Earliest parietal art:hominin hand and foot traces from the middle Pleistocene of Tibet  

青藏高原上发现世界最老的岩面艺术

作　　者：David D.Zhang Matthew R.Bennett Hai Cheng Leibin Wang Haiwei Zhang Sally C.Reynolds Shengda Zhang Xiaoqing Wang Teng Li Tommy Urban Qing Pei Zhifeng Wu Pu Zhang Chunru Liu Yafeng Wang Cong Wang Dongju Zhang R.Lawrence Edwards 章典;Matthew R.Bennett;程海;王蕾彬;张海伟;Sally C.Reynolds;张盛达;王晓晴;李腾;Tommy Urban;裴卿;吴志峰;张普;刘春茹;汪亚峰;王聪;张冬菊;R.Lawrence Edwards(School of Geography and Remote Sensing,Guangzhou University,Guangzhou 510006,China;Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences and Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China;Department of Life and Environmental Sciences,Bournemouth University,Talbot Campus,Fern Barrow,Poole BH125BB,UK;Institute of Global Environmental Change,Xi’an Jiaotong University,Xi’an 710054,China;Department of Earth Sciences,University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong,China;Department of Archaeology and Anthropology,Bournemouth University,Fern Barrow,Poole BH125BB,UK;Department of Classics,Tree-ring Laboratory,Cornell University,Ithaca,NY 14853-3201,USA;Department of Social Sciences,Education University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong,China;State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics,Institute of Geology,China Earthquake Administration,Beijing 100029,China;School of Economics,Jinan University,Guangzhou 510006,China;Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems(Ministry of Education),College of Earth and Environmental Sciences,Lanzhou University,Lanzhou 730000,China;Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences,University of Minnesota,Minneapolis,MN 55455,USA)

机构地区：[1]School of Geography and Remote Sensing,Guangzhou University,Guangzhou 510006,China [2]Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences and Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100101,China [3]Department of Life and Environmental Sciences,Bournemouth University,Talbot Campus,Fern Barrow,Poole BH125BB,UK [4]Institute of Global Environmental Change,Xi’an Jiaotong University,Xi’an 710054,China [5]Department of Earth Sciences,University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong,China [6]Department of Archaeology and Anthropology,Bournemouth University,Fern Barrow,Poole BH125BB,UK [7]Department of Classics,Tree-ring Laboratory,Cornell University,Ithaca,NY 14853-3201,USA [8]Department of Social Sciences,Education University of Hong Kong,Hong Kong,China [9]State Key Laboratory of Earthquake Dynamics,Institute of Geology,China Earthquake Administration,Beijing 100029,China [10]School of Economics,Jinan University,Guangzhou 510006,China [11]Key Laboratory of Western China’s Environmental Systems(Ministry of Education),College of Earth and Environmental Sciences,Lanzhou University,Lanzhou 730000,China [12]Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences,University of Minnesota,Minneapolis,MN 55455,USA

出　　处：《Science Bulletin》2021年第24期2506-2515,M0004,共11页科学通报（英文版）

基　　金：supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(41971110 and 41888101);the Second Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research Program(2019QZKK0601);the Early Career Scheme of Research Grants Council of Hong Kong(28300717)。

摘　　要：At Quesang on the Tibetan Plateau we report a series of hand and foot impressions that appear to have been intentionally placed on the surface of a unit of soft travertine.The travertine was deposited by water from a hot spring which is now inactive and as the travertine lithified it preserved the traces.On the basis of the sizes of the hand and foot traces,we suggest that two track-makers were involved and were likely children.We interpret this event as a deliberate artistic act that created a work of parietal art.The travertine unit on which the traces were imprinted dates to between~169 and 226 ka BP.This would make the site the earliest currently known example of parietal art in the world and would also provide the earliest evidence discovered to date for hominins on the High Tibetan Plateau(above 4000 m a.s.l.).This remarkable discovery adds to the body of research that identifies children as some of the earliest artists within the genus Homo.青藏高原高寒、缺氧,属于地球上居住条件极端恶劣的环境.人类在什么时候克服生理和生存的重重困难去征服高原是人类演化历史中至关重要的科学问题.在第二次青藏高原综合科学考察过程中,研究团队在西藏邱桑温泉附近发现了一组由古人类有意留下的手印和脚印(简称手脚印).通过对这些手脚印进行详细的3D扫描,解剖学和沉积学分析,以及铀系法测年,发现这些手脚印是由古人类在泉华软泥上用其手脚压制而成,随后这些留有印记的软泥迅速脱水并固结成岩,得以长期保留.这些手脚印形成于距今16.9~22.6万年,是人类占据高原已知最早的记录.由于这些有意压制的手脚印排列有序并富于创造性,研究团队认为这是世界上最古老的岩面艺术,其中的手印也是世界上目前已知最古老有意创作的手印.该研究显示邱桑古人类比智人走出非洲的时间更早,但与最近在青藏高原边缘发现的丹尼索瓦人的年代相近.手脚印的创作者究底是丹尼索瓦人还是其他直立人?这给考古学家们留下了新的挑战.

关 键 词：TIBET Parietal art ICHNOLOGY HOMININ 

分 类 号：K878[历史地理—考古学及博物馆学] N8[历史地理—历史学] P941.74[自然科学总论]