The discovery of "Yuanmou Man" has pushed forward the human history in China for more than1000000 years, indicating that Yunnan, located in the Yangtze River valley, is the key area and core area for the origin and development of human beings, which has provided strong scientific support for the multi-center theory of human origin and development. As the beginning of human history in China, "Yuanmou Man" has been recorded in history since then.
Yuanmou is a Dai language. "Yuan" means "leap" and "mate", and "seek" means horse, which means fine horse. During the Han Dynasty, the residents here grazed their domestic horses at the foot of the mountain, and the god of Yuanma jumped out of the river to mate with them and gave birth to a pony. The residents regarded it as a god. So he built a shrine for it. Here, "the bell of Lingze often produces good horses, so it is destined to be horses." There is Yuanma River in the north of the county seat, and Yuanmou has the same meaning as Yuanma. Yuanmou County was established in 1279 in the Yuan Dynasty.
About 6% of the areas in Yunnan Province of China are intermountain basins. The strata in these basins preserve the information of climate and environmental changes, and even contain valuable animal and plant fossils.
Yuanmou Basin in Yunnan belongs to the valley area with hot and dry tropical climate in South Asia. It is a good place to grow subtropical crops and is very suitable for the survival of ancient humans.
The rainy season in Yuanmou Basin is influenced by the southwest monsoon of Indian Ocean, with abundant rainfall. The climate change from1100000 to 5 million years ago is similar to that of the Great Rift Valley in East Africa. Although the two places are far apart, they have similar geological and environmental changes, which are also suitable for early human evolution.
Early Pleistocene animal fossils, such as Yunnan horse, saber-toothed tiger and saber-toothed elephant, were unearthed in Yuanmou man's site, and stone tools and charcoal scraps were made. Yuanmou man was1700,000 years ago, belonging to ancient humans in the early Paleolithic period.
The discovery of Yuanmou ancient ape fossils filled the blank of this type of ancient ape fossils in Pliocene in China. At the same time, it provides valuable physical data for studying the origin, evolution and geographical distribution of human beings in China.
In the site of Yuanmou Man in Yunnan, Yuanmou Man's fossils include two upper inner side teeth, one left and one right, belonging to the same adult individual. Its petrochemical degree is deep, its color is gray and there are several cracks.
Through the study of Yuanmou man's tooth fossils, it is found that his tooth crown is intact, his tooth root tip is incomplete, there are small cracks on the surface, and the cracks are filled with brown clay. These two teeth are stout, shovel-shaped, the cutting edge is relatively expanded, the lip surface is relatively flat, the tongue surface pattern is very complex, and it has obvious primitive properties.
The characteristics of Yuanmou's incisors are that the base of the crown is swollen and thick, and the end is extended, slightly triangular. The tubercle at the base of the tongue surface is convex and has developed shovel-shaped tooth fossa. The concave surface in the middle of the lingual surface of the crown is rough, and the finger-like process in the center is very long, and the finger-like process is concentrated in the half surface near the outside.
In the site of Yuanmou man, three stone tools were unearthed from the stratum of Yuanmou man's fossils. In addition, three stone tools were collected at the same place, presumably washed out of the surface by rain, and they were also regarded as the stone tools of Yuanmou people.
The three stone tools found in the stratum where Yuanmouren fossils exist are all scrapers made of quartzite. One is a two-edged scraper, which is made of stone chips. Judging from the traces of manual processing on stone tools, it may have been repaired by smashing; The other is a double-edged scraper, made of small stones, with processing marks on three sides, slightly rectangular, which should be processed in multiple directions; There is also an end-edge scraper, which is also made of small stones and is also processed in multiple directions.
Among the three stone tools collected: one is a stone core, which is spindle-shaped and has a single table; Secondly, stone chips, whose raw materials are red sandstone, are slightly longer than wide, and the hitting points are scattered; The third is the pointy device, which is made of Shi Ying rock pieces, with one side on the left and two sides on the right, intersecting at the central axis, and belongs to the regular pointy device.
Through these stone tools, it can be known that Yuanmou people will make and repair stone tools by hammering, and will make scrapers and pointy devices, and the tools are not large in size. In the strata where Yuanmou man's fossils were found, there are also many carbon chips, which are often associated with mammalian fossils.
Two black bones were also found in the site of Yuanmou man, which may have been burned after identification. In addition, a large number of carbon chips were found. Some researchers believe that these are traces of human use of fire at that time.
In the site of Yuanmou people, a total of * * * stone tools 17 pieces were unearthed, including 7 pieces unearthed in the stratum and 10 pieces collected on the surface.
Based on the animal and plant fossils preserved in * * *, the animal fossils in the third and fourth member of Yuanmou stratum are called Yuanmou fauna, and they are considered to be animals born with Yuanmou people.
Mammal fossils born with Yuanmou man * * *, including Nihewan saber-toothed tiger, Sangshi hyena, Yunnan horse, claw-hoofed beast, China rhinoceros, Shanxi axis deer and other 29 species. All of them are extinct, some of them belong to Pliocene and early Pleistocene residual species, and most of them are common local species in early Pleistocene.
According to the living environment, Yunnan horses live in grasslands, fine muntjac and lake muntjac live in tropical rain forests, bamboo rats, compound-toothed pikas and other animals live in bushes, and Nihewan saber-toothed tigers live in forests.
According to the analysis of plant spores, the trees in Yuanmou period were mainly Pinus and elm. There are more herbs. According to the analysis of animal fossils and plant pollen, some people think that the natural environment at that time was forest and grassland landscape, and the climate was relatively cool.
Regarding the geological age and absolute age of Yuanmouren fossils, one view holds that it belongs to the late Early Pleistocene, about1700,000 years ago. According to the study of mammals associated with Yuanmou man and the comparison with Peking man's teeth, it seems more primitive. Another view is that in the Middle Pleistocene, according to the fossil layer of Yuanmou people, it may be 600,000 to 500,000 years ago or later.
Legend has it that Yuanmou people later went north, crossed the Jinsha River, arrived in Gansu and Qinghai and became ancient Qiang Rong people. Some Yuanmou people continued to the northeast, crossed the Bering Strait and entered America, becoming the ancestors of Indians.
Through the study of the stone tools discovered by Yuanmou people, it shows that Yuanmou people lived in the early Paleolithic period. If the age of Yuanmou man is defined as1700,000 years ago, then Yuanmou man is one of the earliest ancient humans in China. If the age of Yuanmou people is about 600,000 years, then the age of Yuanmou people will be later than Wushan people and Lantian people.
The discovery of Yuanmou man is another important discovery after the discovery of Peking man and Lantian man in northern China, which is of great scientific value for further study of ancient humans in China and Quaternary geology in southwest China.