JINNIUSHAN
LOCATION
Solution cavity in the Jinniushan karst tower, about
8 km S of Yinkou, Liaoning Province, China.D I s COVERY
Jinniushan Combined Excavation Team, 1984.
MATERIAL
Partial hominid skeleton including cranium.DATING AND STRATIGRAPHIC CONTEXT
The hominid locality is one of a series of filled
fissures in the karst tower, and contains a total thick-
ness of deposits of about 15 m. The hominid fossil
itself came from layer 6 or 7 of the deposits (contrast
Lu, in Pope, 1992, with Chen et al., 1994), which
contained a fauna said to be of lower Middle
Pleistocene aspect and was originally U-series dated
at around 280 Ka (Lu, 1985). Wu (1988), expressed
reservations about this date, and new U-series
and ESR dating on mammal teeth by Chen et al.
(1994) has resulted in a minimum age estimate of
ca. 200 Ka.ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT
Only two stone tools are known from the site, from
the top of the deposits, well above the hominid.
There is no evidence that this was ever an occupa-
tion site.PREVIOUS DESCRIPTIONS AND ANALYSES
Originally assigned to Homo erectus (Lii, 1985), the
hominid has latterly been compared more closely to
“archaic Homo sapiens” (e.g., Wu, 1988; Pope, 1992).
Chen et al. (1994: 55) noted that “the morphology of
the skull suggests a strong local component of evolu-
tion, consonant with the ‘multiregional continuity’
model of the evolution of H. sapiens;” yet at the same
time they noted that their dating made the Jinniushan
hominid “almost as old as some of the latest Chinese
Homo erectus,” and thereby “raise[d] the possibility
of the coexistence of the two species in China.”
The most obvious comparison is with Dali. Cranial
capacity is given as 1390 ml by Wu and Poirier (1995).MORPHOLOGY
Large cranium in fragments; reconstructed. Recon-
struction looks very good. Not very thick-boned.
Supraorbital region massive; lower face more gracile;
zygomatic region very lightly built, right to posterior
root of zygomatic arch. All teeth present except for
RP1 and L12. All show serious linear hypoplasia; most
are heavily worn.
In profile, neurocranium long and quite low.
Frontal rise situated not too far behind supraorbital
margins; quickly turns back to curve very gently to
region of asterion, where it turns down more steeply to
flow into a somewhat swollen occipital plane. Short,
somewhat rounded occipital plane curves sharply into
a long, essentially horizontal nuchal plane. In frontal
view, biorbital breadth is similar to maximum cranial416