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:26:06Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/72393