Abstract:

In China, neolithic archaeologists spend more time studying the grinding stone tools. For instance, some researchers have focused on their fabrication process and use of the grinding stone tools recently. However the study on the hammering stone artifacts have been ignored although a number of them were found in the neolithic sites, especially the Longshan time sites. In this paper we made an observation of all the stone artifacts excavated at the Bicun site, especially analyzed the hammering stones, which were excavated in Xingxian county, Shanxi province during 2015 to 2017. It is characterized with abundant flakes and fragments, as well as tools including a variety of scrapers, bifaces, arrow-heads and awls. Flakes were preferred to be chosen for retouching into tools. Bifaces were too highly retouched to recognize the blanks. Hard hammer percussion was used in reductions and retouching, and suppression was used in retouching as well. The griding stone axes also could be used as hammers. Raw materials were selected from near the Yellow River and Weifen river beaches. Producing stone artifacts is only a small item of handicraft industry, and it has declined, but the existence showed a strong vitality of the small stone tool cultural tradition. Some tools such as arrow-heads and points indicated that hunt-gathering was an auxiliary living way.

Key words: Bicun site, Longshan times, stone artifacts, small stone tool tradition