广西娅怀洞和白莲洞两处遗址延续的时代自旧石器时代晚期至新石器时代晚期，本研究基于¹⁴C年代框架模型分析这两处遗址所出土的动物遗存，尝试了解近5万年以来遗址先民为应对周围环境变化而采取的应对策略。研究发现，两处遗址附近都存在水域，且散布有低山丘陵和森林灌丛，野生动植物资源丰富。先民开发利用包括哺乳纲、鸟纲、鱼纲、爬行纲、腹足纲和瓣鳃纲在内的多种动物，其中以鹿科等哺乳动物占据绝对数量优势。在旧石器时代晚期后段（距今20000~12000年），先民在捕获利用哺乳动物之余，也扩大了对鱼纲、腹足纲等其他动物种类的利用强度；同时，这一时期先民充分利用遗址周围包括野生水稻在内的多种植物资源，演进为广谱经济模式。这一系列动物资源利用的变化，体现着古人类在应对周围环境及资源丰度变化时所做出的适应性改变。

Guangxi, located in the southwestern part of China, is a crucial region for investigating human origin and evolution from the Palaeolithic to the Neolithic period. During the Upper Palaeolithic, the Last Glacial Maximum and subsequent temperature fluctuations likely posed significant challenges to human subsistence. However, the palaeo-environments and human adaptive strategies in response to local conditions in Guangxi remain largely unexplored.

This peper focuses on faunal remains excavated from the Yahuai Cave and Bailiandong Cave sites, both spanning a long period from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Neolithic. Based on the modelled radiocarbon dating chronology of the two sites, we investigated human adaptive subsistence behaviours over the past approximately 50,000 years in this region.

The results show that both the Yahuai Cave and Bailiandong Cave sites were surrounded by low hills, forests, shrubs, and water bodies, which were rich in diverse faunal and floral resources. The appearance of common carps, black carps, and anatids in the Late Upper Palaeolithic period (20,000~12,000 BP) indicates that the water bodies surrounding the sites expanded as the Last Glacial Maximum declined and temperature and precipitation increased.

Overall, humans at these sites exploited a variety of animals, including mammals, birds, fishes, reptiles, and molluscs. Among them, mammals, especially deer, were the most abundant, highlighting the importance of terrestrial faunal resources to local human groups. Although techniques such as chopping, percussing, cutting, and sawing were used, humans preferred to burn these faunal remains during food preparation. At the Bailiandong Cave site, only two antlers were crafted into tools. In contrast, bone tools made from antlers and shells appeared in all cultural sub-periods at the Yahuai Cave site, indicating the Yahuai Cave community’s continuous need for and utilization of bone tools.

To estimate the mammalian dietary contribution in different periods at the Yahuai Cave, aurochs and wild boars seemed to contribute the most meat weight, suggesting that local humans employed a “high risk, high return” hunting strategy for subsistence. In the Late Upper Palaeolithic period, humans exploited fishes, molluscs, and other fauna more extensively. Meanwhile, diverse nearby plant resources, including wild rice, were also significantly utilized, indicating the emergence and development of a broad-spectrum subsistence economy. The chronological changes in the type and degree of exploited faunal resources at the two sites provide a valuable case for better understanding human adaptive subsistence in response to fluctuating palaeo-environments in the evolutionary process.