Abstract: The Hanjiang (Hanshui) River flows through Shaanxi and Hubei provinces from west to east along 33° north latitude. The upper valley of the Hanjiang River is located at the southern piedmont of the Qinling Mountains, which are regarded as the geographical demarcation line between South and North China. There are karst landforms and well-preserved river terrace sequences along the river composed of fluvial sediment and upper-lying eolian loess-paleosol deposits. Since the 1970s, hominid and mammal fossils, and Paleolithic archaeological records in these areas have been greatly expanded and therefore the region is recognized as a key area for the study of human evolution and hominid behavioral adaptation during the Pleistocene. After a general review of Paleolithic sites in the upper Hanjiang River valley, we found that numerous cultural remains were buried in the loess deposits of the Hanjiang River valley and its branches. Lithic assemblage analysis indicates that there were three main Paleolithic industries prevalent in the region. The first contained stone artifacts made of local pebbles/cobbles and found in mainly open-air sites. Retouched tools comprised both heavy-duty tools made of pebbles and large flakes such as choppers, heavy-duty scrapers, hand-axes, picks, cleavers and spheroids; and small tools. The second contained lithic artifacts from some open-air sites with most cave sites having retouched small flake tools. The third contained lithic artifacts excavated from the Kengnan site having blade and retouched small flake tools. The primary flake percussion techniques were direct hard hammer and bipolar techniques. These discoveries demonstrated the potential in revealing physical and behavioral evolution of hominins and development of lithic technology in the region.

Key words: Hanjiang river; Hanzhong basin; Ankang basin; Danjiang reservoir; Paleolithic