Abstract:

The Longquan Cave site, situated in Luanchuan County of Luoyang City, Henan Province with precise geographical coordinates of 33°47′24″N and 111°36′28″E, and an altitude of around 734 meters, is a remarkable early Upper Paleolithic wonder. Archaeological endeavors here began in 2011 and 2014, and then continuous work has been carried out from 2015 to 2023. During the period from 2015 to 2018, an area of approximately 14 square meters was meticulously explored. This yielded an astonishing number of over 20,000 artifacts. The lithic artifacts are a significant part of this collection. The ancient occupants cleverly chose quartz as their main raw material for stone tool production. Using direct hammer percussion, they skillfully created flakes and retouched tools. Occasionally, they also employed bipolar percussion, showcasing their adaptability in toolmaking techniques. The stone artifacts range from cores to various tools like hammers for pounding, scrapers for processing materials, denticulates with their unique serrated edges, points for multiple uses such as hunting or piercing, notches for specific functions, and awls for making holes. They form a simple core and flake industry dominated by small stone tools.
Bone tools are another important find. Crafted through chipping to shape, scraping to refine, grinding to smoothen, and polishing to finish, they mainly consist of bone awls and bone points which likely had various practical applications in daily life. The animal fossils, mainly limb bones of herbivores and carnivores, are mostly fragmented and relatively small. These fossils offer insights into the diet and surrounding environment of the ancient dwellers.
Five remains of human use-fire were discovered, including a pile of ashes and four suspected hearths. The hearths are surrounded by small upright stones from the mountain bedrock, arranged in a relatively regular pattern. It is highly probable that the dwellers carried out various activities around these hearths.
Based on the latest dating data, the main cultural layers from 2015 to 2018 date back to 41~34 kaBP cal. When combined with data from other years, the entire site has a time span of approximately 47~30 kaBP cal. This site is of immense significance. It provides crucial materials for researching modern human behavioral adaptability during the late Pleistocene and understanding the migration and communication between people in northern and southern China. It is truly a valuable archaeological treasure that holds the keys to unlocking many mysteries of our ancient past.

Key words: Longquan cave, Upper Paleolithic, lithic artifacts, bone tools, remains of fire-use