Lithic technology, cultural development, and human interaction: Reevaluation of flake tool assemblages in North China during MIS 3

Abstract

Systematic analysis of flake tool assemblages during MIS 3 in North China indicates that in this period, local lithic technology inherits the “small-sized tool tradition” which is prevalent in Northern China during the Pleistocene. However, differences in core reductional methods could also be observed compared with earlier sites in this region. Differences in raw material selections and toolkit variants imply the diversity of regional cultures and various adaptive behavior of ancient humans. Meanwhile, some new cultural traits, including personal ornament, ochre, formal bone tool, grinding tool, and end-scraper, emerged in North China from ca. 41 ka cal BP gradually and sporadically, indicating the limited but repeated cultural transmission and human interaction at the rimland between two technological systems of blade and flake tool industries, which was possibly triggered by the near-simultaneous population growth of both groups.