Abstract:

Wangzhuang Locality 2, the Wujiawai site, and Yuegou Locality 1, all buried along the front margin of the third terrace on Danjiang River’s right bank are located in Xichuan Country, Henan Province. They were excavated in April 2009 by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as a salvage archaeological project due to construction of the Dangjiangkou reservoir dam at a higher latitude. Excavation of each site exposed an area of 100 m², and the number of stone artifacts collected from each site was 13, 33, 13, respectively, including cores, flakes, tools, and chunks. Raw materials of the sites were not the same because of differing constitutions of local gravels. Lithic analyses show that direct hard-hammer percussion was applied for knapping. Artifacts from Wangzhuang Locality 2 and the Wujiawai site share the same characteristics of the South China stone industry, whereas lithics from Yuegou Locality 1 were more closely aligned with the main North China stone industry. Clearly this Dangjiangkou reservoir region is a transitional area between North and South China, an important region for early hominid occupation, migration and cultural exchange during the Pleistocene. Excavation of these sites enriches the cultural prehistory in this area.

Key words: archaeology, lithics, Henan, Middle Pleistocene