关键词: 黑土沟遗址;旧石器;Olduvai正极性亚时;更新世早期;泥河湾盆地

Abstract: Heitugou is the oldest Paleolithic archaeological site known in the Nihewan basin, North China. According to the magnetostratigraphic data, the site is located in the Olduvai positive subchron of Matsuyama reverse chron, with a minimum age of 1.77Ma-1.95Ma BP. In 2006, an archaeological geology exploration at the site was carried out which indicates that the cultural layer in the test pit is about 1.33 m thick and composed of four natural layers. The unearthed relics total 20585 specimens, including 20489 stone artifacts and 96 fragments of mammalian fossils from about 7.6 m3 of excavated volume. The assemblage of stone artifacts consists of cores (0.36%), flakes (97.9%), chunks (1%) and implements (0.74%); the flakes include 87.74% angular fragments. Most of the stone artifacts are small and well preserved; three sets of refitted flakes were found at the site. There was a dense accumulation of artifacts manufactured with the bipolar technique accounting for at least 19.74 artifacts per cubic meter in the cultural layer. The stone artifacts from Heitugou indicate the fact that humans occupied East Asia when the Dmanisi “little people” emerged in Georgia as the original out of Africa travelers. Judging on the basis of the characteristics of the stone artifacts, it is suggested that Heitugou is not the earliest site with evidence of human activity in the Nihewan basin. In the Nihewan basin the search for the most ancient Paleolithic remains and early human fossils is an important survey subject worthy to continue exploring in the future.

Key words: Paleoliths; Heitugou site; Olduvai subchron; Nihewan basin