Age and context of the oldest known hominin fossils from Flores

作者：Brumm Adam^*; van den Bergh Gerrit D^*; Storey Michael; Kurniawan Iwan; Alloway Brent V; Setiawan Ruly; Setiyabudi Erick; Gruen Rainer; Moore Mark W; Yurnaldi Dida; Puspaningrum Mika R; Wibowo Unggul P; Insani Halmi; Sutisna Indra; Westgate John A; Pearce Nick J G; Duval Mathieu; Meijer Hanneke J M; Aziz Fachroel; Sutikna Thomas; van der Kaars Sander; Flude Stephanie; Morwood Michael J

来源：Nature, 2016, 534(7606): 249-+.

DOI：10.1038/nature17663

Recent excavations at the early Middle Pleistocene site of Mata Menge in the So'a Basin of central Flores, Indonesia, have yielded hominin fossils(1) attributed to a population ancestral to Late Pleistocene Homo floresiensis(2). Here we describe the age and context of the Mata Menge hominin specimens and associated archaeological findings. The fluvial sandstone layer from which the in situ fossils were excavated in 2014 was deposited in a small valley stream around 700 thousand years ago, as indicated by Ar-40/Ar-39 and fission track dates on stratigraphically bracketing volcanic ash and pyroclastic density current deposits, in combination with coupled uranium-series and electron spin resonance dating of fossil teeth. Palaeoenvironmental data indicate a relatively dry climate in the So'a Basin during the early Middle Pleistocene, while various lines of evidence suggest the hominins inhabited a savannah-like open grassland habitat with a wetland component. The hominin fossils occur alongside the remains of an insular fauna and a simple stone technology that is markedly similar to that associated with Late Pleistocene H. floresiensis.

• 出版日期2016-6-9
• 单位中国地质博物馆