New evidence of prehistoric human activity on the central Tibetan plateau during the early to middle Holocene

IF 16.4 1区化学 Q1 CHEMISTRY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Accounts of Chemical Research Pub Date : 2023-07-07 DOI:10.1177/09596836231183060

Leibin Wang, Haiwei Zhang, D. Zhang, Hai Cheng, Shengda Zhang, Teng Li, Yue Zhang, Xiaoqing Wang, Zhifeng Wu, Yafeng Wang, Fahu Chen

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引用次数: 1

Abstract

The cold and hypoxic environment of the Tibetan Plateau was a major challenge for its prehistoric human occupants. The earliest known hominin occupation (or visitation) of the Tibetan Plateau was at ~200 ka, in the middle Pleistocene, and these hominins must have had survival strategies for this harsh environment. We report the discovery of 5 handprints and 17 footprints on the travertine near the outlet of the Quesang hot spring, a well-documented archeological site with well-studied hominin hand and footprints on the Tibetan Plateau. Based on ichnological analysis and U-Th dating, we found that these intentional and unintentional traces were impressed during the early to middle Holocene. Combined with the 19 previously-dated hand and footprints from around the hot spring, we conclude that this site was attractive to ancient humans who made repeated visits over a long period. The strengthened monsoon in the early and middle Holocene may have promoted the expansion of prehistoric human activity onto the central Tibetan Plateau. The frequent human activities near the Quesang hot spring imply that the widespread hot springs on the Tibetan Plateau provided resources that facilitated human survival in this cold and dry plateau region.

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青藏高原中部全新世早期至中期史前人类活动的新证据

青藏高原寒冷缺氧的环境对其史前人类居住者来说是一个重大挑战。已知最早的人类占领（或访问）青藏高原是在约200年 ka，在更新世中期，这些原始人一定有应对这种恶劣环境的生存策略。我们报告了在确桑温泉出口附近的钙华上发现的5个手印和17个脚印。确桑温泉是一个有充分记录的考古遗址，在青藏高原上有充分研究的人类手和脚印。根据考古学分析和U-Th定年，我们发现这些有意和无意的痕迹都是在全新世早期至中期留下的。结合之前19只温泉周围的手和脚印，我们得出结论，这个遗址对长期反复造访的古人类很有吸引力。全新世早期和中期增强的季风可能促进了史前人类活动向青藏高原中部的扩张。确桑温泉附近频繁的人类活动表明，青藏高原广泛分布的温泉为人类在这个寒冷干燥的高原地区生存提供了资源。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Accounts of Chemical Research 化学-化学综合

CiteScore

31.40

自引率

1.10%

发文量

312

审稿时长

2 months

期刊介绍： Accounts of Chemical Research presents short, concise and critical articles offering easy-to-read overviews of basic research and applications in all areas of chemistry and biochemistry. These short reviews focus on research from the author’s own laboratory and are designed to teach the reader about a research project. In addition, Accounts of Chemical Research publishes commentaries that give an informed opinion on a current research problem. Special Issues online are devoted to a single topic of unusual activity and significance. Accounts of Chemical Research replaces the traditional article abstract with an article "Conspectus." These entries synopsize the research affording the reader a closer look at the content and significance of an article. Through this provision of a more detailed description of the article contents, the Conspectus enhances the article's discoverability by search engines and the exposure for the research.