Abstract:

Bipolar knapping technique, as one of the basic lithic knapping strategies adopted by early hominins, was widely used since the earliest stone age to the ethnographic observation. Compared to the other important flaking technique (freehand percussion), the unique mechanism of bipolar knapping technique bears many advantages and weaknesses. What kinds of roles did the bipolar technique play during the human evolution also attracted great attention in the paleoanthropological research. At present, the experimental work and discussion of bipolar knapping strategy in Chinese Paleolithic archaeology is still rare, the discriminating attributes and economic strategy of bipolar technique have always been controversy for a long time. Combining with the experimental study on the Madigou site from the Nihewan Basin, this paper tries to make an illustration on terminology of bipolar knapping in details and definite the concept, application patterns, economic strategy, as well as the identification attributes of the technique. Furthermore, the authors suggest that the bipolar experiments on local raw materials should be carried out before the observation of bipolar products. In a word, this paper will bear significance on the identification of bipolar products excavated from archaeological sites and the interpretation of lithic technology as well as adapted behaviors adopted by early hominins in China.

Key words: bipolar technique, knapping strategy, bipolar knapping identification, Paleolithic archaeology