Abstract: The Donggutuo site, located in the eastern Sangganhe basin of northern China is one of the most extensively excavated and prolific early Paleolithic localities yet discovered in China. Since 1981, more than 10000 stone artifacts have been recovered in direct association with a large mammalian faunal assemblage. The sample of predominantly chert artifacts is comprised of 1676 cores, whole flakes, retouched and modified pieces, miscellaneous fragments, and chunks mostly discovered in 1981. Flakes dominate the assemblage as a whole. Most of the artifacts were produced by direct hard-hammer percussion followed by minor bipolar technique. The patterns of procurement and utilization strongly suggest that the makers employed relatively standardized criteria in both the selection of raw materials and production of artifacts. The majority of stone artifacts are small in size and relatively wide-thin in shape. These objects include retouched and curated points, as well as various kinds of scrapers.The overall impression of the Donggutuo assemblage is one of marked affinity to the lithic assemblages recovered from Locality 1 (Homo erectus Pekin Man site) at Zhoukoudian. Taken as a whole, the Nihewan and Zhoukoudian assemblages can most parsimoniously be interpreted as the representing a single Lower Paleolithic “culture” or industry from Northern China.

Key words: Stone artifact; Lower Pleistocene; Donggutuo; Sangganhe basin