The Bianbiandong cave site in Shandong Province is the earliest Neolithic site found in the lower reaches of the Yellow River basin to date, with a maximum age of approximately 10,000 yr BP. Identifiable faunal remains include Unio, Fruticicolidae, Trionychidae, Turdidae, Phasianidae, Cervus nippon, Hydropotes inermis, Sus, Canidae, Felidae, Leporidae, and Rhizomyidae. Based on faunal remains, we infer that the people mainly relied on hunting wild animals to obtain meat and that the predominant mode of subsistence was hunting and gathering. Comparison with other sites in northern China indicates that both climatic conditions and methods of acquiring meat were similar at different sites during this period. The ancient environment as indicated from the fauna changed very little from 10,000 to 8000 BP in the lower reaches of the Yellow River basin, although subsistence practices changed greatly from a model dominated by hunting to one involving both hunting and fishing.