旧石器狩猎采集人群向青藏高原东北部扩散的过程和环境适应研究

The history and mechanism of human spread to the Tibetan Plateau is an internationally hot issue. Although many progresses have been achieved in the past decades, there are still many debates about the subsistence, mobility and environmental adaptation of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers on the Tibetan Plateau, as the lack of archaeological excavations and related studies in Paleolithic sites on the Tibetan Plateau. To solve this problem, we choose Northeastern Tibetan Plateau as the study region, planning to do Paleolithic archaeological survey in Hehuang Region and Guoluo Region and do excavation in five Paleolithic sites at different altitudes. By carefully dating the new sites and the excavated sites, we will try to understand the spatial and temporal distribution variations of Paleolithic sites. By studying the archaeological, floral and faunal remains obtained from excavation, we will try to understand the technology, resource exploitation and mobility strategies of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers. By analyzing paleo-environment indexes, we will try to reconstruct the living environments of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers. Based on all above studies, we aim to build a model of Paleolithic hunter-gatherers spread to the Northeastern Tibetan Plateau, answer the question of when the seasonal and year-round exploration of different altitude Tibetan Plateau emerged, and explain hunter-gatherers’ behavioral adaptation strategies in different environments. Finally, this study will provide key evidences for studies of the mechanism of human spread to the Tibetan Plateau and high elevation adaptations.

人类向青藏高原扩散的历史与机制是当前国际前沿和热点问题。尽管该领域研究近年取得了明显进展，但关于青藏高原上旧石器狩猎采集人群的活动范围、生存方式和环境适应等问题的认识仍存在很大争议，主要瓶颈在于青藏高原旧石器遗址调查、发掘及相关研究的严重不足。针对此问题，本项目选择青藏高原东北部作为研究区，在海拔逐步递增的河湟地区和果洛地区开展系统考古调查和遗址测年，了解旧石器遗址时空分布；在位于不同海拔高度的五个旧石器遗址开展发掘和考古及动植物遗存分析，研究古人类的工具制作技术、资源利用和移动模式；通过环境代用指标分析，重建发掘遗址的古人类生存环境。从而，建立旧石器狩猎采集人群向青藏高原东北部逐步扩散的模型，回答狩猎采集人群在青藏高原不同海拔地区季节性和常年活动的最早时间问题，阐释狩猎采集人群对不同生存环境的技术适应模式，为进一步探讨古人类向青藏高原扩散的机制和高海拔环境适应等重大学术问题提供科学依据。