The Lithic Assemblages of Xiaochangliang, Nihewan Basin: Implications for Early Pleistocene Hominin Behaviour in North China

Xiaochangliang (XCL), located in the Nihewan Basin of North China, is a key archaeological locality for understanding the behavioural evolution of early humans. XCL dates to ca. 1.36 Ma, making it one of the earliest sites in Northeast Asia. Although XCL represents the first excavation of an Early P...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2016-05, Vol.11 (5), p.e0155793-e0155793
Main Authors: Yang, Shi-Xia, Hou, Ya-Mei, Yue, Jian-Ping, Petraglia, Michael D, Deng, Cheng-Long, Zhu, Ri-Xiang
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Archaeology
Archaeology - methods
Biology and Life Sciences
China
Dispersal
Earth Sciences
Excavation
Flakes
Fossils
Geology
Geophysics
Hominidae
Human behavior
Humans
Laboratories
Lithic
Natural history
Paleontology
Physical Sciences
Pleistocene
Raw materials
Reduction
Sediments
Social Sciences
Stratigraphy
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Xiaochangliang (XCL), located in the Nihewan Basin of North China, is a key archaeological locality for understanding the behavioural evolution of early humans. XCL dates to ca. 1.36 Ma, making it one of the earliest sites in Northeast Asia. Although XCL represents the first excavation of an Early Pleistocene site in the Nihewan Basin, identified and excavated in the 1970's, the lithic assemblages have never been published in full detail. Here we describe the lithic assemblages from XCL, providing information on stone tool reduction techniques and the influence of raw materials on artefact manufacture. The XCL hominins used both bipolar and freehand reduction techniques to manufacture small flakes, some of which show retouch. Bipolar reduction methods at XCL were used more frequently than previously recognized. Comparison of XCL with other Early Pleistocene sites in the Nihewan Basin indicates the variable use of bipolar and freehand reduction methods, thereby indicating a flexible approach in the utilization of raw materials. The stone tools from XCL and the Nihewan sites are classifiable as Mode I lithic assemblages, readily distinguished from bifacial industries manufactured by hominins in Eastern Asia by ca. 800 ka.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0155793