Abstract: Large point tools are a common type found in the middle Yangzi River valley and environs. In this paper, we examine the large point-tool assemblages from the perspective of the cha?ne opératoire identifying production technology variability in the region. In the assemblage upstream of the Han River, large point tools were produced by knapping cobbles. However, assemblages from Danjiangkou Reservoir had a higher frequency of large point tools than areas upstream of the Han River. Tools were made on cobbles by unifacial or bifacial retouch. Alternatively, large flakes (longer than 10 cm) were produced and then used as blanks to make large point tools. In the Three Gorges valley, large point tools are comparatively rare, and might have had similar functions to choppers. Compared with these regions, Liyang Plain has yielded the largest number of large point tools and these assemblages present the most complex technological system with at least three different technologies practiced. Technological variability and the persistence of technological tradition in each region indicate that the middle Yangzi River might have been occupied by different cultural groups but with certain degree of social and cultural relationship.

Key words: Middle Yangzi River; Large point tools; Chaine operatoire; Large flake; Knapping; cultural tradition