青藏高原边缘地区晚更新世人类遗存与生存模式

自20世纪80年代在青海小柴旦发现旧石器遗存以来,青藏高原边缘地区已经发现了10余处旧石器时代遗址,年代属晚更新世晚期。这些遗存显示,古人类在距今30ka左右开始尝试向这些高海拔地区扩散,但直至距今15ka以后才有更多的人群迁徙至此。通过对这些遗存分布位置、古环境特征、年代测定和石器技术、组合分析,得以管窥古人类对该地区的开发利用过程,并进而阐释史前人类技术发展、生存模式演变和古环境的耦合关系。

HUMAN CULTURAL REMAINS AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES IN THE TIBETAN PLATEAU MARGIN REGION IN THE LATE PLEISTOCENE

Initial archaeological explorations of the early 1980s in the Tibetan Plateau district suggested the presence of artifacts of great antiquity in the region.Recently,more systematic archaeological investigation undertaken by a Sino-US team at the Tibetan Plateau margin has resulted in the discovery of a series of Paleolithic sites.A large number of archeological remains,such as stone artifacts,hearth,charcoals,burnt pebbles,and broken animal bones have been unearthed.Such discoveries indicate that the first peopling in the region might occur slightly before 30kaB.P.in small numbers.Such initial explorers almost disappeared from the region during the LGM and made a strong return after 15kaB.P.with much larger population size and more sophisticated tool-kit. Archeological research at these sites has provided evidence to understanding both the timing and processes responsible for human colonization of the Tibetan Plateau margin region.The pattern of Late Pleistocene paleo-climatic fluctuations on the Tibetan Plateau is briefly consistent with the global glacial-interglacial sequence,which put great impact on ancient human migration and adaptation in the region. Flake industry,blade industry,and microblade industry are the main industries in the Tibetan Plateau margin region during Late Pleistocene.These industries were suitable for the hunter-gather adaptation in the harsh plateau environment.Lithic assemblage consisted of cores,microblade cores,flakes,blades,microblades,chunks,and retouched tools.The retouched tools are dominated by light-duty tools,such as scrapers.The tool kits are efficient for hunting and scavenging in the grassland areas and convenient to be carried. Most of the sites in the Tibetan Plateau margin region represent short-term foraging camps.Foragers occupying these sites were found to be highly mobile.They moved from place to place frequently in order to exploit food resources that spread sporadically on the landscape,and they relied heavily on camp-fire to keep warm and to process food.The colonization of such harsh area might be driven by a process of adaptive radiation.