东沟旧石器遗址位于河北省张家口市蔚县黄梅乡常胜疃村，埋藏于定安河（壶流河支流）支流右岸第二级阶地下部。联合考古队于2017年9-11月对该遗址进行试掘，揭露文化层面积约25 m²，出土包含石质标本和动物化石在内的编号遗物共计2892件。石制品原料以硅质白云岩、燧石和安山岩为主，主要为就地取材；石制品大小总体以小型为主，类型包括石锤、石核、废片、石器和砸击品；石核剥片以硬锤锤击法为主，辅以砸击法；锤击石核多以单个台面为基础进行剥片，呈现出一定的权宜性剥片特征；石器类型多样，以刮削器为主，修理均采用锤击法，加工相对简单。石制品的类型和技术总体显示石片石器技术特征。动物化石保存状况不佳，初步鉴定的动物种类包括鹿类、马类、牛类和犀牛类。¹⁴C年代测定显示该遗址的时代为旧石器时代晚期。东沟遗址的发现和试掘为完善蔚县盆地晚更新世石器技术演化序列、探究古人类生存行为特征等问题提供了重要材料。

The Donggou (DG) Paleolithic site is situated near the Changshengtuan village, Huangmei Town, Yu County of Hebei Province. Paleolithic remains are generally buried in the second terrace of the right bank of the Dingan River (a tributary of the Huliu River). This site was excavated from September to November 2017 with an exposed area of 25 m², and a total of2892 labeled specimens incorporating stones and mammalian fossils. The AMS Carbon-14 dating results show that the site is dated to the Upper Paleolithic(45,065-38,049 Cal BP ).

The lithic assemblage (N=2030) includes hammerstones (N=4, 0.20%), cores (N=77, 3.79%), debitage (N=1828, 90.05%), tools (N=110, 5.42%) and bipolar evidence (N=11, 0.54%). Dominated by siliceous dolomite, chert and andesite, raw materials for stone knapping were mainly collected as pebbles from nearby river beds. A few high-quality raw materials (such as chalcedony) may have been transported from a distance away. Most artifacts were small in size, followed by medium-sized and micro-sized pieces. The principal flakingtechnique was direct hard hammer percussion, and bipolar technique was mainly used to exploit small chert materials with high quality. Simple cores produced by hard hammer percussion were mainly flaked from a single platform, showing a certain degree ofexpedient flaking traits. Dominated by scrapers, the toolkit also included points, denticulates andnotches. Adopting a direct hard hammer percussion technique, most lithics were slightly retouched from flake blanks. The typological andtechnologicalcharacteristics of stone artifacts show that they belong to the “Flake-Tool” technological system of North China. Most mammalian were fragments cantbeidentified. The current identified species were dominated by steppe ungulates, such as deer,horses, bovids and rhinoceros. Although there was no hearth found, many charcoal chips and burned bones indicate the presence of fire use behavior.

The Yuxian basin is an important area and channel for human migration and technological communication during the Pleistocene. The discovery and excavation of the Donggou Paleolithic site is not only a link for the sequence of technological evolution during the Late Pleistocene, but also provides valuable information for the study on human migration and adaptation behavior in the Huliu River drainage area.