scholarly journals Stable Isotope Analysis of Mammalian Enamel From the Early Pleistocene Site of Madigou, Nihewan Basin: Implications for Reconstructing Hominin Paleoenvironmental Adaptations in North China

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhe Xu ◽  
Shuwen Pei ◽  
Yaowu Hu ◽  
Ignacio de la Torre ◽  
Dongdong Ma
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
North China ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Lacustrine Sediments ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Isotopic Signatures ◽  
Nihewan Basin

The reconstruction of environmental and climatic changes in the Pleistocene is an essential contribution to our understanding of human evolutionary and behavioral adaptations. Well preserved fluvio-lacustrine sediments at Nihewan basin have yielded a rich record of Early Pleistocene Paleolithic sites and mammalian fossils which provide a unique opportunity for exploring hominin behavior and paleoecology in North China. Taxonomic studies of mammalian fossils have provided important clues to the general environmental setting and landscapes of Early Pleistocene humans in the fluvio-lacustrine basin of Nihewan, but little is known about their isotopic signatures. In this paper, mammal teeth species at the Madigou archaeological site (ca. 1.2 Ma) were selected for bulk and sequential enamel stable isotope (C, O) analysis. Results show a variety of ecological environments, including grassland and sparse forest landscapes, and distinct patterns across taxa. C3-C4 mixed vegetation predominated, but C4 vegetation was also relevant at times. Madigou early humans likely experienced cold/warm or dry/wet fluctuations in this northern China basin. We hypothesize that the environmental fluctuations and diversified landscapes may have driven flexibility in various aspects of early human technological behaviors, and allowed hominins to face the environmental challenges of northern latitudes after the initial expansion from Africa into East Asia at the onset of the Middle Pleistocene Climate Transition.

Magnetostratigraphic dating of the Donggutuo and Maliang Paleolithic sites in the Nihewan Basin, North China

2005 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongqiang Wang ◽  
Chenglong Deng ◽  
Rixiang Zhu ◽  
Qi Wei ◽  
Yamei Hou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North China ◽  
Northern China ◽  
Central China ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Paleomagnetic Data ◽  
Magnetic Studies ◽  
North Central ◽  
Nihewan Basin

AbstractA detailed magnetostratigraphic investigation, coupled with rock-magnetic studies, was carried out on a lacustrine sequence in the eastern Nihewan Basin, Northern China, which contains the Donggutuo and Maliang Paleolithic sites. Magnetite and hematite were identified as the main carriers for the characteristic remanent magnetizations. Magnetostratigraphic results show that the lacustrine sequence recorded the late Matuyama and Brunhes chrons. Furthermore, the Maliang artifact layer occurs just below the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary, and the Donggutuo artifact layer is just below the Jaramillo onset. Therefore, the age of the Maliang and Donggutuo artifact layers can be definitely estimated to be about 0.78 myr and 1.1 myr, respectively. These two paleomagnetic ages, coupled with previously obtained paleomagnetic data of the Majuangou, Xiaochangliang, Banshan, Lantian, and Xihoudu Paleolithic sites, suggest an expansion and lengthy flourishing of human groups from northern to north-central China during the entire Early Pleistocene.

scholarly journals Reconstructing vegetation and climate in the Nihewan Basin, North China, during the middle Pleistocene (~603-587 ka) to trace the evolution of human environments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Zhu ◽  
Yi-Feng Yao ◽  
Qi Wei ◽  
David K Ferguson ◽  
Yu-Fei Wang
Keyword(s):  
North China ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Nihewan Basin ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Early Humans ◽  
Vegetation And Climate

Abstract Aims The Nihewan Basin of North China, considered the cradle of Eastern civilisation, contains a set of late Cenozoic strata and artefacts used by Homo erectus in the early Pleistocene (~1.66 Ma -780 ka) and the cranial bones and teeth of early H. sapiens from the late middle Pleistocene (~370-260 ka). Palynological studies provide an opportunity to explore the living environment of early humans. Methods Palynological samples from the Hutouliang Section (~603-587 ka) of the Xiaodukou Formation of the Nihewan Basin were treated by heavy liquid flotation. Based on the palynological assemblages from the section, vegetation and climate in the Nihewan Basin were reconstructed. Important Findings The dynamic vegetation changed from temperate needle- and broad-leaved mixed forest-steppe (mainly Picea, Abies, Betula, Juglans, Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae) to conifer forest (mainly Pinus, Picea and Abies), which saw the replacement of H. erectus by early H. sapiens. The comparison of the Nihewan Basin with other human sites around the world during the same period reveals that early humans preferred to live in caves, accompanied by relatively open steppe or forest-steppe environments, inhabited by numerous mammals. Therefore, it is inferred that the emergence of dense conifer forest and the disappearance of open steppe environments in the Nihewan Basin at approximately 603-587 ka provide new evidence that early humans followed most mammals to steppe or forest-steppe environments and thus left the Nihewan Basin. These new findings not only enrich our knowledge of early human behaviour, such as their diet, migration and settlement, but also fill in gaps in paleovegetation and paleoenvironmental research in the Nihewan Basin during the middle Pleistocene (780-400 ka).

Palaeodiet reconstruction in a woman with probable celiac disease: A stable isotope analysis of bone remains from the archaeological site of Cosa (Italy)

2014 ◽  
Vol 154 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Scorrano ◽  
Mauro Brilli ◽  
Cristina Martínez-Labarga ◽  
Francesca Giustini ◽  
Elsa Pacciani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Celiac Disease ◽  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Bone Remains

Human Migration and Ethnic Expression in the Southeastern Borderland of Mesoamerica

2018 ◽  
pp. 192-222
Author(s):  
Shintaro Suzuki ◽  
Vera Tiesler ◽  
T. Douglas Price
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Mortuary Archaeology ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Ancient City ◽  
Maya Area ◽  
Body Modifications

This chapter discusses human migration and multiethnicity in Copan, a Maya archaeological site in modern Honduras. A broad skeletal sample from the site has been studied through basic osteology, mortuary archaeology, and archaeochemistry (stable isotope analysis). The combined results show that the ancient city had a significant number of immigrants from all over the Maya Area. There was no sex or age related distinction, nor socioeconomic exclusivity, among these immigrants. In such a multiethnic city, biocultural body modifications, like dental decorations and intentional head shaping, were indicative of their social identities, especially “Mayahood.” The dynamic changes of these biocultural attributes at spatial and chronological scales are evidence of shifting social identities at the southeastern borderland of the Maya Area.

scholarly journals Stable Isotope Analysis and Persistent Organic Pollutants in Crustacean Zooplankton: The Role of Size and Seasonality

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Piscia ◽  
Michela Mazzoni ◽  
Roberta Bettinetti ◽  
Rossana Caroni ◽  
Davide Cicala ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Stable Isotope Analysis ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Standing Stock ◽  
Fish Predation ◽  
Crustacean Zooplankton ◽  
Isotopic Signatures ◽  
Carbon And Nitrogen ◽  
Pollutant Concentrations ◽  
Stock Biomass

Zooplankton is crucial for the transfer of matter, energy, and pollutants through aquatic food webs. Primary and secondary consumers contribute to the abundance and standing stock biomass, which both vary seasonally. By means of taxa- and size-specific carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis, the path of pollutants through zooplankton is traced and seasonal changes are addressed, in an effort to understand pollutant dynamics in the pelagic food web. We analyzed zooplankton plurennial changes in concentration of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane and its relatives (DDTs) and in taxa-specific δ15N signatures in two size fractions, ≥450 µm and ≥850 µm, representative of the major part of zooplankton standing stock biomass and of the fraction to which fish predation is mainly directed, respectively. Our work is aimed at verifying: (1) A link between nitrogen isotopic signatures and pollutant concentrations; (2) the predominance of size versus seasonality for concentration of pollutants; and (3) the contribution of secondary versus primary consumers to carbon and nitrogen isotopic signatures. We found a prevalence of seasonality versus size in pollutant concentrations and isotopic signatures. The taxa-specific δ15N results correlated to pollutant concentrations, by means of taxa contribution to standing stock biomass and δ15N isotopic signatures. This is a step forward to understanding the taxa-specific role in pollutant transfer to planktivores and of zooplankton enrichment in PCBs and DDTs.

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