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Cultural adaptations to the Late Pleistocene: Regional variability of human behavior in southern Shanxi Province, central-northern China
Quaternary International 295 (2013) 253e261
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Cultural adaptations to the Late Pleistocene: Regional variability of human behavior in southern Shanxi Province, central-northern China Hong Chen a, *, Chun Chen b, Yiren Wang c, Chen Shen d a
Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology, Zhejiang University, Tianmushan Road, Hangzhou 310028, China Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China c Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Taiyuan 030001, China d Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario M5S2C6, Canada b
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Available online 17 December 2012
This study investigated regional variability of human behavioral adaptation to changing environments during the Late Pleistocene. The four important Upper Paleolithic sites of Xiachuan, Xueguan, Shizitan and Chaisi from southern Shanxi Province in central China were selected for comparison on a regional scale. In order to understand the technologies and activities of the occupants, both dynamic technotypological and microwear analyses were employed. The four prehistoric hunteregatherer groups adopted lithic technologies to different levels to cope with their own environments, climate and available resources by the terminal Pleistocene. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction Human behavior is a product of the coevolution of human and culture (Durham, 1976). For many anthropologists, culture is the most potent method of adaptation that has emerged in the evolutionary history of the living world (Cohen, 1968). Lithic technology, has been defined by Odell (2001), means various processes that contribute to the production of stone tools, including strategies of manipulation and sequencing, knapping equipment, and knowledge of raw materials and operative forces. In a common sense, both tools and technologies are direct embodiments of the cultural and cognitive development of humans. Flaking and retouch techniques might mean cultural interventions exerted by knappers and users. Torrence (1982) has pointed out that lithic assemblage structure could have been related to time stress and time budgeting. Oswalt (1976) has discussed various tool-kits in different environments in his book, and has suggested that increases of component units of an “optimal tool-kit” were a solution to minimize risks caused by foraging failure. Bamforth (1986) and Odell (1996) have thought that lack of raw material might force hunteregatherers to invest considerable effort into tool production, and thus “curated” technology might have become a crucial adaptive strategy. The Upper Paleolithic was identified with blade-dominated assemblages by prehistoric researchers (Bar-Yosef, 1999), including * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (H. Chen). 1040-6182/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2012.12.008
the technologies based on microblades in Northeast Asia, Siberia and North America, as well as geometric microliths in Europe and West Asia (Taylor, 1962; Jia, 1978; An, 2000). The emergence and flourishing of microblade technology at the terminal Pleistocene was regarded as one of the most significant technical innovations in prehistory (Bar-Yosef, 2002). Shanxi Province is located in the northeeast middle valley of the Yellow River. Researches on the Paleolithic of Shanxi Province can be traced to 1929, when the French scholar P. Teilhard de Chardin and Chinese scholar C.C. Yang began the geological surveys. To date, more than 460 Paleolithic sites have been identified in Shanxi Province, which make it a reference sequence for the study of prehistoric culture in North China. On the basis of many relevant studies, it is suggested that microblades might have represented a technology or strategy adopted by hunteregatherers living in extremely diverse and harsh environments (Chen, 1984). For understanding regional variability of human behavior and adaptive strategies in southern Shanxi Province, central-northern China, the focus is on lithic technologies and activities among the four microblade industries, Xiachuan, Xueguan, Shizitan, and Chaisi respectively (Fig. 1). 2. Analytical methods and sampling 2.1. Lithic analysis: dynamic techno-typological approach The techno-typological approach is typological analysis based on manufacturing attributes, contrasting with “morpho-typological”,
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Fig. 1. Map of the study region.
merely based on morphological attributes of artifacts (Hayashi, 1968), which has become increasingly popular in microblade researches (Chen, 2007). Dynamic Technological classification, developed by Schild et al. (1975), is another admirable typology to reconstruct working procedure of a given lithic assemblage by classifying debitage, cores, debris and final intended products according to their roles in preparing, retouching or modifying processes. In terms of the concept of “chaine operatoire” and two typologies mentioned above, a “dynamic techno-typological approach” was used to identify attributes of specimens, and to further compare similarities and differences between the four assemblages. In this study, all lithic artifacts from an archaeological assemblage will be divided into four groups: prepared types, manufactured types, utilized types, and discarded types (Fig. 2). The term “prepared type” here refers to those pieces produced during the early stage of flintknapping process and could be selected for further modification. They include raw materials, blanks, and stone-hammers. The manufactured type refers to the pieces produced during the process of manufacture and retouch, including flakes (in contrast to utilized flakes discussed below), blades/microblades, and interminates. Among flakes, core trimming flakes, sometimes called core rejuvenation flakes are evidence of preparation and specific techniques. All these pieces must show no intentional use. Interminates refers to waste pieces that are usually by-products during flaking or retouch, including chips, debris and chunks. All pieces were used or could be used potentially are classified here as the “utilized type”, including formed tools with obvious modification through retouch, and reshaped tools with intentional
Group I:
Group II:
Group III:
PREPARATION raw materials blanks hammers
MANUFACTURE flakes blades / microblades interminates
UTILIZATION formed tools reshaped tools utilized flakes
Group IV: WASTE cores rejected pieces broken pieces exhausted pieces
Fig. 2. Operation of a dynamic techno-typological approach.
resharpening or reforming attributes as well as utilized flakes with use-wear. Formed tools are the pieces manufactured according to a particular design specialized for a particular purpose. Intentional retouch for special function might give them regular and patterned alterations on edges and surfaces, e.g. scrapers, points, bifaces, drills, burins, backed knives, and so on. Among them, some invalid tools might be reshaped into other forms to prolong their use-life, defined as reshaped tools. As Shen (2001) noted, utilized flakes are objects “which are determined to have been used through microscopic examination”. Discarded type, the fourth group, refers to the pieces thrown away. Rejected pieces, not finished to a “design template” or reformed into other tool types, are identified with no formed or used attributes. Broken pieces are referred to those broken and discarded specimens. Exhausted pieces include tools with traces by repeated resharpening, such as the tiny end-scrapers. As most cores might be discarded after the process of removing flakes, cores in situ are defined as discarded pieces in this study even though some of them might still be used. According to technological attributes, cores can be classified as amorphous, prepared, bipolar cores, and core fragments. The platforms of prepared cores were formed and maintained to remove predetermined flakes or blades. This type of core might represent a reduction technology that exemplifies skillful and controlled flake removal (Johnson and Morrow, 1987; Shen, 2001). Amorphous cores show minimal platform preparation in contrast, which may often indicate unspecialized production resulted in predominant “expedient” flake tools (Johnson, 1986; Custer, 1987; Shen, 2001). Bipolar cores were produced for bipolar flakes which are “triangular, rectangular, or pie-shaped, with characteristic platform crushing and flake removal on one or both ends” (Kuijt et al., 1995). 2.2. Human activities: lithic use-wear analysis The function of stone tools has been a hot topic for prehistoric archaeologists. Since the introduction of Semenov’s translated English monograph Prehistoric Technology (1964), lithic use-wear analysis has become a principal approach to interpret functions of stone tools in North America (Keeley, 1974, 1980; Odell, 1979; Kamminga, 1982). There are two major techniques for lithic usewear analysis. One is the “high-power technique” propounded by Keeley (1980), which concentrates on formation distribution of use polish at relatively high magnifications (100e400) under either incident light microscopes or scanning electron microscopes (SEM). The other is “low-power technique” advocated by Tringham et al. (1974) and Odell (1979), that focus on traces of edge-damage, microscopic fracturing and abrasion visible at relatively low magnifications (5e200) under reflective-light stereoscopic microscopes. After decades of experiments and practices, each usewear technique has its own particular advantages and weakness (Shea, 1987). More analysts use both “high-power” and “lowpower” techniques in one analysis (Unger-Hamilton, 1989; Grace, 1996). In the last two decades, the low-power technique has been employed in numerous studies and has been shown to be a reliable method for interpreting uses of stone tools (Shen, 2001; Gao and Shen, 2008; Chen et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2010). It is argued that the low-power technique has a number of advantages. First, it is a reliable means to assess use-task of stone tools by identifying edge damage, as well as detecting polish and striations. Second, as observation of implements takes a short period of time, this technique is suitable to examine a large number of artifacts in a limited time. Third, it has great potential to be used in other research beyond lithics. Fourth, equipment used by this technique is not expensive for most analysts.
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The use-wear pattern would provide direct evidence for tool function and exploited materials. This method in archaeological analysis might provide a new route to understand human activities in prehistory. Because most of the artifacts at the study sites are of poor quality with rough surfaces, which not suitable for polish observation, the low-power technique with magnification between 10 and 200 was used, to focus on the records of micro-fractural scarring and edge rounding of use-wear. 3. Archaeological materials The Xiachuan Sites, covering the three counties of Qinshui, Yangcheng and Yuanqu in southern Shanxi Province, was discovered in 1970. Sixteen localities were found during surveys from 1970 to 1975. Two cultural layers with a sterile interval were identified at the Xiachuan site. The geological age of the lower layer is estimated as Middle Pleistocene while the upper one is Late Pleistocene. More than 1800 stone artifacts were uncovered from the upper cultural layer in 1973e1975 excavations (Wang et al., 1978). In addition, 4415 stone artifacts have been collected from more localities at Xiachuan between 1990 and 1992 (Chen, 1996). Other archaeological remains were rare except for scattered charcoal and a few bones and teeth belonging to ox or sheep (Chen and Wang, 1989). Cultural remains from the lower cultural layer are different from those in the upper layer, and thus there was technological and cultural evolution from a large flake industry to a blade and microblade industry (Chen and Wang, 1989; Shi, 1989). Although eleven radiocarbon dates have been obtained from the Xiachuan Sites, the age of the upper layer is estimated between 23,000 BP (Tang, 2000; Kuzmin, 2007) and 13,900 BP (CASS, 1991). The Xueguan Site, located on a loess-covered terrace of the Xinshui River, was discovered in 1964. A total of 4777 stone artifacts and some faunal remains were found in the 1979 and 1980 excavations. The assemblage yielded microblade remains, flake tools and some heavy-duty tools. A radiocarbon date of 13,550 150 BP (Wang et al., 1983; CASS,1991) overlaps the late period of the Xiachuan. However, a noticeable difference between them is the absence of arrowheads and grinding tools at the Xueguan (Lu, 1999). The Chaisi Site, also known as Locality 77:01 at Dingcun, was found in 1977 on the second terrace of the Fenhe River near Chaisi in Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province. The excavation in 1978 yielded both microblade remains and large chipping stone tools (Wang, 1986; Wang et al., 1994). There are two radiocarbon dates for the site: 26,495 590 BP and 40,000 BP (Li, 1993). The excavators of this site have argued that the former date is reasonable, particularly for the microblade remains (Wang, 1986). It has been suggested that the lithic assemblage of Chaisi might have been the predecessor of Xiachuan (Wang et al., 1994; Zhang, 2003). The Shizitan Sites, located on a bedrock terrace along the Qingshui River in the southern part of the Luliang Mountains, were discovered in 1980 (CBLDA, 1989). During 2000e2001, a series of archaeological surveys and trial excavations were conducted along the Qingshui River. A total of 25 localities have been found, the distribution and geological background of the Shizitan Sites were clarified. More importantly, another central area of archaeological discoveries was recognized at the Gaolouhe Village. Localities S14, S12 and S9 were excavated and reported (SAT, 2002, 2010; Zhao, 2008). A total of 1807 lithic specimens and fragmentary faunal remains were unearthed in the upper cultural layer at Locality S1 in 1980, which dominated by microblade and flake artifacts. In addition, some shell tools, bone artifacts, grinding tools, pigment pieces and shell ornaments were also found. The radiocarbon dates for Locality S12 and S9 are 18,180 270e16,050 160 BP (Zhao, 2008) and 8340 130 BP (SAT, 2010) respectively. The excavators and researchers pointed out that on the bases of thick deposition, rich content and good preservation,
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the Shizitan sites (S1) might have represented a lithic industry ca. 20,000e10,000 BP (CBLDA, 1989; SAT, 2002). 4. Technical features of lithics Two of the four archaeological sites investigated are single-layer deposit (Chaisi and Xueguan), while the other two sites are doublelayer deposits (Xiachuan and Shizitan). All lithic artifacts for the dynamic techno-typological examination in this study were selected from the upper cultural layers or comparative layers dating to Upper Paleolithic period. 4.1. Xiachuan assemblage A total of 1715 specimens were collected from the upper cultural layer in the 1973e1975 excavations. Because most specimens were stored in museums or personal offices, only a small group could be selected for re-examination. After observations, the technical features of the Xiachuan assemblage are the following (Fig. 3) 1. Intentionally prepared cores for obtaining desired blanks. Microblade cores account for 73% (N ¼ 219), and amorphous cores account for 27% (N ¼ 81) of the total cores. Microblade cores can be classified into several subtypes according to their shapes: wedge, boat, prismatic, conical and semi-conical, polyhedral and funnel shaped (Chen, 2007). This may imply that all these microblade cores might have been intentionally designed and prepared for certain types of microblades. Moreover, the presence of several core trimming flakes (N ¼ 3 labeled by excavators) suggested that prepared cores might be trimmed or rejuvenated for more suitable platforms or ridges during the reduction. 2. Application of flake, blade and microblade technology. In this assemblage, flakes account for 62% (N ¼ 304) and numerous tools were made on flakes by pressure technique. With coexistence with flake technology in the Old World and Siberia for a long time, blade technology has been regarded as poorly developed in China. Currently, it is commonly accepted that blade technology was only found from the Shuidonggou site in Ningxia Province (Du, 2005). About 20.6% (N ¼ 101) blades and several blade tools were found in this study. Most microblades were truncated on both ends. Some researchers have claimed that the purpose of this kind of truncation was to make short “razors”, which were inserted into handles as cutting edges of composite tools (Jia, 1978). 3. High standard of consciously shaped tool types. Scrapers (42.4%, N ¼ 372) are more than other tool types in number in the Xiachuan assemblage, and they show much similarity and stability in morphology and manufacturing technology. For instance, 219 end-scrapers (24.9%) are exactly similar in blank, size, retouching locations and retouch methods, indicating that knappers might have possessed some kind of “mental template” (Deetz, 1967). The ratios of retouching length and width at working edges indicate standardization of retouch technique and method. 4. Bifacial and unificial techniques are observed. Both techniques were applied on the points or arrowheads, which also exhibit relative standardization and normalization in morphology and skill. About 20 pieces of bifaces found in the Xiachuan assemblage represent application of this new technique. These bifaces are asymmetrical in shape, differing from bifacial products in the West. 5. Selective use of high-quality chert as raw material. About 93% pieces were made of a kind of black chert with fine grain and texture. As the high-quality raw materials account for a small percentage, a variety of raw materials were procured for tool
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Fig. 3. Lithic artifacts from Xiachuan site.
making in the Xiachuan assemblage. This intensive selection and exploration of raw materials might represent a special demand for high-quality chert for certain tasks by the Xiachuan occupants. 4.2. Xueguan assemblage A total of 4777 specimens were collected from the upper cultural layer in the 1979e1980 excavations. As the specimens are not available for this study, all the data are derived from the original report or others’ studies. The technical features of the Xueguan assemblage are the following (Fig. 4).
1. Less intentional preparation of cores for obtaining desired blanks. Amorphous cores account for 62.1% (N ¼ 149) in rarely formal shapes. Microblade cores are characterized by wedge-shaped (7.9%, N ¼ 19) and boat-shaped (22.1%, N ¼ 53), a few conical (1.7%, N ¼ 4), semi-conical shaped cores (4.1%, N ¼ 10) but no prismatic shaped cores. The Xueguan cores were less intentionally prepared in comparison with the Xiachuan cores. 2. Dominance of flake technology in association with microblade technology. The flake industry dominated this assemblage, accounting for 82.47% of total lithic implements (Lu, 1999). Almost all blanks for tools are flakes, and only one is a microblade.
Fig. 4. Lithic artifacts from Xueguan site.
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3. Less well-defined tool types. The diversity and complexity of tool types are much less than those in the Xiachuan assemblage. Compared to Xiachuan, a marked difference is the absence of arrowheads. The retouching mostly took place on the edges. Only several points and discoid scrapers were unificially retouched. No bifaces or bifacial pieces were found. 4. More medium- to large- size tool types than those in other assemblages. Generally, the proportion of medium- to big- size tools is larger than that in Xiachuan or Chaisi, which was exemplified by semi-lunar scrapers in the length about 10 cm (Ding, 2009). Semi-lunar scrapers are absent in the other three sites. Although some excavators have suggested that so called semi-lunar scrapers also exist in Shizitan, the present authors do not consider them comparable to those in Xueguan. 5. Selective use of chert as main raw material. The Xueguan occupants procured abundant but medium-quality cherts from Terraces II and III along the Xinshui River as the main raw materials, association with local quartizes and hornfels. 4.3. Chaisi assemblage A total of 213 specimens from upper cultural layer at the Chaisi site were examined and classified (Wang et al., 1994). According to the analysis, the technical features of the Chaisi assemblage are the following (Fig. 5). 1. Low level of core preparation. Only 6 microblade cores were found at Chaisi, including conical, wedge-shaped and boatshaped. It seems that flaking and retouching techniques were much more primitive than those at Xiachuan, because all platforms are cortex or single flake scar. 2. Higher percentage of flake technology than blade or microblade technology. Flakes are the main blanks for tool making, accounting for 45.5% (N ¼ 61). The proportion of blades is 17.9% (N ¼ 24) and microblades is 7.5% (N ¼ 10), and only some pieces were retouched into tools. 3. Less standardization or specialization of tools manufacture. Scrapers are the dominant tool types, accounting for 42.6% (N ¼ 28). Modified flakes represent 13.7% (N ¼ 9), which
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implied that there might be some expedient tools and techniques. Most tools were retouched on edges rather than surfaces. Tool forms are not as standardized, as 19 end-scrapers show various shapes. 4. Geometric microliths present. One specimen, JP1956, is similar to geometric microliths in the West (Bordaz, 1970). Its blank is trapezoid in shape, broken, middle part of a blade, which could have been retouched on a truncated edge and another straight edge. 5. Different use strategies on different kinds of raw material. Very few cherts occur around the Chaisi site, and thus knappers might have been very fond of those high-quality materials. Almost all small tools and microblades were made of either chert or chalcedony. Moreover, even tablet-shaped cherts were also carefully retouched. 4.4. Shizitan assemblage In this study, lithic artifacts were unearthed from the upper cultural layer at Locality S1 in 1980. A total of 1793 specimens were recorded, but only 1784 specimens are available. Technical features of the Shizitan assemblage include the following (Fig. 6). 1. Flexible technology for yielding prepared cores. At Locality S1, the proportion of microblade cores is about 94.1% (N ¼ 208), while amorphous cores account for 5.9% (N ¼ 13). Most microcores possess prepared platforms rather than natural ones. Core trimming flakes were found from Locality S9 at the site (SAT, 2010). Knappers might have maintained constant flaking through rejuvenating the platforms or working surfaces of microblade cores. Moreover, knappers could apply an advanced technology to produce microblades on poor raw materials during the Upper Paleolithic, indicating the advanced lithic technology at Shizitan. 2. Economizing behaviors for cores and flakes utilization. At the Shizitan sites, many core fragments and small cores as well as numerous tiny chips or debris were found. The existence of many thumbnail end-scrapers might indicate that this kind of tools might have been used and maintained repeatedly. The
Fig. 5. Lithic artifacts from Chaisi site.
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Fig. 6. Lithic artifacts from Shizitan site.
bipolar technique might have been applied on small chert or broken tools for intentional flaking, as there might have been certain constraints of high-quality raw materials. 3. A wide variation in certain type of tools. Even though scrapers are adundant, their forms are loosely designed. There are many sub-types within the group of end-scrapers, which were only trimmed on the end arbitrarily, sometimes in random/irregular shapes. The pressure technique was flexibly applied on many different kinds of raw materials beyond flints to make formal tools except for chert. 4. Non-geometric microliths present. Retouched pieces made on bladelets or microblades with pressure technique are defined as microliths. A microblade point, like a borer, was retouched on both long edges of a microblade in the length of 2 cm. A microblade scraper exhibits marginal, regular, abrupt and continuous retouch on one edge of a microblade. 5. Selectively use both quartzite and poor-quality chert as raw material. Three kinds of raw materials were selected for production: poor-quality cherts, high-quality cherts and quartzites. The first is procured from local bedrock, while the latter two come from the banks of the Yellow River abut 20 km away. End-scrapers and microblades were mainly made of cherts, while other tool types were mainly made of quartzites. 5. Human activities After preliminary examination, 19 specimens were selected as containing possible use-wear from the Xiachuan site for further use-wear analysis, including blades (N ¼ 11) and core-scrapers (N ¼ 8). The analytic results suggest that 5 blades and 1 corescraper retain positive use-wear (Fig. 7). Eight functional units,
a term for describing the segment of working edge, were identified. Four types of tool motions were inferred as cutting/sawing, slicing, scraping, and prehensile (Table 1). Contact materials commonly range from soft to hard animal substances, such as flesh, fresh hide, dried hide, and fresh bone (Table 2). From a cross-tabulation of tool motion and contact material, the use-tasks were cutting/sawing flesh (N ¼ 2), cutting/sawing hide (N ¼ 3), slicing flesh (N ¼ 1), and scraping hide (N ¼ 1). Table 1 Tool motion at the Xiachuan and Chaisi assemblages. Tool motion
Xiachuan
Chaisi
N
%
N
%
Cut/saw Slice Scrape Prehensive Hafting Total FU
5 1 1 1 0 8
62.5 12.5 12.5 12.5 0 100
15 2 4 0 3 24
62.5 8.3 16.7 0 12.5 100
Table 2 Contact material at the Xiachuan and Chaisi assemblages. Contact material
Xiachuan
Chaisi
N
%
N
%
Flesh Fresh hide Dried hide Bone Vegetal Uncertain Total FU
2 3 1 1 0 1 8
25 37.5 12.5 12.5 0 12.5 100
4 2 3 7 2 6 24
16.7 8.3 12.5 29.2 8.3 25 100
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Fig. 7. Use-wear (40X) observed on lithic artifacts from Xiachuan and Chaisi sites.
Supposed as utilized artifacts by original researchers, a total of 74 specimens from the Chaisi site were selected for use-wear analysis, including 34 blades, 29 microblades, and 11 corescrapers. As a result, 24 FU were identified on 20 specimens, including 15 certain and 9 uncertain use-wears. Three pieces bear a prehensile place associated with a working place on edges. Usewears were also identified on a number of blades and microblades, accounting for 31.7%. Use-wears on blades or microblades indicated that these artifacts have use-wear resulting from cutting/ sawing, slicing, scraping, and hafting (Table 1). A majority of usewears might be relevant to animal substances, while 8.3% are associated with vegetal substances (Table 2). Until recently, no evidence of utilization was found on cores by use-wear analysis in China. A group of core-like knives named by the excavators, or classified as small microblade cores, was found at the Xiachuan and Chaisi sites. The researchers have detected that these core-like artifacts might be used as cutting knives (Wang et al., 1978; Wang et al., 1994). However, it is approved that only one such core-like knife was utilized for scraping rather than cutting at the Xiachuan site, while the others have no traces of utilization. No specimens were examined for use-wear from the Xueguan and Shizitan sites, and subsistence strategies can only be inferred from the other evidence. On the basis of the remains of wild horse, onager, gazelle and deer, the occupants at Xueguan and Shizitan might have been also hunters. In addition, formal tool types might demonstrate certain working tasks at the site. For instance, a large number of end-scrapers at Shizitan indicate hide-processing might have been a main task. 6. Discussion and summary Lithic technology and tools can be considered as human behavior involved in adaptations to physical and social conditions.
Optimal foraging theory could provide a useful approach for investigating technological change (Bousman, 1993). The time and energy spent on technological production and presumably the resulting level of efficiency can vary greatly between groups. Thus, the technology can play a critical role in determining the economic choices of hunteregatherers. The technological variability of lithic assemblages might also have been a response to the change of activities. Hayden (1981) has argued that constraints on food resources are the main motivation to the evolution of technology and the origin of agriculture from the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene. In cold and dry environments, hunteregatherers might rely more heavily on animal resources rather than on vegetal resources. Due to high mobility of animal resources, huntere gatherers had to improve the efficiency of tools in order to reduce the risk caused by failure in obtaining food. Torrence (1982) has proposed that time stress plays an important role in determining lithic technology, and subsistence strategies with high economic risk commonly need delicate tool-kits and technology (Kelly, 1995). The manufacture and use of blades/microblades has been regarded as a major threshold in the evolution of hominid technological capacities (Bar-Yosef, 1999). Blade/microblade technologies are thought to possess a number of advantages particularly suited for the “complex” and “efficient” technological adaptations of modern human: 1) can provide more sharp edges from a given unit of stone; 2) can provide remarkable degree of standardization in the sizes and shapes of end products by controlling over the dimensions of blanks, which is suitable for manufacturing replaceable components of composite tool; 3) can consume a given volume of raw material more effectively and completely; 4) a user can take more portable and light tools at once. Based on the techno-typological analysis on the archaeological data available from the four Upper Paleolithic industries in southern Shanxi Province, complex microblade technologies appeared at
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Xiachuan, Xueguan and Shizitan, which might have originated from Chaisi by the end of the Pleistocene. The Xiachuan assemblage displays a specialized technology, representing dominant application of microblade technique. All microblade cores might have been intentionally designed and prepared for certain types. The bifacial technique was applied on the points or arrowheads, which also exhibit relative standardization and normalization in morphology and skill. It seems that there might be a preference for high-quality cherts and no economizing behavior on raw materials. The Xueguan assemblage displays a mixed industry of small tools associated with medium- to large tools. The flake technology dominated this assemblage, which was exemplified by semi-lunar scrapers. Compared with the Xiachuan assemblage, no evidence of well designed tools such as bifaces existed. The Chaisi assemblage has a generalized technology, representing less prepared core productions, less blade or microblade technology, and less standardization or specialization of tool manufacture. Although very few high-quality raw materials occur around the Chaisi site, knappers seemed to prefer cherts or chalcedonies to others. The Shizitan assemblage represents a sophisticated, flexible technology and diverse tool forms. For skilled knappers, even coarser-grained but sufficient isotropic materials (e.g. quartzites) were also worked by the microblade technique. There is evidence of remarkable economizing behavior, for instance, many lithic artifacts of small size might be used repeatedly and recycled, and some small pieces were intentionally flaked using a bipolar technique. Based on the use-wear evidence, this study can positively determine that some lithic tools were used. In association with faunal remains of wild horse, onager, gazelle and deer in these sites, the occupants in southern Shanxi Province might have been hunters. In addition, formal tool types might demonstrate certain working tasks at the sites. For instance, a large number of endscrapers at Shizitan indicate hide-processing might have been a main task. In summary, it seems that there was a diversity of adaptations among the four hunteregatherer groups in southern Shanxi Province from the technological features and use-wear evidence for lithic artifacts. Such variability might have been represented by different organizations of lithic production, responding to several variables, e.g. climate fluctuations, environmental conditions, and constraints on resources and raw materials. Further casual analyses on the technological variability of Upper Paleolithic in China will provide a more accurate picture of the strategies employed by different hunteregatherers. More studies to understand their specific technologies and adaptive strategies will be undertaken in future. Acknowledgments This research was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (No. 11CKG001) and Dongs’ Literature, History and Philosophy Research Award Foundation of Zhejiang University. We wish to thank Jun Wang, an undergraduate student at Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology at Zhejiang University, for processing the map and figures. References An, Z.M., 2000. Hundred years of discovery of Chinese microblades (in Chinese). Archaeology 5, 45e56. Bamforth, D.B., 1986. Technological efficiency and tool curation. American Antiquity 51 (1), 38e50. Bar-Yosef, O., 1999. The big deal about blades: linar technologies and human evolution. American Anthropologist 101 (2), 322e338.
Bar-Yosef, O., 2002. The upper Paleolithic revolution. Annual Review of Anthropology 31, 363e393. Bordaz, J., 1970. Tools of the Old and New Stone Age. The Natural History Press, Michigan. Bousman, C.B., 1993. HuntereGatherer Adaptations, Economic Risk and Tool Design. Lithic Technology 18(1/2), 59e86.Definition and Interpretation of Levallois Technology. Prehistory Press, Madison, pp. 41e68. Cultural Bureau of Linfen District Administration, Shanxi Province (CBLDA), 1989. The Shizitan Mesolithic cultural sites at Ji County, Shanxi Province (in Chinese). Acta Anthropologica Sinica 8 (3), 305e323. Chen, C., 1984. The microlithic in China. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 3 (2), 79e115. Chen, Z.Y., 1996. New materials from the Xiachuan Site (in Chinese). Anitiquity in Central China 4, 1e22. Chen, C., 2007. Techno-typological comparison of microblade cores from East Asia and North America. In: Kuzmin, Y.V., Keates, S.G., Shen, C. (Eds.), Origin and Spread of Microblade Technology in Northern Asia and North America. Archaeology Press of Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, pp. 7e38. Chen, C., Wang, X.Q., 1989. Upper Paleolithic microblade industries in North China and their relationships with Northeast Asia and North America. Arctic Anthropology 26 (2), 127e156. Chen, C., An, J.Y., Chen, H., 2010. Analysis of the Xiaonanhai lithic assemblage, excavated in 1978. Quaternary International 211, 75e85. Cohen, Y., 1968. Man in Adaptation. Aldine, Chicago. Custer, J.F., 1987. Core technology at the Hawthorn Site, New Castle County, Delaware: a Late Archaic hunting camp. In: Johnson, J.K., Morrow, C.A. (Eds.), The Organization of Core Technology. West Press, Boulder and London, pp. 45e62. Deetz, J., 1967. Invitation to Archaeology. Natural History Press, New York. Ding, J.P., 2009. Re-analysis to scrapers at Xueguan site (in Chinese). World of Antiquity 4, 9e18. Du, S.S., 2005. Remains of blades found in North China (in Chinese). Journal of National Museum of Chinese History 3, 84e89. Durham, W.H., 1976. The adaptive significance of cultural behavior. Human Ecology 4 (2), 89e121. Gao, X., Shen, C., 2008. Archaeological Study of Lithic Use-wear Experiments (in Chinese). Science Press, Beijing. Grace, R., 1996. Use-wear analysis: the state of the art. Archaeometry 38, 209e229. Hayashi, K., 1968. The Fukui microblade technology and its relationship with North Asia and North America. Arctic Anthropology 5 (1), 128e190. Hayden, B.M., 1981. Research and development in the Stone Age: technological transitions among hunteregatherers. Current Anthropology 22, 519e548. Jia, L.P., 1978. The feature of microlithic and its tradition, origin in China. Vertebrata PalAsiatica 16 (2), 137e143. Johnson, J.K., 1986. Amorphous cores technology in the Mid-South. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 11, 135e151. Johnson, J.K., Morrow, C.A., 1987. The Organization of Core Technology. West Press, Boulder and London. Kamminga, J., 1982. Over the Edge: Functional Analysis of Australian Stone Tools. Anthropology Museum, University of Queensland. Occasional Papers in Anthropology, No. 12. Keeley, L.H., 1974. Technique and methodology in microwear studies. World Archaeology 5, 323e326. Keeley, L.H., 1980. Experimental Determination of Stone Tool Uses. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago. Kelly, R.L., 1995. The Foraging Spectrum: Diversity in Hunteregatherer Lifeways. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington. D. C. Kuijt, I., Prentiss, W.C., Pokotylo, D.L., 1995. Bipolar reduction: an experimental study of debitage variability. Lithic Technology 20 (2), 116e127. Kuzmin, Y.V., 2007. Geoarchaeological aspects of the origin and spread of microblade technology in northern and central China. In: Kuzmin, Y.V., Keates, S.G., Shen, C. (Eds.), Origin and Spread of Microblade Technology in Northern Asia and North America. Archaeology Press, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, pp. 115e124. Li, Y.X., 1993. On the division of the Upper Paleolithic industries of China (in Chinese). Acta Anthropologica Sinica 12 (3), 214e223. Lu, L.D., 1999. The Transition from Foraging to Farming and the Origin of Agriculture in China. British Archaeological Research International Series 774, Oxford. Odell, G.H., 1979. A New Improved System for the Retrieval of Functional Information from Microscopic Observations of Chipped Stone Tools. In: Hayden, B. (Ed.), Lithic Use-wear Analysis. Academic Press, New York, pp. 329e344. Odell, G.H., 1996. Economizing Behavior and the Concept of “Curation”. In: Odell, G.H. (Ed.), Stone Tools: Theoretical Insight into Human Prehistory. Plenum, New York, pp. 51e77. Odell, G.H., 2001. Stone tool research at the end of the Millennium: classification, function, and behavior. Journal of Archaeological Research 9 (1), 45e99. Oswalt, W., 1976. An Anthropological Analysis of Food-getting Technology. Wiley and Sons, New York. Shizitan Archaeological Team (SAT), 2002. Locality S14 of the Shizitan Paleolithic site at Ji County, Shanxi Province (in Chinese). Archaeology 4, 15e28. Shizitan Archaeological Team (SAT), 2010. A report on the excavation at Locality S9 of the Shizitan Paleolithic site at Ji County, Shanxi Province (in Chinese). Archaeology 10, 7e17. Schild, R., Marczak, M., Krolik, H., 1975. The Late Mesolithic: an Example of Multiaspectual Analysis of Open Air Sites from Sandy Lowlands. Instytut Historii Kultury Materialnej PAN, Ossolineum.
H. Chen et al. / Quaternary International 295 (2013) 253e261 Semenov, S.A., 1964. Prehistoric Technology. Cory, Adams and Mackay, London. Shea, J.J., 1987. On accuracy and relevance in lithic use-wear analysis. Lithic Technology 16 (2e3), 44e50. Shen, C., 2001. The Lithic Production System of the Princess Point Complex During the Transition to Agriculture in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. BAR Internatioanl Series 991, Oxford. Shi, X.B., 1989. Study of the Xiachuan culture (in Chinese). In: Celebration of 55 Years of Archaeological Work of Su Bingqi. The Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing, pp. 144e151. Tang, C., 2000. The Upper Paleolithic of North China: the Xiachuan Culture. Journal of East Asian Archaeology 2 (12), 37e49. Taylor, W.E., 1962. A distribution between blades and microblades in the American Arctic. American Antiquity 27 (3), 425e426. The Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Ssicence (CASS), 1991. Source on Radiocarbon Dates in Chinese Archaeology 1965e1991 (in Chinese). The Cultural Relics Publishing House, Beijing. Torrence, R., 1982. Time budgeting and hunteregatherer technology. In: Bailey, G. (Ed.), Hunteregatherer Economy in Prehistory: a European Perspective. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 11e22. Tringham, R.E., Cooper, G., Odell, G., Voytek, B., Whitman, A., 1974. Experimentation in the formation of edge damage: a new approach to lithic analysis. Journal of Field Archaeology 1, 171e196.
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Unger-Hamilton, R., 1989. Method in Microwear Analysis: Prehistoric Sickles and Other Stone Tools from Arjoune, Syria. British Archaeological Research International Series 435, Oxford. Wang, J., 1986. Problemes of the date and cultural features of Xiachuan and Loc. 7701 of Dingcun site (in Chinese). Acta Anthropolgica Sinica 5 (2), 172e177. Wang, J., Wang, X.Q., Chen, Z.Y., 1978. Xiachuan culture e report of archaeological survey at Xiachuan in Shanxi Province (in Chinese). Acta Archaeologica Sinica 3, 259e288. Wang, X.Q., Ding, J.P., Tao, F.H., 1983. The microlithic found in Xueguan, Pu county, Shanxi province (in Chinese). Acta Anthropolgica Sinica 2 (2), 162e171. Wang, J., Tao, F.H., Wang, Y.R., 1994. A preliminary report on the surveys and excavations of the Paleolithic sites at Dingcun (in Chinese). Journal of Chinese Antiquity 3, 1e75. Zhang, X.L., 2003. Preliminary study on the typology of microliths at Locality 77:01 Dingcun and Xiachuan site (in Chinese). Wenwu Chunqiu 3, 1e11. Zhang, X.L., Shen, C., Gao, X., Chen, F.Y., Wang, C.X., 2010. Use-wear evidence confirms the earliest hafted chipped-stone adzes of Upper Paleolithic in northern China. Chinese Science Bulletin 55 (3), 229e236. Zhao, J.F., 2008. Review on the discovery at Locality S12 of the Shizitan site (in Chinese). In: Archaeological Studies 7. Science Press, Beijing, pp. 223e 231.
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Cultural adaptations to the Late Pleistocene: Regional variability of human behavior in southern Shanxi Province, central-northern China Hong Chen a, *, Chun Chen b, Yiren Wang c, Chen Shen d a
Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology, Zhejiang University, Tianmushan Road, Hangzhou 310028, China Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China c Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Taiyuan 030001, China d Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario M5S2C6, Canada b
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Available online 17 December 2012
This study investigated regional variability of human behavioral adaptation to changing environments during the Late Pleistocene. The four important Upper Paleolithic sites of Xiachuan, Xueguan, Shizitan and Chaisi from southern Shanxi Province in central China were selected for comparison on a regional scale. In order to understand the technologies and activities of the occupants, both dynamic technotypological and microwear analyses were employed. The four prehistoric hunteregatherer groups adopted lithic technologies to different levels to cope with their own environments, climate and available resources by the terminal Pleistocene. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction Human behavior is a product of the coevolution of human and culture (Durham, 1976). For many anthropologists, culture is the most potent method of adaptation that has emerged in the evolutionary history of the living world (Cohen, 1968). Lithic technology, has been defined by Odell (2001), means various processes that contribute to the production of stone tools, including strategies of manipulation and sequencing, knapping equipment, and knowledge of raw materials and operative forces. In a common sense, both tools and technologies are direct embodiments of the cultural and cognitive development of humans. Flaking and retouch techniques might mean cultural interventions exerted by knappers and users. Torrence (1982) has pointed out that lithic assemblage structure could have been related to time stress and time budgeting. Oswalt (1976) has discussed various tool-kits in different environments in his book, and has suggested that increases of component units of an “optimal tool-kit” were a solution to minimize risks caused by foraging failure. Bamforth (1986) and Odell (1996) have thought that lack of raw material might force hunteregatherers to invest considerable effort into tool production, and thus “curated” technology might have become a crucial adaptive strategy. The Upper Paleolithic was identified with blade-dominated assemblages by prehistoric researchers (Bar-Yosef, 1999), including * Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (H. Chen). 1040-6182/$ e see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2012.12.008
the technologies based on microblades in Northeast Asia, Siberia and North America, as well as geometric microliths in Europe and West Asia (Taylor, 1962; Jia, 1978; An, 2000). The emergence and flourishing of microblade technology at the terminal Pleistocene was regarded as one of the most significant technical innovations in prehistory (Bar-Yosef, 2002). Shanxi Province is located in the northeeast middle valley of the Yellow River. Researches on the Paleolithic of Shanxi Province can be traced to 1929, when the French scholar P. Teilhard de Chardin and Chinese scholar C.C. Yang began the geological surveys. To date, more than 460 Paleolithic sites have been identified in Shanxi Province, which make it a reference sequence for the study of prehistoric culture in North China. On the basis of many relevant studies, it is suggested that microblades might have represented a technology or strategy adopted by hunteregatherers living in extremely diverse and harsh environments (Chen, 1984). For understanding regional variability of human behavior and adaptive strategies in southern Shanxi Province, central-northern China, the focus is on lithic technologies and activities among the four microblade industries, Xiachuan, Xueguan, Shizitan, and Chaisi respectively (Fig. 1). 2. Analytical methods and sampling 2.1. Lithic analysis: dynamic techno-typological approach The techno-typological approach is typological analysis based on manufacturing attributes, contrasting with “morpho-typological”,
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Fig. 1. Map of the study region.
merely based on morphological attributes of artifacts (Hayashi, 1968), which has become increasingly popular in microblade researches (Chen, 2007). Dynamic Technological classification, developed by Schild et al. (1975), is another admirable typology to reconstruct working procedure of a given lithic assemblage by classifying debitage, cores, debris and final intended products according to their roles in preparing, retouching or modifying processes. In terms of the concept of “chaine operatoire” and two typologies mentioned above, a “dynamic techno-typological approach” was used to identify attributes of specimens, and to further compare similarities and differences between the four assemblages. In this study, all lithic artifacts from an archaeological assemblage will be divided into four groups: prepared types, manufactured types, utilized types, and discarded types (Fig. 2). The term “prepared type” here refers to those pieces produced during the early stage of flintknapping process and could be selected for further modification. They include raw materials, blanks, and stone-hammers. The manufactured type refers to the pieces produced during the process of manufacture and retouch, including flakes (in contrast to utilized flakes discussed below), blades/microblades, and interminates. Among flakes, core trimming flakes, sometimes called core rejuvenation flakes are evidence of preparation and specific techniques. All these pieces must show no intentional use. Interminates refers to waste pieces that are usually by-products during flaking or retouch, including chips, debris and chunks. All pieces were used or could be used potentially are classified here as the “utilized type”, including formed tools with obvious modification through retouch, and reshaped tools with intentional
Group I:
Group II:
Group III:
PREPARATION raw materials blanks hammers
MANUFACTURE flakes blades / microblades interminates
UTILIZATION formed tools reshaped tools utilized flakes
Group IV: WASTE cores rejected pieces broken pieces exhausted pieces
Fig. 2. Operation of a dynamic techno-typological approach.
resharpening or reforming attributes as well as utilized flakes with use-wear. Formed tools are the pieces manufactured according to a particular design specialized for a particular purpose. Intentional retouch for special function might give them regular and patterned alterations on edges and surfaces, e.g. scrapers, points, bifaces, drills, burins, backed knives, and so on. Among them, some invalid tools might be reshaped into other forms to prolong their use-life, defined as reshaped tools. As Shen (2001) noted, utilized flakes are objects “which are determined to have been used through microscopic examination”. Discarded type, the fourth group, refers to the pieces thrown away. Rejected pieces, not finished to a “design template” or reformed into other tool types, are identified with no formed or used attributes. Broken pieces are referred to those broken and discarded specimens. Exhausted pieces include tools with traces by repeated resharpening, such as the tiny end-scrapers. As most cores might be discarded after the process of removing flakes, cores in situ are defined as discarded pieces in this study even though some of them might still be used. According to technological attributes, cores can be classified as amorphous, prepared, bipolar cores, and core fragments. The platforms of prepared cores were formed and maintained to remove predetermined flakes or blades. This type of core might represent a reduction technology that exemplifies skillful and controlled flake removal (Johnson and Morrow, 1987; Shen, 2001). Amorphous cores show minimal platform preparation in contrast, which may often indicate unspecialized production resulted in predominant “expedient” flake tools (Johnson, 1986; Custer, 1987; Shen, 2001). Bipolar cores were produced for bipolar flakes which are “triangular, rectangular, or pie-shaped, with characteristic platform crushing and flake removal on one or both ends” (Kuijt et al., 1995). 2.2. Human activities: lithic use-wear analysis The function of stone tools has been a hot topic for prehistoric archaeologists. Since the introduction of Semenov’s translated English monograph Prehistoric Technology (1964), lithic use-wear analysis has become a principal approach to interpret functions of stone tools in North America (Keeley, 1974, 1980; Odell, 1979; Kamminga, 1982). There are two major techniques for lithic usewear analysis. One is the “high-power technique” propounded by Keeley (1980), which concentrates on formation distribution of use polish at relatively high magnifications (100e400) under either incident light microscopes or scanning electron microscopes (SEM). The other is “low-power technique” advocated by Tringham et al. (1974) and Odell (1979), that focus on traces of edge-damage, microscopic fracturing and abrasion visible at relatively low magnifications (5e200) under reflective-light stereoscopic microscopes. After decades of experiments and practices, each usewear technique has its own particular advantages and weakness (Shea, 1987). More analysts use both “high-power” and “lowpower” techniques in one analysis (Unger-Hamilton, 1989; Grace, 1996). In the last two decades, the low-power technique has been employed in numerous studies and has been shown to be a reliable method for interpreting uses of stone tools (Shen, 2001; Gao and Shen, 2008; Chen et al., 2010; Zhang et al., 2010). It is argued that the low-power technique has a number of advantages. First, it is a reliable means to assess use-task of stone tools by identifying edge damage, as well as detecting polish and striations. Second, as observation of implements takes a short period of time, this technique is suitable to examine a large number of artifacts in a limited time. Third, it has great potential to be used in other research beyond lithics. Fourth, equipment used by this technique is not expensive for most analysts.
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The use-wear pattern would provide direct evidence for tool function and exploited materials. This method in archaeological analysis might provide a new route to understand human activities in prehistory. Because most of the artifacts at the study sites are of poor quality with rough surfaces, which not suitable for polish observation, the low-power technique with magnification between 10 and 200 was used, to focus on the records of micro-fractural scarring and edge rounding of use-wear. 3. Archaeological materials The Xiachuan Sites, covering the three counties of Qinshui, Yangcheng and Yuanqu in southern Shanxi Province, was discovered in 1970. Sixteen localities were found during surveys from 1970 to 1975. Two cultural layers with a sterile interval were identified at the Xiachuan site. The geological age of the lower layer is estimated as Middle Pleistocene while the upper one is Late Pleistocene. More than 1800 stone artifacts were uncovered from the upper cultural layer in 1973e1975 excavations (Wang et al., 1978). In addition, 4415 stone artifacts have been collected from more localities at Xiachuan between 1990 and 1992 (Chen, 1996). Other archaeological remains were rare except for scattered charcoal and a few bones and teeth belonging to ox or sheep (Chen and Wang, 1989). Cultural remains from the lower cultural layer are different from those in the upper layer, and thus there was technological and cultural evolution from a large flake industry to a blade and microblade industry (Chen and Wang, 1989; Shi, 1989). Although eleven radiocarbon dates have been obtained from the Xiachuan Sites, the age of the upper layer is estimated between 23,000 BP (Tang, 2000; Kuzmin, 2007) and 13,900 BP (CASS, 1991). The Xueguan Site, located on a loess-covered terrace of the Xinshui River, was discovered in 1964. A total of 4777 stone artifacts and some faunal remains were found in the 1979 and 1980 excavations. The assemblage yielded microblade remains, flake tools and some heavy-duty tools. A radiocarbon date of 13,550 150 BP (Wang et al., 1983; CASS,1991) overlaps the late period of the Xiachuan. However, a noticeable difference between them is the absence of arrowheads and grinding tools at the Xueguan (Lu, 1999). The Chaisi Site, also known as Locality 77:01 at Dingcun, was found in 1977 on the second terrace of the Fenhe River near Chaisi in Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province. The excavation in 1978 yielded both microblade remains and large chipping stone tools (Wang, 1986; Wang et al., 1994). There are two radiocarbon dates for the site: 26,495 590 BP and 40,000 BP (Li, 1993). The excavators of this site have argued that the former date is reasonable, particularly for the microblade remains (Wang, 1986). It has been suggested that the lithic assemblage of Chaisi might have been the predecessor of Xiachuan (Wang et al., 1994; Zhang, 2003). The Shizitan Sites, located on a bedrock terrace along the Qingshui River in the southern part of the Luliang Mountains, were discovered in 1980 (CBLDA, 1989). During 2000e2001, a series of archaeological surveys and trial excavations were conducted along the Qingshui River. A total of 25 localities have been found, the distribution and geological background of the Shizitan Sites were clarified. More importantly, another central area of archaeological discoveries was recognized at the Gaolouhe Village. Localities S14, S12 and S9 were excavated and reported (SAT, 2002, 2010; Zhao, 2008). A total of 1807 lithic specimens and fragmentary faunal remains were unearthed in the upper cultural layer at Locality S1 in 1980, which dominated by microblade and flake artifacts. In addition, some shell tools, bone artifacts, grinding tools, pigment pieces and shell ornaments were also found. The radiocarbon dates for Locality S12 and S9 are 18,180 270e16,050 160 BP (Zhao, 2008) and 8340 130 BP (SAT, 2010) respectively. The excavators and researchers pointed out that on the bases of thick deposition, rich content and good preservation,
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the Shizitan sites (S1) might have represented a lithic industry ca. 20,000e10,000 BP (CBLDA, 1989; SAT, 2002). 4. Technical features of lithics Two of the four archaeological sites investigated are single-layer deposit (Chaisi and Xueguan), while the other two sites are doublelayer deposits (Xiachuan and Shizitan). All lithic artifacts for the dynamic techno-typological examination in this study were selected from the upper cultural layers or comparative layers dating to Upper Paleolithic period. 4.1. Xiachuan assemblage A total of 1715 specimens were collected from the upper cultural layer in the 1973e1975 excavations. Because most specimens were stored in museums or personal offices, only a small group could be selected for re-examination. After observations, the technical features of the Xiachuan assemblage are the following (Fig. 3) 1. Intentionally prepared cores for obtaining desired blanks. Microblade cores account for 73% (N ¼ 219), and amorphous cores account for 27% (N ¼ 81) of the total cores. Microblade cores can be classified into several subtypes according to their shapes: wedge, boat, prismatic, conical and semi-conical, polyhedral and funnel shaped (Chen, 2007). This may imply that all these microblade cores might have been intentionally designed and prepared for certain types of microblades. Moreover, the presence of several core trimming flakes (N ¼ 3 labeled by excavators) suggested that prepared cores might be trimmed or rejuvenated for more suitable platforms or ridges during the reduction. 2. Application of flake, blade and microblade technology. In this assemblage, flakes account for 62% (N ¼ 304) and numerous tools were made on flakes by pressure technique. With coexistence with flake technology in the Old World and Siberia for a long time, blade technology has been regarded as poorly developed in China. Currently, it is commonly accepted that blade technology was only found from the Shuidonggou site in Ningxia Province (Du, 2005). About 20.6% (N ¼ 101) blades and several blade tools were found in this study. Most microblades were truncated on both ends. Some researchers have claimed that the purpose of this kind of truncation was to make short “razors”, which were inserted into handles as cutting edges of composite tools (Jia, 1978). 3. High standard of consciously shaped tool types. Scrapers (42.4%, N ¼ 372) are more than other tool types in number in the Xiachuan assemblage, and they show much similarity and stability in morphology and manufacturing technology. For instance, 219 end-scrapers (24.9%) are exactly similar in blank, size, retouching locations and retouch methods, indicating that knappers might have possessed some kind of “mental template” (Deetz, 1967). The ratios of retouching length and width at working edges indicate standardization of retouch technique and method. 4. Bifacial and unificial techniques are observed. Both techniques were applied on the points or arrowheads, which also exhibit relative standardization and normalization in morphology and skill. About 20 pieces of bifaces found in the Xiachuan assemblage represent application of this new technique. These bifaces are asymmetrical in shape, differing from bifacial products in the West. 5. Selective use of high-quality chert as raw material. About 93% pieces were made of a kind of black chert with fine grain and texture. As the high-quality raw materials account for a small percentage, a variety of raw materials were procured for tool
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Fig. 3. Lithic artifacts from Xiachuan site.
making in the Xiachuan assemblage. This intensive selection and exploration of raw materials might represent a special demand for high-quality chert for certain tasks by the Xiachuan occupants. 4.2. Xueguan assemblage A total of 4777 specimens were collected from the upper cultural layer in the 1979e1980 excavations. As the specimens are not available for this study, all the data are derived from the original report or others’ studies. The technical features of the Xueguan assemblage are the following (Fig. 4).
1. Less intentional preparation of cores for obtaining desired blanks. Amorphous cores account for 62.1% (N ¼ 149) in rarely formal shapes. Microblade cores are characterized by wedge-shaped (7.9%, N ¼ 19) and boat-shaped (22.1%, N ¼ 53), a few conical (1.7%, N ¼ 4), semi-conical shaped cores (4.1%, N ¼ 10) but no prismatic shaped cores. The Xueguan cores were less intentionally prepared in comparison with the Xiachuan cores. 2. Dominance of flake technology in association with microblade technology. The flake industry dominated this assemblage, accounting for 82.47% of total lithic implements (Lu, 1999). Almost all blanks for tools are flakes, and only one is a microblade.
Fig. 4. Lithic artifacts from Xueguan site.
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3. Less well-defined tool types. The diversity and complexity of tool types are much less than those in the Xiachuan assemblage. Compared to Xiachuan, a marked difference is the absence of arrowheads. The retouching mostly took place on the edges. Only several points and discoid scrapers were unificially retouched. No bifaces or bifacial pieces were found. 4. More medium- to large- size tool types than those in other assemblages. Generally, the proportion of medium- to big- size tools is larger than that in Xiachuan or Chaisi, which was exemplified by semi-lunar scrapers in the length about 10 cm (Ding, 2009). Semi-lunar scrapers are absent in the other three sites. Although some excavators have suggested that so called semi-lunar scrapers also exist in Shizitan, the present authors do not consider them comparable to those in Xueguan. 5. Selective use of chert as main raw material. The Xueguan occupants procured abundant but medium-quality cherts from Terraces II and III along the Xinshui River as the main raw materials, association with local quartizes and hornfels. 4.3. Chaisi assemblage A total of 213 specimens from upper cultural layer at the Chaisi site were examined and classified (Wang et al., 1994). According to the analysis, the technical features of the Chaisi assemblage are the following (Fig. 5). 1. Low level of core preparation. Only 6 microblade cores were found at Chaisi, including conical, wedge-shaped and boatshaped. It seems that flaking and retouching techniques were much more primitive than those at Xiachuan, because all platforms are cortex or single flake scar. 2. Higher percentage of flake technology than blade or microblade technology. Flakes are the main blanks for tool making, accounting for 45.5% (N ¼ 61). The proportion of blades is 17.9% (N ¼ 24) and microblades is 7.5% (N ¼ 10), and only some pieces were retouched into tools. 3. Less standardization or specialization of tools manufacture. Scrapers are the dominant tool types, accounting for 42.6% (N ¼ 28). Modified flakes represent 13.7% (N ¼ 9), which
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implied that there might be some expedient tools and techniques. Most tools were retouched on edges rather than surfaces. Tool forms are not as standardized, as 19 end-scrapers show various shapes. 4. Geometric microliths present. One specimen, JP1956, is similar to geometric microliths in the West (Bordaz, 1970). Its blank is trapezoid in shape, broken, middle part of a blade, which could have been retouched on a truncated edge and another straight edge. 5. Different use strategies on different kinds of raw material. Very few cherts occur around the Chaisi site, and thus knappers might have been very fond of those high-quality materials. Almost all small tools and microblades were made of either chert or chalcedony. Moreover, even tablet-shaped cherts were also carefully retouched. 4.4. Shizitan assemblage In this study, lithic artifacts were unearthed from the upper cultural layer at Locality S1 in 1980. A total of 1793 specimens were recorded, but only 1784 specimens are available. Technical features of the Shizitan assemblage include the following (Fig. 6). 1. Flexible technology for yielding prepared cores. At Locality S1, the proportion of microblade cores is about 94.1% (N ¼ 208), while amorphous cores account for 5.9% (N ¼ 13). Most microcores possess prepared platforms rather than natural ones. Core trimming flakes were found from Locality S9 at the site (SAT, 2010). Knappers might have maintained constant flaking through rejuvenating the platforms or working surfaces of microblade cores. Moreover, knappers could apply an advanced technology to produce microblades on poor raw materials during the Upper Paleolithic, indicating the advanced lithic technology at Shizitan. 2. Economizing behaviors for cores and flakes utilization. At the Shizitan sites, many core fragments and small cores as well as numerous tiny chips or debris were found. The existence of many thumbnail end-scrapers might indicate that this kind of tools might have been used and maintained repeatedly. The
Fig. 5. Lithic artifacts from Chaisi site.
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Fig. 6. Lithic artifacts from Shizitan site.
bipolar technique might have been applied on small chert or broken tools for intentional flaking, as there might have been certain constraints of high-quality raw materials. 3. A wide variation in certain type of tools. Even though scrapers are adundant, their forms are loosely designed. There are many sub-types within the group of end-scrapers, which were only trimmed on the end arbitrarily, sometimes in random/irregular shapes. The pressure technique was flexibly applied on many different kinds of raw materials beyond flints to make formal tools except for chert. 4. Non-geometric microliths present. Retouched pieces made on bladelets or microblades with pressure technique are defined as microliths. A microblade point, like a borer, was retouched on both long edges of a microblade in the length of 2 cm. A microblade scraper exhibits marginal, regular, abrupt and continuous retouch on one edge of a microblade. 5. Selectively use both quartzite and poor-quality chert as raw material. Three kinds of raw materials were selected for production: poor-quality cherts, high-quality cherts and quartzites. The first is procured from local bedrock, while the latter two come from the banks of the Yellow River abut 20 km away. End-scrapers and microblades were mainly made of cherts, while other tool types were mainly made of quartzites. 5. Human activities After preliminary examination, 19 specimens were selected as containing possible use-wear from the Xiachuan site for further use-wear analysis, including blades (N ¼ 11) and core-scrapers (N ¼ 8). The analytic results suggest that 5 blades and 1 corescraper retain positive use-wear (Fig. 7). Eight functional units,
a term for describing the segment of working edge, were identified. Four types of tool motions were inferred as cutting/sawing, slicing, scraping, and prehensile (Table 1). Contact materials commonly range from soft to hard animal substances, such as flesh, fresh hide, dried hide, and fresh bone (Table 2). From a cross-tabulation of tool motion and contact material, the use-tasks were cutting/sawing flesh (N ¼ 2), cutting/sawing hide (N ¼ 3), slicing flesh (N ¼ 1), and scraping hide (N ¼ 1). Table 1 Tool motion at the Xiachuan and Chaisi assemblages. Tool motion
Xiachuan
Chaisi
N
%
N
%
Cut/saw Slice Scrape Prehensive Hafting Total FU
5 1 1 1 0 8
62.5 12.5 12.5 12.5 0 100
15 2 4 0 3 24
62.5 8.3 16.7 0 12.5 100
Table 2 Contact material at the Xiachuan and Chaisi assemblages. Contact material
Xiachuan
Chaisi
N
%
N
%
Flesh Fresh hide Dried hide Bone Vegetal Uncertain Total FU
2 3 1 1 0 1 8
25 37.5 12.5 12.5 0 12.5 100
4 2 3 7 2 6 24
16.7 8.3 12.5 29.2 8.3 25 100
H. Chen et al. / Quaternary International 295 (2013) 253e261
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Fig. 7. Use-wear (40X) observed on lithic artifacts from Xiachuan and Chaisi sites.
Supposed as utilized artifacts by original researchers, a total of 74 specimens from the Chaisi site were selected for use-wear analysis, including 34 blades, 29 microblades, and 11 corescrapers. As a result, 24 FU were identified on 20 specimens, including 15 certain and 9 uncertain use-wears. Three pieces bear a prehensile place associated with a working place on edges. Usewears were also identified on a number of blades and microblades, accounting for 31.7%. Use-wears on blades or microblades indicated that these artifacts have use-wear resulting from cutting/ sawing, slicing, scraping, and hafting (Table 1). A majority of usewears might be relevant to animal substances, while 8.3% are associated with vegetal substances (Table 2). Until recently, no evidence of utilization was found on cores by use-wear analysis in China. A group of core-like knives named by the excavators, or classified as small microblade cores, was found at the Xiachuan and Chaisi sites. The researchers have detected that these core-like artifacts might be used as cutting knives (Wang et al., 1978; Wang et al., 1994). However, it is approved that only one such core-like knife was utilized for scraping rather than cutting at the Xiachuan site, while the others have no traces of utilization. No specimens were examined for use-wear from the Xueguan and Shizitan sites, and subsistence strategies can only be inferred from the other evidence. On the basis of the remains of wild horse, onager, gazelle and deer, the occupants at Xueguan and Shizitan might have been also hunters. In addition, formal tool types might demonstrate certain working tasks at the site. For instance, a large number of end-scrapers at Shizitan indicate hide-processing might have been a main task. 6. Discussion and summary Lithic technology and tools can be considered as human behavior involved in adaptations to physical and social conditions.
Optimal foraging theory could provide a useful approach for investigating technological change (Bousman, 1993). The time and energy spent on technological production and presumably the resulting level of efficiency can vary greatly between groups. Thus, the technology can play a critical role in determining the economic choices of hunteregatherers. The technological variability of lithic assemblages might also have been a response to the change of activities. Hayden (1981) has argued that constraints on food resources are the main motivation to the evolution of technology and the origin of agriculture from the Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene. In cold and dry environments, hunteregatherers might rely more heavily on animal resources rather than on vegetal resources. Due to high mobility of animal resources, huntere gatherers had to improve the efficiency of tools in order to reduce the risk caused by failure in obtaining food. Torrence (1982) has proposed that time stress plays an important role in determining lithic technology, and subsistence strategies with high economic risk commonly need delicate tool-kits and technology (Kelly, 1995). The manufacture and use of blades/microblades has been regarded as a major threshold in the evolution of hominid technological capacities (Bar-Yosef, 1999). Blade/microblade technologies are thought to possess a number of advantages particularly suited for the “complex” and “efficient” technological adaptations of modern human: 1) can provide more sharp edges from a given unit of stone; 2) can provide remarkable degree of standardization in the sizes and shapes of end products by controlling over the dimensions of blanks, which is suitable for manufacturing replaceable components of composite tool; 3) can consume a given volume of raw material more effectively and completely; 4) a user can take more portable and light tools at once. Based on the techno-typological analysis on the archaeological data available from the four Upper Paleolithic industries in southern Shanxi Province, complex microblade technologies appeared at
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Xiachuan, Xueguan and Shizitan, which might have originated from Chaisi by the end of the Pleistocene. The Xiachuan assemblage displays a specialized technology, representing dominant application of microblade technique. All microblade cores might have been intentionally designed and prepared for certain types. The bifacial technique was applied on the points or arrowheads, which also exhibit relative standardization and normalization in morphology and skill. It seems that there might be a preference for high-quality cherts and no economizing behavior on raw materials. The Xueguan assemblage displays a mixed industry of small tools associated with medium- to large tools. The flake technology dominated this assemblage, which was exemplified by semi-lunar scrapers. Compared with the Xiachuan assemblage, no evidence of well designed tools such as bifaces existed. The Chaisi assemblage has a generalized technology, representing less prepared core productions, less blade or microblade technology, and less standardization or specialization of tool manufacture. Although very few high-quality raw materials occur around the Chaisi site, knappers seemed to prefer cherts or chalcedonies to others. The Shizitan assemblage represents a sophisticated, flexible technology and diverse tool forms. For skilled knappers, even coarser-grained but sufficient isotropic materials (e.g. quartzites) were also worked by the microblade technique. There is evidence of remarkable economizing behavior, for instance, many lithic artifacts of small size might be used repeatedly and recycled, and some small pieces were intentionally flaked using a bipolar technique. Based on the use-wear evidence, this study can positively determine that some lithic tools were used. In association with faunal remains of wild horse, onager, gazelle and deer in these sites, the occupants in southern Shanxi Province might have been hunters. In addition, formal tool types might demonstrate certain working tasks at the sites. For instance, a large number of endscrapers at Shizitan indicate hide-processing might have been a main task. In summary, it seems that there was a diversity of adaptations among the four hunteregatherer groups in southern Shanxi Province from the technological features and use-wear evidence for lithic artifacts. Such variability might have been represented by different organizations of lithic production, responding to several variables, e.g. climate fluctuations, environmental conditions, and constraints on resources and raw materials. Further casual analyses on the technological variability of Upper Paleolithic in China will provide a more accurate picture of the strategies employed by different hunteregatherers. More studies to understand their specific technologies and adaptive strategies will be undertaken in future. Acknowledgments This research was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (No. 11CKG001) and Dongs’ Literature, History and Philosophy Research Award Foundation of Zhejiang University. We wish to thank Jun Wang, an undergraduate student at Department of Cultural Heritage and Museology at Zhejiang University, for processing the map and figures. References An, Z.M., 2000. Hundred years of discovery of Chinese microblades (in Chinese). Archaeology 5, 45e56. Bamforth, D.B., 1986. Technological efficiency and tool curation. American Antiquity 51 (1), 38e50. Bar-Yosef, O., 1999. The big deal about blades: linar technologies and human evolution. American Anthropologist 101 (2), 322e338.
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