Paleolithic Cultures in China: Uniqueness and Divergence

• Published in: Current anthropology 2013-12, Vol.54 (S8), p.S358-S370
• Main Author: Gao, Xing
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptation; African culture; Alternative Approaches; Archaeological dating; Archaeological research; Asia; China; Chinese culture; Conferences; Cross-national analysis; Cultural anthropology; Cultural Pluralism; Eurasia; Far East; Fossils; Generalities; Hand axes; History of technology; Human evolution; Humans; Lithic industry; Material culture; Methodology and general studies; Multiculturalism; Palaeolithic and mesolithic; Paleolithic Age; Pebbles; Peoples Republic of China; Prehistoric technology; Prehistoric tools; Prehistory and protohistory; Raw Materials; Scrapers; Stone Age; Stone tools; Typology, technology and attribute analysis
• ISSN: 0011-3204; 1537-5382
• DOI: 10.1086/673502

This paper presents an overview of the Chinese Paleolithic industries between 300 ka and 40 ka, a time span now termed the “later Early Paleolithic” (LEP) in the Chinese chronological scheme. It describes the unique features of LEP remains in China compared with contemporaneous materials in Africa and western Eurasia as well as the internal diversity and complexity of these Chinese Paleolithic assemblages. Basic features of LEP remains in China include the persistent and conservative pebble-tool and simple flake-tool traditions, the use of poor-quality local raw materials, tool fabrication on pebbles and direct use of unretouched flakes, opportunistic flaking, simple and casual modification, and the lack of obvious temporal trends. The diversity and complexity of Chinese Paleolithic cultures as they are expressed in terms of the major difference between southern China’s pebble-tool tradition and northern China’s simple flake-tool tradition are also assessed. Based on such generalizations and analyses, a comprehensive behavioral model is proposed to explain the unique features of LEP cultures in China and the alternative pathway of human evolution and adaptation in China during that period of time.