Abstract:

Since the discovery of Yuanmou hominin site, several research teams have conducted comprehensive studies on the site, focusing on human fossils, cultural remains, stratigraphy and chronology, fauna, and paleoenvironment, yielding significant research outcomes. However, due to limitations in research materials, studies on human fossils and cultural remains require further refinement, while long-standing discrepancies persist regarding the site’s stratigraphy, chronology, and paleoenvironment. This paper reviews the history of the discovery and research of the Yuanmou hominin site, summarizes and reflects on the key issues and debates in existing studies, and proposes future directions for systematic research. In future, we suggest that the most fundamental and critical tasks include conducting scientific and meticulous archaeological excavations to identify the site’s precise cultural layers, clarify stratigraphic relationships, and discover additional hominin and cultural remains. Moreover, it is imperative to uphold and strengthen interdisciplinary collaboration, integrating methodologies and techniques from archaeology, paleoanthropology, geology, paleontology, geomorphology, chronology, taphonomy, paleoenvironmental studies, zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, and molecular biology. Such a multi-proxy approach will be indispensable not only for the Yuanmou hominin site but also for the study of other paleoanthropological sites in China.

Key words: Yuanmou hominin, paleolithic, stratigraphy and chronology, Yuanmou fauna, paleoenvironment