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.