Comparison of bone artifacts from the Schöningen site in Germany and the Lingjing site in China
Received date: 2021-06-03
Revised date: 2022-02-24
Online published: 2024-04-02
Supported by
National Social Science Funding(20BKG036)
Similarities play an important role in the reconstruction of human physical, cultural and technological evolution. The two sites presented in this paper, the Middle Palaeolithic site Lingjing in China Layer 10 and 11 and the Lower Palaeolithic site Schöningen 13 II-4, the so-called Schöningen Spear Horizon in Germany, show striking similarities. The archaeological record of both sites includes lithic artifacts as well as a very large assemblage of fossil bones. The preservation of the material at both sites is excellent and the faunas encountered at both sites show many similarities. The faunal lists of both sites include a diverse carnivore guild, an elephant species, two different rhinoceros species, two different equids, different cervids and large bovids. Both sites also yielded bone retouchers as well as a unique record of bone hammers that show identical, unusual flaking and percussion damage.
These similarities are remarkable if one takes into account the difference in age (ca 200 kaBP) and the geographical distance between the two sites of ca 8000 km. Therefore, we do not assume a close cultural link between the hominin populations active at both sites. The authors assume that the observed similarities show more or less identical, opportunistic hominin behaviour at both sites located in a comparable environment with more or less similar taphonomic conditions.
Key words： Palaeolithic; open-air sites; bone tools; Asia; Europe
WANG Hua , LI Zhanyang , Thijs van KOLFSCHOTEN . Comparison of bone artifacts from the Schöningen site in Germany and the Lingjing site in China[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2024 , 43(02) : 214 -232 . DOI: 10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2024.0022
| [1] | Iakovleva L. The architecture of mammoth bone circular dwellings of the Upper Palaeolithic settlements in Central and Eastern Europe and their socio-symbolic meanings. Quaternary International, 2015, 359-360: 324-334 |
| [2] | Kuhn SL, Stiner MC. Hearth and home in the Middle Pleistocene. J. Anthropol. Res., 2019, 75: 305-327- |
| [3] | Stiner MC. Honor Among Thieves:A Zooarchaeological Study of Neandertal Ecology. Princeton: NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994 |
| [4] | Bunn HT, Gurtov AN. Prey mortality profiles indicate that Early Pleistocene Homo at Olduvai was an ambush predator. Quaternary International, 2013, 322-323: 44-53 |
| [5] | Stringer C, Andrews P. The Complete World of Human Evolution. London: Thames & Hudson, 2005 |
| [6] | Hutson JM, Villaluenga A, García-Moreno A, et al. On the use of metapodials as tools at Sch?ningen 13II-4. In: Hutson JM, García Moreno A, Noack ES, et al.(eds.). The Origins of Bone Tool Technologies: “Retouching the Palaeolithic: Becoming Human and the Origins of Bone Tool Technology”. Mainz: RGZM, 2018 |
| [7] | Harmand S, Lewis J, Feibel C, et al. 3.3-million-year-old stone tools from Lomekwi 3, West Turkana, Kenya. Nature, 2015, 521: 310-315 |
| [8] | Brain CK, Shipman P. Swartkrans chapter - The Swartkrans Bone Tools. In: Brain CK ed. Swartkrans. A Cave's Chronicle of Early Man. Pretoria: Transvaal Mus Monograph, 1993, 8: 195-221 |
| [9] | Backwell LR, D’Errico F. Early hominid bone tools from Drimolen, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Sciences, 2008, 35: 2880-2894 |
| [10] | van Kolfschoten T, Parfitt SA, Serangeli J, et al. Lower Paleolithic bone tools from the "Spear Horizon" at Sch?ningen (Germany). Journal of Human Evolution, 2015, 89: 226-263 |
| [11] | Hutson JM, Villaluenga A, García-Moreno A, et al. A zooarchaeological and taphonomic perspective of hominin behaviour from the Sch?ningen 13 II-4 “Spear Horizon”. In: García-Moreno A, Hutson JM, Smith GM, et al.(eds.). Human behavioural adaptations to interglacial lakeshore environments. Mainz: RGZM, 2020: 43-66 |
| [12] | Lang J, Winsemann J, Steinmetz D, et al. The Pleistocene of Sch?ningen, Germany: a complex tunnel valley fill revealed from 3D subsurface modelling and shear wave seismics. Quaternary Science Review, 2012, 39: 1-20 |
| [13] | Lang J, B?hner U, Polom U. The Middle Pleistocene tunnel valley at Sch?ningen as a Paleolithic archive. Journal of Human Evolution, 2015, 89: 18-26 |
| [14] | Serangeli J, B?hner U, van Kolfschoten T, et al. Overview and new results from large-scale excavations in Sch?ningen. Journal of Human Evolution, 2015, 89: 27-45 |
| [15] | Richter D, Krbetschek M. The age of the Lower Palaeolithic occupation at Sch?ningen. Journal of Human Evolution, 2015, 89: 46-56 |
| [16] | Tucci M, Krahn KJ, Richter D, et al. Evidence for the age and timing of environmental change associated with a Lower Palaeolithic site within the Middle Pleistocene Reinsdorf sequence of the Sch?ningen coal mine, Germany. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 2021, 569, 110309 |
| [17] | Thieme H. Lower Palaeolithic hunting spears from Germany. Nature, 1997, 385: 807-810 |
| [18] | Conard NJ, Serangeli J, Bigga G, et al. A 300,000-year-old throwing stick from Sch?ningen, northern Germany, documents the evolution of human hunting. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 2020, 4: 690-693 |
| [19] | Schoch WH, Bigga G, B?hner U, et al. New insights on the wooden weapons from the Paleolithic site of Sch?ningen. Journal of Human Evolution, 2015, 89: 214-225 |
| [20] | Serangeli J, Rodríguez-álvarez B, Tucci M, et al. The Project Sch?ningen from an ecological and cultural perspective. Quaternary Science Review, 2018, 198: 140-155 |
| [21] | van Kolfschoten T, Buhrs E, Verheijen I. The larger mammal fauna from the Lower Paleolithic Sch?ningen Spear site and its contribution to hominin subsistence. Journal of Human Evolution, 2015, 89: 138-153 |
| [22] | Hutson JM, García-Moreno A, Noack ES, et al. The origins of bone tool technologies:an introduction. In: Hutson JM, García Moreno A, Noack ES, et al.(eds.). The Origins of Bone Tool Technologies: “Retouching the Palaeolithic: Becoming Human and the Origins of Bone Tool Technology”. Mainz: RGZM, 2018: 53-91 |
| [23] | Urban B, Sierralta M, Frechen M. New evidence for vegetation development and timing of Upper Middle Pleistocene interglacials in Northern Germany and tentative correlations. Quaternary International, 2011, 241: 125-142 |
| [24] | Bigga G, Schoch WH, Urban B. Paleoenvironment and possibilities of plant exploitation in the Middle Pleistocene of Sch?ningen (Germany). Insights from botanical macro-remains and pollen. Journal of Human Evolution, 2015, 89: 92-104 |
| [25] | Mania D. Die fossilen Weichtiere (Mollusken) aus den Beckensedimenten des Zyklus Sch?ningen II (Reinsdorf-Warmzeit). In: Thieme H (ed.). Die Sch?ninger Speere - Mensch und Jagd vor 400.000 Jahren. Stuttgart: Theiss Verlag, 2007: 99-104 |
| [26] | B?hme G. Fische, amphibien und reptilien aus dem Mittelpleistoz?an (Reinsdorf-Interglazial) von Sch?ningen (II) bei Helmstedt (Niedersachsen). In: Terberger T, Winghart S(eds.). Die Geologie der pal?olithischen Fundstellen von Sch?ningen. Mainz: RGZM, 2015. 203-265 |
| [27] | van Kolfschoten T. The Palaeolithic locality Sch?ningen (Germany): A review of the mammalian record. Quaternary International, 2014, 326-327: 469-480 |
| [28] | Kuitems M, van der Plicht J, Drucker DG, et al. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of well-preserved Middle Pleistocene bone collagen from Sch?ningen (Germany) and their paleoecological implications. Journal of Human Evolution, 2015, 89: 105-113 |
| [29] | Serangeli J, Bigga G, B?hner U, et al. Ein Fenster ins Altpal?olithikum. Arch?ologie in Deutschland, 2012, 4: 6-12 |
| [30] | Peters CAE, van Kolfschoten CATE. 2020. The site formation history of Sch?ningen 13II-4 (Germany): Testing different models of site formation by means of spatial analysis, spatial statistics and orientation analysis. Journal of Archaeological Sciences, 2020, 114: 105067 |
| [31] | Voormolen B. Ancient hunters, modern butchers: Scho?ningen 13 II-4, a kill-butchery site dating from the northwest European Lower Palaeolithic. Dissertation Leiden University, 2008: 1-145 |
| [32] | García-Moreno A, Hutson J M, Villaluenga A, et al. A detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of Sch?ningen 13II-4 ‘Spear Horizon’ remains. Journal of Human Evolution, 2021, 152: 102947 |
| [33] | Abrams G, Bello SM, Di Modica K, et al. When Neanderthals used cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) remains: Bone retouchers from unit 5 of Scladina Cave (Belgium). Quaternary International, 2014, 326-327: 274-287 |
| [34] | Li Z, Wu X, Zhou L, et al. Late Pleistocene archaic human crania from Xuchang, China. Science, 2017, 355: 969-972 |
| [35] | Zhou GX. Stone age remains from Lingjing, Xuchang of Henan province. Kaogu, 1974, 2: 91-108 |
| [36] | Li Z, Ma H. Techno-typological analysis of the microlithic assemblage at the Xuchang Man site, Lingjing, central China. Quaternary International, 2016, 400: 120-129 |
| [37] | Li Z, Kunikita D, Kato S. Early pottery from the Lingjing site and the emergence of pottery in northern China. Quaternary International, 2017, 441: 49-61 |
| [38] | Li Z, Doyon L, Fang H, et al. A Paleolithic bird figurine from the Lingjing site, Henan, China. PLoS ONE, 2020, 15(6): e0233370 |
| [39] | Nian XM, Zhou LP, Qin JT. Comparisons of equivalent dose values obtained with different protocols using a lacustrine sediment sample from Xuchang, China. Radiat Meas, 2009, 44: 512-516 |
| [40] | Li H, Li Z, Gao X, et al. Technological behavior of the early Late Pleistocene archaic humans at Lingjing (Xuchang, China). Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2019, 11: 3477-3490 |
| [41] | Zhao Q, Ma H, Bae C J. New discoveries from the early Late Pleistocene Lingjing site (Xuchang). Quaternary International, 2020, 563: 87-95 |
| [42] | Doyon L, Li Z, Li H, et al. Discovery of circa 115,000-year-old bone retouchers at Lingjing, Henan, China. PLoS ONE, 2018, 13: e0194318 |
| [43] | Doyon L, Li H, Li Z, et al.. Further evidence of organic soft hammer percussion and pressure retouch from Lingjing (Xuchang, Henan, China). Lithic Technology, 2019, 44: 100-117 |
| [44] | Li Z. A primary study on the stone artifacts of Lingjing site excavated in 2005. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2007, 26: 138-154 |
| [45] | Trinkhaus E, Wu X-J. External auditory exostoses in the Xuchang and Xujiayao human remains: Patterns and implications among eastern Eurasian Middle and Late Pleistocene crania. PLoS ONE, 2017, 12: e0189390 |
| [46] | Martinón-Torres M, Wu X, Bermúdez de Castro JM, et al. Homo sapiens in the Eastern Asian Late Pleistocene. Current Anthropology, 2017, 58: 434-448 |
| [47] | Li Z, Dong W. Mammalian fauna from the Lingjing Paleolithic site in Xuchang, Henan Province. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2007, 26: 345-360 |
| [48] | Zhang SQ. Taphonomic study of the faunal remains from the Lingjing Site, Xuchang, Henan Province Dissertation Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2009: 1-216 (in Chinese). |
| [49] | Wang W, Li Z, Song G, et al. A study of possible hyaena coprolites from the Lingjing site, Central China. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2015, 34: 117-125 |
| [50] | van Kolfschoten T, Li Z, Wang H, et al. The Middle Palaeolithic site of Lingjing (Xuchang, Henan, China): Preliminary new results. In: Klinkenberg V, van Oosten R, van Driel-Murray C(eds.). A Human Environment Studies in honour of 20 years Analecta editorship by prof dr Corrie Bakels. Analecta Praehistoria Leidensia, 2020, 50: 21-28 |
| [51] | Wang H, Li Z, Tong H, et al. Hominin paleoenvironment in East Asia: The Middle Paleolithic Xuchang-Lingjing (China) mammalian evidence. Quaternary International, 2021: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.11.024 |
| [52] | Zhang S, Li Z, Zhang Y, et al. Cultural Modifications on the Animal Bones from the Lingjing Site, Henan Province. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2011, 30: 313-326 |
| [53] | Zhang S, Gao X, Zhang Y, et al. Taphonomic analysis of the Lingjing fauna and the first report of a Middle Paleolithic kill-butchery site in North China. Chinese Science Bulletin, 2011, 56: 3213-3219 |
| [54] | Li H, Li Z, Lotter MG, et al. Formation processes at the early Late Pleistocene archaic human site of Lingjing, China. J Archaeol Sci, 2018, 96: 73-84 |
| [55] | Li Z, Doyon L, Li H, et al. Engraved bones from the archaic hominin site of Lingjing, Henan Province. Antiquity, 2019, 93: 886-900 |
| [56] | Doyon L, Li Z, Wang H, et al. A 115,000-year-old expedient bone technology at Lingjing, Henan, China. PLoS ONE, 2021, 16(5): e0250156 |
| [57] | Binford LR. Nunamiut Ethnoarchaeology. New York, Academic press, 1978 |
| [58] | Bonhof WJ, van Kolfschoten T. The metapodial hammers from the Lower Palaeolithic site of Sch?ningen 13 II-4 (Germany): The results of experimental research. Journal of Archaeological Sciences: Reports, 2021, 35: 102685 |
| [59] | Stahlschmidt MC, Miller CE, Ligouis B, et al. On the evidence for human use and control of fire at Sch?ningen. Journal of Human Evolution, 2015, 89: 71-91 |
/
| 〈 |
|
〉 |