Report on the excavation of the Sanya Hominid Site in 1992
Hao Side, Wang Daxin, Sun Jianping et al.
1994, 13(02):
117-194.
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Sanya is situated in the southern part of Hainan Province. The Sanya site is situated in Luobi cave, Luobi hill about 15km northeast of Sanya city.
A large number of fossil animals were collected from Luobi cave; including human teeth, worked stone, bone and antler artifacts.
1) Stratigraphy of Sanya is divided into three layers:
a) humus
~~~erosional surface~~~
b) sandy soil: containing human remains, cultural remains and animal fossils.
~~~erosional surface~~~
c) sandy clay: including fossil mammals.
2) The human teeth and cultural remains:
A total of eleven human teeth were collected. Five of them were found by the students of Zhongshan University, another six were found by the members of the excavation team. These teeth include 1 incisor, 1 canine, 2 premolars and 6 molars. They belong to old-aged, middle-aged and young men, respectively. The morphology of the teeth are those of modern Homo Sapiens.
Twenty-five stone artifacts were collected from the deposits. All are chipped stone artifacts, consisting of cores, flakes, choppers and scrapers. Most were made of silicarenite, but a few were made of igneous rock. The gravel articles were mainly unifacially worked, a few of them were chipped from two surfaces. Volcanic glass is the main material of igneous rock tools. There are pointed implements, scrapers, and chopper. Pointed implements and scrapers constitute approximately 70 percent of the tools of igneous rock.
The bone artifacts were made of long bones, including bone awl and bone spatula. These were made by scraping, striking and cutting.
3) Fauna:
Invertebrates: Arca anadara jousseaume, Lithophaga zitteliana, Ostrea(Lopha) crenuligera, Ostrea (pycnodanda) cucullina, Aloides laevis, Tellina rugosa, Terebra sp., Conus sp., Erosaria sp., Polynices sp., Pils poliys, Semisulcospira libertina, Hippeutis umgilicalis.
Vertebrates: Python sp., Ophidia sp., Testudo sp., Trionychidae, Phasianus sp. (large), Phasianus sp. (small), Tupaia glia madesta, Hipposideros armiger, Hipposideros sp., Rattus niviventer lotipes, Rattus sp., Dremomys rufigenis riudonemsis., Petaurista sp., Hystrix subcristata, Atherurus sp., Macaca mulatta., Hylobates sp., Selenarctos thibetanus, Mustela sibirica, Yirerra zibetha ashtoni, Viretticula indica malaccensis, Paguma larvata hainana, Palaeoloxodan sp., Sus scrofa chirodonta, Cervus uniclolr dejeani, Muntiacus muntjak nigripes, Bubalus sp., Gazella sp.
The preliminary study of Sanya human site suggests that its characteristics of cultural remains and of fauna are similar to other cave sites of the southern mountain region of Guangxi and Guangdong. Their general characteristics are as follows:
a) A vast amount of spiral shell presented in deposition.
b) The fossil hominid is late Homo Sapiens and all the fossil mammals are living species.
c) The artifacts include stone, bone, and antler articles, but no earthenware is present in the deposit.
d) Most of the artifacts were made with direct hammer technique, and are unifacials. No polished artifacts were found.
The above mentioned common characteristics show that the characters of the cultural remains of Sanya were not different from the coastal region of the mainland; in chronology Sanya site can be attributed to the late Palaeolithic or Neolithic, maybe it is a transitional stage-mesolithic age.
4) Paleoenvironment of Sanya hominid and its changes: As mentioned above sea living Mollusca comprise ten species, fresh-water Mollusca three species, four Reptile species, two Aves species twenty-two mammal species were collected from Sanya site. This is the oldest site with most abundant fossil materials in Hainan.
On the basis of analysis the fauna of Sanya was mainly composed of the animals of India-Malaya. The distinctive fauna was formed by isolated geographical condition. Later the landbridge of Qiongzhou Strait formed and the members of these animals from southern and northern China entered Hainan. The natural environment was also good for human existence.
