Taphonomic history of Beiguanbu site Loc. B at Yuxian, Nihewan Basin
Received date: 2026-01-26
Accepted date: 2026-03-19
Online published: 2026-06-12
The relationship between the evolution of the Nihewan paleolake and early human activities has long been a focal issue in Paleolithic research. However, the preservation conditions and site formation processes of Paleolithic sites formed during the terminal stage of the lake development remain insufficiently understood. This study focuses on the newly discovered and excavated Paleolithic site of Beiguanbu Loc. B (BGB-B) and aims to decipher its taphonimic history. The BGB-B site is located in the Nuanquan Platform of Yuxian County, Hebei Province. The archaeological remains are preserved within silt deposits that were formed prior to the final extinction of the Nihewan paleolake. Geomorphorlogical and sedimentological evidence indicates that the BGB-B site is embedded within a fluvio-lacustrine sequence on the northern bank of the Huliu River. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating suggests that hominins occupation of the site at approximately 210 ka, placing it in the late Middle Pleistocene.
Various taphonomic indicators of remains (including edge abrasion, size distribution, and technological composition), together with kernel density surfaces of lithic remains and fabric analysis based on artifact orientations and eigenvectors, indicate that moderate-intensity hydraulic lakeshore sheetwash from northeast direction contributed to the formation processes of the BGB-B and reduced the overall integrity of the lithic technological record. The results suggest that during the late stage of Nihewan paleolake development, climatic fluctuations contributed to lake shrinkage, and lakeshore environments were increasingly modified by surface runoff. Early humans preferentially occupied relatively stable lakeshore landforms, and low-energy sheetwash processes played a role in the formation of the BGB-B assemblage. Further investigation of the site will provide important insights into the interpretation of human occupation behavior and subsistence strategies. As a result, it also can contribute to a better understanding of how hominins utilized lakeshore landscape during the terminal phase of paleolake evolution in the Nihewan Basin.
LIU Ziyi , GENG Shuaijie , DING Xin , XU Jingyue , YE Zhi , NIU Dongwei , PEI Shuwen . Taphonomic history of Beiguanbu site Loc. B at Yuxian, Nihewan Basin[J]. Acta Anthropologica Sinica, 2026 , 45(03) : 556 -569 . DOI: 10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2026.0028
| [1] | Isaac GL. Towards the interpretation of occupation debris: some experiments and observations[J]. Kroeber Anthropology Society Paper, 1967, 37: 31-57 |
| [2] | Schiffer MB. Formation process of the archaeological record[M]. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987 |
| [3] | Schick KD. Stone Age sites in the making: experiments in the formation and transformation of archaeological occurrences[M]. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports, 1986, 319 |
| [4] | Petraglia MD, Potts R. Water flow and the formation of Early Pleistocene artifact sites in Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania[J]. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 1994, 13: 228-254 |
| [5] | Morton AGT. Archaeological site formation: Understanding lake margin contexts[M]. Oxford: BAR International Series, 2004, 1211 |
| [6] | de la Torre I, Wehr K. Site formation processes of the early Acheulean assemblage at EF-HR (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)[J]. Journal of Human Evolution, 2018, 120: 298-328 |
| [7] | 王法岗, 孙永春. 泥河湾考古图典[M]. 石家庄: 河北美术出版社, 2023 |
| [8] | 裴树文, 王法岗, 牛东伟. 二十一世纪以来泥河湾盆地古人类活动的发现与研究进展[J]. 人类学学报, 2024, 43(6): 913-933 |
| [9] | Deng CL, Zhu RX, Zhang R, et al. Timing of the Nihewan Formation and faunas[J]. Quaternary Research, 2008, 69: 77-90 |
| [10] | Guo YJ, Li B, Zhang JF, et al. Luminescence ages for three “Middle Palaeolithic” sites in the Nihewan Basin, northern China, and their archaeological and palaeoenvironmental implications[J]. Quaternary Research, 2016, 85(3): 456-470 |
| [11] | Pei S, Xie F, Deng C, et al. Early Pleistocene archaeological occurrences at the Feiliang site, and the archaeology of human origins in the Nihewan Basin, North China[J]. PLOS ONE, 2017, 12(11): e0187251 |
| [12] | Ding X, Pei S W, Xie F, et al. Deciphering site formation processes in lakeshore environments: a case study of early Pleistocene site of Feiliang (Nihewan Basin, China)[J]. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2024, 16: 92 |
| [13] | 裴树文, 贾真秀, 马东东, 等. 泥河湾盆地麻地沟E5旧石器地点的遗址成因与石器技术[J]. 人类学学报, 2016, 35(4): 493-508 |
| [14] | Jia Z, Pei S, Benito-Calvo A, et al. Site formation processes at Donggutuo: a major Early Pleistocene site in the Nihewan Basin, North China[J]. Journal of Quaternary Science, 2019, 34(8): 621-632 |
| [15] | Ma DD, Pei SW, Xie F, et al. Site formation processes at Cenjiawan (Nihewan Basin, North China): a case study on the structure of the Early Pleistocene archaeological record in lakeshore environments[J]. Journal of Quaternary Science, 2023, 38(4): 488-504 |
| [16] | 叶芷, 杜雨薇, 裴树文, 等. 蔚县盆地吉家庄旧石器遗址的形成过程[J]. 人类学学报, 2023, 42(1): 46-60 |
| [17] | 牛东伟, 闫晓蒙, 马东东, 等. 蔚县盆地2019-2020年旧石器考古调查[J]. 人类学学报, 2022, 41(5): 936-944 |
| [18] | 张亚光, 马梦玲, 周明兴, 等. 河北蔚县盆地晚新世以来沉积古环境演化分析[J]. 地质论评, 2023, 69(S1): 37-39 |
| [19] | 夏正楷, 刘锡清. 泥河湾层古地理环境的初步认识[J]. 海洋地质与第四纪地质, 1984, 4(3): 101-110 |
| [20] | 夏正楷, 韩军青. 泥河湾盆地虎头梁湖相叠层石的生态环境分析[J]. 第四纪研究, 2008, 28(4): 344-350 |
| [21] | de la Torre I, Vanwezer N, Benito-Calvo A, et al. Spatial and orientation patterns of experimental stone tool refits[J]. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2019, 11(9): 4569-4584 |
| [22] | Bertran P, Hetu B, Texier JP, et al. Fabric characteristics of subaerial slope deposits[J]. Sedimentology, 1997, 44(1): 1-16 |
| [23] | 裴树文. 旧石器时代旷野遗址形成过程研究综述[J]. 人类学学报, 2019, 38(1): 1-18 |
| [24] | Schick KD. Geoarchaeological analysis of an Acheulean site at Kalambo Falls, Zambia[J]. Geoarchaeology, 1992, 7: 1-16 |
| [25] | Katsianis M, Tsipidis S, Kotsakis K, et al. A 3D digital workflow for archeological intra-site research using GIS[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2008, 35: 655-667 |
| [26] | Isaac GL. Bones in contention: competing explanations for the juxtaposition of Early Pleistocene artefacts and faunal remains[C]. In: Clutton-Brock J, Grigson C(Eds.). Animals and Archaeology, Vol. 1. Hunters and their Prey[M]. Oxford: BAR International Series 163, 1983, 3-19 |
| [27] | de la Torre I. The Early Stone Age lithic assemblages of Gadeb (Ethiopia) and the Developed Oldowan/early Acheulean in East Africa[J]. Journal of Human Evolution, 2011, 60: 768-812 |
| [28] | Levi-Sala I. Use wear and post-depositional surface modification: A word of caution[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science, 1986, 13: 229-244 |
| [29] | Kuman K. Site formation in the early South African Stone Age sites and its influence on the archaeological record[J]. South African Journal of Science, 2003, 99(5): 251-254 |
| [30] | Kasig A. Anthropogeologie-Eine neue wichtige Forschungsrichtung innerhalb der Geowissenschaften[J]. Nachrichten der Deutschen Geologischen Gesellschaft, 1979, 21: 61-67 |
| [31] | Villa P. Conjoinable pieces and site formation processes[J]. American Antiquity, 1982, 47: 276-290 |
| [32] | Peter B. Obviously sequential but continuous or staged? Refits and cognition in three late Paleolithic assemblages from Japan[J]. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2002, 21(3): 329-343 |
| [33] | Schick KD. Modeling the formation of early stone artifact concentration[J]. Journal of Human Evolution, 1987, 16: 789-807 |
| [34] | Lenoble A, Bertran P. Fabric of Palaeolithic levels: methods and implications for site formation processes[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2004, 31(4): 457-469 |
| [35] | Benito-Calvo A, Martínez-Moreno J, Jordá Pardo JF, et al. Sedimentological and archaeological fabrics in Palaeolithic levels of the South-Eastern Pyrenees: Cova Gran and Roca dels Bous Sites (Lleida, Spain)[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science, 2009, 36(11): 2566-2577 |
| [36] | Villa P, Courtin J. The interpretation of stratified sites: A view from underground[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science, 1983, 10: 267-281 |
| [37] | Sahnouni M, Heinzelin J. The site of Ain Hanech revisited: new investigations at this Lower Pleistocene site in North Algeria[J]. Journal of Archaeological Science, 1998, 25: 1083-1101 |
| [38] | Shea JJ. Artifact abrasion, fluvial processes, and “living floors” from the Early Paleolithic site of ‘Ubeidiya (Jordan Valley, Israel)[J]. Geoarchaeology, 1999, 14: 191-207 |
| [39] | 徐静玥, 何湘栋, 牛东伟, 等. 泥河湾盆地蔚县东沟旧石器遗址的埋藏过程[J]. 人类学学报, 2024, 43(6): 1075-1090 |
| [40] | Ao H, Dekkers MJ, An ZS, et al. Magnetostratigraphic evidence of a mid-Pliocene onset of the Nihewan Formation implications for early fauna and hominid occupation in the Nihewan Basin, North China[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2013, 59: 30-42 |
| [41] | 唐锐枰, 葛俊逸, 庞海娇, 等. 泥河湾黑土沟剖面磁组构特征及古湖水文环境变化[J]. 科学通报, 2020, 65(11): 1027-1045 |
| [42] | 吴文祥. 试论早期人类占据泥河湾盆地的时代[J]. 地球学报, 2002, 23(3): 249-254 |
| [43] | 李潇丽. 泥河湾盆地吉家庄遗址地层易溶盐沉积记录的古气候信息[J]. 海洋地质与第四纪地质, 2020, 40(5): 149-159 |
| [44] | Ye Z, Pei S, Tu H, et al. 26Al/10Be burial dating and technological strategies of hominins at the Jijiazhuang Paleolithic site, Nihewan Basin, China: Implications for understanding Middle Pleistocene human adaptations in east Asia[J]. Quaternary Science Reviews, 2024, 339: 108837 |
| [45] | 白振平. 对蔚县盆地发育过程的初步认识[A].见:卫奇,谢飞(编). 泥河湾研究论文选编[C]. 北京: 文物出版社, 1989, 466-474 |
| [46] | 夏正楷. 大同-阳原盆地的新生代沉积和环境演变[A]. 见:王乃樑,杨景春,夏正楷,等(著). 山西地堑系新生代沉积与构造地貌[M]. 北京: 科学出版社, 1996, 1-72 |
/
| 〈 |
|
〉 |