On some problems of the upper palaeolithic culture in southern China
Zhang Senshui
1983, 2(03):
218-230.
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The palaeolithic research of southern China has been done for a long time. Some archaeologists and palaeontologists made efforts in the survey of the prehistoric materials. In 1913, J. Edgar began to gather stone tools in Hubei and Sichuan Provinces. In 1930s, Prof. Pei and others worked in Sichuan and other provinces such as Guangxi and Yunnan in the field of Cainozoic research and they paid attention to the palaeolithic artifacts and found prehistoric materials in this region. Dr. G. Bowles had studied prehistoric materials too.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, discoveries made in the extensi_x001F_ve field in southern China led to a clearer understanding of the upper palaeolithic condi tions of this region. Therefere, a brief review of the materials of the upper palaeolithic in southern China is made by the author and some questions are raised about it in this pa per.
1. Main results
About 60 sites bearing the materials of the upper palaeolithic or human fossils (Ho_x001f_mo sapiens) in southern China have been reported. The sites spreaded in a wide area from 100°一122° E. to 22°—33°N. (Fig. 1). The interesting industries in this region are found from Fulin, Tonglian, Maomaodong and Chaungdong sites etc., and altogether over 10,000 pieces of artifacts have been found. Some bone took, several antler implements and the remains of used fire as well as some human fossils have also been collected in this region (Table 1).
2. General characters of the industry
(1) The flakes are produced by four flaking methods which are all direct percussion, so most of flakes and cores are various in shape. So far blades, micro-blades and micro cores made by punch and pressure have not been found.
(2) The stone tools made from the flakes are more than those from the cores. The assemblage consists of three main types: scraper, point and chopper. In addition, a few pieces of the gravers have been collected and most of them are atypical. Among them the chopper has a larger numbers in proportion compared with contemporaneous industries of northern China.
(3) The stone tools are retouched by direqt percussion, therefore, most of them are rather rough. Up till now, no specimens trimmed by pressure have been observed.
(4) Some bone and antler tools worked by scraping and polishing have been gathe red in this region.
The characters mentioned above indicate particularity, succession and development in the palaeolithic culture known in China.
3. The problem concerning the local culture
In view of typology and technology, there are several local cultures such as Fulin Culture, Tonglian Culture and Maomaodong Culture. Besides, the artifacts picked up from Guangxi and Yunnan may also represent several local cultures. Its distribution is limited in certain region.
4. Industrial developmental tendency and cultural relation among different sites
Generally speaking, the fragmentary materials found from some sites in Yunnan are similar to those of the Tonglian Culture according to type and technique, while the artifa_x001f_cts from the cave sites in Guangxi can be compared with those of the Maomaodong Cu lture. Besides, the assemblage in which small tools are more than large ones spreds in an extensive area of southern China and this industry is more close to the tradition in nor thern China.
According to the materials of the upper palaeolithic found in Guizhou recently, the stone tools may be from small to large in size, and the bone tools and antler implements are gradually increasing in quantity from early stage to late stage of the upper palaeolithic age. At the present time this question can not yet be answered whether these tendencies of the cultural development are applied to all conditions of the upper palaeolithic in southern China.
