Abstract:

Yuxian basin, as the important area occupied by early hominins during Pleistocene, is located in the southeast part of the Nihewan basin (senso lato). During 2017 and 2018, a new Paleolithic survey were conducted by the staff from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences and related units and 27 new localities were discovered or confirmed. A total of 72 artifacts and 37 animal fossil fragments were recovered from the strata. According to the geomorphological and stratigraphic comparison among the Nihewan basin, the new localities can be assigned to two stages of Middle Pleistocene and late Upper Pleistocene which corresponded to Nihewan lacustrine sediments and loess respectively. Typologically, the artifacts of Middle Pleistocene include cores, flakes, tools and debris, and the raw materials are dominated by volcanic rocks, hard hammer knapping strategy was used for the core reduction. The artifacts of the late Upper Pleistocene are mainly made by dolomite and chert, hard hammer technology and soft hammer technology were both used by early hominins. It should be noted that the knapping strategy of Middle Pleistocene presents a different technological system compared to the same period of northeast part of the Nihewan basin. Moreover, small flake tool tradition and micro-blade technology were both existed in the Yuxian basin during late Upper Pleistocene.The new survey enriched the information and territory of early hominins occupation in the Nihewan basin (senso lato), and also support the valuable clues for interpreting the dispersal and adapted behaviors adopted by early hominins in the Yuxian basin.

Key words: Paleolithic survey, stone artifacts, Yuxian Basin, Middle Pleistocene, late Upper Pleistocene