Home Range Size in Middle Pleistocene China and Human Dispersal Patterns in Eastern and Central Asia

Abstract

Home range size in Middle Pleistocene China can be explored based on various lines of evidence. This paper provides a brief review of home range size from the perspectives of raw material source distance and the geographic location of archaeological localities in the eastern half of China. In most cases, hominids exploited lithic materials for tool manufacture from sources close to their camps. This is indicative of small home range size in the Middle Pleistocene of this region. Hominid occupation of upland localities in the later Middle Pleistocene may reflect a larger home range than previously. In the wider geographic context, based on faunal dispersals, hominid nlOrphology, and also with reference to some relevant ecological hypotheses, it is difficult to defend the idea of geographic isolation of Eastern Asia in the Pleistocene. Rather, it seems that hominid dispersal within Eurasia may have been a significant behavioral attribute contributing to the evolution and survival of Homo species. KEYWORDS: China, home range, dispersal.