Abstract: Shuidonggou Locality 7 (SDG7), as one newly discovered and excavated sites in the Shuidonggou site cluster, is c. 300 m southeast of SDG1. The site is situated 1205 m a.s.l. on the 2th terrace of the left bank of a tributary named the Biangou river of the Yellow river at N 38°17′52″, E 106°30′21″. It was discovered in 2002 and excavated in 2003, 2004, and 2005 as an important research locality of the Shuidonggou multi-disciplinary project directed by Prof. Gao Xing from IVPP. The excavations exposed an area of 25 m2. Twelve stratigraphic layers were identified at the site, with a total thickness of more than 10 m. Archaeological remains including 9,901 lithic artifacts, more than 1,000 animal fossils and ostrich egg shell fragments, as well as two ostrich egg shell beads are limited to the five lowest layers above the basal gravel layer. The three middle cultural layers have yielded OSL dates of c. 25,200 to 27,200 BP. Technologically, the SDG7 lithic assemblage is dominated by debitage (N=9617, 97.13%), followed by retouched pieces (N=121, 1.22%), freehand cores (N=106, 1.07%), bipolar elements (N=52, 0.53%), and percussors (N=5, 0.05%). Lithic raw materials derive from local sources. Silicified limestone, dolomite, and chert dominate, while quartzite, chert, and quartz are less common. Most artifacts are small in size. Freehand flaking is more prominent than bipolar technique at the site. Complete flake types demonstrate that the later stage of core reduction is represented by a high percentage (60.15%) of Type III and VI flakes. Only 6 complete flakes have blade dimensions and with no blade cores unearthed, blade technology was not used by hominins at this site. Scrapers (N=105, 86.78%) dominate retouched pieces, followed by notches, denticulates, and points. Most of the retouched pieces were casually retouched on the dorsal surface by direct hammer percussion. The SDG7 lithic assemblage shows small flake technology in North China. It can be inferred that the coming integrated research of SDG7 will shed light on the study of relationship between blade and flake technology, different technologies through population movements, origin of modern human behavior, and hominin occupation adapted to the environment in the Shuidonggou site or generally North China.

Key words: Late Paleolithic; Flake technology; Shuidonggou Locality 7; Ningxia