Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T20:38:42.931Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A critique of the Chinese ‘Middle Palaeolithic’

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2015

Xing Gao  and
Christopher J. Norton
Xing Gao
Affiliation:
Department of Paleoanthropology, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica, PO Box 643, 142 Xizhimenwai Dajie, Beijing 100044, People's Republic of China
Christopher J. Norton
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 336a Science Building, William Paterson University, Wayne NJ 07470, USA.k_s_g@hotmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The Chinese Palaeolithic has traditionally been divided into three distinct cultural periods: Lower, Middle, and Upper. Analysis of four stone tool criteria (raw material procurement, core reduction, retouch, and typology) to determine if a distinct Middle Palaeolithic stage existed in China suggests that very little change occurred in lithic technology between the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. Accordingly, a two-stage progression is proposed: Early and Late Palaeolithic. The transition between these two cultural periods occurred with the development of more refined stone tool making techniques (e.g. introduction of blade and microblade technology) and the presence of other archaeological indicators of more modern human behaviour (e.g. presence of art and/or symbolism) (c. 30,000 years ago).

Keywords

Chinese prehistoryunilinear evolutionMiddle PalaeolithicEarly and Late Palaeolithic
Type
Papers
Information
Antiquity , Volume 76 , Issue 292 , June 2002 , pp. 397 - 412
Copyright
Copyright © Antiquity Publications Ltd. 2002

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aigner, J.S. 1972. Relative dating of North Chinese faunal and cultural complexes, Arctic Anthropology 2: 36–79.Google Scholar
Aigner, J.S. 1981. Archaeological remains in Pleistocene China. Munich: CH. Beck.Google Scholar
Blnforu, L.R. 1980. Willow smoke and dogs’ tails: hunter-gatherer settlement systems and archaeological site formation, American Antiquity 45: 4–20.Google Scholar
Blnforu, L.R. 1989. Isolating the transition to cultural adaptations: an organizational approach, in Trinkaus, E. (ed.), The emergence of modern humans: 18–41. New York (NY): Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Black, D., Teilhard De Chardin, P., Young, C.C. & Pei, W.C.. 1933. Fossil man in China: The Choukoutien cave deposits with a synopsis of our present knowledge of the Late Ccnozoic in China. Beijing: Geological Survey of China.Google Scholar
Bordes, F. 1978. Foreword, in Ikawa-Smith, F. (ed.): ix-x. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Branttngham, P.J., Krivoshapkin, A.I., Li, J.Z. & Yatserendagva, . 2001. The Initial Upper Paleolithic in Northeast Asia, Current Anthropology 42(5): 735–46.Google Scholar
Breuil, H. 1928. Archéologie, in Boule, M., Breuii, H., Licent, E. & Tei I hard de Chardin, P. (ed.), Le Paléolithique deia Chine: 103–36. Paris: Archives de l’Institut de Paleontologie Humaine. Mémoire 4.Google Scholar
Chang, K.C. 1981. Archaeology and Chinese historiography, World Archaeology 13(2):l56–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chang, K.C. 1986. The archaeology of Ancient China. New Haven (CT): Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Chen, T.M., Iíedges, R.E.M. & Yuan, Z.. 1992. The second group of accelerator radiocarbon dates for Upper Cave of Zhoukoudian, Acta Anthropologics Sinica 11(2): 112–16.Google Scholar
Chen, T.M., Yang, Q. & Wu, S.. 1993. ESR dating un animal teeth from the Jinniushan site, Acta Anthropologics Sinica 12(4): 337–46.Google Scholar
Chen, T.M., Yuan, S.X. & Gao, S.J.. 1984. The study on uranium-series dating of fossil bones and an absolute age sequence for the main Paleolithic sites of North China, Acta Anthropologica Sinicu 3(3): 259–69.Google Scholar
Corruccini, R.S. & Ciochon, R.L. (ed.). 1994. integrative paths to the past. Upper Saddle River (NJ): Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Derevianko, A.P. & Markin, S.V.. 1995. The Mousterian of the Altai in the context of the Middle Paleolithic culture of Eurasia, in Dibble, & Bar-Yosef, (ed.): 473–84.Google Scholar
Dekkvianko, A.P. & Petrin, V.l.. 1995. Levallois on Mongolia, in Dibble, & Bar-Yosef, (ed.): 455–72.Google Scholar
Derevianko, A.P., Shimkin, D.B. & Powers, W.R. (ed.). 1998. The Paleolithic of Siberia: New discoveries and interpretations. Chicago (IL): University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Dibble, H. 1991. Local raw material exploitation and its effects on Lower and Middle Paleolithic assemblage variability, in Montet-White, A. & Holen, S. (ed.): 49–58.Google Scholar
Dibble, H. & Bar-YOSEF, O. (ed.). 1995. The definition and interpretation of Levallois technology. Madison (WI): Prehistory Press.Google Scholar
Cai, P. 1985. Microlithic industries in China, in Wu, & Olsen, (ed.): 225–41. New York (NY): Academic Press.Google Scholar
Cai, P. 1991. Microbi ade tradition around the northern Pacific rim: A Chinese perspective, in Hou, (ed.): 21–31.Google Scholar
Cai, P. & Huang, W.P.. 1982. Middle Paleolithic materials from Changwu, Shaanxi Province, Acta Archaeologica Sinica 1(1): 18–29.Google Scholar
Gao, X. 1999. A discussion of the ‘Chinese Middle Paleolithic’, Acta Anthropologica Sinica 18(1): 1–16.Google Scholar
Gao, X. 2000. Explanations of typological variability in Paleolithic remains from Zhoukoudian Locality 15, China. Unpublished Ph.D dissertation. Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona.Google Scholar
Gao, X. & Olsen, J.W.. 1997. Similarity and variation within the Lower Paleolithic: East Asia, western Europe and Africa compared, in Tong, et al. (ed.): 63–76.Google Scholar
Han, D.F. & Xu, CH. 1989. Quaternary mammalian faunas and environment of fossil humans in South China, in Wu, R.K., Wu, X.Z. & Zhang, S.S. (eds.): 338–391.Google Scholar
Hou, J.Y. (ed.). 1991. Contributions to the XIIIINQUA, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica. Beijing: Science Press.Google Scholar
Huang, W.W. 1989. The Upper Paleolithic cultures in China, in Wu, et al. (ed.): 220–44.Google Scholar
Huang, W.W. 1993. Typology of the heavy-duty implements in the East and Southeast Asian Lower Paleolithic and a comment on the Movhis typological system, Acta Anthropologica Sinica 12(4): 297–304.Google Scholar
Ikawa-Smith, F. (ed.). 1978a. Early Paleolithic in South and East Asia. The Hague: Mouton.Google Scholar
Ikawa-Smith, F. 1978b. Introduction: The Early Paleolithic tradition of East Asia, in Ikawa-Smith, (ed.): 1–10.Google Scholar
Jelinek, A.J. 1982. Concluding discussion, in Ronen, A. (ed.) The transition from Lower to Middle Palaeolithic and the origin of modern man: 321–9. Oxford: British Archaeological Reports. International series S151.Google Scholar
Jia, L.P. 1978. On the characteristics, traditiun, origin and distribution of microblade industry in China, Vertebrata PaiAsiatica 16(2): 137–43.Google Scholar
Jia, L.P. 1989. Earliest Paleolithic assemblages of China, in Wu, et al. (ed.): 81–96.Google Scholar
Jia, L.P., Gai, P. & You, Y.Z.. 1972. Report on the excavation at the Shiyu site in Sbanxi Province, Archaeologica Sinica 1: 39–58.Google Scholar
Jia, L.P. & Huang, W.W.. 1985. On the recognition of China’s Palaeolithic cultural traditions, in Wu, & Olsen, (ed.): 259–66.Google Scholar
Jia, L.P., Wang, Z.Y. & Qiu, Z.L.. 1961. ShanxiPaleolithic. Beijing: Science Press.Google Scholar
Jinniushan Team. 1976. The mammalian assemblages from Jinniushan site, Yingkou, Liaoning Province, and its significance, Vertebrata PaiAsiatica 14(2): 120–27.Google Scholar
Jinniushan Team. 1978. A study of the Paleolithic culture from Jinniushan, Yingkou, Liaoning Province. Vertebrata PaiAsiatica 16(2): 128–38.Google Scholar
Kelly, R.L. 1995. The Foraging Spectrum. Washington (DC): Smithsonian Institution Press. 2nd edition.Google Scholar
Klein, R.G. 1999. The human career. Chicago (IL): University of Chicago.Google Scholar
Li, L. 1992. An experimental study on the block-on-block percussion and free hammer percussion, South China Ethnoarchaeology 5: 180–97.Google Scholar
Li, Y.X. 1982. Relative dating for the Paleolithic in South China, Acta Anthropologica Sinica 1(2): 160–68.Google Scholar
Li, Y.X. 1989. Lower Paleolithic in South China, in Wu, et al. (ed.): 159–94.Google Scholar
Li, Y.X. 1993. The division of the Upper Paleolithic cultures in China. Acta Anthropologica Sinica 12(3): 214–23.Google Scholar
Li, Y.X. 1997. Some problems of the Dingcun industry, in Tong, et al. (ed.): 39–50.Google Scholar
Li, Y.X. & Wen, B.H.. 1986. Guanyindong — the Lower Paleolithic Site in Qianxi, Guizhou Province. Beijing: Cultural Relics Press.Google Scholar
Li, Z.W. & Shi, J.M.. 1985. The relationship among the Upper Paleolithic cultures in North China, Shiqian Yanjiu (Prehistoric Studies) 1: 17–23.Google Scholar
Liaoning, & Benximuseum, . 1986. Miaohoushnn — APaleolitluc site from Benxi, Liaoning Province. Beijing: Cultural Relics Press.Google Scholar
Lin, S.L. 1996. A comparative study on Paleolithic technological modes between the East and the West, Acta Archaeologica Sinica 15(1): 1–19.Google Scholar
Liu, Y. 1988. A restudy of the Dingcun stone artifacts, Acta Archaeologica Sinica 7(4): 306–13.Google Scholar
Lu, L.D. 1998. The microblade tradition in China: regional chronology and significance in the transition to Neolithic, Asian Perspectives 37(1): 84–112.Google Scholar
Luchterhand, K. 1978. Late Cenozoic climate, mammalian evolutionary patterns and Middle Pleistocene human adaptation in Eastern Asia, in Freeman, L.G. (ed.), Views of the Past: 363–421. The Hague: Mouton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mausen, D.B., Jingzen, LI, Brantingham, P.J., Xing, GAO, Elston, R.G. & Bettinger, R.L.. 2001. Dating Shuidonggou and the Upper Palaeolithic blade industry in North China, Antiquity 75: 706–16.Google Scholar
Montet-White, A. & Holen, S. (ed.). 1991. Raw material economies and prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Lawrence (KS): University of Kansas. Publications in Anthropology 19.Google Scholar
Movius, H. 1944. Early man and Pleistocene stratigraphy in Southern and Eastern Asia. Cambridge (MA): Harvard University. Papers of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology 19(3).Google Scholar
Movius, H. 1948. The Lower Paleolithic culture of Southern and Eastern Asia, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society 38(4): 329–420.Google Scholar
Nurton, C.J. 2000. The current state of Korean paleoanthropology, Journal of Human Evolution 38: 803–25.Google Scholar
Olsen, J.W. & Miller-Antonio, S.. 1992. The Palaeolithic in Southern China, Asian Perspectives 31: 129–60.Google Scholar
Otte, M. 1991. Evolution in the relationship between raw materials and cultural tradition in the European Paleolithic, in Montet-White, & Holen, (ed.): 161–8.Google Scholar
Pei, W.C. 1955. Paleolithic cultures in China, in Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology & Paleoanthropology (ed.), The discovery and study of fossil hominid in China: 53–89. Beijing: Science Press.Google Scholar
Pei, W.C. 1957. The zoographical divisions of Quaternary mammalian fauna in China, Vertebrata Palasiatica 1: 9–24.Google Scholar
Pei, W.C. 1959. Paleolithic studies — science and paleontology in China in the past ten years. Beijing: Science Press.Google Scholar
Pei, W.C., Wu, R.K., Jia, L.P., Zhou, M.Z., Liu, X.T. & Wang, Z.Y.. 1958. Report on the excavation of Palaeolithic sites at Dingcun, Xiangfen County, Shanxi Province, Memoirs of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology Series A 2: 1–111.Google Scholar
Pei, W.C. & Zhang, S.S.. 1985. A study on the lithic artifacts of Sinanthropus. Beijing: Science Press.Google Scholar
Pope, G.C. 1988. Recent advances in Far Eastern paleoanthropology, Animal Review of Anthropology 17: 43–77.Google Scholar
Pope, G. & Keates, S.G.. 1994. The evolution of human cognition and cultural capacity, in Corruccini, & Ciocbon, (ed.): 531–67.Google Scholar
Ql, G.Q. 1989. Quaternary mammalian faunas and environment of fossil humans in North China, in Wu, et al. (ed.): 277–337.Google Scholar
Qiu, Z.L. 1985. The Middle Palaeolithic of China, in Wu, & Olsen, (ed.): 187–210.Google Scholar
Qiu, Z.L. 1989. The Middle Paleolithic of China, in Wu, et al. (ed.): 195–219.Google Scholar
Schick, K.D. 1994. The Movius Line reconsidered: Perspectives on the Earlier Paleolithic of Eastern Asia, in Corruccini, & Ciochon, (ed.): 569–96.Google Scholar
Schick, K.D. & Dong, Z.. 1993. Early Paleolithic of China and Eastern Asia, Evolutionary Anthropology 2(1): 22–35.Google Scholar
Schick, K. & Toro, N.. 1993. Making silent stones speak: human evolution and the dawn of technology. New York (NY): Simon & Schuster.Google Scholar
Shea, J.J. 1992. Lithic microwear analysis in archeology, Evolutionary Anthropology 1: 143–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shen, G. & Jin, L.. 1992. U-series dating of speleotherm samples from Guanyindong cave at Qianxi County, Guizhou Province, Acta Anthropologica Sinica 11: 93–100.Google Scholar
Stringer, C. & Gamble, C.. 1993. In search of the Neanderthals. New York (NY): Thames & Hudson.Google Scholar
Teilhakd De Chardin, P. Young, SE C.C.. 1929. Preliminary report on the Cboukoutien fossiliferous deposit, Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 8: 173–202.Google Scholar
Tong, Y.S., Zhang, Y.Y., Wen, W.Y., Li, J.L. & Shi, L.Q. (ed.). 1997. Evidence for evolution — essays in honor of Prof. Chungchien Young on the hundred anniversary of his birth. Beijing: China Ocean Press.Google Scholar
Toth, N. & Schick, K.D.. 1986. The first million years: The archaeology of protohuman culture, in Schiffer, M.B. (ed.), Advances in archaeological method and Theory Vol. 9: 1–96. Orlando (FL): Academic Press.Google Scholar
Trigger, B.G. 1989. A history of archaeological thought. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Wang, J. & Tao, F.H.. 1991. A general study on the Dingcun Paleolithic sites complex, Shanxi Wenshi Ziiiao 6, reprinted in Paper Collection of Paleolithic Arcbeological research in Shanxi (1993): 219–28. Taiyuan: Shanxi Economic Press.Google Scholar
Wang, J., Tao, F.H. & Wang, Y.R.. 1994. A preliminary report on the survey and excavation at the Dingcun Paleolithic site complex, Journal of Chinese Antiquity 14(3): 1–75.Google Scholar
Wang, L.H. 1989. Chronology in Chinese Paleoanthropology, in Wu, et al. (ed.): 392–404. Beijing: Beijing Science Press.Google Scholar
Wu, R.K. 1988. The restoration and major features of the Jinniushan Man from Yingkou, Liaoning Province, Acta Anthropologica Sinica 7: 97–101.Google Scholar
Wu, R.K. & Olsen, J.W. (ed.). 1985. Paleoanthropology and Palaeolithic archaeology in the People’s Republic of China. Orlando (FL): Academic Press.Google Scholar
Wu, R.K., Wu, X.Z. & Zhang, S.S. (ed.). 1989. Early humankind in China. Beijing: Science Press.Google Scholar
Wu, X.Z. & Poirler, P.E.. 1995. Human evolution in China. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Wu, X.Z. & Wu, M.L.. 1985. Early Homo sapiens in China, in Wu, St Olsen, (ed.): 91–106. Orlando (FL): Academic Press.Google Scholar
Yuan, S.X., Chen, T.M. & Cao, S.J.. 1986. Uranium series chronology sequence of some Palaeolithic sites in South China, Acta Anthropologica Sinica 5(2): 179–90.Google Scholar
Zhang, S.S. 1985. A preliminary study on Middle Paleolithic cultures in North China, Shiqian Yanjiu [Prehistoric Studies) 1: 8–16.Google Scholar
Zhang, S.S. 1987. Paleolithic cultures in China. Tianjin: Science & Technology Press.Google Scholar
Zhang, S.S. 1989. The Lower Paleolithic in North China, in Wu, et al. (ed.): 97–158.Google Scholar
Zhang, S.S. 1990. Slow development andcultural communication oflbe Paleolithic industries in North China, Acta Anthropologica Sinica 9(4): 322–34.Google Scholar
Zhang, S.S. 1997. Looking for the first stone knife in China, Acta Anthropologica Sinica 16(2): 87–95.Google Scholar
Zhang, Z.H. 1981. A preliminary study on the ancient hominids and their cultures from Liaoning Province, Vertebrata PaiAsiatica 19: 184–92.Google Scholar
Zheng, G.W. & Kanc, Y.Z.. 1994. Thermoluminescence dating of the lower section of the Jinniushan site. Acta Anthropologica Sinica 13(3): 257–9.Google Scholar
Zhou, Y.H. 1989. Amino acid dating of the Peking Man and Dingcun Man, Acta Anthropologica Sinica 8(2): 177–81.Google Scholar