A Research Of Faunal Remains Excavated From Yinsuodao Site In Yunnan Province

Yinsuodao Site is sited at Haidong Town,the east coast of Erhai Lake of Yunnan Province.It is an abundant shell midden site,discovered and investigated by Yunnan institute of cultural relics and other offices in 2000.Then,in the year of 2003,it was excavated by the archaeological team of Yunnan.Many artifacts were discovered.The chronology of the site is clear,that is,Late Neolithic Age,Early Bronze Age,Middle Bronze Age,and Late Bronze Age.This site is rather complicated,for 65 layers are in some archaeological squares.In addition,the quantity of faunal remains inside is very large,12,585 specimens,including 10,486 specimens identified to species,403 specimens identified to anatomical part but species,and 1,696 unidentifiable specimens.These specimens belong to mammals, birds, bony fishes, reptiles, amphibians and molluscs.Yinsuodao Site an important archaeological site in Cang-er region.The fieldwork can be traced to the investigation of Dali region and the excavation of Bailong and other sites in the year of 1938.However,it remains lacking of chronological series.Fortunately,Yinsuodao Site is an ideal site that just fills the gap and sets a time scale for Cang-er and the region surrounded.Meanwhile, archaeological materials unearthed enrich our understanding of prehistoric cultures in the region.The study is an attempt to explore paleoecology,occupants'subsistence patter,customs,and bone tool's making procedure,relying on identification,measurement,modification mark observation, and statistics.The thesis could be divided into seven parts as follows. The first chapter is the preface of the study.It is a brief introduction to the location of Yinsuodao Site,archaeological context and the research methods would be used.The second chapter is a summary of primary data of zooarchaeological remains unearthed.It includes how many and what specimens are and some related issues.The third chapter is about the identification and description of the remains. Characteristics, quantity and frequency of each animal'bones (also including teeth and shells) are themes in this part.Moreover,some typical bones are detailed descripted and exhibited.The fourth chapter is an analysis of marks on the bone's surface.It includes classification, observation,and statistic analysis to the marks formed by agents,such as human,biological and geological modification.The fifth chapter can be named as the study of the procedure of bone tools.They can be classified based on function,which provides a road to explore occupants'behavior pattern.From the description and illustration,archaeologists are able to have a clear understanding to them.The sixth chapter is about subsistence pattern and paleoecology.Subsistence strategy study comes from the quantitative analysis of animal mortal age,and reconstruction of ecology is based on the research of sensitive animals'behaviors.The seventh chapter is the conclusion part.It is a synthetical study relying upon the above chapters.