A study of stone artifacts found in the Tianhuadong Paleolithic site, Heqing, Yunnan

doi:10.16359/j.cnki.cn11-1963/q.2018.0047

Abstract

Abstract:

The Tianhuadong Paleolithic site is representative of a number of Late Pleistocene sites in the Caifeng River Paleolithic localities, which are located in the middle valley of the Jinshajiang River, Yunnan Province. The materials studied in this paper were found during field surveys and test excavations at Tianhuadong conducted in 2010, 2013 and 2016. Test excavation at the Tianhuadong site is located at the slope area in front of the cave, and five geological layers can be divided throughout the sequence. Among them, layers 2 to 5 belong to the cultural deposits that characterized by red silty clay. Dating results for each cultural layer are in stratigraphically consistent order and are between 95-50 kaBP. In total, 1122 stone artifacts have been found at the site, with basalt being the predominantly exploited raw material. The lithic assemblage at Tianhuadong possesses a diverse cultural appearance, as shown in various flaking technologies and tool types. Some specialized specimens, including prepared cores, elongated flakes, Levallois-like flakes, flakes produced from classic discoidal cores and Quina-like scrapers represent the unusual technological characteristics of the Tianhuadong site, which are similar to some Middle Paleolithic technological elements in the West.

Key words: Tianhuadong site, Caifeng River Paleolithic localities, Middle Paleolithic, Prepared core technology, Quina-like scraper

CLC Number:

K871.11

RUAN Qijun, LIU Jianhui, HU Yue, LI Bo, YANG Changcheng, LUO Xingrong. A study of stone artifacts found in the Tianhuadong Paleolithic site, Heqing, Yunnan[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2019, 38(02): 166-181.

Figures/Tables 11

References 27

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类型(Class)		Layer 1	Layer 2a	Layer 2b	Layer 3	Layer 4	地表Surface
石核（Cores）		2	1	0	1	0	33
完整石片(Whole flakes)		43	41	7	8	4	317
不完整石片(Fragments)		5	9	0	3	2	70
工具(Tools)	石锤残件(Broken hammerstones)	0	0	0	0	0	2
	普通刮削器(Unsecialized Scrapers)	0	1	1	3	0	33
	似-基纳型刮削器(Quina-like scrapers)	2	1	0	1	0	34
	锯齿刃器(Denticulates)	0	0	1	0	0	27
	凹缺器(Notches)	1	1	0	0	0	4
废品(Debris)		28	46	5	40	32	311
数量(n)		81	100	14	56	38	833
比例(%)		7%	9%	1%	5%	3%	74%

类型(Class)		Layer 1	Layer 2a	Layer 2b	Layer 3	Layer 4	地表Surface
石核（Cores）		2	1	0	1	0	33
完整石片(Whole flakes)		43	41	7	8	4	317
不完整石片(Fragments)		5	9	0	3	2	70
工具(Tools)	石锤残件(Broken hammerstones)	0	0	0	0	0	2
	普通刮削器(Unsecialized Scrapers)	0	1	1	3	0	33
	似-基纳型刮削器(Quina-like scrapers)	2	1	0	1	0	34
	锯齿刃器(Denticulates)	0	0	1	0	0	27
	凹缺器(Notches)	1	1	0	0	0	4
废品(Debris)		28	46	5	40	32	311
数量(n)		81	100	14	56	38	833
比例(%)		7%	9%	1%	5%	3%	74%

岩性(Raw material types)	石片(Flakes)	工具(Tools)	石核(Cores)	废品(Debris)	数量(n)	比例(%)
玄武岩 (Basalt)	424	93	31	324	872	78%
安山岩(Andesite)	39	6	5	32	81	7%
砂岩(Sandstone)	13	2	0	66	81	7%
凝灰岩 (Tuff)	13	1	1	21	37	3%
灰岩(Limestone)	9	5	0	12	27	2%
燧石 (Chert)	8	5	0	7	20	2%
玛瑙 (Agate)	1	1	0	1	3	0.30%
闪长岩 (Diorite)	2	0	0	0	1	0.20%
数量(n)	509	112	37	464	1122
比例(%)	45%	10%	4%	41%

岩性(Raw material types)	石片(Flakes)	工具(Tools)	石核(Cores)	废品(Debris)	数量(n)	比例(%)
玄武岩 (Basalt)	424	93	31	324	872	78%
安山岩(Andesite)	39	6	5	32	81	7%
砂岩(Sandstone)	13	2	0	66	81	7%
凝灰岩 (Tuff)	13	1	1	21	37	3%
灰岩(Limestone)	9	5	0	12	27	2%
燧石 (Chert)	8	5	0	7	20	2%
玛瑙 (Agate)	1	1	0	1	3	0.30%
闪长岩 (Diorite)	2	0	0	0	1	0.20%
数量(n)	509	112	37	464	1122
比例(%)	45%	10%	4%	41%

石片类型(Flake types)			数量(n)	比例(%)
完整石片(Whole flakes)(n=420)	普通石片（n=351）	Type I	14	3%
		Type II	51	12%
		Type III	83	20%
		Type IV	7	2%
		Type V	69	16%
		Type VI	127	30%
	长石片(Elongated flakes)		38	9%
	盘状石核石片(Flakes from discoidal core)		10	2%
	似-勒瓦娄哇石片(Levallois-like flakes)		5	1%
	三角形石片(Triangular flakes)		16	4%
不完整石片(Flake fragments)(n=89)	近端断片( Proximal end fragments)		7	8%
	中间断片(Middle section fragments)		3	3%
	远端断片(Distal end fragments)（n=66）	普通石片远端断片(unspecialized flakes)	62	70%
		长石片远端断片(elongated flakes)	2	2%
		三角形石片远端断片(triangular flakes)	2	2%
	左裂片(Left split)		5	6%
	右裂片(Right split)		8	9%