Abstract: The Chibaling site located in Fengdu County, Chongqing, is one of the important Paleolithic sites in the Three Gorges Region in China. It was excavated in 2007 by archaeologists from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (Chinese Academy of Sciences), as part of the salvage archeology in this region. The excavation area was divided into A and B trench, which exposed area of 500 m2 and 14m2 respectively. The excavation of trench A yielded 200 lithic artifacts including cores, flakes, retouched artifacts and chunks. Among them, 9 or 4. 5% could be refitted into four groups. The study of the refitted artifacts indicates that raw materials exploited at the site were procured from local abundant cobbles buried in the ancient riverbeds. Direct hard hammer percussion was the dominant flaking technique, but anvil chipping was also used. The refitted groups consisted of core & core and core & flake classes, which showed low degrees of flaking. It can be inferred from the refitted artifacts that although specimens from trench A were buried immediately after manufacture, they were transported a short distance away from the original cultural layer.
The Three Gorges region is one of the highest density areas of Paleolithic site in China, where a large number of cave and open-air localities are distributed along the Yangtze River. The lithic technology shows distinctive characters of the Pebble Tool Tradition in South China. Studies of refitting can be used to interpret the formation and function of artifacts, cognitive competence in manufacturing, and occupation and survival strategies used by early humans. In addition, refitting analysis can also provide insights into the evolution and migration of early humans as well as providing evidence for the exchange, penetration and influence of lithic industries between North and South China during the Pleistocene.

Key words: Stone artifacts; Refitting; Flaking technique; Chibaling site