TECHNO-TYPOLOGICAL COMPARISON OF MICROBLADE 2 CORES FROM EAST ASIA AND NORTH AMERICA Chun.Chen IntrodUctIon In. the. last. seventy. years,. much. attention. has. has.put.it,.“technological.analysis.can.increase. been. paid. by. many. archaeologists. in. differ- the.sophistication.of.archaeological.comparison. ent. countries,. to. the. examination,. analysis,. between.specimens.or.types.assessed.in.terms.of. and. comparison. of. microblade. cores,. in. their. how.similar.they.are.”. attempt.to.search.for.prehistoric.cultural.affini- Microblade.remains.of.a.more.recent.period. ties. through. time. and. space.. In. the. incipient. were.reported.widespread.in.provinces.of.North. stage. of. microblade. research,. morphological. China..Most.of.them.are.surface.collections.with. comparison.was.the.only.method.for.the.study. no.detailed.contextual.or.chronometric.informa- of. the. process. of. core. preparation,. reduction. tion..Many.microblade.remains.were.found.either. sequence,.and.rejuvenation..Since.the.wedge- associated.with.pottery.or.ground.stone.tools..Lo- shaped.core.technology.called.the.Yubetsu.tech- cations.were.usually.situated.near.dry.lakes,.river. nique.was.first.reconstructed.and.defined.by.M.. valleys,.on.sand.dunes.or.small.hills,.or.at.the. Yoshizaki. in. 1961. (see. Morlan. 1967:177),. an. bottom.of.sand.depressions..These.remains.have. increasing.number.of.microblade.techniques.has. been.generally.called.“microliths”.in.Chinese.ar- been.identified.and.defined..Techno-typological. chaeology.and.assigned.to.the.Neolithic.age..The. analysis.has.become.a.common.approach.used. materials.of.this.period.are.not.discussed.in.this. in.microblade.research..Techno-typology.is.the. article. typology.based.on.manufacturing.attributes,.in. This.paper.will.first.provide.an.overview.of.the. contrast.to.“morpho-typology”.which.is.merely. discoveries.and.research.of.microblade.remains. based.on.the.morphological.attributes.of.artifacts. in.East.Asia.and.North.America,.especially.of.the. (Hayashi.1968:129)..In.Western.archaeology,.this. many.new.materials.unearthed.over.the.last.few. trend.of.lithic.analysis.was.also.emphasized.by. decades.in.China..The.methodological.consider- many.scholars..For.example,.Meltzer.(1981:315). ation.will.focus.on.techno-typological.approaches. argued.that.archaeologists.must.recognize.that. dealing.with.the.attributes.of.raw.material,.core. tool.morphology.is.determined.by.tool.technol- typology,.core.technology,.edge.angle,.and.dimen- ogy..Sackett.(1989:51).pointed.out.that.typology,. sional.variation..Based.on.the.analysis.of.these.at- as. it. is. currently. practiced,. investigates. stone. tributes,.a.general.comparison.will.be.made.of.the. tool.morphology.in.ever.more.comprehensive. similarities.and.differences.between.microblade. terms,. and. he. emphasized. the. need. to. under- cores.found.in.different.countries,.in.order.to.trace. stand.the.dynamics.that.underlie.their.patterning.. their.development.and.technological.change..A. The.techno-typological.approach.offers.a.more. synthetic.discussion.will.then.outline.the.outcome. appropriate.way.to.distinguish.the.attributes.of. of.the.comparison..Finally,.a.brief.conclusion.will. microblade.cores.and.trace.potential.prehistoric. explain.the.reasons.why.this.technology.could.be. affinities.in.time.and.space..As.Sheets.(1975:372). adopted.by.so.many.human.groups.living.in.di- 7 Chapter 2 RUSSI A 12 Harbin MONGOLIA 11 Changchun Shenyang Beijing 10 7 5 13 KOREA 9 14 Taiyuan CHIN A 8 6 4 2 1 15 16 Yellow Sea Zhengzhou Xi`an 3 17 Shanghai Chengdu Wuhan East China Sea Changsha INDIA Fuzhou Taipei Kunming Guangzhou Hong Kong Bay of Bengal South China Sea FigureFigure 2.1:2.1: DistributionDistribution mapmap of of microblade microblade sitessites in in China China mentionementionedd in in tthehe text.text. 1..CChaisi;haisi;.2.2..XXiachuan;iachuan;.3.3..LLingjing;ingjing;. 44..X.Xueguan;ueguan; .5.5.H.Hutouliang;utouliang; .6.6.S.Shizitan;hizitan; 7. .Yaozitou; 7.8..Yaozitou;Yushe; 9..D8.onghuishan.Yushe;.9..Donghuishan;; 10. Youfang;.10.11..DYoufang;abusu;.12.11..AngangxiDabusu;.12.; 1.3.Angangxi;Jiqitan; . 1413..T.Jiqitan;ingsijian.14.;. 1Tingsijian;5. Dafa; 16..15.Da.Dafa;gang;.16. 17..Dagang;Huilong.wa17.n.Huilongwan Cave. .Cave. verse.environments.and.distributed.so.widely.in. China..A.brief.description.of.these.discoveries.is. China.proper.and.East.Asia.to.northwestern.North. used.for.comparative.analysis. America.during.the.Late.Pleistocene.and.Early. Holocene. North China THE MAIN DIscoverIes of Chaisi Locality 77.01 at the Dingcun sites MIcroblade RemaIns IN East ASIA The.Dingcun.sites,.located.in.Xiangfen.County,. and NortH AmerIca Shanxi.Province.(35°51'N,.111°25'E),.were.dis- covered.in.1954.and.11.localities.were.identi- The.following.microblade.industries.were.found. fied. (Pei.et al.. 1958). (Figure.2.1).. Since. then,. in.the.northern,.eastern,.and.southwestern.parts.of. more.localities.with.Palaeolithic.materials.have. 8 Chun Chen been.found.and.reported.in.the.region..In.1977,. 1994)..A.field.survey.in.1994.discovered.Local- Locality.77.01.was.found.on.the.second.terrace.of. ity.94.01,.which.yielded.a.microblade.assemblage. the.right.bank.of.the.Fen.River.near.Chaisi..The. from.the.second.terrace.of.the.Fen.River..One.mi- upper.sediment.of.the.second.terrace.consists.of. crocore.and.four.microblades.were.collected.(Tao. greyish.yellow.sandy.soil.about.19.m.thick..Stone. and.Wang.1995)..These.two.microblade.localities. artifacts,.microblade.remains,.and.mammalian. were.both.dated.to.the.Late.Pleistocene..The.ra- fossils.were.unearthed.from.the.gravel.and.sandy. diocarbon.date.for.Locality.77.01.is.c..25,000.BP. deposit,.which.is.about.1.m.thick.and.unconform- (ZK-0635)..Note.that.all. 14C.dates.in.this.paper. ably.overlies.marly.clay.sediment.of.the.Lower. are.cited.according.to.Libby's.half-life.of.5568. Pleistocene. years.(see.The.Institute.of.Archaeology.1991).. The. excavation. of. Locality. 77.01. in. 1978. There.is.no.14C.date.for.Locality.94.01,.and.age. yielded.microblade.remains,.including.six.micro- assessment.is.based.on.stratigraphic.study. cores,.86.microblades,.and.blades..Microcores. are.classified.into.three.types,.conical,.wedge- The Xiachuan Industry shaped,.and.boat-shaped..Except.for.one.wedge- The.Xiachuan.sites.are.located.in.an.area.cover- shaped.core.of.hornfels,.most.microcores.were. ing.the.three.counties.of.Qinshui,.Yangcheng,.and. made.of.chert.(Figure.2.2)..Large.chipping.stone. Huanqu,.southern.Shanxi.Province.(Figure.2.1).. tools.such.as.choppers,.scrapers,.and.bolas.were. Sixteen. localities. were. found. during. surveys. mainly.made.of.hornfels.(Wang.1986;.Wang.et al.. from.1970.to.1975..More.than.1800.stone.arti- Figure 2.2: Microblade cores from Chaisi (after Wang et al. 1994). 9 Chapter 2 Figure 2.3: Microblade cores from Xiachuan (after Wang and Wang 1991). facts,.including.219.microcores,.were.found.in. chronological.placement.of.the.Xiachuan.Indus- the.1973–1975.excavations.(Wang.et al..1978).. try.is.between.c..23,900.BP.and.c..13,900.BP.(for. A.detailed.description.is.available.in.Chen.and. Lab.numbers,.see.Kuzmin,.this.volume),.with.the. Wang.(1989)..From.1976.to.1978,.the.Committee. latter.date.from.the.Shunwangping.locality.(The. of.Cultural.Relics.of.Shanxi.Province.and.the. Institute.of.Archaeology.1991). Institute.of.Archaeology,.Chinese.Academy.of. Social. Sciences,. conducted. excavations. at. the. Lingjing Industry sites..The.report.is.still.pending. The.Lingjing.site.is.located.about.15.km.to.the. Between. 1990. and. 1992,. Chen. Zheying. of. northwest. of. Xuchang. City,. Henan. Province. the.Institute.of.Archaeology.in.Shanxi.Province. (Figure.2.1)..A.lithic.assemblage.was.collected. conducted.three.field.surveys.and.collected.4415. from.greyish.silt.and.orange.sand.dug.up.during. stone.artifacts.from.nine.localities,.including.100. water.storage.construction..Therefore,.the.stratig- microcores,. 119. blades. and. microblades,. and. raphy.was.disturbed.and.the.original.provenance. many.microblade.tools..Microcores.were.clas- of.artifacts.is.unknown. sified.into.wedge-shaped,.conical,.semi-conical,. A.total.of.1353.stone.artifacts.was.collected.. boat-shaped,.and.funnel-shaped.(Figure.2.3)..Oth- In.addition,.two.fragments.of.a.human.femur.and. er.tool.types.include.points,.burins,.microblade. some.mammalian.fossils.were.found..The.fauna. side.scrapers,.and.other.tools.(Chen.1996)..The. includes.16–17.taxa,.for.example,.Lamprotula sp., 10 Chun Chen Figure 2.4: Microblade cores from Lingjing (after Zhou 1974). Ostrea sp., Struthio anderssoni, Meles sp.,.Coe- Xueguan Industry lodonta antiquitatis,.Equus przewalskyi, Sus se- The.Xueguan.site.is.located.in.the.southwestern. roba, Cervus elaphus, Ovis sp., and.Bubalus.sp. part.of.Shanxi.Province.(Figure.2.1)..A.total.of. The.raw.materials.are.mainly.quartz.(69.6%),. 4777. stone. artifacts. including. 86. microblade. chert.(20.0%),.and.quartzite.(n.=.98)..The.stone. cores. were. found. in. the. 1979. and. 1980. exca- artifacts. comprise. three. categories,. i.e.,.gravel. vations..A.single.radiocarbon.date.gave.an.age. tools,.microblade.remains,.and.flake.tools..Only. of. c..13,100.BP. (Wang.et al.. 1982;. Chen. and. some.specimens.were.selected.for.analysis,.in- Wang.1989;.The.Institute.of.Archaeology.1991). cluding.seven.microcores.and.77.microblades.. (Figure.2.5).. The.microcores.can.be.classified.as.wedge-shaped. (n.=.2).and.conical.(n.=.5).(Figure.2.4)..Other.arti- Hutouliang Industry facts.are,.for.example,.flake.cores,.flakes,.points,. The.Hutouliang.site.is.located.in.the.Nihewan. scrapers,.burins,.and.choppers. Basin,.Yangyuan.County,.in.the.northwestern.part. Due.to.the.lack.of.stratigraphic.information.and. of.Hebei.Province.(Figure.2.1)..More.than.40,000. absolute.dating,.the.age.of.the.Lingjing.industry. lithics,.including.236.wedge-shaped.cores.were. was.assigned.to.the.end.of.the.Upper.Palaeolithic. found.in.the.1972–1974.excavations..A.single. or.the.Mesolithic.period.on.the.basis.of.the.absence. radiocarbon.date.gave.an.age.of.c..11,000.BP.(PV- of.pottery.and.polished.stone.tools.(Zhou.1974).