Abstract: The Beitaishanmiao site is situated on the third terrace of the right bank of the Hanshui River, at Guanmenyan village, Hanshui River district, Danjiangkou City, Hubei Province. The geographical position of the site is 32°41'13''N , 111°08'48''E. The site was excavated from November 21, 2006 to January 8, 2007, and exposed an excavated area of about 800m with a total thickness of more than 12m. Two hundred and seventy-seven artifacts were collected from the site.
The stone assemblage includes cores ( N = 43), flakes ( N = 126), chunks ( N = 53) and retouched tools ( N = 55). More than four kinds of raw materials are utilized in core reduction and tool manufacture, with quartzite being the predominant type, constituting 56% of the assemblage. The principal flaking technique is direct hammer percussion without core preparation. Four kinds of blanks for tool fabrication are pebbles, flakes, cores and chunks, with pebbles being the predominant type at 56.4%. Four retouched tool classes are identified: scrapers, choppers, picks and points. Modified tools appeared to be retouched by direct hammer percussion.
Lithic raw materials exploited at the site were locally available from ancient riverbeds close to the site, and the extent of raw material consumption in general was low. Choppers and scrapers are the most important types in the stone tool assemblage, with choppers more predominant. Note that when stone toolmakers focus on obtaining better tool edges, the tool shape is less important. When making artifacts, ancient toolmakers chose appropriately sized cobbles, selected raw materials with good flaking quality, sought acute angles when striking cobbles and as a result produced sharp-edged implements used for cutting. Research is still under way to address the question of the function of these modified stones. This industry fits the living pattern of local hominids and thus plays a significant role in the study of Hanshui River valley Paleolithic culture.
The Beitaishanmiao open-air site is an important site dating to the late Low Paleolichic. The stone tool assemblage shows close associations with the Pebble Tool Industry (Main Industry) in South China. Geomorphologic and chronological comparison with other sites in the Hanshui River district indicate that the age of the site should be close to the early Middle Pleistocene, which places the Beitaishanmiao industry during the Lower Paleolithic of China. The Hanshui River region is the transitional area between the two main industries of north and south China, and thus a region that plays a very important role in Chinese Lower Paleolithic research. Further paleoanthropological multidisciplinary field and laboratory studies can help to clarify this significance.

Key words: Hanshui River; Danjiangkou; Beitaishanmiao site; Stone artifacts; Early Middle Pleistocene