Abstract:

The new find of a microblade assemblage from the Dongjicuona Lakeside in Qinghai Province above 4000 m elevation, which is dated to the Middle Holocene, provides new materials concerning the technological characteristics and distribution patterns of the microblade industry in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and even the whole of China during the Holocene. The lithic assemblage includes wedge-shaped microblade cores, cylindrical microblade cores, end-scrapers and denticulates. Overall, the wedge-shaped, cylindrical and conical microblade core assemblage was relatively common in Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the Early and Middle Holocene, while the boat-shaped microblade core and biface which were common in North China during Upper Paleolithic were absent. Comparative study shows that the microblade industry of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau during the Early and Middle Holocene may not directly originate from the North China, but instead this region had close contact with the microblade industry of the adjacent areas (Northwest and Southwest of China) during the Early and Middle Holocene.

Key words: Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, Dongjicuona Lake Loc.3, Microblade core, Small biface