Excavation report on the Fenglin Loc.2 in Fusong County, Jilin Province

doi:10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2025.0018

Abstract

Abstract:

The Fenglin site (41°57′58″N, 127°31′57″E), a Late Paleolithic site, lies in Fusong County, Jilin Province, northeastern China. This open-air site is perched on a mountain ridge along the left bank of the Toudao Songhua River, at an elevation of around 900 meters above sea level. Discovered in 2014, during subsequent surveys, thousands of lithic artifacts were gathered from an approximately 30,000 m² surface area. Based on the distribution of these lithic artifacts, the Fenglin site can be partitioned into three localities: Locality(Loc.) 1, Loc.2 (Dongshanpo site), and Loc.3 (Guanjingtai site). Loc.1 features relatively thick stratigraphic deposits but has sustained substantial damage over the years due to road-widening and construction activities. Conversely, Loc.2 and Loc.3 have shallower and less-developed stratigraphic deposits, yet with relatively better preservation conditions.

In 2016, a joint team from the Institute of Archaeology of Jilin Province and the Institute of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, carried out a systematic 80 m² excavation at Loc.2. The aim was to obtain lithic artifacts from reliable stratigraphic sequences and conduct chronometric research. This excavation unearthed a total of 983 lithic artifacts. Employing AMS ¹⁴C and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating methods, the sediments in which these artifacts were embedded were dated to at least 17 kaBP.

This article presents the outcomes of raw-material and fundamental techno-typological analyses of the lithic assemblages from Fenglin Loc.2. Given its close proximity (~43 km) to the Changbai Mountain to the west, obsidian is the predominant raw material, succeeded by tuff, chert, limestone, vein quartz, sandstone, diorite porphyrite, quartzite, and basalt. The artifact types include debitage products from blade, microblade, and flake production, along with elaborately retouched tools such as sidescrapers, endscrapers, burins, points, notches, choppers, and adzes. The blade-production technique is identified as the prismatic blade reduction method. The main methods for microblade production involve wedge-shaped, boat-shaped, burin-like, and irregular-shaped microblade cores.

Our findings fill a crucial gap in the archaeological record regarding the Last Glacial Maximum in the Changbai Mountain region and the evolution of microblade technology from its primitive to mature phases. The excavation at Fenglin Loc.2 further refines the cultural sequence of the Late Paleolithic era in the Changbai Mountain area. Moreover, it is of great significance for comprehending the adaptation strategies of ancient humans to extreme environments in high-latitude regions and the interactions among prehistoric populations in Northeast Asia.

Key words: Fenglin site, Upper Paleolithicc, blade, microblade

CLC Number:

K871

XU Ting, HUANG Lunyue, REN Jincheng, GE Junyi, GAO Xing. Excavation report on the Fenglin Loc.2 in Fusong County, Jilin Province[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2026, 45(01): 174-186.

Figures/Tables 10

References 14

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实验室编号 Lab No.	深度(m) Depth	铀浓度U/ppm	误差error	钍浓度 Th/ppm	误差error	钾浓度K/%	误差error	含水量Water content	等效剂量De (Gy)	剂量率(Gy/ka) Dose Rate	年龄值Age(ka)
NL-1321	0.1	2.25	0.09	9.8	0.28	1.67%	0.06	24.2%±5%	3.21±0.11	2.47±0.17	1.3±0.1
NL-1322	0.25	2.42	0.1	11.9	0.33	1.83%	0.06	18.5%±5%	22.39±1.26	3.07±0.22	7.29±0.65
NL-1323	0.4	2.6	0.1	10.7	0.3	2.02%	0.06	17.2%±5%	50.43±2.64	3.07±0.21	16.45±1.41
NL-1324	0.6	2.36	0.09	11	0.31	2.22%	0.06	19.4%±5%	59.65±5.76	3.09±0.21	19.32±2.28

实验室编号 Lab No.	深度(m) Depth	铀浓度U/ppm	误差error	钍浓度 Th/ppm	误差error	钾浓度K/%	误差error	含水量Water content	等效剂量De (Gy)	剂量率(Gy/ka) Dose Rate	年龄值Age(ka)
NL-1321	0.1	2.25	0.09	9.8	0.28	1.67%	0.06	24.2%±5%	3.21±0.11	2.47±0.17	1.3±0.1
NL-1322	0.25	2.42	0.1	11.9	0.33	1.83%	0.06	18.5%±5%	22.39±1.26	3.07±0.22	7.29±0.65
NL-1323	0.4	2.6	0.1	10.7	0.3	2.02%	0.06	17.2%±5%	50.43±2.64	3.07±0.21	16.45±1.41
NL-1324	0.6	2.36	0.09	11	0.31	2.22%	0.06	19.4%±5%	59.65±5.76	3.09±0.21	19.32±2.28

类型Type	具体类型Subtype	黑曜岩 Obsidian	燧石 Chert	灰岩 Limestone	砂岩 Sandstone	闪长玢岩Dioritic porphyrite	玄武岩 Basalt	其他 Others	合计 Total
石核Cores	石片石核Flake cores							1	1
	石叶石核Blade cores	3							3
	细石叶石核Microblade cores	13							13
废片Debitage	石片Flakes	218	3			1		8	230
	石叶Blades	22		2					24
	细石叶Microblades	71	1						72
	鸡冠状细石叶Crested microblades	3		1					4
	更新台面石片Rejuvenating flakes	3							3
断块Chunks		16							16
碎片Debris		571	1	1				13	586
石器Tools	边刮器Sidescrapers	12						2	14
	端刮器Endscrapers	2	1						3
	凹缺器Notches	1							1
	雕刻器Burins	3							3
	尖状器Points	1						2	3
	琢背小刀Backed knives	1							1
	砍砸器Choppers				1				1
	锛形器Adze-like tools					1	1		2
	石器残段Fragments	1							1
总计Total		941	6	4	1	2	1	26	981

类型Type	具体类型Subtype	黑曜岩 Obsidian	燧石 Chert	灰岩 Limestone	砂岩 Sandstone	闪长玢岩Dioritic porphyrite	玄武岩 Basalt	其他 Others	合计 Total
石核Cores	石片石核Flake cores							1	1
	石叶石核Blade cores	3							3
	细石叶石核Microblade cores	13							13
废片Debitage	石片Flakes	218	3			1		8	230
	石叶Blades	22		2					24
	细石叶Microblades	71	1						72
	鸡冠状细石叶Crested microblades	3		1					4
	更新台面石片Rejuvenating flakes	3							3
断块Chunks		16							16
碎片Debris		571	1	1				13	586
石器Tools	边刮器Sidescrapers	12						2	14
	端刮器Endscrapers	2	1						3
	凹缺器Notches	1							1
	雕刻器Burins	3							3
	尖状器Points	1						2	3
	琢背小刀Backed knives	1							1
	砍砸器Choppers				1				1
	锛形器Adze-like tools					1	1		2
	石器残段Fragments	1							1
总计Total		941	6	4	1	2	1	26	981

类型Type		长Length			宽Width			厚Thickness
类型Type		Min	Max	Mean	Min	Max	Mean	Min	Max	Mean
石核Cores	石片石核Flake cores (n=1)	39.6			71.3			32
	石叶石核Blade cores (n=3)	113.8	165.1	138.5	55.5	58.7	56.9	68.7	76.8	71.7
	细石叶石核Microblade cores (n=13)	7.3	49.8	22.5	6.8	14	9.6	15.7	81.5	32.2
废片Debitage	石片Flakes (n=230)	4.9	109.9	19.1	5.1	60.7	14.9	0.9	15.5	3.3
	石叶Blades (n=24)	10.5	54.1	22.6	7.4	34.3	15	1.7	10.1	4.1
	细石叶Microblades (n=72)	6.1	38.5	13.2	1.9	10.5	5.2	0.7	7.7	1.6
	鸡冠状细石叶Crested microblades (n=4)	11.1	18.4	15.3	1.7	7.1	4.3	2.5	3.4	3
	细石核更新台面石片Rejuvenating flakes (n=3)	22.3	29.9	25.3	8.7	13	11.1	2.8	4.1	3.2
	断块Chunks (n=16)	7.5	44	26.6	6.7	34.9	18.3	5.8	21.8	10.2
	碎片Debris (n=586)	4.3	49.5	12.5	1.9	32.1	8.2	0.5	11.9	2.2
石器Tools	边刮器Sidescrapers (n=14)	15	105.6	33.2	13.8	43.5	22	2.1	11.5	6.4
	端刮器Endscrapers (n=3)	23.4	50.2	37.8	15.8	33.1	24.6	5.4	19.4	10.2
	凹缺器Notches (n=1)	34.1			29.9			10.1
	雕刻器Burins (n=3)	33.1	44.7	38.2	13.3	20.3	16.4	5.7	9.6	7.5
	尖状器Points (n=3)	19.4	36.4	26.7	8.2	23.2	17.1	5.3	6.1	5.7
	琢背小刀Backed knives (n=1)	32.1			20.9			8.2
	砍砸器Choppers (n=1)	150.2			124.9			28.5
	锛状器Adze-like tools (n=2)	135.7	149	142.4	60	82.7	71.4	20	26	23
	石器残段Fragments (n=1)	23.2			10.5			3.4
总计Total		4.3	165.1	16.4	1.7	124.9	10.8	0.5	81.5	3.4