Table of Content

15 September 1997, Volume 16 Issue 03

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Stone industry from Panxian Dadong, a cave-site of southwestern China

Huang Weiwen, Hou Yamei

1997, 16(03):  171-192. 

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The materials reported in the present article consist two parts. One comes from two short excavations o f 1990-1991, and the other comes from other two excavations of 1992- 1993 at Panxian Dadong, a cave site of Guizhou province, Southwestern China. Total o f them is about 2000 pieces ( Si et al. , 1993; Huang et al. , 1995 ) . Considering that the systematic study for them is to be done, we would like to submit a preliminary and brief description at present.

The human teeth discovered in Dadong, Panxian county, Guizhou province

Liu Wu; Si Xinqiang

1997, 16(03):  193-200. 

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In 1992 and 1993, two field seasons of excavations w ere undertaken in Panxian Dadong , Guizhou Province of southwest China. Along with about 2 000 pieces o f stone artifacts and 40 species o f animal fossils, two human teeth ( one upper right incisor and one low er left canine) were discovered successively. This paper gives the description and analysis of these teeth.

Pleistocene primates from Panxian Dadong, Guizhou province

Pan Yuerong, Yuan Chengwu

1997, 16(03):  201-208. 

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The Panxian Dadong , Guizhou which was discovered recently is an important site for paleoanthropology and paleolithic rchaeology. There are four isolated primate teeth which were collected from this site among 40 species of mammals. They are attributed to Macaca arctoides, M. assamensis and perhaps Colobinae.
Rig ht M3 . It is fairly worn to expose the dentine at the apices of the buccal cusps and the metaconid. The lingual cusps are higher than the buccal ones. The anterior fovea is small. There is a small but distinct tubercle intermediate between the entoconid and hypoconulid. The size o f the M3 is larger than that of Semnopithecus, Macaca nemestrina and M.mulatta. In the Dadong specimen, molar relief tends to be moderate, and it is expressed in the shallow incised lingual notches of molar cusps, which tend to be close as in cercopithecines. The spacing of apices of mola r cusps tends to be close also.
Left P4 . The buccal cusp is slightly worn, and the dentine appears only a t the apex o f protoconid. The premolar morphology is distinguished to be cercopithecines from colobines. The trigonid and the mesial shelf are long in the Dadong specimens. The size o f P4 from Dadong falls within the range of that of M. arctoides and M. assamensis, in the female. It is similar to that of M. arctoides from Guizhou ( No. 17966. Zoology Institute, Academia Sinica ) in morphology and size. The breadth of the anterior pa rt o f the crow n is much larger than the posterior one in the M. arctoides and M. assamensis, in male.
Rig ht M2 . The upper molar is confirmed to be M2 o n the basis of morphology and co n- tact surfaces. The cusps a re slightly worn, the cusps come close to the middle of the crow n so that the breadth o f the base of the crown is larger than that of the upper one. There is a clear cingulumex tending on the mesial and lingual surfaces o f the crow n. The measurements of the M2 fall within the rang e of fossil M. assamensis from Pleistocene, Guangxi a nd M. anderssoni from Early Pleistocene, Henan. Its significance for taxonomy or geological age will be investigated.
Rig ht C, . The crow n is well-preserved. The roo t has been broken. The lower canine may possess distal and internal tubercles. It is different from that of M. arctoides. M. assamensis. M. nemestrina etc. It seems similar to that o f colobines.
In modern primates, M. arctoides, M. thibetana , M. mulatta and Rhinopithecus brelichi, Semnopithecus francoisi live in the Guizhou province and Semnopithecus francoisi still lives in the Liupanshui w here the Dadong site is located. Hence there is overlap of modern and fossil primates in the geographical distribution. The discovery of Pleistocene cercopithecines in Panxian Dado ng increases their distribution during the Pleistocene period and also adds to our know ledge o f primates in the cave fissure deposits o f South China.

A pleistocene mammalian fauna from Panxian Dadong, Guizhou province

Zhang Zhenhong; Liu Jun; Zhang Hangang; Yuan Chengwu

1997, 16(03):  209-220. 

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The fossil materials described in the present paper come from excavations of 1992 and 1993 at Panxian Dadong , a cave site in Guizhou Province of Southeastern China. They a re identified into 43 speciess, including 2 species of Primate and one species of Homo, which a re reported in other two papers ( see Pa n and Yuan, 1997 and Liu and Si, 1997) . This fauna belongs to a mid-late Middle Pleistocene one and lived in a transitional area between Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and hilly area of Southeastern Asia. It consists of the important members of Ailuropoda-Stegodon fauna of South China, as w ell as some local species o f Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, and indicates a kind of subtropical climate which includes several dry-cool shifts.

Preliminary results on U-series dating of Panxian Dadong in Guizhou province, S-W China

Shen Guanjun; Liu Jun; Jin Linhong

1997, 16(03):  221-230. 

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Dadong cave, situa ted in Panxian District in Guizhou Province, south-western China, is a recently discovered paleolithic site. This karstic cavern boasts its unusually massive fossil and artifact bearing deposits, being of an area of 9900 m2 and of a thickness of～ 19. 5m. Its 250 meters long main hall is roughly divided into entrance platform, front, middle and rear sections. The first three seasons of excavation, organized in 1992, 1993 and 1996 and concentrated at the centre of the front section, led to the discovery of 2 human teeth, about 2 000 stone artifacts and a rich collection of fossils representing more than 40 mammalian species.

Preliminary observation on the depositional sequence of Panxian Dadong

Liu Jun; Si Xinqiang; Zhang Hangang; Yuan Zhenxing

1997, 16(03):  231-238. 

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The records of local history and oral account of local people show that the sediments inside Dadong cave have been greatly disturbed by local people for various reasons in the past 100 years. The g rand main hall o f the cave measures 250m from its back w all to the entrance and covers a n area o f roughly 9900m2 . The deposit is estimated to be 19. 5m thick near the entrance. The middle and low er part of the sequence are generally preserved. Therefore, comparing with the g rand scale and the preserved portion of the deposit, the man-made disturbance of Dadong is limited.
The sediments inside the cave consist of two parts in source. One comes from the cave itself, which includes blocks and fragments of limestone, travertine. The other includes clay, sand, gravel, fragments of limestone which were brought from the hill slope outside cave by g round water and loess-like clay which may be brought into cave by wind. In addition, animal and human fossils, stone artefacts, evidences of using fire ( ash, charcoal, burnt bones) and etc. are in relation with human activities mainly. According to composite analysis, the sediments above-mentioned have no direct relation to river. In other words, they have been deposited within the cave after the cave separated itself from the under- ground river.
Preliminary observation o n the exposure at the front area of main hall, the upper part o f sediments can be divided into 8 layers from to p to base as follow s:
Layer 1 The first travertine, 5— 10cm, slightly brow n. 130ka based on U-series dating.
Layer 2 Brow n sandy clay , powdered clay with breccia , 2. 5— 4m. Abundant animal fossils and cultural relics are present.
Layer 3 The second travertine, 5— 12cm, greyish brow n. Stone artefacts, charcoal and animal fossils a re present. 200ka based on U-series da ting.
Layer 4 Greyish brow n sandy clay , clay with breccia, 1— 2. 5m. Abundant stone artefacts and animal fossils, as w ell as charcoal are present.
Layer 5 The third travertine, 10— 25cm, g reyish brow n. 260ka based o n U-series dating.
Layer 6 Brow n sandy clay with breccia, 0. 5— 1m. Abundant stone artefacts and animal fossils, as well as charcoal and burnt bones are present.
Layer 7 The fourth travertine, slightly brow n, 5— 10cm.
Layer 8 Brow n sand with bedded clay , as w ell as breccia, fragments o f fossil and some blocks of limestone, 1. 8m.

Development and evolution of the Panxian Dadong cave

Xiong Kangning, Liu Jun

1997, 16(03):  239-246. 

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The Panxian Dadong , with a ma pped passage of 1660m long is a large karst cave system complicated by multi-genesis of morphology. The main passage, 250m× 40m× 26m in volume, contains much relics o f human activities in the Paleolithic Age. Based o n analysis o f some dynamic geomorphical and speleo genetic processes in the cave area, including karstification and polje structure, fossil drainage and speleogenesis, this paper deals with hydraulic-genetic relations on development and evolution between karst and caves. It suggested a evolutional model of the karst landforms and caves in the area, supplemented by paleo-geographic environment data and U-series dating.
Early Pleistocene: The limestone areas around the peak-cluster depression on the Dado ng Hill anticline w ere still covered by basalt, sandstone, shale and co alformations with an active erosion-transportation process. The Shiliping Riv er, as a surface stream at an elevation of 1710-1750m above sea-level, flowed along the fault in the northern part o f the Dadong Hill via the Dadong Col to the w est. With the strong uplift of neotectonics and the active downcutting of rivers, limestione on the river bed was ex posed by erosion and the riv er disappeared underground, through joints in the fault zone, and captured by underground water of the Mabie River System to the south, which gives rise to a sinking stream and hence underground riv er o f the Guanniudong Cave.
Beginning of the Middle Pleistocene: As upstream riv er bed o f the Shiliping further seeped and water of the underground riv er then decreased, the underground riv er became a dry cave, the Guanniudong Cave at present. At the same time, the riv er water found a new way to disappear underground on the eastern slope of the Dadong Hill. One of stream sinks along bedding-plan joints, as a former foot-cave at 1685m above sea-level, collected much upstream water from allogenic area o f classic rocks. The water drained into the Xiaodong via Yinhepo passage and into the Loushuidong via Shuidong passage. The flow - path gradually became a main underground riv er with phreatic features, the early Dadong Cave.
Mid of the Middle Pleistocene: With the further uplift of neotectoincs and a lowering o f base level, the water passage w as enlarged by downcutting in dry-season and undercut- ting a t the level o f the Shiliping polje lake during wet season. Later, water in the passage w as captured by low er leveled rivers and disappeared underground again, a seasonal flooded passage o f the Dadong Cave w as then formed. With alternating changes of cold-warm, dry-humid climate before 300ka, a set of debris by frost weathering and loess by wind process and breakdowns by collapse w ere acumulated at the passage entrance to form a natural dam. The water in the polje lake had to drained along the Huashiban Fault to the southe which gives rise to a lowering o f the polje bottom, about 30cm.
Late of the Middle Pleistocene: With frequent changes o f surface water and under-ground water, caves in the Dadong Hill developed w ell and the Shiliping River in the polje disappeared underground again a t the hill-base to form the low est water passage 20m below the polje floor. Since then onward, the passage was dry , stable and large. The Dadong Cave underwent along time alternation of speleo them deposition and classic accumulation up to the Holocence.

Morphometry and speleogenesis of Shiliping area, Panxian county

Xiong Kangning, Qin Qiwan, Zhang Hangang, Liu Jun

1997, 16(03):  247-253. 

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The Shiliping area where Panxian Dadong cave site is located a t is situated in south- eastern Panxian County of Guizhou Province. This area is o n the dividing crest between the Wuduhe Riv er of the Beipanjiang drainage and the Mabiehe River of the Nanpanjiang drainage. The karst landscapes, in terms of morphometry , belong to the humid tropical karst. They are characterised by a combination of clustered cones and depressions, valley s and poljes, a typical karst of peak-cluster depression in China. The cones are found to be almost constant in slope angle ( 41°— 44°) and generally symmetrical in plan. The Late Tertiary was a very karstic and caverous period in the carbonate rocks of this area. The later tectonics are significant. With the great uplift of the neotectonics accompanied by the active incision of major rivers, the karstificatio n by erosion and corrosion proceeded vertically rather than horizonally as the surface and g round water in this area try to follow a lowering of the base-level and a thicking of the vadose zone. Under conditions of this increasing available relief and hence potential energy driving groundwater circulation, it is possible for any types of karst landforms at any stag es to evolve toward peak-cluster depression karst in an abnormal sequence and to exist in a steady state of developments. With the intermittent uplift accompanied by the frequent changes of base-level, alternating karstification in both vertical and lateral way s resulted in many times of headwater erosion and subsequent surface-levelled landforms and caves. The effects then spread from the low er reaches of trunk riv er to the upper reaches and from the major g org es to the plateau interfluves. In this uplifted and mountainous area, when the overlying classic rocks were stipped, the major rivers would a t first cut across the limestone surface. Eventually , large faults or fissures will become foci for infiltration of water and a part or all of the stream will disappear underground. This break-up of the fluvial system will be accelerated by the neotectonic uplift, which will low er the water table, empty the caverns and allow more water w ell seep into the rock. The infiltration points then will develop into a series o f do-lines and hence enclosed depressions. As a result, the disappearance of fluvial karst in allogenic area is a major hydrodynamic factor in the formation of peak-cluster depression (valley) . The vertical infiltration and lateral movement of the allogenic water are basically sure of cave formation and passage-leveled features. The alternations o f dry-wet and cool-warm climates in Quaternary may have played a n important part in the relic features o f peak-cluster depressions, valleys, and in the related speleo them types in caves. However, the landscape is still a sort of the tropical karst.