CNRS UMR5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, CEDEX, France; SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
CNRS UMR5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, CEDEX, France; Departament d'Arts I Conservació-Restauració, Facultat de Belles Arts, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
J Hum Evol. 2021 Dec;161:103088. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103088. Epub 2021 Nov 24.
Personal ornaments have become a key cultural proxy to investigate cognitive evolution, modern human dispersal, and population dynamics. Here, we reassess personal ornaments found at Zhoukoudian Upper Cave and compare them with those from other Late Paleolithic Northern Chinese sites. We reappraise the information provided by Pei Wen Chung on Upper Cave personal ornaments lost during World War II and analyze casts of 17 of them, along with two unpublished objects displayed at the Zhoukoudian Site Museum and three original perforated teeth rediscovered at the Zhoukoudian Site Museum. We apply archeozoological, technological and use-wear analyses to document variation in ornamental practices and their change throughout the site stratigraphy. Badger, fox, red deer, sika deer, marten, and tiger teeth as well as carp bone, bird bone, Anadara shell, limestone beads, and perforated pebble appear to have been the preferred objects used as ornaments by Upper Cave visitors. Multivariate analysis of technological data highlights a correspondence between cultural layers and perforation techniques, with radial incising being typical of layer L2 and bidirectional incising of L4. The three rediscovered badger canines display features suggesting they were sewed on clothing rather than suspended from necklaces or bracelets. Elemental scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectromety and mineralogical (μ-Raman) analyses of red residues adhering to the rediscovered teeth indicate these objects were originally coated with ochre and identify variations that match differences in technology. The two ornaments exhibited at the Zhoukoudian Site Museum are ancient teeth that were recently perforated and should be excluded from the Upper Cave assemblage. A seriation of Late Paleolithic ornaments found at Northern Chinese sites identifies a clear-cut difference in preferred ornament types between western and eastern sites, interpreted as reflecting two long-lasting traditions in garment symbolic codes.
个人饰品已成为研究认知进化、现代人扩散和人口动态的关键文化代理。在这里，我们重新评估了周口店山顶洞发现的个人饰品，并将其与其他中国北方晚更新世遗址的饰品进行了比较。我们重新评估了佩文仲关于在第二次世界大战期间丢失的山顶洞个人饰品的信息，并对其中的 17 个进行了铸造分析，以及两件在周口店遗址博物馆展出的未发表物品和三件在周口店遗址博物馆重新发现的穿孔牙齿。我们应用动物考古学、技术和使用磨损分析来记录装饰品实践的变化及其在整个遗址地层中的变化。獾、狐狸、梅花鹿、马鹿、貂和虎牙以及鲤鱼骨、禽骨、贻贝、方解石珠和穿孔卵石似乎是山顶洞访客用作饰品的首选物品。技术数据的多元分析突出了文化层与穿孔技术之间的对应关系，放射状切割是 L2 层的典型特征，而双向切割是 L4 层的典型特征。重新发现的三颗獾犬齿具有的特征表明，它们是缝在衣服上的，而不是挂在项链或手镯上。对重新发现的牙齿上附着的红色残留物进行扫描电子显微镜能谱和矿物学（μ-Raman）分析表明，这些物体最初涂有赭石，并确定了与技术差异相匹配的变化。在周口店遗址博物馆展出的两件饰品是最近穿孔的古老牙齿，应从山顶洞组合中排除。中国北方遗址发现的晚更新世饰品系列清楚地表明，西部和东部遗址之间的首选饰品类型存在明显差异，这被解释为反映了服装象征符号代码中的两种持久传统。
