Re-Evaluation of Microblade Industries and the 3 Fenghuangling Cultural Complex in Shandong Peninsula, Northern China
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RE-EVALUATION OF MICROBLADE INDUSTRIES AND THE 3 FENGHUANGLING CULTURAL COMPLEX IN SHANDONG PENINSULA, NORTHERN CHINA Chen.Shen IntrodUctIon The.significance.of.studying.microblade.technol- were.primarily.associated.with.Neolithic.materi- ogy.in.northern.China.lies.in.the.interrelationship. als.in.northern.China.(Liang.1959a,.1959b)..Not. of.Late.Pleistocene.hunter-gatherers.in.northeast- until.the.1970s.were.microblade.materials.from. ern.Asia.and.northwestern.America..Microblade. Late.Pleistocene.deposits.recognized.in.northern. technology. is. considered. to. be. of. compelling. China.(Jia.et al..1972;.Gai.1985)..Over.the.last. evidence. for. the. peopling. of. the. New. World. four.decades,.archaeological.sites.with.micro- (West. 1996a;. Madsen. 2004).. From. a. regional. blade.assemblages.were.identified.in.most.parts.of. perspective,. the. microblade. technique. reveals. China,.concentrated.in.three.macro-regions:.cen- technological.innovation.or.diffusion.that. illus- tral-northern.China,.the.northeastern.and.northern. trates. the. development. of. human. adaptation. in. steppe,.and.southern.and.southwestern.China.(for. these. cultural. regions.. However,. where. exactly. syntheses,.see.An.2000;.Chen.1984;.Gai.1985;. this.particular.technology.of.making.composite. Lu.1998)..A.general.survey.of.some.of.these.dis- hunting. tools. originated. in. northeastern.Asia. is. coveries.is.offered.by.Chen.Chun.in.this.volume.. still. open. to. question.. Vast. data. of. microblade. Research.on.microblade.assemblages.with.a. assemblages. have. been. accumulated. over. the. Late.Pleistocene.archaeological.context.did.not. past. decades. in. northeastern. Asia.. These. may. start.until.the.late.1970s,.when.the.Xiachuan.site. allow. us. to. understand. technological. variabil- of.southern.Shanxi.Province.and.the.Hutouliang. ity.during.the.Late.Pleistocene.in.these.regions,. site.of.Hebei.Province.were.excavated.revealing. but. first. we. have. to. clearly. demonstrate. these. substantial.microblade.remains.(Gai.1985;.Gai. regional. variations.. This. study. will. thus. focus. and.Wei.1977;.Wang.et al..1978)..An.Zhimin’s. on.microblade.industries.from.one.of.these.cul- study.of.the.Haila’er.assemblages.established.for. tural.regions.–.the.Shandong.Peninsula.of.eastern. the.first.time.a.framework.for.the.study.of.Chinese. China.(Figure.3.1).. microblade.materials,.providing.a.foundation.for. Microblades,.as.a.truly.compositional.tool.type,. understanding.the.temporal.and.spatial.distribu- appeared.in.Chinese.archaeological.assemblages. tion.of.microblade.data.accumulated.in.the.years. at.the.end.of.the.Late.Pleistocene,.as.a.result.of. that.followed.(An.1978).. sudden.technological.innovation.and/or.adapta- During.the.1980s,.new.approaches.were.taken. tion..Microblade.remains.in.China.first.came.to. by.researches.studying.Chinese.microblade.in- light.when.foreign.explorations.in.the.northwest- dustries..From.a.technological-typological.ap- ern.steppe.areas.took.place.at.the.beginning.of.the. proach,.Tang.and.Gai.(1986).applied.the.methods. last.century.(Andersson.1923,.1945;.Boule.et al.. developed.in.studies.of.Japanese.microblades.to. 1928;.Teilhard.de.Chardin.and.Pei.1944;.Teilhard. analyses.of.the.Hutouliang.assemblages.from.the. de.Chardin.and.Yang.1932)..Microblade.remains. Nihewan.Basin.of.northern.China..They.identi- recovered.from.scientific.excavations.in.the.1930s fied. four. microblade. techniques. representing. 39 Chapter 3 northern.Chinese.industries:.Yangyuan.(or.To- Wang.et al..1994),.Shizitan.(Shanxi.Sheng.Lin- geshita),.Sanggan.(or.Oshorokko),.Hetao.(or.Yu- fen.Xingshu.Wenhuaju.1989),.Youfang.(Xie.and. betsu),.and.Xiachuan.(or.Saikai)..Chen.and.Wang. Cheng.1989),.and.Jiqitan.(Institute.of.Cultural. (1989).recognized.technological.differences.in. Relics.1993)..Among.these.discoveries.(also.see. the.manufacture.of.microblades.between.the.Xia- Chun.Chen,.this.volume),.a.cluster.of.microblade. chuan.site.and.the.Xueguan.site,.suggesting.that. assemblages. were. identified. in. the. Shandong. the.Xiachuan.industry.is.represented.by.conical. Peninsula,.which.are.the.subject.of.this.paper.. microblade.cores.while.the.Xueguan.microblade. These. archaeological. findings. provide. a. clear. industry.is.dominated.by.boat-shaped.and.wedge- understanding.of.the.spatial.distribution.of.mi- shaped.cores..They.further.proposed.that.both.the. croblade.technology.along.the.middle.to.lower. Xueguan.and.the.Hutouliang.techniques.were.de- valleys.of.the.Yellow.River.and.its.tributaries.. veloped.directly.from.the.Xiachuan.technology.. These.data,.alongside.limited.radiocarbon.dates,. While.Tang.and.Gai’s.(1986).study.for.the.first. preliminarily.established.a.chronology.of.micro- time.established.a.microblade.technological.link. blade.industries.in.northern.China,.although.the. between.northern.China.and.Japan,.Chen.and.his. dates.of.these.sites.need.to.be.verified.in.future. colleagues.further.examined.these.materials.(es- detailed.studies..Compared.to.north-central.Chi- pecially.from.Xiachuan.and.Xueguan).in.compar- na,.the.northern.steppe.and.southwestern.China. ison.with.microblade.technology.from.northwest- have.also.yielded.substantial.data,.but.less.study. ern.America.(Chen.and.Wang.1989;.Chen.1983,. has.been.carried.out.in.these.regions..Based.on. 1994,.this.volume).. these.discoveries,.Lu.(1998).provided.an.updated. Late.in.the.last.century,.a.number.of.important. summary. of. their. chronological. development. microblade.sites.were.recovered.with.controlled. within.the.above-mentioned.three.macro-regions. excavations.in.northern.China..Some.important. in.relation.to.Neolithic.development..However,. sites.include.Dingcun.locality.77:01.(Wang.1986;. although.regional.traditions.have.been.studied. 40 Chen Shen within.the.local.context,.microblade.technology. blade.artifacts.were.found.in.the.backfill.of.Han. in.China.is.still.poorly.understood.in.terms.of.its. Dynasty.tombs..This.led.to.the.identification.of. origins.and.spread.throughout.northeastern.Asia. the.first.microblade.site.in.Shandong.at.a.mound. (Shen.2004).. called. Fenghuangling. (literally. “Phoenix. Hill”).. As.far.as.the.origins.and.spread.of.microblades. The.site.was.subsequently.excavated.by.archaeol- in.northern.China.are.concerned,.most.Chinese. ogists.from.the.Institute.of.Archaeology,.Chinese. scholars.tend.to.favour.a.“north.China.origin”. Academy. of. Social. Sciences. (CASS).. Situated. model.(Jia.et al..1972;.Gai.1985;.An.2000;.Xie. 5.km.east.of.the.Yi.River,.the.site.yielded.hun- 2000).. Data. from. the. regions. clearly. indicate. dreds.of.microblades.from.a.Late.Pleistocene.loess. technological.similarities.between.northern.Chi- deposit.(Linyi.Diqu.Wenwu.Guanli.Weiyuanhui. na.to.those.assemblages.from.Eastern.Siberia,. 1983)..In.the.following.year,.a.series.of.surveys. Japan,.and.Korea,.and.even.to.those.from.north- was.carried.out.in.adjacent.areas,.focusing.on.the. western. North.America.. Recently,. Xie. (2000). recovery. of. more. microblade. sites..As. a. result,. proposed.that.microblades.in.China.originated.in. 13. localities. were. identified. as. archaeological. the.middle.Yellow.River.region.(e.g.,.Xiachuan. sites. with. microblade. remains. (Luan. 1996:29).. or.Dingcun.77:01).and.then.spread.eastward.to. Two.of.these.sites,.Qingfengling.in.Linyi.County. the.Korean.Peninsula.along.a.northern.route.and. and.Heilongtan.in.Tancheng.County,.were.exca- to.the.east.coast.of.China.along.a.southern.route.. vated. in. 1984. (Han. 1985a,. 1985b;. Linyi. Diqu. This.hypothesis.has.not.been.tested.against.data. Wenwu. Guanli. Weiyuanhui. 1983;. Linyi. Diqu. from.each.of.the.five.microblade.zones.that.Xie. Wenwu.Guanli.Weiyuanhui.and.Tancheng.Xian. defines.. However,. Xie's. (2000). study. at. least. Tushuguan.1986)..The.lithic.artifacts.which.were. reflects.the.general.agreement.that.China's.east. excavated.and.collected.from.these.sites.clearly. coast,.especially.the.Shandong.Peninsula,.is.the. demonstrate.a.microblade.context..These.discov- important.geographic.area.for.transmitting.micro- eries. triggered. subsequent. surveys. in. southern. blade.technology.across.East.Asia.. Shandong,.and.by.the.early.1990s,.archaeologi- It.must.be.noted,.however,.that.today.our.best. cal.surveys.had.discovered.more.than.100.sites. knowledge.of.Chinese.microblades.derives.pri- or.localities.that.were.claimed.to.be.microblade. marily.from.only.a.few.well-known.sites.in.the. sites..Based.on.these.discoveries,.a.concept,.the. middle.Yellow. River,. such. as. Xiachuan,. Xue- “Fenghuangling.Culture”.complex,.as.a.distinct. guan,.and.Hutouliang..These.sites.are.among.the. culture. of. the. Late. Palaeolithic,. was. proposed. few.that.have.yielded.microblade.assemblages. to. define. the. cultural. affiliation. of. these. newly. from.scientific.excavations..Evidence.from.oth- discovered.lithic.assemblages.in.Shandong.(Gao. er.excavated.sites.like.Shizitan,.Dingcun.77:01,. and. Shao. 1984;. Luan. 1996:29–31;. Zhongguo Youfang,.and.Jiqitan,.has.merit.to.challenge.tra- Sehui.Kexue.Yuan.Kaogu.Yanjue.Suo.1993;.Xu. ditional.views.on.microblade.technological.de- 1999a,.1999b). velopment.in.northern.China,.but.unfortunately. In.previous.studies,.the.proposed.“Fenghuan- materials.from.these.sites.have.not.been.system- gling.Culture”.included.almost.all.the.archaeolog- atically.studied.yet.(Shen.2004)..The.same.holds. ical.sites.dated.to.the.end.of.the.Pleistocene,.re- true.for.materials.from.the.Shandong.Peninsula.. gardless.of.whether.or.not.they.contain.microblade. Thus,.a.new.examination.of.microblade.materials.