Acta Anthropologica Sinica ›› 2012, Vol. 31 ›› Issue (04): 317-333.

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A preliminary report on excavations at Shuidonggou Locality 2 in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, North China

CHEN Fu-you; LI Feng; WANG Hui-min; PEI Shu-wen; FENG Xing-wu; ZHANG Shuang-quan; ZHANG Yue; LIU De-cheng; ZHANG Xiao-ling; GUAN Ying; GAO Xing   

  • Online:2012-12-15 Published:2012-12-15

Abstract: Shuidonggou Locality 2 as one of the Shuidonggou Site cluster was first found in 1923 by E. Licent and P. Teilhard de Chardin. The site complex is located in North China, 18km east of Yellow River on the margins of the Ordos Desert. Locality 2 is situated at the left side of a tributary named Biangou River of Yellow River opposite to Locality 1. As an important researched locality of Shuidonggou multi-disciplinary project directed by Prof. Gao Xing from IVPP, China, Shuidonggou Locality 2 was excavated in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2007. Two units up to 100m2 were exposed and seven archaeological layers were identified. Features and large assemblages were yielded from the archaeological deposit including hearths, lithic artifacts, mammal fossils, ostrich eggshell beads and bone needle fragments. A suite of AMS14C and OSL dates from Shuidonggou Locality 2 indicates that the entire suite of Paleolithic assemblages spans a period from roughly 41,000 to 21,000 calendar years BP.
In terms of common technological features, Shuidonggou Locality 2 sequence documents two broad technological systems. Assemblages from CL7 show typical large blade technology in character which fall within the Initial Upper Paleolithic in Eurasia, whereas layers from CL6 to CL1 demonstrate flake technological features which are common within Late Paleolithic in North China. The assemblage from CL7 is consistent with general technological features in Shuidonggou Locality 1, but is different to the assemblages from CL6 to CL1 at Locality 2. The similarity between locality 1 and CL7 at locality 2 suggests some relations between these two localities. These new findings cast light on the age and spread of macroblade technology in northeast Asia and the relations between large blade technology and flake technology.
The technological features from CL6 to CL1 are similar but not identical. Some variations considering raw material procurement and exploitation are observed throughout the sequence. Especially in CL2, transported raw materials from distant sources indicate certain raw material use and mobility pattern changes which should be studied in future. The changes of raw material economy throughout the sequence will provide some details about human adaptation patterns in Shuidonggou area.

Key words: Late Paleolithic; Flake technology; Large blade technology; Shuidonggou Locality 2; Ningxia