Human remains from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition of Southwest China suggest a complex evolutionary history for East Asians

Simple item page
dc.contributor.authorCurnoe, Den_AU
dc.contributor.authorJi, Xen_AU
dc.contributor.authorHerries, AIRen_AU
dc.contributor.authorKanning, Ben_AU
dc.contributor.authorTaçon, PSCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorZhende, Ben_AU
dc.contributor.authorFink, Den_AU
dc.contributor.authorYunsheng, Zen_AU
dc.contributor.authorHellstrom, JCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorYun, Len_AU
dc.contributor.authorCassis, Gen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBing, Sen_AU
dc.contributor.authorWroe, Sen_AU
dc.contributor.authorShi, Hen_AU
dc.contributor.authorParr, WCHen_AU
dc.contributor.authorShengmin, Hen_AU
dc.contributor.authorRogers, Nen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2021-12-16T02:15:52Zen_AU
dc.date.available2021-12-16T02:15:52Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2012-03-14en_AU
dc.date.statistics2021-11-11en_AU
dc.description.abstractBackground Later Pleistocene human evolution in East Asia remains poorly understood owing to a scarcity of well described, reliably classified and accurately dated fossils. Southwest China has been identified from genetic research as a hotspot of human diversity, containing ancient mtDNA and Y-DNA lineages, and has yielded a number of human remains thought to derive from Pleistocene deposits. We have prepared, reconstructed, described and dated a new partial skull from a consolidated sediment block collected in 1979 from the site of Longlin Cave (Guangxi Province). We also undertook new excavations at Maludong (Yunnan Province) to clarify the stratigraphy and dating of a large sample of mostly undescribed human remains from the site. Methodology/Principal Findings We undertook a detailed comparison of cranial, including a virtual endocast for the Maludong calotte, mandibular and dental remains from these two localities. Both samples probably derive from the same population, exhibiting an unusual mixture of modern human traits, characters probably plesiomorphic for later Homo, and some unusual features. We dated charcoal with AMS radiocarbon dating and speleothem with the Uranium-series technique and the results show both samples to be from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition: ∼14.3-11.5 ka. Conclusions/Significance Our analysis suggests two plausible explanations for the morphology sampled at Longlin Cave and Maludong. First, it may represent a late-surviving archaic population, perhaps paralleling the situation seen in North Africa as indicated by remains from Dar-es-Soltane and Temara, and maybe also in southern China at Zhirendong. Alternatively, East Asia may have been colonised during multiple waves during the Pleistocene, with the Longlin-Maludong morphology possibly reflecting deep population substructure in Africa prior to modern humans dispersing into Eurasia. © 2012 Curnoe et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licenseen_AU
dc.identifier.articlenumbere31918en_AU
dc.identifier.citationCurnoe, D., Ji, J., Herries, A. I. R., Kanning, B., Taçon, P. S. C., Zhende, B., Fink, D., Yunsheng, Z., Hellstrom, J., Yun, L., Cassis, G., Bing, S., Wroe, S., Shi, H., Parr, W. C. H., Shengmin, H., & Rogers, N. (2012) Human remains from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition of Southwest China suggest a complex evolutionary history for East Asians. PLOS ONE, 7(3), e31918. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0031918en_AU
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203en_AU
dc.identifier.issue3en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitlePLOS ONEen_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0031918en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/dspace/handle/10238/12479en_AU
dc.identifier.volume7en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherPLOSen_AU
dc.subjectPleistocene epochen_AU
dc.subjectIsotope datingen_AU
dc.subjectFossilsen_AU
dc.subjectStratigraphyen_AU
dc.subjectSkullen_AU
dc.subjectChinaen_AU
dc.titleHuman remains from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition of Southwest China suggest a complex evolutionary history for East Asiansen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
file.pdf
Size:
1.65 MB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Download
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
Thumbnail Image
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.63 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download
Collections
Journal Articles