Acta Anthropologica Sinica ›› 2021, Vol. 40 ›› Issue (02): 307-319.doi: 10.16359/j.cnki.cn11-1963/q.2019.0072

• Literature Reviews • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Defining wedge-shaped cores and classification of microblade cores

JIN Yingshuai1,2,3(), ZHANG Xiaoling1,2(), YI Mingjie4   

  1. 1. Laboratory for Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of CAS at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044
    2. CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing 100044
    3. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049
    4. School of History, Renmin University of China, Beijing 100872
  • Received:2019-02-11 Revised:2019-04-20 Online:2021-04-15 Published:2021-04-13
  • Contact: ZHANG Xiaoling E-mail:jinyingshuai1993@163.com;zhangxiaoling@ivpp.ac.cn

Abstract:

Microblade technology was widely distributed in Northeast Asia and North America in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene and research on wedge-shaped core technology has been particularly abundant. This paper briefly reviews the history of research on wedge-shaped cores and then proposes a formal definition of that core type and a system of classification for microblade cores based on the cha?ne opératoire and mental template concepts. The differences between wedge-shaped cores and other microblade cores lie not only in variations in morphology, but also in the strategies of production. Based on our analysis, we propose that flake blank exploitation strategies played an important role in the diffusion of microblade technology in North China.

Key words: Wedge-shaped core, Mental template, Flake blank exploitation, Microblade technology

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