我国北方典型中更新世旧石器遗址的年代学及古环境研究

The Mid-Pleistocene is a critical epoch for studying the relationship between the human evolution and climatic changes. Because that not only the ecological environment is very sensitive to climate changes but also there are rich of the Paleolithic sites of Mid-Pleistocene age, the north China thus has an unique advantage for studying the human migration and evolution during the Mid-Pleistocene and the environmental forcing behind that. However, due to the serious deficiencies in Geochrological and Paleoenvrionmental studies for these Paleolithic sites of Mid-Pleistocene age in north China, intensive studies on the critical issues of the early human evolution have been seriously restricted. In this study, we firstly date the representative Mid-Pleistocene paleolithic sites precisely in north China. Secondly, the sedimentology, Geochemical and biological proxies of these sites were studied in detail. By reconstructing the past climatic and environmental conditions around these sites using the methods of quantitative reconstruction, we try to explore the relationships between the time of human activities in Mid-Pleistocene period and the glacial-interglacial cycles, and then to reveal the impact of East Asian monsoon intensity changes on the past human migration and evolution. Therefore, this study may be hopeful for making great progress in the past human migration and evolution model and the theoretic studies on the relationship between the human evolution and climatic changes.

中更新世是开展古人类演化与环境的关系研究的重要时段。我国北方季风区生态环境对气候变化非常敏感，并且保存了大量中更新世时期的旧石器遗址，为研究该时期古人类迁徙演化及其环境原因提供了理想的条件。目前对于我国北方该时期古人类遗址存在严重的年代和古环境等研究不足等问题，在很大程度上限制了我们对一些重要早期人类演化问题的深入研究。本项目拟对我国北方不同的季风影响区的代表性中更新世旧石器遗址进行研究，建立其精确的年代标尺，通过沉积学、地球化学和生物学等多指标的交叉研究，结合定量化手段，重建遗址区的气候-环境条件，明确古人类活动与冰期-间冰期旋回的关系，探讨我国北方中更新世季风环境变化对古人类迁徙演化的影响。本项目的实施，有望在早期人类生存演化模式以及人类演化与环境关系的理论研究方面取得重要进展。

中更新世不仅是全球气候发生重大变化的时期，也是早期人类演化的关键时期，对于开展古人类演化与环境关系研究具有重要意义。本项目对我国不同纬度地区，包括东北温带季风区、西北干旱-半干旱区以及亚热带地区代表性中更新世遗址开展了年代学和古环境研究，利用多种测年手段相结合建立其精确的年代标尺，通过沉积学和生物学等多指标的综合研究，并结合定量化方法，重建了不同遗址区的气候-环境条件，揭示出中更新世时期冰期-间冰期气候对中高纬度干旱区和季风区乃至亚热带地区古人类活动均具有显著影响，冰期寒冷的气候可能很大程度上限制了古人类的活动范围和强度，从而导致种群隔离和灭绝的出现。上述研究，对于探讨东亚中更新世时期古人类活动历史、强度及其环境适应提供了重要证据。