Abstract: The site of Xiaochangliang is situated at Datianwa, Yangyuan County, Hebei Province. It was found in 1978. You Yuzhu et al. suggest that the site belong to early Pleistocene in age. More than one thousand pieces of stone artifacts w ere found in situ in association with a mammalian fauna including Mimomys chinensis, Hyaenalicenti, Equus sanmeniensis and Proboscidipparion sinense. Some scholars regard the stone artifacts show rather progressiveness, even achieve the pattern of the loess period. Therefore occurs contradiction between the early age and the progressive techno-typology of the stone artifacts.
The present author reexamines and analyses the stone artifacts from the Xiaochangliang site. In his opinion, the irregular small artifacts do not mean the progressiveness of technology. According to You Yuzhu et al. in the collections from Xiaochangliang the rate of waste attains a percentage of over 90% . It means the rate of utilization of the raw materials is low rather than high as some scholars maintained. A few blade-like flakes with irregular sides are far from evidence of progressive technology. The so-called prepared platform on a flake has 4 facets due to the blows of different time even from different directions. It is difficult to affirm this flake has a prepared platform. Two flakes have been described as tools with very fine retouches. The present author thinks they are utilized flakes. In short, judged from flaking and retouch of the stone artifacts, the Xiaochangliang collections show simple and rough working , no any distinct progressive character can be observed on them. The types of stone tools are few and simple rather than complex. In comparison with those from the Peking Man site, the stone artifacts from the Xiaochangliang site are less progressive than the former; the latter does not at tain the techno-typo logical level of the late Pleistocene ones. It seems to the author that based on the materials so far published, the character shown on the stone artifacts from the Xiaochangliang site, by and large, coincide with the conclusions offered by the biostratigraphy and paleomagnetism.

Key words: Progressiveness, Stone artifacts, Early Pleistocene, Xiaochangliang