Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Technological behavior of the early Late Pleistocene archaic humans at Lingjing (Xuchang, China)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The period approximating 100 ka relates to Middle Paleolithic or Middle Stone Age technological behaviors that are generally characterized by prepared core technology, an expanding range of retouched tools, and the novel exploitation and sourcing of raw materials. As opposed to other regions of the world, the technological features of this period in China are deeply debated and remain unclear. Presently, it is suggested that Chinese lithic technology during this period is marked by the continuation of mode 1 artifacts that are characterized by simple cores, flakes, and tools that lack standardization. Here, we present a lithic assemblage associated with the discovery of two archaic human crania at the Lingjing site, securely dated to ~ 125–90 ka. A detailed analysis of stone artifacts shows increased technological advancement of the Lingjing humans during this period, including bi-conical discoidal core reduction strategies, discrete small-sized tool types, and refined retouch on blanks. Those features are also shared by the contemporaneous sites documented across the broader Eurasian and African continents. However, the rarity of prepared core technologies at Lingjing, such as Levallois or laminar flaking, likely indicates a unique technological trajectory compared to sites outside of China. It is due to this that we herein adopt the term Chinese Middle Paleolithic to more clearly refer to the variations we have identified at Lingjing. The Lingjing lithic assemblage, overall, could potentially represent a regional expression of the Middle Paleolithic technocomplex in China, although details about the processes behind its development are still unclear. The study contributes to a new understanding of the long-standing view of the simplified technological behaviors in China before ~ 40 ka and sheds light on the interpretations of the implied human behavioral transformations in the early Late Pleistocene of China.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
EUR 32.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or Ebook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Abrams G, Bello SM, Modica KD, Pirson S, Bonjean D (2014) When Neanderthals used cave bear (Ursus spelaeus) remains: bone retouchers from Unit 5of Scladina Cave (Belgium). Quat Intern 326-327:274–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Adler DS, Wilkinson KN, Blockley S, Mark DE, Pinhasi R, Schmidt-Magee BA, Nahapetyan S, Mallol C, Berna F, Glauberman PJ, Raczynski-Henk Y, Wales N, Frahm E, Jöris O, MacLeod A, Smith VC, Cullen VL, Gasparian B (2014) Early Levallois technology and the Lower to Middle Paleolithic transition in the Southern Caucasus. Science 345:1609–1613

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Akhilesh K, Pappu S, Rajapara HM, Gunnell Y, Shukla AD, Singhvi AK (2018) Early Middle Palaeolithic culture in India around 385-172 ka reframes out of Africa models. Nature 554:97–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Álvarez-Alonso D (2014) First Neanderthal settlements in northern Iberia: the Acheulean and the emergence of Mousterian technology in the Cantabrian region. Quat Intern 326-327:288–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ambrose SH (2001) Paleolithic technology and human evolution. Science 291(5509):1748–1753

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armitage SJ, Jasim SA, Marks AE, Parker AG, Usik VI, Uerpmann H (2011) The southern route “Out of Africa”: evidence for an early expansion of modern humans into Arabia. Science 331:453–456

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aureli D, Rocca R, Lemorini C, Modesti V, Scaramucci S, Milli S, Giaccio B, Marano F, Palombo MR, Antonio Contardi A (2016) Mode 1 or mode 2? “Small tools” in the technical variability of the European Lower Palaeolithic: the site of Ficoncella (Tarquinia, Lazio, central Italy). Quat Intern 393:169–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bae CJ, Wang W, Zhao JX, Huang SM, Tian F, Shen GJ (2014) Modern human teeth from Late Pleistocene Luna Cave (Guangxi, China). Quat Intern 354:169–183

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bae CJ, Douka K, Petraglia MD (2017) On the origin of modern humans: Asian perspectives. Science 358(6368):1269–1275

  • Bar-Yosef O (2015) Chinese Palaeolithic challenges for interpretations of Palaeolithic archaeology. Anthropologie LIII/1–2:77–92

  • Bar-Yosef O, Wang YP (2012) Paleolithic archaeology in China. Annu Rev Anthropol 41:319–335

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boëda E (1993) Le débitage discoïde et le débitage Levallois récurrent centripède. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 90:392–404

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley RS (2015) Paleoclimatology (third edition): reconstructing climates of the Quaternary. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Burdukiewicz JM (2009) Lower Palaeolithic transitions in the northern latitudes of Eurasia. In: Sourcebook of Paleolithic transitions: methods, theories, and interpretations. Springer New York, pp 195–209

  • Burdukiewicz JM, Ronen A (2003) Lower Palaeolithic small tools in Europe and the Levant. Oxford Archaeopress, BAR International Series 1115

  • Chazan M (1997) Redefining Levallois. J Hum Evol 33:719–735

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark JD (1998) The Early Palaeolithic of the eastern region of the Old World in comparison to the West. In: Early human behavior in global context: the rise and diversity of the Lower Palaeolithic record. Routledge, New York, pp 437–450

    Google Scholar 

  • Conard NJ, Prindiville TJ (2000) Middle Palaeolithic hunting economies in the Rhineland. Intern J Osteoarch 10:286–309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • d’Errico F, Henshilwood CS (2007) Additional evidence for bone technology in the southern African Middle Stone Age. J Hum Evol 52:142–163

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • d’Errico F, Backwell LR, Wadley L (2012) Identifying regional variability in Middle Stone Age bone technology: the case of Sibudu Cave. J Arch Sci 39:2479–2495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de la Peña P, Wadley L, Lombard M (2013) Quartz bifacial points in the Howiesons Poort of Sibudu. South. Afr Arch Bull 68:119–136

    Google Scholar 

  • de Lombera-Hermida A, Rodríguez-Rellán C (2016) Quartzes matter. Understanding the technological and behavioural complexity in quartz lithic assemblages. Quat Intern 424:2–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DeBono H, Goren-Inbar N (2001) Note on a link between Acheulian handaxes and the Levallois method. J Israel Prehist Soc 31:9–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Despriée J, Moncel M-H, Arzarello M, Courcimault G, Voinchet P, Bahain J-J, Falguères C (2018) The 1-million-year-old quartz assemblage from Pont-de-Lavaud (Centre, France) in the European context. J Quaternary Sci 33:639–661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diez-Martín F, Yustos PS, Domínguez-Rodrigo M, Prendergast ME (2011) An experimental study of bipolar and freehand knapping of Naibor Soit quartz from Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). Am Antiq 76:690–670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Doyon L, Li ZY, Li H, d’Errico F (2018) Discovery of circa 115,000-year-old bone retouchers at Lingjing, Henan, China. PLoS One 13(3):e0194318

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Driscoll K (2009). Exploring the Chaîne Opératoires in Irish quartz lithic traditions: current research. Internet Archaeology 26, from http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue26/driscollb_index.html

  • Faivre J-P, Discamps E, Gravina B, Turq A, Guadelli J-L, Lenoir M (2014) The contribution of lithic production systems to the interpretation of Mousterian industrial variability in south-western France: the example of Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France). Quat Intern 350:227–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fontana F, Moncel M-H, Nenzionic G, Onorevolid G, Peretto C, Combier J (2013) Widespread diffusion of technical innovations around 300,000 years ago in Europe as a reflection of anthropological and social transformations? New comparative data from the western Mediterranean sites of Orgnac (France) and Cave dall’Olio (Italy). J Anthropol Archaeol 32:478–498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao X (1999) A discussion on “Chinese Middle Paleolithic”. Acta Anthropol Sin 18:1–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Gao X (2001) A study of stone tool typology and retouch technology at Zhoukoudian Locality 15. Acta Anthropol Sin 20:1–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Gao X (2013) Paleolithic cultures in China: uniqueness and divergence. Curr Anthropol 54(suppl. 8):S358–S370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gao X, Norton CJ (2002) A critique of the Chinese “Middle Paleolithic”. Antiquity 76:397–412

  • Groucutt HS, Grün R, Zalmout ISA, Drake NA, Armitage SJ, Candy I, Clark-Wilson R, Louys J, Breeze PS, Duval M, Buck LT, Kivell TL, Pomeroy E, Stephens NB, Stock JT, Stewart M, Price GJ, Kinsley L, Sung W, Alsharekh A, Al-Omari A, Zahir M, Memesh AM, Abdulshakoor AJ, Al-Masari AM, Bahameem AA, Murayyi K, Zahrani B, Scerri E, Petraglia MD (2018) Homo sapiens in Arabia by 85,0000 years ago. Nat Ecol Evol 2:800–809

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grün R, Stringer C (1991) Electron spin resonance dating and the evolution of modern humans. Archaeometry 33:153–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grün R, Stringer C, McDermott F, Nathan R, Porat N, Robertson S, Taylor L, Mortimer G, Eggins S, McCulloch M (2005) U-series and ESR analyses of bones and teeth relating to the human burials from Skhul. J Hum Evol 49:316–334

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guan Y, Wang FG, Xie F, Pei SW, Zhou ZY, Gao X (2016) Flint knapping strategies at Cenjiawan, an early Paleolithic site in the Nihewan Basin, North China. Quat Intern 400:86–92

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guan Y, Xu XM, Kuman K, Wu HZ, Zhou ZY, Gao X (2018) The absence of Acheulean: Qiliting Mode 1 site and the Mode 1 occupations in southeast China. Quat Intern 480:152–165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guo YJ, Li B, Zhang JF, Yuan BY, Xie F, Roberts RG (2016) Lumonescence ages for three “Middle Palaeolithic” sites in the Nihewan Basin, northern China, and their archaeological and palaeoenvironmental implications. Quat Res 85:456–470

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hérisson D, Brenet M, Cliquet D, Moncel M-H, Richter J, Scott B, Baelen AV, Modica KD, Loecker DD, Ashton N, Bourguignon L, Delagnes A, Faivre J, Folgado-Lopez M, Locht J, Pope M, Raynal J, Roebroeks W, Santagata C, Turq A, Van Peer P (2016) The emergence of the Middle Palaeolithic in north-western Europe and its southern fringes. Quat Intern 411(Part A):233–228

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hershkovitz I, Weber GW, Quam R, Duval M, Grün R, Kinsley L, Ayalon A, Bar-Matthews M, Valladas H, Mercier N, Arsuaga JL, Martinón-Torres M, de Castro J, Fornai C, Martín-Francés L, Sarig R, May H, Krenn VA, Slon V, Rodríguez L, García R, Lorenzo C, Carretero JM, Frumkin A, Shahack-Gross R, Mayer D, Cui Y, Wu X, Peled N, Groman-Yaroslavski I, Weissbrod L, Yeshurun R, Tsatskin A, Zaidner Y, Weinstein-Evron M (2018) The earliest modern humans outside Africa. Science 359:456–459

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hou YM, Yang SX, Dong W, Zhang JF, Liu Y (2013) Late Pleistocene representative sites in North China and their indication of evolutionary human behavior. Quat Intern 295:183–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keates SG (2001) Perspectives on “Middle Paleolithic” settlement patterns in China. Settlement Dynamics of the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age. Tübingen Kerns Verlag, In, pp 53–178

    Google Scholar 

  • Klein RG (2009) The human career: human biological and cultural origins. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Knight J (2016) Vein quartz. Lithics–the Journal of the Lithic Studies Society 12(37)

  • Kuhn SL (2013) Roots of the Middle Paleolithic in Eurasia. Curr Anthropol 54(suppl. 8):S255–S268

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn SL, Hovers E (2013) Alternative pathways to complexity: evolutionary trajectories in the Middle Paleolithic and Middle Stone Age. Curr Anthropol 54(suppl. 8):S176–S182

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li ZY (2007) A primary study on the stone artifacts of Lingjing site excavated in 2005. Acta Anthropol Sin 26:138–154

    Google Scholar 

  • Li ZY (2010) 2006 excavation on the Paleolithic Lingjing site in Xuchang. Acta Archaeol Sin 1:73–100

    Google Scholar 

  • Li F (2014) Fact or fiction: the Middle Palaeolithic in China. Antiquity 88:1303–1309

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li H, Lotter M (2018) Lithic production strategies during the late Middle Pleistocene at Dali, Shaanxi Province, China: implications for understanding late archaic humans. Archaeol Anthropol Sci. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0626-6

  • Li ZY, Ma HH (2016) Techno-typological analysis of the microlithic assemblage at the Xuchang Man site, Lingjing, central China. Quat Intern 400:120–129

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li ZY, Shen C (2010) Use-wear analysis confirms the use of Paleolithic bone tools by the Lingjing Xuchang early human. Chin Sci Bull 55:895–903

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li ZY, Zhang SQ, Zhang Y, Gao X (2011) Mortality curves for horses (Equus Caballus) from the Lingjing site, Henan Province. Acta Anthropol Sin 30:45–54

    Google Scholar 

  • Li ZY, Li YN, Kato S (2014) Observation of microblade core technologies from Level 5 of the Xuchang Man site, Lingjing. Acta Anthropol Sin 33:285–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Li H, Li CR, Kuman K (2017a) Longgudong, an Early Pleistocene site in Jianshi, South China, with stratigraphic association of human teeth and lithics. Sci China: Earth Sci 60:452–462

    Google Scholar 

  • Li H, Li CR, Sherwood NL, Kuman K (2017b) Experimental flaking in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region (central China): a rare case of bipolar blanks in the Acheulean. J Arch Sci: Reports 13:26–35

    Google Scholar 

  • Li ZY, Wu XJ, Zhou LP, Liu W, Gao X, Nian XM, Trinkaus E (2017c) Late Pleistocene archaic human crania from Xuchang, China. Science 355(6328):969–972

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Li F, Kuhn S, Chen FY, Wang YH, Southon J, Peng F, Shan MC, Wang CX, Ge JY, Wang XM, Yun T, Gao X (2018a) The easternmost Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) from Jinsitai Cave, North China. J Hum Evol 114:76–84

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu W, Jin CZ, Zhang YQ, Cai YJ, Xing S, Wu XJ, Cheng H, Edwards L, Pan WS, Qin DG, An ZS, Trinkaus E, Wu XZ (2010) Human remains from Zhirendong, South China, and modern human emergence in East Asia. PNAS 107(45):19201–19206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liu W, Martinón-Torres M, Cai YJ, Xing S, Tong HW, Pei SW, Sier MJ, Wu XH, Edwards R, Cheng H, Li YY, Yang XX, de Castro JM, Wu XJ (2015) The earliest unequivocally modern humans in southern China. Nature 526:696–699

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lycett S (2007) Why is there a lack of Mode 3 Levallois technologies in East Asia? A phylogenetic test of the Movius-Schick hypothesis. J Anthropol Archaeol 26:541–575

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mallye JB, Thiébaut C, Mourre V, Costamagno S, Claud É, Weisbecker P (2012) The Mousterian bone retouchers of Noisetier Cave: experimentation and identification of marks. J Arch Sci 39:1131–1142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michel V, Valladas H, Shen G, Wang W, Zhao J-X, Shen C-C, Valensi P, Bae CJ (2016) The earliest modern Homo sapiens in China? J Hum Evol 101:101–104

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moncel M-H, Moigne A-M, Combier J (2012) Towards the Middle Paleolithic in western Europe: the case of Orgnac 3 (South-Eastern France). J Hum Evol 63:653–666

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mourre V, Villa P, Henshilwood CS (2010) Early use of pressure flaking on lithic artifacts at Blombos cave. South Africa Sci 330(6004):659–662

    Google Scholar 

  • Norton CJ, Gao X, Feng XW (2009) The east Asian middle Paleolithic reexamined. In: Sourcebook of Paleolithic transitions: methods, theories, and interpretations. Springer New York, pp 245–254

  • Otte M (1995) The nature of Levallois. The definition and interpretation of Levallois technology. Madison Prehistory Press, In, pp 117–143

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Peer P (1992) The Levallois reduction strategy. Prehistory Press, Madison

  • Pei WW, Zhang SS (1985) A study on the lithic artifacts of Sinanthropus. Science Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Pei SW, Xie F, Deng CL, Jia ZX, Wang X, Guan Y, Li XL, Ma DD, de la Torre I (2017) Early Pleistocene archaeological occurrences at the Feiliang site, and the archaeology of human origins in the Nihewan Basin, North China. PLoS One 12(11):e0187251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peresani M (2003) An initial overview of the Middle Palaeolithic discoid industries in Central-Northern Italy. In: Discoid lithic technology: advances and implications. Oxford Archaeopress, pp 209–224

  • Picin A (2017) Technological adaptation and the emergence of Levallois in Central Europe: new insight from the Markkleeberg and Zwochau open-air sites in Germany. J Quaternary Sci 33:300–312. https://doi.org/10.1002/jqs.2978

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porat N, Chazan M, Grün R, Aubert M, Eisenmann V, Horwitz LK (2010) New radiometric ages for the Fauresmith industry from Kathu Pan, southern Africa: implications for the Earlier to Middle Stone Age transition. J Archaeol Sci 37:269–283

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Preysler JB, Santafé EC, López VR (2003) Recent discoveries of discoid industries in Western Cantabria (North Spain). In: Discoid lithic technology: advances and implications. Oxford Archaeopress, pp 117–126

  • Qiu ZL (1985) The Middle Paleolithic of China. In: Paleoanthropology and Paleolithic archaeology in the People’s Republic of China. California Left Coast Press, pp 187–210

  • Qiu ZL (1992) The stone industries of Homo sapiens from China. In: The evolution and dispersal of modern humans in Asia. Tokyo Hokusen-sha, pp 363–372

  • Richter D, Grün R, Joannes-Boyau R, Steele T, Amani F, Rué M, Fernandes P, Raynal JP, Geraads D, Ben-Ncer A, Hublin JJ, McPherron SP (2017) The age of the hominin fossils from Jebel Irhoud, Morocco, and the origins of the Middle Stone Age. Nature 546:293–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sahle Y, Morgan LE, Braun DR, Atnafu B, Hutchings WK (2014) Chronological and behavioral contexts of the earliest Middle Stone Age in the Gademotta Formation, Main Ethiopian Rift. Quat Intern 331:6–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seong C, Bae CJ (2016) The eastern Asian “Middle Palaeolithic” revisited: a view from Korea. Antiquity 90(353):1151–1165

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen GJ, Gao X, Zhao JX, Collerson KD (2004) U-series dating of Locality 15 at Zhoukoudian, China, and implications for hominid evolution. Quat Res 62:208–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen GJ, Gao X, Gao B, Granger DE (2009) Age of Zhoukoudian Homo erectus determined with (26)Al/(10)Be burial dating. Nature 458(7235):198–200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shen GJ, Wu XZ, Wang Q, Tu H, Feng YX, Zhao JX (2013) Mass spectrometric U-series dating of Huanglong Cave in Hubei Province, central China: evidence for early presence of modern humans in eastern Asia. J Hum Evol 65:162–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shipton C, Clarkson C, Pal JN, Jones SC, Roberts RG, Harris C, Gupta MC, Ditchfield PW, Petraglia MD (2013) Generativity, hierarchical action and recursion in the technology of the Acheulean to Middle Palaeolithic transition: a perspective from Patpara, the Son Valley. India J Hum Evol 65:93–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Soriano S, Villa P (2017) Early Levallois and the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic in central Italy. PLoS One 12(10):e0186082

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiner MC (1990) The use of mortality patterns in archaeological studies of hominid predatory adaptations. J Anthropol Arch 9:305–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stiner MC (2013) An unshakable Middle Paleolithic? Curr Anthropol 54(S8):S288–S304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sun XF, Yi S, Lu H, Zhang W (2017) TT-OSL and post-IR IRSL dating of the Dali Man site in central China. Quat Int 434:99–106

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Terradas X (2003) Discoid flaking method: conception and technological variability. In: Discoid lithic technology: advances and implications. Oxford Archaeopress, pp 19–32

  • Tryon CA (2006). “Early” Middle Stone Age lithics of the Kapthurin Formation (Kenya). Curr Anthropol 47:367–375

  • Tryon CA, McBrearty S, Texier P-J (2005) Levallois lithics from the Kapthurin Formation, Kenya: Acheulian origin and Middle Stone Age diversity. Afr Archaeol Rev 22:199–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wang SJ, Lu HY (2016) Taphonomic and paleoenvironmental issues of the Pleistocene loessic Paleolithic sites in the Qinling Mountains, central China. Sci China: Earth Sci 59:1519–1528

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei Q, Wu XJ (2012) Approach to stratigraphy of the Xujiayao-Houjiayao site in Nihewan Basin, China. Acta Anthropol Sin 31:151–163

    Google Scholar 

  • White M, Ashton N (2003) Lower Palaeolithic core technology and the origins of the Levallois method in North-Western Europe. Curr Anthropol 44:598–609

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White M, Scott B, Ashton N (2006) The Early Middle Palaeolithic in Britain: archaeology, settlement history and human behaviour. J Quat Sci 21:525–541

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yang SX, Hou YM, Yue JP, Petraglia M, Deng CL, Zhu RX (2016) The lithic assemblages of Xiaochangliang, Nihewan Basin: implications for Early Pleistocene hominin behavior in North China. PLoS One 11:e0155793

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yee MK (2012) The Middle Palaeolithic in China: a review of current interpretations. Antiquity 86:619–626

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeshurun R, Bar-Oz G, Weinstein-Evron M (2007) Modern hunting behavior in the early Middle Paleolithic: faunal remains from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel. J Hum Evol 53:656–677

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang SS (1985) Preliminary investigation of the Middle Paleolithic in north China. Prehis Res 1:8–22

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang SQ, Li ZY, Zhang Y, Gao X (2009) Mortality profiles of the large herbivores from the Lingjing Xuchang Man site, Henan Province and the early emergence of the modern human behaviors in East Asia. Chin Sci Bull 54:3857–3863

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang SQ, Gao X, Zhang Y, Li ZY (2011a) Taphonomic analysis of the Lingjing fauna and the first report of a Middle Paleolithic kill-butchery site in North China. Chin Sci Bull 56:3213–3219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang SQ, Li ZY, Zhang Y, Gao X (2011b) Cultural modifications on the animal bones from the Lingjing site, Henan Province. Acta Anthropol Sin 30:313–326

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank X.M. Sun, L.M. Jia, and Q.P. Zhao from the Henan Provincial Institue of Cultural Relics and Archeology, Luc Doyon from the Shandong University, S.Q. Zhang and W. Dong from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and cultural relics units in Xuchang. Our sincerest thanks to all for contributions to site excavation and study. We also thank Ignacio de la Torre, from the University College London, for his insightful comments on an earlier draft.

Funding

This study was funded by the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000, XDA19050102), the Chinese Academy of Sciences Pioneer Hundred Talents Program, the Shandong University 111 Project (111-2-09), the Youth Project of the National Social Science Fund of China (16CKG003), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41672020). KK’s collaborative work in China is supported by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (grant number 88480).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China

    Hao Li & Xing Gao

  2. CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China

    Hao Li & Xing Gao

  3. Institute of Cultural Heritage, Shandong University, Jinan, 250100, China

    Zhan-yang Li

  4. Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Zhengzhou, 450000, China

    Zhan-yang Li

  5. School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, WITS, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa

    Kathleen Kuman

  6. Department of Anthropology, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, 60604, USA

    Alexandra Sumner

  7. Department of Anthropology, University of New Brunswick, Bailey Drive, Fredericton, Canada, E3B-5A3

    Alexandra Sumner

Authors
  1. Hao Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zhan-yang Li
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xing Gao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Kathleen Kuman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Alexandra Sumner
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zhan-yang Li or Alexandra Sumner.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

ESM 1

(DOCX 8487 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Li, H., Li, Zy., Gao, X. et al. Technological behavior of the early Late Pleistocene archaic humans at Lingjing (Xuchang, China). Archaeol Anthropol Sci 11, 3477–3490 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0759-7

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-018-0759-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation