A Research Of Faunal Remains Excavated From Haminmangha Site In Inner Mongolia And Related Problem Study

Haminmangha Site is the largest and best preserved prehistoric settlement site found todate in Northeast China. The archaeological excavation of Haminmangha Site fills the gap ofprehistoric archaeology in northeast china, and be named one of the “2011annual top tenarchaeological discoveries”.Haminmangha Site, which is located20km to the southeast of Xebert Town, Horqin LeftMiddle Banner, Inner Mongolia, is a large-scale prehistoric settlement dated5500-5000BP andcovering an area about18ha. The pure cultural contents, the rich remains and artifacts and theclear cultural characteristics of this site show that it belongs to a new archaeological culture.In addition, the quantity of faunal remains inside is very large,25,857specimens,including9,349specimens identified to38species. These specimens belong to mollusks,reptiles, fishes, birds and mammals. The study is an attempt to explore paleoecology,subsistence pattern, customs, tools’ function and ornaments’ making procedure, relying onidentification, measurement, modification and statistics.The thesis is divided into ten parts as follows:Chapter one: It is a brief introduction to the location of Haminmangha Site, archaeologicalcontext and the research methods would be used.Chapter two: It is a summary of primary data of zooarchaeological remains unearthed. Itincludes how many and what specimens are and some related issues.Chapter three: This chapter is about the identification and description of the remains.Characteristics, quantity, position, the minimum number of individuals of each animal bonesare themes in this part. Moreover, lots of typical bones are detailed described and exhibited.Chapter four: This chapter is an analysis of marks on the bones’ surface. It includesclassification, observation and statistic analysis to the marks formed by geological, animal andhuman modification.Chapter five: The shell artifacts can be classified based on the shape and function. This part aims at discovering the features of the shell artifacts in terms of the processes of choosingmaterials, production and use. Therefore, we could have a better understanding of thecharacteristics and process level of shell artifacts as well as the living and producing conditionsin the locality.Chapter six: The bone, horn, tooth artifacts can be classified based on the shape andfunction. This part aims at discovering a road to explore occupants’ behavior pattern. From thedescription and illustration, we could have a clear understanding to them.Chapter seven: This chapter mainly includes two parts: the problem reflected by theunearthed bone materials and the seasonal conjecture. By the research of the pig bones’measuring size, age structure, sex structure, skeletal fragmentation and spatial distribution, todetermine the bones are from the wild boar. Through the analysis of the mussels collectingseasons and the horn getting season, we can speculate the site is used all year round.Chapter eight: This chapter mainly includes four parts: the comparative analysis of allkinds of animal populations, the structure of meat resources, the way of residents access tomeat resources, subsistence pattern.Chapter nine: The research of wild animals’ behaviors can investigate the reconstructionof ecology of Haminmangha Site.Chapter ten: This chapter is the conclusion part. It is a synthetical study relying upon theabove chapters.