Acta Anthropologica Sinica ›› 1985, Vol. 4 ›› Issue (03): 223-232.

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New palaeolithic site from the Nihewan (Nihowan) Beds

Wei Qi, Meng Hao, Cheng Shengquan   

  • Online:1985-09-15 Published:1985-09-15

Abstract: For over half a century people have been paying a good deal of attention to the Nihewan (Nihowan) Beds. In the spring of 1981, a palaeolithic site was discovered from the Nihewan Beds of the so-called Lower Nihewan Formation of early pleistocene in situ. There are a lot of stone implements at the site. The site named Donggutuo (IVPP Loc. 81012) itself situates Xujiapo (a local name, Lat. 40°13'22", Long. 114° 40'11") of the northwest of the Donggutuo Village which lies some 4 kilometres from the well-known Nihewan Village and is on the right bank of the Sanggan River in Yangyuan County, Hebei Province.
The stone artifacts were yielded in the greyish deposits about 45 metres below the original topographie surface and are associated with Palaeoloxodon sp. , Equus sanme-niensis, Coelodonta antiquitatis, Bison sp. etc.
According to the magnetostratigraphic study, the culture zone of the Donggutuo site was set up before the Jaramillo event, that is about 1 million years BP. The new diseovery suggests that the remains of Homo erectus itself might be found fron the Nihewan Beds in it not distant future.

Key words: Donggutuo palaeolithic site; Nihewan Beds; Early Pleistocene