Environmental change and raw material selection strategies at Taoshan: a terminal Late Pleistocene to Holocene site in north‐eastern China

Abstract

The Lesser Khingan Mountains of north‐eastern China are heavily forested, making archaeological site identification difficult owing to poor ground surface visibility. Nevertheless, several prehistoric archaeological site discoveries have been made in recent years and a limited number of excavations have been initiated. One of the most important sites to emerge is Taoshan, which has yielded stratified stone tool assemblages dating from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the mid‐Holocene. Pollen profiles indicate significant changes in vegetation, fluctuating from steppe conditions during the LGM to forested conditions in the Bølling–Allerød interstadial (B–A) and the mid‐Holocene. The stone tool assemblages from Taoshan were primarily produced from varieties of volcanic tuff, rhyolite, hornfels and agate. Geological prospecting and petrological analyses were performed to document procurement sources and changes in raw material exploitation strategies. During the LGM, the predominant raw material was vitric tuff, available from a source ca. 5–10 km from Taoshan. In the B–A and mid‐Holocene layers, emphasis was on the exploitation of raw materials in gravel bars, although stone tool reduction techniques and raw material preferences changed considerably during this time interval. Diachronic changes in raw materials and exploitation strategies correspond to changes in vegetation and human adaptations.

Neolithisation in the southern Lesser Khingan Mountains: lithic technologies and ecological adaptation

“…The PNTP lithic evidence from Huayang and Taoshan demonstrates important technological innovations and developments of the earlier lithic industry, especially the production of adzes, axes and chisels and the initial application of grinding techniques. On the basis of a systematic analysis of the lithic raw materials of Taoshan, Yang et al (2017) propose a concurrent decrease in population mobility and greater exploitation of more local raw materials.…”

“…Pollen analysis of samples from Taoshan also reveals substantial change in vegetation from a steppe environment, during the layer 4 period (Last Glacial Maximum), to dense forest in layer 3 (Yang et al 2017). This change is attributed to increasing precipitation and rising temperature concurrent with the start of the Bølling-Allerød warm phase (Yang et al 2017; Figure 7b).…”

“…chert, quartz sandstone and agate) are present in smaller quantities. Field survey and statistical analysis of the presence of cortex indicate that almost all the raw materials were taken from the local riverbed (Yang et al 2017). Cores and debitage Table 1 shows that flakes and flake fragments constitute the dominant artefact type at Taoshan, while cores of flake debitage are represented by only two pieces, showing a simple debitage method without preparation (Figure 6a-b).…”

“…chert, quartz sandstone and agate) are present in smaller quantities. Field survey and statistical analysis of the presence of cortex indicate that almost all the raw materials were taken from the local riverbed (Yang et al 2017).…”

Some Remarks on the Ages of the Earliest Pottery of South China

“…Первую представляют стоянки, расположенные на севере Маньчжурии в бассейнах рек Сунгари и Уссури: таошань (Yang et al 2017;Zou et al 2017), Сяонаньшань (HPm 1972;IaCaSS 1971), хоутаомуга (Kunikita et al 2017;Wang, Sebillaud 2019) и Шуанта (rCCFaJu 2015; Kunikita et al 2017). их возраст ограничен датами в диапазоне 15 200-10 500 кал.…”