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A zooarchaeological study of bone assemblages from the Ma’anshan Paleolithic site

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Abstract

Ten thousands of bone fragments were recovered from the Ma’anshan Paleolithic site, of which 4358 pieces can be identified to skeletal elements or species. In this research, the bone assemblages are quantified based on elements of MNI, MNE, and MAU. Then bone surface modifications and skeletal element profiles of the bone assemblages are studied to understand shlepping behaviors and reveal the technique of disarticulating and defleshing the animals’ bodies, etc. Based on the analyses of bone assemblages and the comparative study with the ethnoarchaeological as well as experimental data, it is assumed that later hominids at the site made fuller use of the game animals than the earlier hominids. Incorporating the lines of evidence from chronological dating, paleoenvironment, and polished bone tools between the two cultural layers, here we propose three hypotheses suggesting that the changes of environment, the migrations of the hominids from the North, or the demographic pulses may cause such a behavioral difference. However, it is yet to be determined which hypothesis can better explain the changes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China

    Yue Zhang, ChunXue Wang, ShuangQuan Zhang & Xing Gao

  2. Joint Laboratory of Human Evolution and Archaeometry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China

    Yue Zhang, ChunXue Wang, ShuangQuan Zhang & Xing Gao

  3. State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing, 210008, China

    Yue Zhang

Authors
  1. Yue Zhang
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  2. ChunXue Wang
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  3. ShuangQuan Zhang
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  4. Xing Gao
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xing Gao.

Additional information

This work was supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB806400), International Cooperation Program of MST of China (Grant No. 2007DFB 20330), and State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy (Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, CAS) (Grant No. 09311).

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Zhang, Y., Wang, C., Zhang, S. et al. A zooarchaeological study of bone assemblages from the Ma’anshan Paleolithic site. Sci. China Earth Sci. 53, 395–402 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-009-0153-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-009-0153-5

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