“Modern behaviors” of ancient populations at Shuidonggou Locality 2 and their implications

Abstract

Both the behavioral and skeletal evolution of Homo sapiens sapiens have been hotly debated for more than 20 years. This paper analyzes archaeological materials from Shuidonggou Locality 2 with respect to ecology, technology, economy and social organization, and symbolic behaviors. Locality 2 shows a range of cultural innovations in different archaeological layers. The continuous evolution of flake technology in North China from 40ka to 20ka supports the hypothesis of “Continuity with Hybridization” of Chinese ancient populations from a cultural perspective. On the premise of this model, seeking cultural innovations of Chinese ancient populations should focus on evolutionary processes leading to individual behaviors rather than identifying modern behaviors using a list summarized from materials derived from findings in Europe and Africa. The variation of behavior after the appearance of H. sapiens in China and elsewhere demands research into behavioral variability and its causes, instead of treating modern behavior as a single, homogeneous list of features.