Abstract:

The Linfu site is located in the west of Youyi Dagur Kirghiz Linfu village, Fuyu County, Heilongjiang Province. The site was found during the third cultural relics census, and the Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has conducted several investigations and test excavations of the site from 2011 to 2013 and has obtained a number of stone artifacts and dating samples. A total of 2567 stone artifacts were discovered at the site. The lithic assemblage is dominated by flakes and chunks, mainly produced by direct hammer percussion. Tuff is utilized as the main material used for the lithic technology of the ancient occupants. The raw material were all derived from river gravels.

This paper presents a specific lithic analysis of stone artifacts. The flaking strategy of the cores showed that two technology types existed at the site: flake-core technology and microblade technology. The results show that core reduction is characterized by hard-hammer percussion, including platform and working face fixed and unfixed. Technology analysis found that the faking core of the fixed mode of working face was influenced by microblade technology. Microblade technology, characterized by pressure flaking, has been analyzed technically at the Linfu site. The findings indicate that this site exhibits both the boat-shaped microblade technology typical of North China and bifacially prepared wedge-shaped cores associated with Northeast China. These two technological systems are integrated within the Linfu site. The Linfu site was formed during the height of the summer monsoon after the LGM (Last Glacial Maximum), and its stratigraphic accumulation is thick and stone artifacts are dense. This temporal context reflects the movements and migrations of ancient populations under a dichotomous pattern.

The technological study of the site provides a new reference for revealing the origin, dispersal, and development of microblade technology in the Nenjiang River Basin and thus opens a window for researchers to discuss ancient human behavior and dispersal in this area. The discovery of this site is of great significance to how hominids in Northeast and North China and even in Northeast Asia responded to the adaptation of the environment before and after the LGM. At the same time, it also provides important materials for research on the origins of microblade technology and the evolution of craftsmanship, modern human behavior, and migratory diffusion.

Key words: Nenjiang River Basin, Linfu site, LGM, flaking technology, microblades