Advances on technics and activities of the upper Palaeolithic people

Drs Li Chaorong, Feng Xingwu and Li Hao, Instutute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, reported their study on technics and activities of the upper Palaeolithic people (Oriental Plaza site of Wangfujing, Peking, China) in Issue 5,Volume 114 of L'anthropologie .

More than 2000 pieces of cultural relics were unearthed from the Oriental Plaza site, including stone artifacts, bone artifacts, fossils, hematite powder, fire use remains and plant root and foliage. By analyzing these remains in refitting stone and bone artifacts, in experimentally producing some artifacts, and comparing with ethnologic data, it is concluded that the Oriental Plaza site is a seasonal human activity site, that humans had been making a life of hunting and collecting food, can make stone artifacts, bone artifacts to kill their quarries, use fire to cook their food, and at the same time they also conducted some religion activities.

Fig.1 Excavating View of the Oriental Plaza Site (Courtesy of Dr Li et al. )

 

Fig.2 Stone artifacts unearthed from the Oriental Plaza site (Courtesy of Dr Li et al. )

1.Bipolar core;2.straight-concave scraper; 3.Long round end scraper;4.Short round end scraper;5.Double straight scraper; 6.Stone bore; 7.Stone burin.

 

Fig 3. Bone artifacts unearthed from the Oriental Plaza Site (Courtesy of Dr Li et al. )

1. shovel; 2.jointed artifacts; 3.point; 4.bone with chopped and smashed marks; 5.bone with cut marks; 6.bone scraper

 

Fig 4. RetiRing of bone artifacts and bones  (Courtesy of Dr Li et al. )

 1and 3, Refitting of 2 bone pieces; 2, RetiRing of 3 bone pieces; 4 and 5, RetiRing of 5 bone pieces;


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