Preliminary Results from the New Excavation at the Upper Paleolithic Site of Shuidonggou Locality 2, Ningxia (China)

Summary

Shuidonggou, a site complex containing multiple Upper Paleolithic localities in Ningxia Province, China, is one of a few archaeological examples in North China that contain artifacts of a blade technology similar to those of the Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) in Mongolia and Siberia 30–40 ka. At Locality 2, the occurrence of two blade cores in the lower layers dated to ~34–41 ka; and has led the lithic industry of the locality to be separated into those of the so-called IUP and others of the core-and-flake technology. This is characteristic of the Paleolithic in northern China between 1.6 ma and ~30 ka. However, due to the limited sample of artifacts' diagnostics of the IUP blade technology and a lack of consistent dates, the timing and technological affinity represented at Locality 2 remains unclear. There is reported preliminary results from a renewed excavation of Locality 2 beginning in 2014. The lithic assemblages of culture layers 1–3 are characterized by the typical core-and-flake technology of the Chinese Paleolithic, although variation between bipolar and free-hand percussion was identified. In addition, numerous ostrich egg shell beads and a single bone pendant were also recovered from the upper layers.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 15865