Abstract: The Shuidonggou site, located in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in North China, about 10 km east of the yellow River on the margins of the Ordos Desert, has maintained a hot spot for Paleolithic research since its discovery and excavations in 1923. The site is unique within the Chinese Paleolithic sequence for the presence of blade technology in the assemblage, and its origins and con- nections with western Eurasian Upper Paleolithic industries have often been discussed.
In the summers of 1999 and 2000, Chinese and American archaeologists and geologists conducted new surveys at the site, identified 12 hearths and hearth-related features and sampled an array of charcoals, faunal remains, lithic artifacts and bone tools at Locality 2, which is near Locality 1 and has never been excavated before. Stratigraphy at Shuidonggou Locality 2 is similar to that of Locality 1, and archaeological materials occur in two different contexts: mixed surface collections and stratified materials from sandy loess identified with Locality 1's typical “Shuidonggou Cultural Level”.
Eight AMS radiocarbon dates were obtained for Locality 2 (Table 2).Seven of these dates are on charcoals taken directly from the hearths and one is on ostrich eggshell, analyzed by the Beta Analytic. These age estimates range from～ 29 500—23800 BP, but cluster more tightly at 27000—25 000 BP, which generally match up with the date of 26190±800 on the only in situ radiocarbon-dated sample for Locality 1. Such dating results provide a reliable chronological framework for the Shuidonggou in- dustry for the first time.
The Shuidonggou lithic assemblage falls squarely within the range of variability of the blade-based Initial Upper Paleolithic industries in western Eurasia. Similar assemblages appear in the Mongolian Gobi and southern Siberia around 33000—27000 BP and 43000—39000 BP, respectively. New radiocarbon dates indicate clearly that the Shuidonggou industry is the latest Initial Upper Paleolithic remains in all of Eurasia, and its occurrence is prior to the emergence of microblade industries in North China, which have great implications for human migrations or cultural communications during the late Upper Pleistocene in North and East Asia and possible roots of microblade technology in blade industry in that vast area.

Key words: Blade industry; Microblade technology; 14C dating; Shuidonggou Locality 2