Abstract:

The Jiuligang site is an open-air Paleolithic site located in the 4th Group of Jinggang Village, Miaoqian Town, Dangyang City, Hubei Province. Standing at an altitude of approximately 73 meters, it lies in the transition zone from the mountainous region of western Hubei to the western edge of the alluvial - lacustrine plain formed by the Yangtze River and the Han River. The site was discovered during the construction of the Zaodang Highway in 1996 and was systematically excavated over an area of 500 square meters in 2022. A total of 443 lithic artifacts were unearthed from the Xiashu Loess stratum, which dates back approximately 323000 - 85000 years ago.

The inhabitants of the Jiuligang site mainly preferred quartz sandstone, quartzite, sandstone, siliceous rocks, and a small amount of chert, vein quartz, etc., as the raw materials for producing lithic artifacts. The large - sized rounded cobbles, probably manuports transported into the site, and the cortex remaining on different - type artifacts indicate that the raw materials were likely collected from the nearby river beaches at that time.

The lithic assemblage consists of hammers, cores, flakes, tools, chunks, cobbles, and a small amount of debris. Using flakes mainly as the blanks, the retouched stone tools are mainly composed of small - and medium - sized flake tools such as scrapers, as well as a few notches, denticulates, points, and spur - like tools. They are typically characterized by heavy - duty tools like choppers, picks, and knives. In addition, 31 flakes might have been used directly, as small and irregular scars are distributed along their edges.

Both the main flaking technique and the retouching method are direct percussion with a hard hammer, while bipolar knapping is also observed in a small number of flakes and cores. The tools are mostly retouched unidirectionally, while bifacial processing occasionally occurs in choppers and scrapers.

In general, the Jiuligang stone artifacts show a typical industry, predominantly distinguished by small - and medium - sized flake tools such as scrapers and supplemented by heavy - duty choppers, picks, knives, etc. Considering the optical stimulated luminescence dating age of 323,000 years ago, the flake tools of the Jiuligang site probably indicate an early stage of the miniaturization of stone artifacts in southern China. Moreover, the appearance of picks, knives, and cores for oriented continuous cyclic flaking of long flakes implies that another cultural factor emerged in the Yangtze River reaches since the mid - to - late Pleistocene.

With clear stratigraphy and rich cultural connotations, the excavation of the Jiuligang site provides important information for understanding the Paleolithic culture and constructing the cultural sequence in southern China from the mid - late Middle Pleistocene to the early Late Pleistocene.

Key words: Dangyang, Jiuligang site, Paleolithic period, flake tools, picks