YUNXIAN
(Quyan River Mouth)
LO CATION
Open site in river terrace deposits, Yunxian County,
Hubei Province, China.
DISCOVERY
Farm workers, 1989 (Yunxian 1) and 1990 (Yunxian 2).
MATERIAL
Two badly deformed crania. Yunxian 1 (EV 9001) is
vertically compressed but has a good palate, dentition,
and base. Yunxian 2 (EV 9002) is similarly squashed,
but is more complete and has better preservation of
the face and vault.
DATING AND STRATIGFUPHIC CONTEXT
Yunxian 1 was found by a farmer in fill that had been
taken from a local river terrace. Yunxian 2 was recov-
ered in situ, along with other mammal fossils and
several dozen stone tools (Pope, 1992). The two speci-
mens were reportedly found close together both strati-
graphically and spatially (Li and Etler, 1992). As Pope
(1992) points out, dating of these hominids is problem-
atic, but faunal indicators point to a (possibly later)
Middle Pleistocene age. T. Li (quoted by Pope, 1992)
has apparently reported a U-series date of 400 Ka.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
Li and Etler (1992) report the recovery of an associated
artifact assemblage that includes large cores, uni- and
bifacial tools on cobbles, and flakes and flake fragments.PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS AND ANALYSES
The Yunxian finds were first announced by Li et al.
(1991), and were subsequently reported and com-
mented on in the English-language press by Li and
Etler (1992) and Pope (1992), respectively. Li and
Etler described the specimens together, using Yunxian
2 as their principal exemplar, and concluded that they
showed similarities both to Homo erectus and to “ar-
chaic Homo sapiens.”They opted to assign the Yunxian
hominids to Homo erectus, “founded on a set of ances-
tral hominid traits and regional polymorphisms”
(p. 407), which they suggested provide support for
regional evolution in eastern Asia. Pope, in contrast,
preferred to stress the differences the two specimens
show from Homo erectus, and indeed from all other
Pleistocene hominids previously known from China.
Li and Etler (1992) state that the cranial capacity of
EV2002 was in the 1000-1300 ml range.MORPHOLOGY
Two crushed crania. Both huge, with large faces but
even more massive neurocrania. Both crushed from
top to bottom, but Yunxian 1 more severely. Muscle
markings minimal on both specimens.Yunxian 2 (EV 9002)
Neurocranium compressed somewhat from top to bot-
tom and distorted from L to R. Both zygomatic arches
missing, as is most of supraorbital tori and R nasoalveo-
lar clivus. Nasal region distorted to the L; also shearing
of R side of nasal aperture. Some weathering of bone.538