Language: English
Published on: 1940-01
Paperback
Introduction
The present volume contains the study of the fauna, except the avifauna found in the Upper Cave of Choukoutien. This Cave, as previously reported on several occasions, has yielded an industry of Palaeolithic nature, human fossils of Homo sapiens type and a rich fauna. This is the first time that such a cave is known in China or Easter Asia. And the study of it marks the beginning of a new stage in palaeolithic research in this part of the world, along the most classical lines of European prehistory.
A description of the Upper Cave Industry has already been published (Pei, 1939f) containing, as an introductory note, the history of the excavation, the description of the Cave, and also the geological evidence leading us to fix the correct age fo the site. However, the dating of the Upper Cave as Late Pleistocene is largely determined by the fauna. In the present volume we will analyse this fauna in detail and then discuss the position of this animal “assemblage” in the evolution of Chinese mammals in the Quaternary times.
The fossils collected in the Upper Cave are mostly in an excellent state of preservation. Complete skeletons and skulls were often met with throughout the Cave during the excavation. In the Lower Recess (vide Pei, 1939f, P. 9), skeletons of deer, bear, Hyaena, etc. were piled in a limited space. Such conditions favour the assumption that this deep cave had acted as a natural trap for animals, or else, that part of them were brought in as prey by some carnivorous beasts. The durations of human occupation seem to have been very short, since the cultural layers are always thin and limited to a restricted a area in the deposits. On the other hand, the numerous remains of tigers, young and old, suggest that this animal was periodically the master of the place. This whole series is NO.125
Introduction
Description of species
General observations and conclusions
Bibliography
Explanation of plates
