郑州织机洞遗址MIS 3阶段古人类活动的环境背景

MIS3阶段,即深海氧同位素第3阶段,是末次冰期中气候比较温暖湿润的时期。大量的考古调查资料表明,这个阶段也是末次冰期中人类活动最活跃的时期,当时不仅人类遗址的数量明显增多,而且石制品也较前也有较大的进步和发展。人类活动与气候环境之间的耦合关系似乎暗示着两者之间存在着某种内在的联系,适宜的气候环境可能是导致人类活动活跃的重要原因。河南郑州织机洞遗址是我国北方重要的旧石器文化中-晚期洞穴遗址,包括上、中、下3个文化层,其中,下文化层距今5.0～3.5万年,属MIS3阶段。本文试以织机洞遗址下文化层为主要研究对象,结合洞外黄土-古土壤剖面的研究,就我国中原地区MIS3阶段人类活动的环境背景做一初步的分析。分析结果表明,在这一阶段,中原地区属于暖温带草原-森林草原环境,气候比较温暖湿润,适宜于人类生活。其中,距今5.0万年前后的MIS3阶段早期,是MIS3阶段中气候最为适宜的时期,也是人类活动最为活跃的时期,当时生长有落叶阔叶树的暖温带森林草原环境,为MIS3阶段旧石器文化的繁荣和发展提供了重要的环境背景。

ENVIRONMENTAL BACKGROUND OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES DURINGMIS 3 STAGE RECORDED IN THE ZHIJIDONG CAVE SITE,ZHENGZHOU

MIS 3（Maritime Isotope Stage 3）is a relatively warm and wet period during the Last Glacial.A large number of archaeological records from China and other regions indicates the intensified human activities during this time period,which could be identified in the increase of the number of the sites as well as the technological and cultural development.Such a development is likely to have a correlation with the environmental change duringMIS 3,which is characterized by a wet and warm climate.The Zhijidong Cave site,located in Zhengzhou city,Henan Province is one of the most important sites of Middle to Upper Paleolithic in North China.Its deposit is divided into the upper,middle,and lower layers.The lower layer is dated to 50～35kaB.P.,which falls intoMIS 3.This paper focuses on the systematic pollen analysis and primary stone artifact study based on the remains of the lower layer,in order to interpret the possible impact of environmental change inMIS 3 on human activities in the central plains of China.The sediments of the loess-paleosoil profile in the surrounding area outside of the cave are also examined with pollen analysis and magnetic susceptibility.Our study shows that the central plains of China was steppe and forest-steppe duringMIS 3 with a relatively temperate and wet condition.The climate and environment in the early stage ofMIS 3 is optimal as a warm temperate forest-steppe vegetation environment with hardwood broadleaf plants,which may lead to the intensified occupation of human and cultural development.Later,it appeared that the site was gradually abandoned,which was indicated by the remarkable decrease of the number of stone artifacts.In a brief,the climatic and environmental change ofMIS 3 may have played an important role in human activity change and cultural evolution.