Abstract:

The Xichengshan site is an open-air Paleolithic site located in the karst depression at the top of the Xichengshan Mountain, about 35 km southwest of Yangcheng County, Shanxi Province, North China. Stone artifacts characteristic of microlith were discovered in 2006 during the scenery spot exploitation. In 2020, a trial excavation was carried out by the School of History of Beijing Normal University, revealing the human activities with “core and flake” technology by the Niangniangchi lake (the only retained lake now) in early Upper Paleolithic Age (45590±510 BP cal, 95.4%, MIS 3). To find more information about microlith, new fieldwork was conducted by School of Archaeology and Museology of Shanxi University, Yangcheng County Museum of Cultural relics and Jincheng Cultural Relics Protection Center in Summer 2022.

New survey found a universal distribution of microlith along the shore of ancient lakes in the karst depression. Locality 1 (XCS 1, 112°12′28″E, 35°21′00″N; 1701.943±3 m above sea level) and Locality 2 (XCS 2, 112°12′27″E, 35°21′00″N; 1708.111±2.4 m above sea level) are situated in the overflow port of the karst depression. The deposition and AMS¹⁴C data of charcoal samples showed the well developed and overflow of the underground water, forming the typical karst topography of clints and grikes at the bottom of Locality 1 and Locality 2 at least before 28 ka BP cal. XCS 1 located in the mid-part of the slope, with excavated areas of 8 m², demonstrating 6 strata, and XCS 2, very bottom of the slope, 4 m², 5 strata.

Totally 494 stone artifacts (without any animal bones) unearthed from the two localities can be divided into two stages according to the process of sedimentation and AMS¹⁴C and OSL data. In early stage in lower cultural horizon dating to ca. 28 ka BP cal, totally 35 artifacts form Layer 4, mucky clay of XCS 1, can be identified as stocks (1/35; 2.86%), flakes (20/35; 57.14%), chunks (10/35; 28.57%), chips (3/35; 8.57%) and tools (1/35; 2.86%). In late stage in upper cultural horizon after ca. 7.7 ka BP cal, a total of 459 artifacts transported from higher ground are identified as stocks (3/459; 0.65%), cores (4/459; 0.87%), microcores (5/459; 1.09%), flakes (171/459; 37.25%), microblades (40/459; 8.71%), chunks (173/459; 37.69%), chips (46/459; 10.02%) and tools (17/459; 3.70%). All the assemblages are dominated by flakes and chunks produced by hard or soft hammer percussion, occasionally anvil (bipolar) percussion. The microblade technology emerged in upper cultural horizon. Several flakes, chunks and microblades were used with clear microwear observed along used edges. The microcores are all boat-shaped ones. The tools are characteristic by small-sized compound tools, such as points, scrapers, end-scrapers, burins, denticulated tools, small bifacial tools, and some small flake-blanked, bladelet-blanked and microblade-blanked tools.

The raw materials are mainly local flint (431/494, 87.25%, including 404 black flints), with some quartz (58/494, 11.74%), crystal (3/494, 0.61%) and quartzite (2/494, 0.40%). Field investigation showed the source of black flint mainly in the Ordovician outcrops around the Yangcheng county 30 km northeast of Xichengshan site. The high-quality black flint mines, located at village Tulouzhuang, Xiacun, Yanggaoquan etc., were exploited early from Ming-Qing Dynasty to modern times. The black flint also exposed in northwest (Xiaojianshan and Suoquanling village), northeast (Hebei town) and northeast of Xichengshan karst depression, but the quality is inferior with joints. So the ancient human could have exploited the fine flint mainly farther away from the site. The specific source of other types of stone raw material remains to be investigated.

Given all these, Xichengshan site is a key activity area with high altitude among early microlithic people, and it is of great significance for the study of the migration of prehistoric people in the Late Pleistocene and their adaptation to the higher altitude area.

Key words: Xichengshan site, microlith, boat-shaped microcores, compound tools, Late Palaeolithic