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At the broad Early/Middle/Late Pleistocene level, the Chinese hominin fossil site distribution data may inform on hominin mobility/behavioral/interaction strategies. Hominins during the Early Pleistocene and well into the Middle Pleistocene appear to be more restricted to central and southern China. By the advent of the late Middle Pleistocene hominins are found regularly in northern China and by the Late Pleistocene, hominin fossils are found in all latitudes and longitudes encompassing modern day China, and beginning some time during marine isotope stage 3 appear in higher altitudinal regions (e.g., Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau) as well. During the Middle Pleistocene a number of sites are found well away from major riverways suggesting an ability to transport potable water or perhaps an ability to be able to locate smaller bodies of fresh water. Given the paucity of evidence for storage containers until relatively recently in time, it is perhaps not that surprising that many of the Middle Pleistocene open-air sites are reportedly found in or near lacustrine environments. Hominins had a more restricted range due to climatic variation during the Early and early Middle Pleistocene, but were able to more successfully adapt to changing climes beginning during the late Middle Pleistocene. In part, this is due to a range of behavioral changes that hominins developed during the Pleistocene.
•Earlier Pleistocene hominins, impacted by climatic shifts, were generally restricted to southern and central China.•Beginning in the late Middle Pleistocene, hominins are more frequently found in northern China as well.•By the Late Pleistocene, modern humans are found dispersed throughout China.•Beginning some time during marine isotope stage 3, human foragers are found in high altitudinal environments.•Cultural and biological developments appearing during the Middle Pleistocene allowed hominins to survive successfully.