Lithic raw material economy at the Huayang site in Northeast China: localization and diversification as adaptive strategies in the Late Glacial

Jian-Ping Yue,You-Qian Li,Shi-Xia Yang,Yu-Xiu Zhang

doi:10.1007/s12520-020-01067-5

Abstract

The study of lithic raw material plays an important role in developing archeologists’ understanding of the different adaptive strategies and behaviors of prehistoric people. In this paper, we present new evidence from the Huayang site that reveals lithic raw material procurement and exploitation strategies dating to around 14 ka cal. BP. The Huayang site is located in the southern portion of the Lesser Khingan Mountains in Northeast China, a key region for examining migration, diffusion, and interaction among hunter-gatherers in East and Northeast Asia. Our results indicate that diversified lithic raw materials were found and procured from local riverbeds and reduced at the site. Each raw material was reduced with distinctive knapping strategies and, as a result, there is a strong discrete spatial pattern for each of the different raw material types. Intra- and inter-site comparative analyses suggest a uniform trend towards localization and diversification of lithic raw materials in the southern Lesser Khingan Mountains, Northeast China during the Late Glacial, which seems to be associated with the paleoclimatic amelioration and the demographic expansion during this period.

Highlights

Obtaining lithic raw materials is the first step in the sequence of lithic reduction, and a first step in understanding different lithic technologies
Several studies on lithic raw materials have been integrated into the study of hunter-gatherers’ behavioral systems, and most of them focused on the obsidian assemblages distributed in the Changbaishan Mountains (a.k.a. the Paektusan) (Chen et al 2015; Jia et al 2010; Li and Chen 2014; Liu et al 2014)
Kato (2017) defined five late Upper Paleolithic territories in North and Northeast China according to the lithic raw materials found at archeological sites and their site distribution to explore the relationships between human activities and their environment

Summary

Introduction

Obtaining lithic raw materials is the first step in the sequence of lithic reduction, and a first step in understanding different lithic technologies. Based on X-ray fluorescence analysis, researchers argued that Changbaishan obsidian dominates the late Upper Paleolithic assemblages in the central Changbaishan region, at sites such as Helong Dadong, Shirengou, and Xintunzi Xishan, and in some cases has been transported into the Russian Far East and South Korea (Chen et al 2015; Jia et al 2010). Kato (2017) defined five late Upper Paleolithic territories in North and Northeast China according to the lithic raw materials found at archeological sites and their site distribution to explore the relationships between human activities and their environment. These studies have provided a general understanding of population movement and exchange in Northeast China and neighboring areas, despite relying on an uncertain chronology

Methods

Results

Conclusion