Dissertation Research: A Study of Zhoukoudian Locality 15

在John Olsen博士的指导下，高兴先生将为他的博士论文收集数据。他将分析从非常重要的周口店第15号遗址（ZL15）收集的考古材料，并清理挖掘的原始剖面，以描述地层，并收集地质和年代学分析的材料。“周口店”包括一系列遗址，这些遗址加在一起可能跨越了最后一个冰河时代的大部分时间，因此可能代表了50多万年的时间间隔。这些遗址的大部分考古工作都发生在第二次世界大战之前，最著名的是直立人头骨化石，这些化石与动物群遗骸和石器一起被发现。这些东亚原始人的材料最近成为一个热门话题，因为尚不确定他们所代表的血统是否在史前就终止了，或者是否与现在的亚洲人存在联系。在这种情况下，ZL 15特别重要，因为初步分析表明，它的最低层与直立人材料在时间上重叠，最高层可能是最近的。因此，它可以提供一个必要的桥梁。然而，该遗址丰富的文化和动物资料尚未得到研究，地质学和年代学也没有使用现代技术进行研究。 高先生将进行实地和实验室研究。在野外，他将勘察周口店山及其周边地区。他会清理ZL 15剖面，并收集沉积物、动物和植物（包括花粉）样本，然后进行详细分析，包括绝对年代测定、孢粉分析、土壤学和沉积学研究。骨骼化石和洞穴沉积物的铀系测年、灰烬和燃烧物的裂变径迹测年、牙齿化石的氨基酸外消旋和电子自旋共振测年将有助于确定各个层面的年龄。 从现场回收了大约10，000块加工过的石头，高先生将对这些石头进行类型学和技术分析。他还将在同事们的帮助下研究动物群遗骸，以确定代表的物种并重建生计做法。 这项研究之所以重要，有几个原因。它将为今天在人类群体中观察到的物理变化提供新的依据。它将增加我们对世界上一个鲜为人知的地区的史前史的了解，并为许多考古学家提供感兴趣的数据。它还将协助培训一名有前途的科学家。

Under the direction of Dr. John Olsen, Mr. Xing Gao will collect data for his doctoral dissertation. He will analyze archaeological material collected from the very important site of Zhoukoudian Locality 15 (ZL15), and clean the original profile of the excavation to describe the stratigraphy and collect materials for geological and chronological analysis. `Zhoukoudian` includes a series of sites which together likely span a major part of the last Ice Age and therefore probably represent an interval of over half a million years. The majority of the archaeological work at these sites predates World War II and is best known for the fossil Homo erectus crania which were recovered in association with faunal remains and stone tools. This East Asian hominid material has recently been a subject lively interest because it is uncertain whether the lineage they represent terminated prehistorically or whether a link exists with current Asian peoples. In this context ZL15 is particularly important because preliminary analysis indicates that in its lowest level it overlaps with the Homo erectus material in time and that the uppermost level may be fairly recent in date. It thus may provide a needed bridge. However the abundant cultural and faunal materials from the site have not been studied and the geology and chronology has not been addressed using modern techniques. Mr. Gao will conduct both field and laboratory research. In the field he will survey Zhoukoudian Hill and the immediately surrounding area. He will clear the ZL15 section and collect sediment, faunal and floral (including pollen) samples which will be subject to detailed analysis including absolute dating, palynological analysis and pedological and sedimentological study. Uranium series dating on fossil bone and speleothems, fission-track dating on ash and burned materials and amino acid racemization and electron spin resonance dating of fossil teeth will help to determine the ages of the individual levels. Approximately 10,000 pieces of worked stone were recovered from the site and Mr. Gao will conduct typological and technological analyses of these. He will also, with the help of colleagues, study the faunal remains both to identify species represented and to reconstruct subsistence practices. This research is important for several reasons. It will shed new light on the basis for the physical variation observed among human populations today. It will increase our understanding of the prehistory of a little known region of the world and provide data of interest to many archaeologists. It will also assist in the training of a promising scientist.