Skip to main content
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

The physical evolution and biocultural adaptation indicated by the human skeletons of Donghulin site, Beijing

  • , , , , , , , and
Published/Copyright: November 17, 2021
Become an author with De Gruyter Brill
Author Information Explore this Subject
Chinese Archaeology
From the journal Chinese Archaeology Volume 21 Issue 1

Abstract

Human remains recovered from the Donghulin site are key materials for the study of the physical evolution and biocultural adaptation of the North Chinese population during the early Holocene. Physical anthropological study of the skeletal remains of two Donghulin individuals shows that their craniofacial heterogeneity and diversity are comparable to that of the Upper Paleolithic population. Early Holocene is the critical period for the formation of the diagnostic craniofacial features of modern East Asian population. The dental macrowear, dental caries, and femoral midshaft diaphyseal cross section geometry suggest that the Donghulin people were undergoing a physical transformation attributable to reduced mobility and broad-spectrum diet, which is consistent with the Upper Paleolithic-Neolithic transition of lifestyle and subsistence strategy.

Keywords: Donghulin site; cranial morphology; biocultural adaptation

Postscript

The original paper was published in Kaogu 考古 (Archaeology) 2020.7:90–98, with four figures, four tables, and 23 notes. The English version, translated by Yun Kuen Lee 李润权, has removed the notes and added further readings.

Further Readings

Hao, S. G., et al. 2001. The Donghulin woman from western Beijing: 14C age and an associated compound shell necklace, Antiquity 75 (289):517–522.

Liu, L, et al. 2010. A functional analysis of grinding stones from an early Holocene site at Donghulin, North China. Journal of archaeological science 37 (10):2630–2639.

Xia, Zhengkai 夏正楷 et al. 2011. 10,000a BP 前后北京斋堂东胡林人的生态环境分析 (The ecological environment of the Donghulin people, Zhaitang, Beijing circa 10,000a BP). Kexue tongbao 科学通报 (Chinese Science bulletin) 34:2897–2905.

Zhao, Zhijun 赵志军. 2014. 中国古代农业的形成过程—浮选出土植物遗存证据 (The formation processes of early Chinese agriculture—floral remains from flotation). Disiji yanjiu 第四纪研究 (Quaternary studies) 1:73–84.

Published Online: 2021-11-17
Published in Print: 2021-11-25

© 2021 Walter De Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. New archaeological discoveries
  3. The Longshan culture site at Ximengzhuang, Tengzhou, Shandong
  4. The Honghe site in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang
  5. The grand platform of Huangchengtai at Shimao site in Shenmu, Shaanxi
  6. The 2018–2019 excavation of the Xiwubi site in Jiangxian County, Shanxi
  7. Zeng state cemetery at Zaoshulin during the Spring and Autumn period, Suizhou, Hubei
  8. The excavation of tomb M1 in Quangou cemetery, Wulan County, Qinghai
  9. Reports
  10. The 2016–2018 excavation of the cemetery at the Sunjiagang site, Lixian County, Hunan
  11. The excavation of a cache of lead ingots in Liujiazhuang Locus North of Yinxu, Anyang, Henan
  12. Research
  13. Analyzing the functional structure of pottery jiandiping amphorae
  14. Shimao culture: naming, distribution, and chronology
  15. A comparative study of Shimao and Taosi
  16. New insights into the settlement patterns of the capital city at Erlitou
  17. On the brass ewer unearthed from the crypt of the Shang-fang Śarīra Stupa of Qingshan Monastery in Lintong District, Shaanxi
  18. The physical evolution and biocultural adaptation indicated by the human skeletons of Donghulin site, Beijing
  19. Plant remains unearthed at the Donghulin site in Beijing: discussion on results of flotation
https://doi.org/10.1515/char-2021-0014
Keywords for this article
Donghulin site; cranial morphology; biocultural adaptation

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. New archaeological discoveries
  3. The Longshan culture site at Ximengzhuang, Tengzhou, Shandong
  4. The Honghe site in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang
  5. The grand platform of Huangchengtai at Shimao site in Shenmu, Shaanxi
  6. The 2018–2019 excavation of the Xiwubi site in Jiangxian County, Shanxi
  7. Zeng state cemetery at Zaoshulin during the Spring and Autumn period, Suizhou, Hubei
  8. The excavation of tomb M1 in Quangou cemetery, Wulan County, Qinghai
  9. Reports
  10. The 2016–2018 excavation of the cemetery at the Sunjiagang site, Lixian County, Hunan
  11. The excavation of a cache of lead ingots in Liujiazhuang Locus North of Yinxu, Anyang, Henan
  12. Research
  13. Analyzing the functional structure of pottery jiandiping amphorae
  14. Shimao culture: naming, distribution, and chronology
  15. A comparative study of Shimao and Taosi
  16. New insights into the settlement patterns of the capital city at Erlitou
  17. On the brass ewer unearthed from the crypt of the Shang-fang Śarīra Stupa of Qingshan Monastery in Lintong District, Shaanxi
  18. The physical evolution and biocultural adaptation indicated by the human skeletons of Donghulin site, Beijing
  19. Plant remains unearthed at the Donghulin site in Beijing: discussion on results of flotation
Downloaded on 1.5.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/char-2021-0014/html?lang=en
Scroll to top button