Morphometric Analysis of the Facial Profile: Contour of the Side Face and its Variations.

Much research has been conducted on the morphological characteristics of the Chinese. However, very few facial measurements have been documented, especially of the side face. This study uses geometirc morphometric method to analyze the contour and variations of the side face in Bai and Yi ethnic minorities from Yunnan province, China. The mark collection proves that for the Bai ethnicity, the variations of the nose are comparatively large, while the forehead variations are small. Variations around the lips and the chin are the largest. For the Yi ethnicity, the forehead also witnesses small variations and the nose again has large variations. The area around the glabella has large variations. Through the comparisons, the area around the glabella tends to extrude more in males both in Bai and Yi. The situation, however, is much more different when it comes to the trichion landmark collection where we see an apparent intrusion in males. For the trichion, Yi people are more intruded than the Bai. Similarities between Bai and Yi are demonstrated by principal component analysis: one can roughly set the males apart from the females using the vertical axis. Profile at the end of horizontal axis suggests that the female facial profile has the following features: the nose is not so prominent as the male, the forehead and the nose are linked by an noticeable arc, the forehead is comparatively steep and is almost in a vertical plane with the lips and the chin. By comparison, the male has a flatter forehead, a more prominent nose, an obvious sellion, and an intruded chin. The common morphologic features of the Chinese face may be reflected through these similarities.

Mass spectrometric U-series dating of Huanglong Cave in Hubei Province, Central China: evidence for early presence of modern humans in Eastern Asia.

Most researchers believe that anatomically modern humans (AMH) first appeared in Africa 160-190 ka ago, and would not have reached eastern Asia until ∼50 ka ago. However, the credibility of these scenarios might have been compromised by a largely inaccurate and compressed chronological framework previously established for hominin fossils found in China. Recently there has been a growing body of evidence indicating the possible presence of AMH in eastern Asia ca. 100 ka ago or even earlier. Here we report high-precision mass spectrometric U-series dating of intercalated flowstone samples from Huanglong Cave, a recently discovered Late Pleistocene hominin site in northern Hubei Province, central China. Systematic excavations there have led to the in situ discovery of seven hominin teeth and dozens of stone and bone artifacts. The U-series dates on localized thin flowstone formations bracket the hominin specimens between 81 and 101 ka, currently the most narrow time span for all AMH beyond 45 ka in China, if the assignment of the hominin teeth to modern Homo sapiens holds. Alternatively this study provides further evidence for the early presence of an AMH morphology in China, through either independent evolution of local archaic populations or their assimilation with incoming AMH. Along with recent dating results for hominin samples from Homo erectus to AMH, a new extended and continuous timeline for Chinese hominin fossils is taking shape, which warrants a reconstruction of human evolution, especially the origins of modern humans in eastern Asia.