Late Middle Pleistocene Levallois stone-tool technology in southwest China

Yue Hu¹, Ben Marwick^{2

3}, Jia-Fu Zhang⁴, Xue Rui¹, Ya-Mei Hou^{5

6}, Jian-Ping Yue^{5

6}, Wen-Rong Chen⁷, Wei-Wen Huang⁵, Bo Li^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
² Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. bmarwick@uw.edu.
³ Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. bmarwick@uw.edu.
⁴ MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Department of Geography, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁶ CAS Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleo-environment, Beijing, China.
⁷ Qianxi County Bureau of Cultural Relics Protection, Bijie, China.
⁸ Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. bli@uow.edu.au.
⁹ ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. bli@uow.edu.au.

PMID: 30455423
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0710-1

Late Middle Pleistocene Levallois stone-tool technology in southwest China

Yue Hu et al. Nature. 2019 Jan.

. 2019 Jan;565(7737):82-85.

doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0710-1. Epub 2018 Nov 19.

Authors

Yue Hu¹, Ben Marwick^{2

3}, Jia-Fu Zhang⁴, Xue Rui¹, Ya-Mei Hou^{5

6}, Jian-Ping Yue^{5

6}, Wen-Rong Chen⁷, Wei-Wen Huang⁵, Bo Li^{8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
² Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. bmarwick@uw.edu.
³ Department of Anthropology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA. bmarwick@uw.edu.
⁴ MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, Department of Geography, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
⁵ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
⁶ CAS Centre for Excellence in Life and Paleo-environment, Beijing, China.
⁷ Qianxi County Bureau of Cultural Relics Protection, Bijie, China.
⁸ Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. bli@uow.edu.au.
⁹ ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. bli@uow.edu.au.

PMID: 30455423
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0710-1

Abstract

Levallois approaches are one of the best known variants of prepared-core technologies, and are an important hallmark of stone technologies developed around 300,000 years ago in Africa and west Eurasia^1,2. Existing archaeological evidence suggests that the stone technology of east Asian hominins lacked a Levallois component during the late Middle Pleistocene epoch and it is not until the Late Pleistocene (around 40,000-30,000 years ago) that this technology spread into east Asia in association with a dispersal of modern humans. Here we present evidence of Levallois technology from the lithic assemblage of the Guanyindong Cave site in southwest China, dated to approximately 170,000-80,000 years ago. To our knowledge, this is the earliest evidence of Levallois technology in east Asia. Our findings thus challenge the existing model of the origin and spread of Levallois technologies in east Asia and its links to a Late Pleistocene dispersal of modern humans.

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Late Middle Pleistocene Levallois stone-tool technology in southwest China

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Late Middle Pleistocene Levallois stone-tool technology in southwest China

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