南水北调中线工程的水源地是位于河南、湖北交界处的丹江口水库,这一区域是南北方人类迁徙和文化交流的重要生态廊道。为配合南水北调工程建设,从上世纪90年代开始,文物部门组织对丹江口水库淹没区进行了系统考古调查,仅在河南淅川境内就发现了30多处旧石器时代中晚期遗址和化石地点。2009年以来,中国科学院古脊椎动物与古人类研究所与中国科学院大学等单位对其中20余处遗址和地点进行了抢救性发掘,发掘面积超1万平方米,发现石制品2万多件。本文重点介绍了丹江口水库（河南）淹没区旧石器时代遗址的发现和主要研究成果：1）该区域广域的、持续性的人类活动表明本地区是早期人类活动的密集区;2）出土石器特征同时具备南方砾石石器工业和北方石片石器工业的特点,有明显的南北方石器加工技术相互融合的现象;3）石器残留物分析,为了解遗址附近环境和先民植物利用提供了线索;4）遗址年代从距今约50万年到1万年左右,大致相当于旧石器时代早期晚段至旧石器时代晚期,是旧石器考古的关键时期;5）个别遗址发现的陶器残片、烧土类遗存以及燧石石叶等文化因素,为解决中国石叶技术源流和新、旧石器过渡提供了重要资料。

Danjiangkou Reservoir, located in the neighboring region of Henan, Shaanxi and Hubei, is the headwater of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP), which is an important ecological corridor for human migration and cultural exchanges between the northern and southern of China. In order to corporate with the construction of SNWDP, some archaeological institutes had conducted systematic investigations around the flooded area of Danjiangkou Reservoir since the 1990s, and more than 30 Paleolithic remains and fossil sites have been found merely in Xichuan County, Henan Province. Since 2009, both the IVPP and UCAS have conducted rescue excavations on more than 20 paleolithic sites. The excavation area exceeds 10000 m² and more than 20000 stone artifacts have been discovered. This paper aims to demonstrate several achievements of the Paleolithic researches in the Danjiangkou Reservoir, Henan Province. Firstly, the extensive and continuous human activities indicate that this region is a concentrated area of early human activities. Secondly, the stoneware possesses the characteristics of both the south gravel-stone assemblage and the north flake-stone assemblage, giving rise to the fact that the exchange of lithic process technology did exist between the northern and the southern of China. Thirdly, some residue analyses, carried out on the surface of lithic tools, provide clues for understanding the environment around these remains and sites, as well as the utilization of ancestral plants. Fourthly, the remains and sites were scientifically determined from 500 kaBP to 10 kaBP, which is roughly equivalent to the time from late stage of early Paleolithic Period to the late Paleolithic Period, which was the most important period of Paleolithic Archaeology. Fifthly, some remains, such as pottery fragments, burnt earth, flint blade, were found in a few sites. They provide important information for resolving the origin and development of the blade technology as well as the transition from Paleolithic Period to the Neolithic Period.