Abstract: The Haminmangha site is known for several hundred human skeletons which were messily piled in house pits and scattered in the site. It points towards a disastrous event. To understand the reason for the prehistoric tragedy, it is necessary to study the mode of production and cultural-ecological relationship of the native residents. So far it is not possible to directly draw a conclusion from the studies on the human skeleton remains because of bad conditions of human bones and ongoing preservation plan which prohibits moving any bones off their original positions. Therefore, it is through functional analysis of stone tools that we may break a new path to study these questions. The assemblage of stone tools contains few farming tools. The digging tool, stone pick (originally named Si, a farming tool used like spade), is characterized by a narrow and long form. Its use wear strongly suggests that they were actually using like a hoe on the sandy field. Our experimental study indicates that it is best for digging deep pits about forty centimeters, although it is also workable in other digging activities. In contrast to few farming tools, this assemblage includes a number of diverse tools for food processing, such as the classic toolkit of mortar and pestle, three other types of pestles, as well as nut-cracking tools. These tools are definitely related to diverse food processing activities which especially involve with plant roots and nut fruits. Arrowheads and knives fixed in bone handles that are finely manufactured more likely relate to hunting, and represent a significant part in their economy. The harvesting tools include only one polished stone knife and several shell knives. The existence of these tools correlating with the observation on the grounding tools such as mortar and pestle suggests that food production was probably practiced at the time, but its importance was limited in the economic composition of Haminmangha. Combining with the cultural-historical background and environmental conditions of the site, we can conclude that ancient residents of Haminmangha depended limitedly on farming, but much more on hunting and gathering, especially on the utilization of plant roots and nut fruits. They colonized a very marginal environment for farming, and chose a settlement pattern unmatched with their economic basis. It somehow sowed seeds for the disaster. The case of Haminmangha represented a typically failed adaptation in a marginal environment. When the Hongshan culture collapsed, population seemed to disperse and part of them entered this strange land. Its relatively complex social organization still required a highly concentrated settlement pattern which was very contradictory with the mixed economy that needs a more mobile residential organization. People therefore had to use broad spectrum food resources in their limited territory, and then the tragedy occurred when they used some dangerous resources and got infected by some plague. This research focuses on the stone tool assemblage of one site with a contextual approach. It stresses to understand the utilization of stone tools associated with cultural-ecological relationships. Our goal is not only to determine the function of a type of tools, but to explore the further systematic significance of cultural adaptation. Besides the research on the stone tools, we also recommend this approach in the analysis of lithic assemblages, especially those from the Neolithic sites.

Key words: Haminmangha site; functional analysis of stone tools; contextual approach; culturalecological relationship; prehistoric disaster