Abstract:

During August 2019, Paleolithic archaeological survey was carried out in the Lushi Basin in the middle of South Luohe River, central China, 27 new Paleolithic open-air sites were identified and 123 lithic artifacts were collected. These sites are distributed on the first to fourth terrace of the South Luohe River, in situ lithic artifacts that buried in loess deposits have been found in some sites.

Lithic artifacts include cores, flakes, chunks and retouched tools. They can be roughly grouped as simple core-flake lithic industry. Lithic raw materials are quartz, sandstone and quartzite pebbles which were locally collected from river deposits. The cores include single-platform and multiple-platform production without preparation. The retouched tools include heavy-duty tools such as picks and choppers, as well as light-duty scrapers made on flakes.

According to the analyses of the loess-paleosol sequences, it is preliminarily concluded that most of the cultural layers are located in L1-S2 loess and paleosol units, which are formed during the late Middle Pleistocene to the late Pleistocene. Two stone artifacts from Xizhuangcunnan (19LS35) and Jiuzhaishan (19LS27) were buried in the S9 and S13 loess deposits respectively, these findings provide important information in relation to the early hominin occupation the basin in the Eastern Qinling Mountains. The investigation expands the timing and space of Paleolithic artifacts distribution in the Lushi Basin, and provides a more comprehensive information for the protection and scientific research of Paleolithic sites in the region.

Key words: Paleolithic artifacts, Open-air sites, Loess deposits, Lushi Basin, South Luohe River, Eastern Qinling Mountains