Abstract: The denticulate is one of the most important retouched tool types for the Paleolithic in China. However, the relatively indeterminate classification of the category results in the denticulate receiving less attention in Paleolithic research. Banjingzi site is an important early Late Pleistocene Paleolithic site in the Nihewan basin, North China. The large number of excavated denticulates (accounting for 9% of the retouched tools) makes the site most peculiar in the Paleolithic of the Nihewan basin, and even in north China. Denticulates, are known at the Donggutuo site in the Nihewan since the Early Pleistocene. Those excavated from the Banjingzi site may imply some special adaptive behaviors adopted here by early hominins during early Late Pleistocene. Through stone artifact replication, the authors consider that there are at least two retouch techniques to create denticulates, one using a small pebble hammerstone and a second using a pointed hammerstone. The pointed hammerstone modification technique, however, is the main retouching technique for denticulate fabrication in the Banjingzi site. Another approach of our replication study is to reconstruct the processes of denticulate manufacture, which has shown that it is a relatively stable fabrication procedure. As a result, the current study should bring attention to the denticulate in Paleolithic research in China. Finally, we also combine sample observation with the experimental replications for this current paper.

Key words: Denticulate; Pointed hammerstone; Retouched technique; Banjingzi site; Nihewan Basin