Redating Shuidonggou Locality 1 and Implications for the Initial Upper Paleolithic in East Asia

Morgan, Christopher; Barton, Loukas; Yi, Mingjie; Bettinger, Robert L.; Gao, Xing; Peng, Fei

doi:10.2458/56.16270

Cited by 28 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 76 publications

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“…The age of the Paleolithic cultural layer was narrowed to 33-43 ka BP through a series of chronology studies (Liu et al, 2009;Morgan et al, 2014;Nian et al, 2014a). Blanks were mainly produced with the method of direct hard hammer flaking through several methods including Levallois flake method, prismatic method, Levallois blade method, and simple core-flake and bipolar methods (Figure 3a, f) Peng et al, 2014).…”

Section: Shuidonggou Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Technology diffusion and population migration reflected in blade technologies in northern China in the Late Pleistocene

Chen

Wang

et al. 2016

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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In recent years, the origin and evolution of modern human behaviors have become a common topic of research in Paleolithic archaeology. One important part of modern human behavior, blade technology, was once thought to be unique to modern humans. Recent studies have suggested that variations in blade technology do not fully correspond to modern populations. However, the standardization, diversity, discontinuity in terms of time distribution, and differences in spatial distribution of blade technology give it an important role in discussions of modes of adaptation, diffusion of technology, and population migration of hominins. By categorizing the major blade assemblages in China, we show that there were two blade reduction methods in northern China: the Levallois method and the prismatic method. Dating back 30000-40000 years, the Levallois and prismatic blade method combined to form the characteristics of the early stage of the Upper Paleolithic. Artifacts bearing such characteristics are located in Northwest China, Northeast China, and the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The unearthed blades are similar in technological organization and are connected geographically with those discovered in Siberia and Mongolia, which also indicates a distinct border from those discovered in northern China. This fact is suggestive of population immigration. About 25000-29000 years ago, a combination of prismatic blades and microblades was developed in the hinterland of China; however whether it can be regarded as the representative of population migration or only a technological adaption remains undetermined. We suggest that the system of production of different blades should be distinguished in the study of blade assemblages and that different blade methods should not be integrated into a single technical system to discuss technology diffusion and population dispersal.

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Section: Shuidonggou Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Technology diffusion and population migration reflected in blade technologies in northern China in the Late Pleistocene

Chen

Wang

et al. 2016

Sci. China Earth Sci.

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“…Taking account of the relatively crude association of the archaeological materials and stratigraphy, tentative age estimates of c. 20-30 ka for lower cultural layer A, and 34-38 ka for lower cultural layer B have been suggested, based on the previous radiocarbon and U-series dates (Li, Kuhn et al 2013). More recently, earlier ages for the Paleolithic sequence of this locality have also been suggested, including a date of ~ 41 ka cal BP based on a single charcoal sample (Morgan et al 2014), and a range of 33-46 ka from more systematic OSL analysis (Nian, Gao and Zhou 2014). The new OSL dates reveal two sets of ages at SDG 1.…”

Section: Setting Of the Shuidonggou Site Clustermentioning

confidence: 72%

“…However, a wide range of assemblages with different technologies and ages have been identified through subsequent research in the area (Gao, Wang, Pei and Chen 2013b;Li, Gao et al 2013;Pei et al 2012). Although numerous reports of the recent field operations and laboratory studies of SDG localities 1-5, 7, 8, 9, and 12 have been published (Boëda, Hou, Forestier, Sarel and Wang 2013;Gao et al 2008;Gao, Wang and Guan 2013a;Li, Kuhn, Gao and Chen 2013;Liu et al 2009;Morgan et al 2014;Nian, Gao and Zhou 2014;Pei et al 2012;Yi, Chen, Pei and Gao 2014;Wang, Pei, Ma and Feng 2007, and references therein), the chronology of major localities continues to be debated (e.g., Keates and Kuzmin 2015;Li, Kuhn et al 2013;Li, Kuhn and Gao 2015). More importantly, the technological characteristics and chronology of the various archaeological layers and localities are difficult to extract from the available literature, while some older publications are even misleading.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

History, Chronology and Techno-Typology of the Upper Paleolithic Sequence in the Shuidonggou Area, Northern China

et al. 2019

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The timing and behavioral markers of the Upper Paleolithic in different parts of the world are of great importance to research on modern human dispersals. The pattern of behavioral developments in the Upper Paleolithic in northern China differs in important ways from the patterns observed in West Eurasia, Africa, and South Asia. Shuidonggou (SDG), a cluster of Paleolithic sites in northern China, contains several of the most important Upper Paleolithic sites in the region. Various localities yield evidence of three major cultural components dated by 14 C, uranium-series, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) methods to between roughly 46 ka and 10 ka. The oldest component, blade assemblages with western Eurasian early Upper Paleolithic characteristics, appears to be intrusive from Siberia and/or Mongolia, beginning at least 41 ka (e.g., SDG 1 and SDG 9). Advanced core and flake assemblages may mark the appearance of an indigenous Late Paleolithic of North China beginning at around 33 ka (e.g., SDG 2 and SDG 8). Finally, around 10.5 ka, microblade technology arrived in the area (SDG 12), although we are not sure of its origins at present. Other typical Upper Paleolithic cultural remains, such as bone tools and body decorations, have been found at various localities in the SDG area as well (e.g., ostrich eggshell beads from SDG 2, 7, and 8). Information from this cluster of occupations increases our understanding of cultural variability, adaptation, and demographic dynamics of modern humans in Late Pleistocene northern Asia.

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“…At this time, relatively reliable dates for the early UP of North China come from Zhoukoudian Upper Cave (Pei 1940;Chen et al , 1992, Shiyu (Jia et al 1972;Yuan et al 1993), Wangfujing (Li et al 2000), Shuidonggou (Jia et al 1964;Li et al 2013;Madsen et al 2001;Morgan et al 2014;Nian et al 2014a;Ningxia Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics 2003;Pei et al 2012;Peng et al 2012;,…”

Section: The Upper Paleolithic Of North China: Discoveries Dates Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, new radiocarbon dating on bones found in original contexts suggests that Shuidonggou is probably older, since blade technology shows up in the lowest cultural layer (CL7) of Loc. 2, dated up to 41 kya by AMS and OSL Gao et al 2013;Liu D. et al 2009), and Locality 1, dated up to 43 kya (Morgan et al 2014;Nian et al 2014a). The blade industry represented at Shuidonggou has long been an unusual case, with similar remains found only in Ningxia basin and the Hetao region (the big bend area of Yellow River).…”

Section: The Upper Paleolithic Of North China: Discoveries Dates Andmentioning

confidence: 99%

Variations in the Upper Paleolithic adaptations of North China: A review of the evidence and implications for the onset of food production

Chen

2017

Archaeological Research in Asia

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The Upper Paleolithic (UP) of North China has the richest archaeological data and longest history of research in the Paleolithic archaeology of China, but there is a relative lack of systematic studies addressing human adaptations. This paper explores the spatial and temporal variability of human adaptations in terms of mobility, the key variable in the adaptive systems of hunter-gatherers. We find that before the UP, little adaptive differentiation is shown in the archaeological record of North China. The early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) is distinguished by four distinctive modes of mobility and subsistence organized roughly along lines of habitat variation. These modes persisted in the Late Upper Paleolithic (LUP), underlying the widespread prevalence of microblade technology throughout North China. This pattern significantly influenced adaptive changes during the transition from the terminal Pleistocene to early Holocene. Earliest food production emerged in hilly flank habitats where EUP

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Redating Shuidonggou Locality 1 and Implications for the Initial Upper Paleolithic in East Asia

Cited by 28 publications

References 76 publications

Technology diffusion and population migration reflected in blade technologies in northern China in the Late Pleistocene

Technology diffusion and population migration reflected in blade technologies in northern China in the Late Pleistocene

History, Chronology and Techno-Typology of the Upper Paleolithic Sequence in the Shuidonggou Area, Northern China

Variations in the Upper Paleolithic adaptations of North China: A review of the evidence and implications for the onset of food production

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