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An increasing number of multidisciplinary field and laboratory projects focused on paleoanthropological sites from different areas of Asia are resulting in the discovery of many important findings. One such key area is southern China, particularly in the karst limestone caves of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, as a number of important hominin fossils have been discovered in recent years. In order to more intensively investigate the vast karst deposits of southern Guangxi, beginning in 2016 we initiated a systematic survey and excavation research program in Chongzuo City, southwest Guangxi. To date, this new field research initiative resulted in the discovery of eight new vertebrate fossil localities. One of these sites is the Yanlidong ("YLD") cave, which in addition to yielding a rich collection of vertebrate fossils, also included the discovery of three hominin fossil teeth. Based on morphological and metric comparisons, we tentatively assigned these three teeth to modern Homo sapiens. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of fossiliferous sediment indicate that age of these human teeth can be constrained between 30 and 65 ka. The implications of this new evidence from YLD and other nearby caves for the origin of modern humans in eastern Asia debate are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the most pronounced climatic episodes during the Holocene, the impact of the 8.2 ka BP cooling event was felt throughout the Northern Hemisphere. However, human behavioral responses to this climatic episode has only recently begun to be documented in different areas of the world. Southern China is one region where these human behavioral responses have yet to be clearly identified. Here, we present a recent discovery of stone artifacts from the Zhongshandong (ZSD) Cave Site, which is located in Bubing Basin, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. The cultural deposits within ZSD have been tentatively dated to the 8.2 ka BP cooling event. The ZSD Cave is a narrow, low ceiling cave about 60 m in length. Sixty-one stone artifacts were surface collected in the extremely dark terminal chamber in the back of the cave. One stone artifact was found in situ in the same area of the cave. The overlying stalagmite was U-series dated to 8130 ± 430 years BP and charcoal found below the artifact was AMS dated to 8242 ± 54 years BP. The stone artifact assemblage is comprised of cores, flakes, choppers, and scrapers produced on locally available river cobbles, an artifact collection normally assigned to the eastern Asian Early Paleolithic. Charcoal fragments are abundant in the cultural layer, implying that fire was possibly used for lighting and/or warmth. Interestingly, given the dimensions of the inner chamber and the fact that the cultural deposits sit about 60 m inside the cave, this would not be considered a typical area that would be suitable for long term human occupation. Although other possibilities may exist, one possible explanation may be that, due to the cold winter and/or harsh environment during the 8.2 ka BP climatic event, these hunter-gatherers were forced deeper inside the cave to set up their temporary campsite. This is a hypothesis that needs further testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China, Quaternary mammalian assemblages, commonly known as " Stegodon - Ailuropoda fauna", are well documented in the central and southwest parts of the region. Unfortunately, our knowledge of Quaternary biogeographic variation in other areas of Guangxi is poor due to limited systematic investigations. Here, we report the faunal remains from the newly discovered Diaozhongyan ("DZY") cave site in northeast Guangxi. Our initial excavation in autumn 2016 resulted in the removal of 10 square meters of sediment and the discovery of 304 pieces of large mammal teeth. Biostratigraphic correlations indicate a late Middle Pleistocene age and in situ fossil teeth and calcites were Uranium-series dated to ~210 ka. The DZY faunal assemblage consists of many typical components of the traditional " Ailuropoda - Stegodon " fauna representative of southern China. Interestingly, giant pandas, identified as Ailuropoda melanoleuca baconi , are one of the dominant components of the DZY fauna (15% of the entire assemblage). However, giant pandas rarely dominate Quaternary faunal assemblages in southern China. In addition, fossil orangutan (Pongo weidenreichi), one of the most common species in central and south Guangxi during the Middle Pleistocene, is absent in DZY in northeast Guangxi. Further, fossil orangutans have not been reported from other sites in Hunan or Hubei province. We hypothesize that the Nanling Mountains served as a geographic barrier for this species. Fossil orangutans are present southwest of this biogeographic line, but are absent northeast of the line. This biogeographic boundary needs to be further evaluated with additional studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pongo fossils with precise absolute age brackets are rare, limiting our understanding of their taxonomy and spatiotemporal distribution in southern China during the Late Pleistocene. Twenty-four isolated teeth of fossil orangutans were recently discovered during excavations at Yicun Cave in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. Here, we dated the fossil-bearing layer using Uranium-series dating of the associated flowstone and soda straw stalactites. Our results date the Yicun orangutan fossils to between 66 ± 0.32 ka and 57 ± 0.26 ka; thus, these fossils currently represent the last appearance datum of Pongo in southern China. We further conducted a detailed morphological comparison of the Yicun fossil teeth with large samples of fossil (n = 2454) and extant (n = 441) orangutans from mainland and island Southeast Asia to determine their taxonomic position. Compared to other fossil and extant orangutan samples, the Yicun Pongo assemblage has larger teeth and displays greater variation in occlusal structure. Based on the high frequency of cingular remnants and light to moderate enamel wrinkling of the molars, we assigned the Yicun fossils to Pongo weidenreichi , a species that was widespread in southern China throughout the Pleistocene. Lastly, we used published stable carbon isotope data of Early to Late Pleistocene mammalian fossil teeth from mainland Southeast Asia to reconstruct changes in the paleoenvironment and to interpret dental size variation of Pongo assemblages in a broader temporal and environmental context. The carbon isotope data show that dental size reduction in Pongo is associated with environmental changes. These morphological changes in Pongo appear to coincide with the expansion of savannah biomes and the contraction of forest habitats from the Middle Pleistocene onward. The variation in dental size of forest-dwelling Pongo in mainland Southeast Asia may have resulted from habitat differentiation during the Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To extend the range of materials that can be used to provide chronological constraint in archaeological and palaeontological settings, we explore the use of cave pearls that form in shallow pools. Here, we present U-series dating results of cave pearls found in cave sediments with mammal fossils collected from systematic excavations at the Diaozhongyan Cave ("DZY"), located in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. Similar to soda straw stalactites, cave pearls can be transported after formation and subsequently incorporated into sediments. Thus, the U-series ages of the outermost layers of cave pearls are expected to be older than their host sediments and associated archaeological and paleontological materials. In conjunction with U-series dating of mammal teeth, which can provide a reliable minimum age, U-series ages of cave pearls can provide a maximum age limit of the deposits. Thus, dating of the mammal teeth and cave pearls from DZY reasonably constrains the first occurrence of the DZY Ailuropoda-Stegodon fauna to a period between 205.6 ± 1.4 ka and 231.0 ± 12.8 ka. These age constraints agree well with previous estimates for the time range of the late Middle Pleistocene Ailuropoda - Stegodon fauna in southern China. We propose that greater attention should be paid to cave pearls, which are commonly found in cave deposits that were laid down at least in part due to fluvial activity, and can be used for U-series dating to better constrain the age of the associated cave deposits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A number of important early Late Pleistocene human fossils have been found in southern China. These new data have contributed to a major revision of the traditional Out of Africa model that argues modern humans did not disperse out of Africa until after 60 ka. At the same time, these findings have attracted increased attention by paleoclimate specialists (e.g., vertebrate paleontologists, sedimentologists) interested in identifying the characteristics and understanding the living environment of the region in which these early Late Pleistocene modern humans lived in. Unfortunately, research focused on the reconstruction of the Late Pleistocene paleoenvironment in southern China is still very limited. Here, we present an analysis of the clay mineral assemblage and geochemical characteristics of the sedimentary deposits from Luna Cave, one of these important early Late Pleistocene modern human sites in southern China. The results from the sedimentological analyses are consistent with previous paleontological and geological studies that showed the paleoclimate was strongly influenced by the East Asian monsoon and that the Late Pleistocene environment was relatively stable warm and humid. Further studies of coeval sites from the region are necessary to determine whether this is a consistent pattern across southern China or specific to the Bubing Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rarity of Pongo fossils with precise absolute dating from the Middle Pleistocene hampers our understanding of the taxonomy and spatiotemporal distribution of Quaternary orangutans in southern China. Here, we report a newly discovered sample of 113 isolated teeth of fossil Pongo from Zhongshan Cave in the Bubing Basin, Guangxi, southern China. We describe the Pongo specimens from Zhongshan Cave and compare them metrically to other samples of fossil Pongo species (i.e., Pongo weidenreichi , Pongo devosi , Pongo duboisi , Pongo palaeosumatrensis , Pongo javensis , and Pongo sp.) and to extant orangutans (i.e., Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii). The Zhongshan Pongo assemblage is dated using U-series and coupled electron spin resonance/U-series methods. Our results reasonably constrain the Zhongshan Pongo assemblage to 184 ± 16 ka, which is consistent with the biostratigraphic evidence. The Zhongshan Pongo teeth are only 6.5% larger on average than those of extant Pongo. The Zhongshan teeth are smaller overall than those of Pongo from all other cave sites in southern China, and they currently represent the smallest fossil orangutans in southern China. Based on their dental size, and the presence of a well-developed lingual pillar and lingual cingulum on the upper and lower incisors, an intermediate frequency of lingual cingulum remnants on the upper molars, and a higher frequency of moderate to heavy wrinkling on the upper and lower molars, we provisionally assign the Zhongshan fossils to P. devosi. Our results confirm earlier claims that P. weidenreichi is replaced by a smaller species in southern China, P. devosi , by the late Middle Pleistocene. The occurrence of P. devosi in Zhongshan Cave further extends its spatial and temporal distribution. The Pongo specimens from Zhongshan provide important new evidence to demonstrate that the dental morphological features of Pongo in southern China changed substantially during the late Middle Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Pongo fossil record of China extends from the Early Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene, but to date, no late Middle Pleistocene samples of Pongo with precise absolute dating have been identified in southern China. Here, we report the recovery of 106 fossil teeth of Pongo from Ganxian Cave in the Bubing Basin, Guangxi, southern China. We dated the speleothems using Uranium-series and dated the two rhinoceros teeth using coupled electron spin resonance/Uranium-series dating methods to between 168.9 ± 2.4 ka and 362 ± 78 ka, respectively. These dates are consistent with the biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic age estimates. We further describe the fossil teeth from Ganxian Cave and compare them metrically to samples of fossil Pongo (i.e., Pongo weidenreichi , Pongo duboisi , Pongo palaeosumatrensis , Pongo javensis , and Pongo sp.) from the Early, Middle, and Late Pleistocene and to extant Pongo (i.e., Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelii) from Southeast Asia. Based on overall dental size, a high frequency of lingual cingulum remnants on the upper molars, and a low frequency of moderate to heavy wrinkling on the molars, we attribute the Ganxian fossils to P. weidenreichi. Compared with Pongo fossils from other mainland Southeast Asia sites, those from Ganxian confirm that dental size reduction of Pongo occurred principally during the Early and Middle Pleistocene. From the Middle to Late Pleistocene, all teeth except the P3 show little change in occlusal area, indicating that the size of these teeth remained relatively stable over time. The evolutionary trajectory of the Pongo dentition through time may be more complex than previously thought. More orangutan fossils with precise dating constraints are the keys to solving this issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports the discovery of a new mammalian assemblage at Mocun cave in 2000 by the Natural History Museum of Guangxi. The Mocun site is located in a residual karst peak in southwest Guangxi, south China. Abundant mammalian fossil teeth and bones were extracted from relatively thick deposits, well constrained stratigraphically. The results show that 1) the Mocun fauna is composed of typical species of the " Ailuropoda - Stegodon association", including Stegodon, Ailuropoda, Rhinoceros, Pongo, Tapiru s, Megatapirus, and Elephas, common in the Middle to the Late Pleistocene, with a larger portion of modern species; 2) By employing U-series dating (MC-ICP-MS) method on both the soda straw stalactites and mammalian teeth collected from deposits, the age of the Mocun fauna has been constrained between 66 and 101 ka, a transitional period from the interglacial stage MIS5 to the beginning of the last glacial stage (MIS4), representing one of the securely dated Late Pleistocene sites in southern China so far; 3) The composition in large mammals suggests a forested environment which harboured a great biodiversity in large species; 4) The taphonomic analysis indicates that the fossil accumulation is mainly due to activities of porcupines and to water flows; 5) Interestingly, our taxonomic study reveals some changes in the occurrence of Tapirus sinensis and Megatapirus augustus between ∼66 and ∼86 Ka, along with a change in the abundance of artiodactyls versus primates. It remains to demonstrate with more comprehensive records if these changes may be related to the mid-Late Pleistocene climatic transition. • a new mammalian fauna cave site (Mocun cave) with accurate date to 66 and 101 ka in southwest Guangxi. • The composition in large mammals suggests a compatible habitat for a great biodiversity of species. • Some changes between layers with Tapirus sinensis replaced by Megatapirus augustus between ∼66 and ∼86 Ka, along with a change in the abundance of artiodactyls versus primates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stone bark cloth beaters are considered part of the archaeological package that is considered to be associated with the Austronesian expansion from southern China across the Pacific. Here, we present evidence from the Dingmo Site in Bubing basin in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China of a bark cloth beater excavated in situ from a stratigraphic layer AMS dated to 7898 ± 34 BP. Based on current evidence, the Dingmo bark cloth beater is ∼1300 years older than the previously reported oldest bark cloth beater from the Xiantouling Site in Shenzhen, Guangdong. The implications of this new finding are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]