The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
The Early Pleistocene archaeological evidence from the fluvio-lacustrine sequence of the Nihewan Basin (North China) offers an excellent opportunity to explore early human evolution and behavior in a temperate setting in East Asia, following the earliest ‘Out of Africa’. Here we present the first comprehensive study of the Feiliang (FL) site, with emphasis on the archaeological sequence, site integrity, and stone artifact assemblages. Magnetostratigraphic dating results show that early humans occupied the site ca. 1.2 Ma. Archaeological deposits were buried rapidly in primary context within shallow lake margin deposits, with only minor post-depositional disturbance from relatively low energy hydraulic forces. The FL lithic assemblage is characterized by a core and flake, Oldowan-like or Mode 1 technology, with a low degree of standardization, expedient knapping techniques, and casually retouched flakes. The bone assemblage suggests that hominin occupation of the FL site was in an open habitat of temperate grassland with areas of steppe and water. The main features of the FL assemblage are discussed in the context of the early Pleistocene archaeology of Nihewan, for which an assessment of current and future research is also presented.
The earliest dispersal of hominins out of Africa constitutes a central issue in modern Paleoanthropology [
Previous and ongoing archaeological investigations in the Nihewan basin have yielded one of the world’s most important sequences for the study of the early Pleistocene [
This paper will introduce the archaeological sequence of the Feiliang (hereafter FL) site complex, in the Nihewan basin, excavated in 1990 and 1996. We will focus on the archaeo-stratigraphic sequence, site formation processes and, particularly, on lithic technology and raw materials. Our aim is to present a detailed account of the Oldowan-like technology in the Early Pleistocene sequence of FL, and discuss the significance of well-preserved, low-density archaeological assemblages for the reconstruction of early Pleistocene hominin behavior in East Asia. In addition, we aim to discuss FL in the context of the early Pleistocene archaeology of the Nihewan basin.
1a. Specimen numbers: fossils and lithics from trench 1 were labelled with the site’s name (i.e. FL), while fossils and lithics from other trenches were labelled with the site’s name, trench, and the year they were excavated (i.e., 96FL-T2, 96FL-T3, 96FL-TOK), followed by a correlative number for each trench (e.g., FL-1, 96FL-TOK-1). A total of 3364 fossils and lithics received an accession number (i.e., FL-1∼564, 96FL-T2- 1∼644, 96FL-T3-1∼614, 96FL-TOK-1∼1542).
1b. All archaeological specimens reported in this paper are housed in the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics, in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, China. Access to these specimens is granted by the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics.
1c. Permits were granted by the Basic Scientific Special Program of Ministry of Science and Technology of China (Grant No. 2014FY110300).
Field permit granted by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, China.
The FL site complex is located in the Cenjiawan Platform on the eastern margin of the Nihewan basin, where several other important Early Pleistocene sites (e.g. Majuangou (MJG), Cenjiawan (CJW), Xiaochangliang (XCL), and Donggutuo (DGT) are located (
(a) Nihewan basin in North China; (b) Sketch map of the Nihewan basin; (c) relevant sites in the eastern part of the Nihewan basin; (d) View of the FL trenches (from the southeast). e) Composite sections of T1, T2, T3, and TOK, correlated with the Feiliang Type Section. BU-basal unit, LU-lower unit, TBSU-thick brown sand unit, UU-upper unit. C-clay, S-silt, SA-sand, CB-cobble and breccia.
Deng et al. [
B, Brunhes; M, Matuyama; O, Olduvai; J, Jaramillo; VGP Lat., latitude of the virtual geomagnetic pole. DGT and FL refer to the Donggutuo and Feiliang artifact layers, respectively.
Deng et al. [
The fluvio-lacustrine Feiliang sedimentary sequence mainly comprises fine-grained sediments, including silty clays, silts and sandy silts, in which no disconformities are observed. Deng et al. [
Feiliang (meaning small ridge in Chinese) was discovered in 1985 by one of us (FX), and was test-excavated in 1986. Trench 1 of the FL site was excavated in 1990, and Trench 2, Trench 3, and TOK in 1996 by a China- US international team. Systematic mapping and geomorphological study of the FL area was undertaken prior to excavations, focusing on the reference section for stratigraphic profiles of the fluvio-lacustrine deposits identified along the Feiliang ridge. All excavations were conducted in 2 to 5 cm spits, with larger spits used for sterile layers. Sediments were dry sieved with 5mm mesh. Horizontal and vertical distribution of excavated remains was recorded in all trenches, and shown in
A) T1. B) T2. C) T3. D) TOK.
Nearly 100 m2 were exposed, and 983 lithic artifacts and more than 2000 animal fossil fragments were collected (
*Only lithics.
Trench 1 (T1) | Trench 2 (T2) | Trench 3 (T3) | TOK | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Year discovered | 1985 | 1985 | 1985 | 1985 | ||
Year excavated | 1990 | 1996 | 1996 | 1996 | ||
Location | N 40°13′27.2″ |
N 40°13′27.5″ |
N 40°13′26.3″ |
N 40°13′26.0″ |
||
Elevation (m.a.s.l/) | ||||||
Area excavated (m2) | 17 | 18 | 12 | 35 | ||
Thickness of archaeological levels (cm) | 50 | 160 | 195 | 210 | ||
Number of excavated spits | 15 | 29 | 35 | 18 | ||
Archaeology | Surface* | 22 | 4 | 2 | ||
Excavated | lithics | 111 | 77 | 92 | 669 | |
Fossils | 431 | 567 | 518 | 871 | ||
Artifacts/m2 | 6.53 | 4.28 | 7.67 | 19.11 |
Fluvial abrasion of artifacts was evaluated using four indices: fresh, slightly abraded, abraded, and heavily abraded [
Due to the lack of a standardized typology for Chinese Early Paleolithic stone tool assemblages [
Typologically, we classified FL cores as either test cores, choppers, discoids, polyhedrons, or core scrapers. To evaluate reduction strategies, flaking methods followed schemes presented by de la Torre et al., [
The FL site was deposited in a lake margin environment where severe hydraulic disturbance is not apparent. For example, TOK sediments are composed primarily of very fine sand and coarse silt (53.70%) to fine silt to clay (37.07%), with a low percentage of relatively coarse particles. In this trench, archaeological layers are finer-grained than the other deposits, with 95.27% of very fine sand and coarse silt to clay, and a low percentage of coarse particles of fine sand to granules and small pebbles (4.73%), typical of lacustrine floodplains (see details in supporting information
Artifact condition also suggests that the FL assemblages are mostly in primary context. As shown in
A) Stone tool abrasion in the FL assemblages. B) Ratios of flaked pieces: detached pieces. Unmodified blocks are excluded. C) Percentage of main lithic categories in the FL assemblages. Unmodified blocks are excluded. D) Shape of whole flakes in the FL assemblages, based on Width/Length, and Thickness/Width ratios. E) Distribution of raw materials in the FL site complex. F) Different raw materials exploited in the FL assemblages.
Intra-assemblage category ratios also support this view; as shown in
Surface and stratified artifacts are included.
T1 | T2 | T3 | TOK | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Category | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % |
Cores | 8 | 5.8 | 6 | 7.8 | 6 | 6.3 | 30 | 4.5 |
Retouched flakes | 5 | 3.6 | 2 | 2.6 | 1 | 1.0 | 14 | 2.1 |
Flakes | 45 | 32.6 | 14 | 18.2 | 23 | 24.0 | 107 | 15.9 |
Flake fragments | 44 | 31.9 | 43 | 55.8 | 35 | 36.4 | 288 | 42.9 |
Angular fragments | 30 | 21.7 | 11 | 14.3 | 23 | 24.0 | 193 | 28.8 |
Unmodified materials | 6 | 4.4 | 1 | 1.3 | 8 | 8.3 | 39 | 5.8 |
Total | 138 | 100 | 77 | 100 | 96 | 100 | 671 | 100 |
Artifact size curves also inform the degree of fluvial disturbance; debitage size patterns of FL trenches (
A) T1 stone tools and fossils (N = 138), B) T 2 stone tools and fossils (N = 547), C) T 3 stone tools and fossils (N = 450), D) TOK fossils (N = 716). E) TOK stone tools (N = 447). F) debitage size distribution patterns (T1, N = 124; T2, N = 71; T3, N = 82; TOK, N = 602), with reference to Schick’s (1986) experimental curve.
Distribution patterns of refitted pieces help the evaluation of site formation processes at FL. Although several trenches yielded refits (see
A-C) Plan view (A), and sagittal y, z (B) and transversal x, z (C) cross-sections of refit connections in TOK. D) Examples of refit sets in the FL assemblage.
In summary, lines of evidence discussed in this section such as artifact abrasion, size curves and orientation patterns, suggest that post-depositional disturbance was negligible. Such disturbance was probably limited to low energy sheet wash across the lakeshore setting that may have removed part of the small fraction of archaeological assemblages, but which did not alter significantly the original configuration of the FL site.
Over 2,300 bones were recovered during excavation, of which more than 80% consist of post-cranial fragments (mostly limb bones), and 20% are dentition and isolated teeth. Fossils are very fragmentary and only 11 body parts were recognized, of which 10 species were determined (
(a) Fish pharyngeal teeth (T2), (b) left proximal bird coracoid (T2), (c)
Class | Taxon | Body parts | Environment |
---|---|---|---|
Fish | \ | pharyngeal teeth, gill cover frag. | W |
Birds | egg shells | SS | |
coracoid frag. | |||
Carnivores | canines | F | |
mandible frag., cheek teeth | OG,SS | ||
Canidae gen. et sp. indet. | canines | OG,SS | |
Perissodactyla | cheek teeth, metacarpal frag. | OG,SS | |
cheek teeth | OG,SS | ||
Rhinocerotide gen. et sp. indet. | cheek tooth frag. | OG,F | |
Artiodactyla | cheek teeth | OG,F | |
horn core frag., cheek teeth, radius and ulna frag. | OG,F | ||
Bovidae gen. and sp. indet. | cheek teeth, phalange, metacarpal frag. | OG,F |
Environment: W = Water; OG = Open Grassland; SS = Sparse Steppes; F = Forest
In contrast to the “Classic Nihewan Fauna” [
The Nihewan Fauna is often considered as the typical forest-steppe community of the early Pleistocene in North China [
As with other early Pleistocene archaeological sites in the Nihewan Basin, identification of bone breaking patterns and surface modification at FL requires taphonomic investigation to assess the extent of human intervention on the fossil assemblages. We have observed varied weathering stages of FL fossils, which would seem to imply several episodes of bone accumulation. Nevertheless, our preliminary taphonomic analysis of the FL fossil assemblage has identified green fractures and percussive notches indicative of human action on the bone assemblage (
The size of the Trench 1 lithic assemblage discussed in this paper (n = 138) is similar to Xie’s [
T1 | T2 | T3 | TOK | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean | S.D. | Mean | S.D. | Mean | S.D. | Mean | S.D. | ||
Cores | Length | 75.6 | 13.1 | 68.2 | 19.0 | 46.17 | 19.2 | 79.7 | 32.9 |
Width | 70.6 | 17.3 | 61.3 | 18.9 | 43.0 | 18.5 | 67.9 | 28.3 | |
Thickness | 51.9 | 14.7 | 45.5 | 14.3 | 32.5 | 17.42 | 54.5 | 22.8 | |
Weight | 381.9 | 197.7 | 266.0 | 186.3 | 145.2 | 254.1 | 489.9 | 645.7 | |
Retouched flakes | Length | 26.0 | 3.1 | 59 | 31.1 | 26 | 32.7 | 8.11 | |
Width | 36.2 | 5.9 | 34.5 | 9.2 | 31 | 37.9 | 8.3 | ||
Thickness | 13.0 | 3.0 | 26.5 | 20.5 | 10 | 14.7 | 4.1 | ||
Weight | 12.4 | 2.6 | 151.5 | 194.5 | 7.1 | 18.9 | 12.1 | ||
Flakes | Length | 32.1 | 11.4 | 35.2 | 17.7 | 27.8 | 17.2 | 35.3 | 13.1 |
Width | 27.8 | 9.4 | 34.4 | 16.6 | 24.6 | 13.9 | 31.5 | 12.1 | |
Thickness | 9.9 | 4.0 | 14.8 | 7.2 | 7.65 | 4.86 | 11.6 | 4.9 | |
Weight | 9.4 | 7.9 | 31.9 | 50.5 | 8.7 | 14.4 | 14.9 | 20.4 |
The lithic collection of Trench 2 (n = 77) is the smallest of the FL assemblages. Flakes (N = 14, 18.2%) and flake fragments (N = 43, 55.8%) predominate (
The TOK lithic collection (n = 671) is the largest of the FL lithic assemblages. Flake fragments (N = 288, 65.6%) predominate, followed by angular fragments (n = 93, 28.8%) and flakes (N = 107, 24.4%) (
Further details on the lithic assemblage composition of each trench is available in supporting information
The FL assemblages include chert, various lavas and basement rocks, which were locally available to hominins in the vicinity of FL in the Cenjiawan Platform. Chert is the main raw material, probably derived from Precambrian rock outcrops about 200–500 m to the north and northeast of FL. Siliceous dolomite, the main rock type of this Precambrian rock system, appears in a chert-bearing bed in bands and as irregularly-shaped nodules. This rock system underwent secondary fracture transformation that resulted in the brecciated structure of the chert and siliceous dolomite. The chert is fine-grained silica-rich microcrystalline, cryptocrystalline or microfibrous. It varies greatly in color, but is often brown, gray, grayish brown, or rusty red. Siliceous dolomite is also fine-grained, gray and grayish white. Some chert exhibits internal flaws, fractures and a brecciated structure, which decrease its flaking quality. This type of chert is different from the relatively high-quality fine-grained chert, and is given the name of “brecciated chert” in this paper.
Lavas used for tools were probably derived from the Jurassic volcanic system located 100 m west and 500 m east of the FL site. The most frequently used lava is medium to dark grey, fine-grained, and either aphyric or slightly porphyritic; basalt, andesite and trachy-andesite are the most common types.
The basement rocks used by hominins include quartz, quartzite, and granite gneiss, which were extruded by Jurassic volcanic eruptions. The quartz is colorless or white and shows poor conchoidal properties. Nearly all the quartzite is white, pale yellow, and grey, very coarse-grained and displays similar fracture properties to quartz. A very few artifacts are of granite gneiss, which is coarse-grained and dark red and grey. Basement rock types are less common across the landscape than Jurassic lavas.
Overall, chert is generally the most suitable rock for flaking, followed by siliceous dolomite and lava. Brecciated chert and the basement rocks (i.e. quartz, quartzite and granite) are of relatively poorer quality. Chert and brecciated chert are the most abundant around the FL site, and are usually present as blocks or in bands, which weather into smaller pieces suitable for human collection. Siliceous dolomite, lava and other materials are relatively rare, were usually preserved as cobbles in the paleo-lake margin setting, and readily available to FL knappers.
Core morpho-types are shown in
T1 | T2 | T3 | TOK | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Core type | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % |
Test core | 2 | 25.0 | 1 | 16.7 | 1 | 16.7 | 1 | 3.3 | 5 | 10.0 |
Unifacial chopper | 1 | 12.5 | 2 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6.7 | 5 | 10.0 |
Bifacial chopper | 1 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16.7 | 2 | 6.7 | 4 | 6.0 |
Unifacial discoid | 1 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.0 |
Bifacial discoid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13.3 | 4 | 8.0 |
Core scraper | 2 | 25.0 | 2 | 33.3 | 3 | 50.0 | 11 | 36.7 | 18 | 36.0 |
Polyhedron | 1 | 12.5 | 1 | 16.7 | 1 | 16.7 | 10 | 33.3 | 13 | 26.0 |
Unifacial flaking is evident on 75% of T1 cores, 33.3% of T2 and T3 cores, and 23.3% of TOK cores (
Trench 1 | Trench 2 | Trench 3 | TOK | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Flaking mode | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % |
Unifacial | 6 | 75.0 | 2 | 33.3 | 2 | 33.3 | 7 | 23.3 | 18 | 36.0 |
Bifacial | 1 | 12.5 | 1 | 16.7 | 1 | 16.7 | 11 | 36.7 | 14 | 28.0 |
Multifacial | 1 | 12.5 | 3 | 50.0 | 3 | 50.0 | 12 | 40.0 | 19 | 38.0 |
Sub-total | 8 | 100 | 6 | 100 | 6 | 100 | 30 | 100 | 50 | 100 |
Another trend of the FL assemblage is the rare occurrence of structured knapping methods. No polyhedral [
A) Core size ranges (mm). B) Number of flake scars on cores (scars per core average: Trench 1 = 8; Trench 2 = 7.2; Trench 3 = 6.3; TO-TOK = 8.8). C) Percentage of cortex. D) Core blank.
Upper (T1): (a) Bifacial chopper with BSP exploitation; (b) Core scraper showing UAP exploitation; (c) Unifacial discoid with UP exploitation; (d) Polyhedron with Multifacial exploitation. Middle (T2): (e) unifacial chopper with USP exploitation; (f) Polyhedron with Multifacial exploitation. Lower (T3): (g)-(h) Core scrapers showing UAP exploitation; (i) Polyhedron with Multifacial exploitation.
(a) and (c) Polyhedron with Multifacial exploitation; (b) Unifacial chopper with USP exploitation; (d) Bifacial discoid with BP exploitation; (e) Core scraper with UAP exploitation; (f) Bifacial discoid with BSP exploitation; (g) Bifacial discoid with BALT exploitation; (h) Core scraper with UAT exploitation.
T1 | T2 | T3 | TOK | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Flaking methods | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % |
TC | 2 | 25.0 | 1 | 16.7 | 1 | 16.7 | 1 | 3.3 | 5 | 10.0 |
USP | 0 | 0 | 2 | 33.3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6.7 | 4 | 8.0 |
BSP | 1 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 16.7 | 1 | 3.3 | 3 | 6.0 |
UAP | 1 | 12.5 | 1 | 16.7 | 3 | 50.0 | 7 | 23.3 | 12 | 24.0 |
BAP | 1 | 12.5 | 1 | 16.7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.3 | 3 | 6.0 |
UAT | 1 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3.3 | 2 | 4.0 |
UP | 1 | 12.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2.0 |
BP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 16.8 | 5 | 10.0 |
BALT | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6.7 | 2 | 4.0 |
Multifacial | 1 | 12.5 | 1 | 16.7 | 1 | 16.7 | 10 | 33.3 | 13 | 26.0 |
The number of flake scars (maximum dimension ≥10mm) on cores gives a minimum estimate of the number of flakes that have been removed from a core [
Toth’s flake types [
A) Flake size ranges (mm). B) Number of scars on platforms. C) Percentage of cortex on dorsal faces and striking platforms, according to Toth’s (1982) types. D) Number of scars on dorsal face of flakes. E) Frequencies of cortical area on dorsal face of flakes. F) Frequencies of scar patterns on dorsal face of flakes.
A) T1; B) T2; C) T3; D) TOK.
Analysis of FL flake platform scars (≥1 mm) (see
The number of dorsal scars on FL flakes shows relatively consistent patterns (see
The most common flake scar patterning is unidirectional (55.6%) (
Albeit scarce, retouched flakes are present in all trenches, with an average proportion of 2.3%. Retouch is normally on flakes or flake fragments, and retouched tools average 33.4 mm in size. Retouch is casual in all FL assemblages, with no imposition of standardized shapes on blanks (see
A) T1; B) TOK.
The nature of inter-site assemblage variability can provide relevant information in the reconstruction of hominin technological behavior [
Site | Year excavated | Age (Ma) | Excavated area (m2) | Level thickness (cm) | Level stratigraphy | Number of items | Density of artifacts/m2 | Modified bones without the? | References | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lithics | Fossils | |||||||||
MJGIII | 2001–2002 | 1.66 | 85 | 50 | Silty clay | 443 | 1014 | 8.8 | Y | [ |
MJGIII-G | 2001 | 1.66 | 12 | 50 | Clay silt and sand | 50 | 871 | 4.17 | Y | [ |
MJDII | 2002 | 1.64 | 40 | 36 | Sandy silt | 226 | 174 | 5.65 | ? | [ |
MJGI | 1993,2002 | 1.55 | 50 | 75 | Clay silt | 215 | 237 | 4.3 | Y | [ |
XCL1 | 1978 | 1.36 | ? | 50–80 | Silty sands | 804 | ? | - | N | [ |
XCL2 | 1990–1997 | 1.36 | ? | 50–80 | Silty sands | 1258 | ? | - | N | [ |
XCL3 | 1998 | 1.36 | 16 | 80 | Fine sand | 901 | 3291 | 56.31 | N | [ |
DCL | 2000 | 1.36 | 7 | 58 | Silty sand | 33 | 22 | 4.71 | N | [ |
BS | 1990 | 1.32 | 2 | 40 | Sand and gravels | 95 | 130 | 47.5 | N | [ |
FL-T1 | 1990 | 1.2 | 17 | 50 | Fine silt and clay | 133 | 431 | 6.53 | N | [ |
FL-T2 | 1996 | 1.2 | 18 | 160 | Fine silt and clay | 77 | 567 | 4.28 | N | This paper |
FL-T3 | 1996 | 1.2 | 12 | 195 | Fine silt and clay | 96 | 518 | 7.67 | N | This paper |
FL-TOK | 1996 | 1.2 | 35 | 210 | Fine silt and clay | 671 | 871 | 19.11 | N | [ |
CJW | 1986,1992 | 1.1 | 40 | 10–35 | Clay | 1383 | 257 | 34.57 | ? | [ |
DGT1 | 1981 | 1.1 | 45 | 320 | Clayey silt with gravels | 1443 | >1000 | 32.07 | Y | [ |
DGT2 | 1997 | 1.1 | 12 | 40 | Clayey silt | 702 | 169 | 58.5 | ? | [ |
HJD | 1997 | 1.0 | 6 | 75 | Silt with gravels | 60 | ? | 10 | N | [ |
ML | 1985 | 0.8 | 20 | 40–60 | Sand | 121 | ? | 6.05 | N | [ |
Identification of agents that contributed to assemblage formation is a constant concern in Early Stone Age research [
Sedimentary contexts are varied among the twelve Nihewan sites listed in
Artifact density and the thickness of archaeological levels can also be used to evaluate site formation dynamics [
UM: unmodified material.
Lithic assemblages earlier than 1.3Ma | ||||||||||||||||
MJGIII-G | MJGII | MJGI | XCL1 | XCL2 | XCL3 | DCL | BS | |||||||||
N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
Cores | 2 | 4.0 | 32 | 14.2 | 11 | 5.1 | 25 | 3.1 | 44 | 3.5 | 44 | 4.9 | 4 | 12.1 | 8 | 8.4 |
Ret. pieces | 2 | 4.0 | 25 | 11.1 | 1 | 0.5 | 12 | 1.5 | 12 | 1.0 | 7 | 0.8 | 1 | 3.0 | 20 | 21.1 |
Flakes | 13 | 26.0 | 85 | 37.6 | 51 | 23.7 | 47 | 5.8 | 232 | 18.4 | 143 | 15.9 | 11 | 33.3 | 28 | 29.5 |
Flake frag. | 11 | 22.0 | 34 | 15.0 | 75 | 34.9 | 720 | 89.6 | 211 | 16.8 | 197 | 21.9 | 5 | 15.2 | 14 | 14.7 |
Angular frag. | 22 | 44.0 | 50 | 22.1 | 77 | 35.8 | 558 | 44.3 | 414 | 45.9 | 12 | 36.4 | 25 | 26.3 | ||
Bipolar | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 170 | 13.5 | 56 | 6.2 | - | - | - | - |
UM | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 31 | 2.5 | 40 | 4.4 | - | - | - | - |
Total | 50 | 100 | 226 | 100 | 215 | 100 | 804 | 100 | 1258 | 100 | 901 | 100 | 33 | 100 | 95 | 100 |
Lithic assemblages younger than 1.3 Ma | ||||||||||||||||
FL-T1 | FL-T2 | FL-T3 | FL-TOK | CJW | DGT1 | HJD | ML | |||||||||
N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | N | % | |
Cores | 8 | 5.8 | 6 | 7.8 | 6 | 6.2 | 30 | 4.5 | 36 | 2.6 | 147 | 8.8 | 4 | 6.7 | 15 | 12.4 |
Ret. pieces | 5 | 3.6 | 2 | 2.6 | 1 | 1.0 | 14 | 2.1 | 33 | 2.4 | 230 | 13.7 | 24 | 40.0 | 29 | 24.0 |
Flakes | 45 | 32.6 | 14 | 18.2 | 23 | 24.0 | 107 | 15.9 | 178 | 12.9 | 505 | 30.1 | 12 | 20.0 | 24 | 19.8 |
Flake frag. | 44 | 31.9 | 43 | 55.8 | 35 | 36.5 | 288 | 42.9 | 1134 | 82.0 | 419 | 25.0 | - | - | 10 | 8.3 |
Angular frag. | 30 | 21.7 | 11 | 14.3 | 23 | 24.0 | 193 | 28.8 | 375 | 22.4 | 20 | 33.3 | 43 | 35.5 | ||
Bipolar | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0.1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
UM | 6 | 4.4 | 1 | 1.3 | 8 | 8.3 | 39 | 5.8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Total | 138 | 100 | 77 | 100 | 96 | 100 | 671 | 100 | 1383 | 100 | 1676 | 100 | 60 | 100 | 121 | 100 |
Stone tool density (
A) and B) Excavated area; C) and D) Number of items; E) and F) Stone artifact density; G) and H) Ratios of flaked pieces versus detached pieces; I) and J) Artifact category. All data from Tables
Except for the FL collections (this paper), no data is available regarding conditions of abrasion, frequencies of small flaking debris and fabrics of the Nihewan lithic assemblages, Although assessments of the spatial configuration of remains [
Notwithstanding, available data enables calculation of detached: flaked piece ratios, a proxy that has been used elsewhere to discuss assemblage integrity [
In summary, our comparison of the available data suggests that, to some extent, post-depositional processes affected all Nihewan assemblages, and should be considered when attempting to reconstruct hominin activities at the sites. In our opinion, archaeological occurrences from FL, CJW, MJGI, MJGIII, and MJGIII-G sites were less disturbed by post-depositional processes, whereas other sites such as HJD, ML experienced more significant hydraulic disturbance.
Faunal remains constitute a large part of the Nihewan Basin assemblages, often outnumbering stone tools (
As with the FL faunal assemblage described in this paper, fragmentary mammalian fossil bones and teeth (rodents, carnivores, elephantids,
Recent studies of some of the Early Pleistocene lithic assemblages (e.g., XCL, DGT, MJGIII-G, CJW) (see
Pei and Hou [
In summary, there is a clear pattern where chert is consistently chosen in all Early Pleistocene Nihewan sites. In this regard, it should also be noted that researchers often give different names to the same rock type, and our own investigations in the Cenjiawan Platform [
With regards to flaking techniques across the Nihewan sites, refitting studies at FL and CJW [
Tables
Core forms and flaking methods are among the most important technological elements characterizing Early Stone Age assemblages. Recent studies of the Nihewan material [
One general pattern of the Nihewan reduction sequence is that all assemblages contain abundant small-sized flakes, especially FL-T1, MJGIII-G, MJGI, MJGII, DCL, DGT1, BS, FL-T3, and HJG. This is probably related to the poor quality of most raw materials, which readily shatter into irregular pieces [
Retouched pieces in BS, HJD and ML sites exceed 20% percent of the assemblages, while in MJGII, DGT1 they range between 10% - 20%, and less than 5% in MJGIII-G, MJGI, XCL, DCL, FL, and CJW. No standardization is evident in flake retouching among sites older than 1.3 Ma. However, there seems to exist a different trend in assemblages younger than 1.3 Ma in sites such as DGT, CJW, and ML, where standard morpho-types, such as scrapers, notches, points, and denticulates, have been reported [
In summary, an overview of all the Early Pleistocene assemblages in the Nihewan Basin confirms the prevalence of a core and flake, Oldowan-like/ Mode 1 technology. Such technology was based on the procurement of relatively low quality chert and brecciated chert, available in the immediate surroundings of the sites. Freehand, hard-hammer percussion is the dominant flaking technique, although in some sites bipolar technique is also evident. Cores were reduced through simple flaking schemes, due either to difficulties in flaking low-quality chert, and/or because the short distance to raw material sources [
The Feiliang assemblage adds a new case study to the record of Mode 1 technologies in Eurasia >1 ma, currently interpreted within the context of Out of Africa I [
However, recognition of similarities on the main technological features of these assemblages should not overlook probable chronological and regional variability. In addition to differences in flaking schemes (e.g., variations in freehand and bipolar schemes; see a recent discussion in Yang et al., [
The success of human migrations from Africa into the Nihewan Basin during the early Pleistocene was rooted on a suite of morphological and behavioral adaptations to new environments [
The chronology of the FL site, dated to 1.2 Ma by paleomagnetism [
The available evidence points to a primary depositional context of the FL archaeological assemblages. Our results indicate that relatively low densities of archaeological materials accumulated successively, and were buried rapidly in fine-grained sediments by gentle sheet wash events in a lake-margin environment.
The FL assemblage contains fossils of several mammal species, and some bones show fresh fractures that could evidence human action over some animals represented at the site. The lithic assemblage is typical of an Oldowan-like, Mode 1, core-and-flake technology. Like other Old World Mode 1 assemblages, the FL stone industry is characterized by a simple technological design, low degree of standardization, expedient flaking, and a few poorly standardized retouched flakes. Overall, cores indicate relatively simple flaking methods, with no clear organization and irregular use of any available flaking angles.
Extensive fieldwork at the Nihewan basin has produced a rich archaeological record, which now requires comprehensive and integrated studies of the taphonomic, technological and zooarchaeological aspects of each site. The application of standardized analytical methods will enable more systematic comparisons of inter-assemblage variability and, and as one of the oldest and densest concentrations of early Paleolithic sites in the world, the Nihewan Early Pleistocene archaeology should thus become a point of reference for reconstructions of early human behavior.
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The authors would like to thank Xing Gao and Yamei Hou for discussions and comments. We thank the late Desmond Clark for his guidance during field investigations in 1996. Thanks to Jinming Shi, Jun Li, and Huijie Mei for managing field excavations in 1996. Further thanks are due to the officials and antiquities personnel of Hebei province and the local governments in Yangyuan County who facilitated fieldwork. We thank the Editor, Hong Ao and an anonymous reviewer for their assistance and insightful comments, which helped us to improve this article.