Acta Anthropologica Sinica ›› 2008, Vol. 27 ›› Issue (01): 13-22.

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A preliminary report on the excavation of the Shangsong site

XIE Guangmao, LIN Qiang   

  • Online:2008-03-15 Published:2008-03-15

Abstract: The Shangsong site is one of the first sites discovered in Baise basin, western Guangxi, South China. An excavation of this site was carried out during the construction of the high way in 2002. An area of 1 000m2 was unearthed on the deposits of the fourth terrace near Shangsong village. The deposits, about 15220 meters in thick, can be divided into 4 layers from the top to the bottom, and only Layer 3 unearthed some stone artifacts and tektites.
A total of 185 stone artifacts and 106 tektites were unearthed from this site. Rawmaterialsfor tool making are mainly cobbles of sandstone, quartzite, quartz and silicified rock. All tools are simply worked unifacially, and there are cortexes on most of their surfaces. The stone tools include choppers, scrapers and picks. Choppers and scrapers are dominant in the assemblage. Technologically and typologically, the stone artifacts are similar to those found at other sites of the basin.
Tektites unearthed at the Shangsong site are the same as those found at other sites in the basin. They vary in form and size. Edges of many tektites are very sharp. They are all natural ones, and no traces caused by man on them.
The deposits of the excavated area of the site are secondary deposits which comes the forth terrace, which is themost typical terrace in theYoujiang valley. The tektites and stone artifacts are not in situ, either, but they werenpt transported for a long distance in that they have little abrasions on their surfaces. According to the stone artifacts and the dating of tektites from the forth terrace at other sites in the basin, the stone artifacts from the Shangsong site can be guessed for 800ka BP old.

Key words: Shangsong site; Stone artifacts; Tektites; Early palaeolithic