Brown P
Department of Archaeology, University of New England, Armidale, New South Wales, Australia.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1992 Aug 29;337(1280):235-42. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1992.0101.
In both East Asia and Australasia arguments for evolutionary continuity between middle-late Pleistocene hominid populations and modern Homo sapiens are of long standing. In both regions, however, problems of chronological distribution, dating and preservation of hominid skeletal materials provide an effective barrier to extending regional sequences back to 'archaic' Homo sapiens or Homo erectus. The earliest securely dated modern Homo sapiens in East Asia are currently represented by Zhoukoudian Upper Cave at a minimum of 29 ka BP. In Australia skeletal remains of modern Homo sapiens have been dated to 26 ka BP, with archaeological materials at 38 to 50 ka BP. Late Pleistocene human skeletons from sites like Coobool Creek are morphologically and metrically outside the range of recent Australian Aboriginal populations. Similarly Liujiang and the Upper Cave crania can be distinguished from recent East Asian 'Mongoloids'. Evolutionary change within the Holocene needs to be taken into consideration when the evidence for regional evolutionary continuity is considered.
在东亚和澳大拉西亚，关于中晚更新世人类种群与现代智人之间进化连续性的观点由来已久。然而，在这两个地区，人类骨骼材料的年代分布、测年和保存问题成为了一道有效障碍，阻碍了将区域序列追溯至“早期智人”或直立人。东亚目前有可靠测年的最早现代智人是周口店山顶洞人，距今至少2.9万年。在澳大利亚，现代智人的骨骼遗骸测年为距今2.6万年，考古材料年代为距今3.8至5万年。来自库布尔溪等地的晚更新世人类骨骼在形态和测量上超出了近代澳大利亚原住民种群的范围。同样，柳江人和山顶洞人的颅骨也与近代东亚“蒙古人种”有所区别。在考虑区域进化连续性的证据时，需要考虑全新世期间的进化变化。
