Acta Anthropologica Sinica ›› 2022, Vol. 41 ›› Issue (06): 967-981.doi: 10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2022.0010

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Core reduction and modification of stone artifacts from Chahayang farm, Heilongjiang

ZHANG Xuewei1(), WANG Chunxue1(), LI Youqian2   

  1. 1. School of Archaeology Jilin University, Changchun 130012
    2. Heilongjiang Provincial Archaeology and Cultural Relics Institute, Harbin 150008
  • Received:2021-05-20 Revised:2021-10-28 Online:2022-12-15 Published:2022-12-19
  • Contact: WANG Chunxue E-mail:294837430@qq.com;chunxuewang@163.com

Abstract:

The Chahayang state-run farm is located in Gannan County, Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, on the right bank of the Nenjiang River in the western margin of the Songnan Plain. The Palaeolithic archaeological field work and systematic excavations in Heilongjiang Province started in the 1930s. Thus far, more than 100 sites or localities have been reported or published, mainly for the Upper Palaeolithic. A new field survey was conducted in Gannan County in 2017 jointly by the Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, and the Heilongjiang Provincial Archaeology and Cultural Relics Institute. Upper Palaeolithic deposits and local jasper raw materials were found in a large area around Taipinghu Reservoir. In 2018, an excavation was conducted at a locality, named the Chahayang E2 locality in the Northeast Eighth Operation Area of the Taipinghu Reservoir Administrative Region (48°23′N, 124°1′E, H 295m) of this Farm. A total of 4624 stone artifacts were discovered including cores (n=23), complete flakes (267), micro-flaked flakes (10), blades (6), scrapers (9), fragments (126), chunks (156), and blanks (3096). The lithic assemblage is mainly produced by direct hammer percussion. This paper describes two distinct technological assemblages. A flake technology that is the local and dominant assemblage in North China, characterized by free-hand core reduction without preparation and simple tool modification. The other is blade technology represented by blade cores with platform preparation and working surfaces for the production of blades. The shapes of blade cores are varied, including wedge, prismatic and narrow-faced. Modified tools are represented by scrapers. Heavy duty tools are not evident at this site or in the surrounding area. This technological study provides a new reference for the origin, dispersal and development of blade technology in the Nenjiang River Basin. The period dates from the end of late Pleistocene to the early Holocene when environmental changes were severe, and the value of this work is in recognizing the evolution of cultural change in northeast China, and furthering discussion of migration dispersal and cultural diffusion in northeast Asia.

Key words: Nenjiang River, Chahayang, lithics, technology, Late Pleistocene

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