半山遗址地处泥河湾盆地东缘，于1990年发现并展开试掘，出土了少量石制品和动物化石。2003年，为全面揭示遗址文化面貌，河北省文物研究所与阳原县文物保护管理所联合对半山遗址展开新的考古发掘，发掘面积42 m²，出土421件石制品和1600余件动物化石。出土石制品原料以燧石为主，火山角砾岩次之；类型包括剥片产生的石核及石片、工具、砾石、岩块、断块和碎屑等。剥片技术以锤击法为主，砸击法为辅；工具修理较为简易，修理程度不高。根据现有古地磁年代序列和地层关系判断，古人类在该遗址活动的时间大致为1.32 Ma，略晚于小长梁遗址。此次发掘工作补充了半山遗址的石制品材料，拓展了我们对该遗址的认识。

The Nihewan Basin in North China is one of the most important palaeoanthropological archives in Asia as it preserves an abundance of mammal fossils and lithic assemblages. In particular, a series of sites are dated to between the Gauss-Matuyama and Matuyama-Brunhes geomagnetic reversals (2.58~0.78 Ma), making the Nihewan Basin an ideal region to examine Early Pleistocene archaeological sites and technological trends in eastern Asia. Here we describe the lithic assemblage from the Banshan site in the Nihewan Basin, which is dated to 1.32 Ma by paleo-magnetic dating.

The Banshan site (114°39′47″E, 40°13′32″N, 858 m asl) is located in the northern upper part of the Majuangou site, about 1.5 km southwest of the Cenjiawan village in Yangyuan County, Hebei Province. The site was discovered and test excavated in 1990 and yielded a few remains. In order to reveal cultural features of the site integrally, formal excavation was undertaken in 2003. A total of 42 m² was exposed, uncovering 421 stone artifacts and more than 1600 pieces of animal fossils.

In terms of the Banshan lithic assemblage, raw materials were procured from the adjacent areas and predominated by chert and volcanic breccia, in addition to a small amount of andesite porphyry, quartz, dacite, andesite, and rhyolite porphyry, and so on. The artifact types of the site mainly include cores, flakes, tools, pebbles, blocks, angular fragments and shatters, etc. The artifacts are predominantly small (20≤L<50 mm) in size. Artifacts (L≥100 mm) are present in rather small amounts. The flaking technique is dominated by direct hard hammer percussion, and bipolar technique is used occasionally. There are almost no special platform preparation and shaping out of the core-to-be, indicating a simple debitage method at the site. The tools include scrapers, borers, notches and unidentified pieces. These pieces are primarily made on flakes and casually retouched by direct hammer percussion. Overall, the lithic industry of Banshan is characterized by local raw material exploitation strategy, simple core-flake debitage and expedient small flake-based tool inventory. Comparison of Banshan with other Early Pleistocene sites (e.g., Xiaochangliang, Donggutuo and Cenjiawan) indicates a flexible approach in the raw material utilization and a noticeable technological development tendency in the Nihewan Basin.