THE UPPER PALAEOLITHIC OF NORTH CHINA: THE XIACHUAN CULTURE

Publisher： Brill

ISSN： 1568-5233

Source： Journal of East Asian Archaeology, Vol.2, Iss.1-2, 2000-01, pp. : 37-49

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Abstract

A rich assemblage of typical Late Palaeolithic stone tools was found at the Xiachuan Culture sites in Shanxi Province, China. The greyish-brown soil layer in the upper part of Stratum I (radiocarbon dated to ca. 20,000 b.p. or earlier) at the site of Fuyihe yielded a large amount of Xiachuan Culture lithics. The Xiachuan assemblage is representative of the Late Palaeolithic in North-Central China, and it includes blade cores and various microblade cores, burins, backed blades, scrapers, flakes, and cores. The microblade cores are of two principal types: wedge-shaped and conical. There are also some large stone implements such as adze-shaped objects, stone hammers, stone grinding slabs, and stone bowls. This article distinguishes six classes of Xiachuan burins.