| Abstract: |
China possess abundant evidence of homind occupation spanning the Pleistocene. As such, the region provides an excellent opportunity to examine both the early environmental adaptations and the subsistence strategies of hominids in an extra-African environment. Hominid finds outside Africa have taken on 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 primarily in terms of their palaeontological and zoogeographical significance. The identification of both taphonomic processes and patterning in the faunal record has not been the focus of investigations of either individual assemblages or cross-site assemblage comparisons. This paper presents research based on faunal analytic techniques and taphonomic indicators to address issues of site comparability and early hominid adaptation and subsistence. Defining faunal patterns provides a potential means of differentiating long tern hominid site use from sites containing hominids due to other collecting agents. Toward this goal, a series of hominid sites are compared both with each other and with a palaeontological control site to assess patterns in the associated faunal assemblages. Results indicate that the majority of sites studied do not represent long term hominid occupation. These sites do, however, document the presence of hominids and reflect short term occupational events. Specifically, analyses of stone tool cutmarks and faunal element profiles suggest that these assemblages resulted from a complex series of site formation processes. Taphonomic indicators argue for overlapping periods of occupation among carnivores, hominids and other bone collectors.
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