Huang W, Ciochon R, Gu Y, Larick R, Qiren F, Schwarcz H, Yonge C, de Vos J, Rink W
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica, Beijing, China.
Nature. 1995 Nov 16;378(6554):275-8. doi: 10.1038/378275a0.
The site of Longgupo Cave was discovered in 1984 and excavated in 1985-1988 by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (Beijing) and the Chongqing National Museum (Sichuan Province). Important finds include very archaic hominid dental fragments, Gigantopithecus teeth and primitive stone tools. Palaeomagnetic analysis and the presence of Ailuropoda microta (pygmy giant panda) suggested that the hominid-bearing levels dated to the earliest Pleistocene. In 1992, joint Chinese-American-Canadian geochronological research corroborated the age using electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis. We report here that the hominid dentition and stone tools from Longgupo Cave are comparable in age and morphology with early representives of the genus Homo (H. habilis and H. ergaster) and the Oldowan technology in East Africa. The Longgupo dentition is demonstrably more primitive than that seen in Asian Homo erectus. Longgupo's diverse and well preserved Plio-Pleistocene fauna of 116 species provide a sensitive contextual base for interpreting the early arrival of the genus Homo in Asia.
龙骨坡洞穴遗址于1984年被发现，并于1985年至1988年由（北京）中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所和（四川省）重庆自然博物馆进行发掘。重要发现包括非常古老的人类牙齿碎片、巨猿牙齿和原始石器。古地磁分析以及小种大熊猫的存在表明，含人类化石的地层年代可追溯到早更新世。1992年，中美加联合地质年代学研究通过电子自旋共振（ESR）分析证实了这一年代。我们在此报告，龙骨坡洞穴的人类牙齿化石和石器在年代和形态上与东非的早期人属代表（能人及匠人）以及奥杜威技术相当。龙骨坡的牙齿化石明显比亚洲直立人的牙齿化石更为原始。龙骨坡多样且保存完好的116种上新世-更新世动物群为解释人属在亚洲的早期出现提供了一个敏感的背景基础。
