Paleoanthropology and Paleolithic Archaeology in the People's Republic of China by Rukang Wu;Olsen John W.;Howells F.Clark; & John W. Olsen

Author:Rukang, Wu;Olsen, John W.;Howells, F.Clark; & John W. Olsen [Rukang, Wu & Olsen, John W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Group
Published: 2023-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Xiaochangliang, Hebei

The Xiaochangliang site is 500 m northwest of Guanting Village in Yangyuan County, Hebei (41°13’N, 114°40’E). During investigations in 1978, the geological section at Xiaochangliang was found to consist of a bedrock base overlain by a thick deposit of interbedded sands and clays of the Nihewan Formation (You et al. 1980). The sequence is capped by an 8-15-m thick bed of loess. A layer of sand and concretions some 40 m below present ground surface was found to contain remains of extinct horses and deer. In a reddish-yellow sand lense an additional 20 m deeper, more mammalian fossils and stone artifacts were discovered (Figure 8.7).

Figure 8.7 Geological section, Xiaochangliang, Nihewan, Hebei. The preliminary investigations at Xiaochangliang yielded 84 cores, flakes, and implements, in addition to lithic-waste material. Six bone splinters, tentatively thought to have been the product of human activity, were also discovered. The lithic raw material most commonly used was flint. Flakes are relatively thin with sharp edges, some apparently having been utilized without any prior retouching. Of particular interest is the fact that bipolar flakes are present in the Xiaochangliang assemblage, perhaps establishing it as an early member of a generalized North Chinese Palaeolithic tradition that has as one of its distinguishing characteristics the pervasive use of anvil-supported direct percussion to produce bipolar flakes. The small scrapers and choppers that are also typical of the Xiaochangliang collection were retouched onto their dorsal surfaces (Figures 8.8 and 8.9).

Figure 8.8 Artifacts from Xiaochangliang, Nihewan, Hebei; A, chopper; B,C, scrapers.Figure 8.9 Artifacts from Xiaochangliang, Nihewan, Hebei: A,B, flint flakes; C-E, flint scrapers. Archaeomagnetic dates originally suggested an age for the Nihewan Formation of 3.0 to 1.52 million years based on geological investigations conducted at Xiaodukou, about 2 km northwest of the Xiaochangliang site. Geological correlation led scholars to conclude that the Xiaochangliang cultural remains also dated to this range. Recent recalculations of the age of the Nihewan Formation indicate an age of roughly 1 million years for the Xiaochangliang archaeological assemblage. Nonetheless, these artifacts constitute some of North China’s earliest Palaeolithic remains.

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