泥河湾盆地黑土沟遗址

黑土沟遗址是泥河湾盆地目前发现的时代较古老的一处早更新世旧石器时代考古遗址。根据磁性地层学资料判断,遗址位于Matsuyama反极性时的Olduvai正极性亚时阶段,其年龄为1.77-1.95Ma。2006年,在黑土沟遗址的考古地质勘探中,查明探坑文化层厚1.33m,由4个自然层组成;在大约7.6m~3的堆积中,出土遗物20585件,包括石制品20489件,哺乳动物骨牙碎片96件。石制品中,石核、石片、断块和器物分别占0.36%、97.90%、1.00%和0.74%,在石片中竟有87.74%的数量是碎屑。器物中出现旧石器晚期常见的圆盘状刮削器。石制品保存新鲜,发现拼合标本3组。石制品绝大部分属于微型和小型标本。砸击制品在地层中的密度较大,而且含有似棱柱状石核和似石叶薄长石片。

Heitugou Paleolithic Site from the Lower Pleistocene in the Nihewan Basin,Northern China

Heitugou is the oldest Paleolithic archaeological site known in the Nihewan basin, North China. According to the magnetostratigraphic data, the site is located in the Olduvai positive subchron of Matsuyama reverse chron, with a minimum age of 1.77Ma-1.95Ma BP. In 2006, an archaeological geology exploration at the site was carried out which indicates that the cultural layer in the test pit is about 1.33 m thick and composed of four natural layers. The unearthed relics total 20585 specimens, including 20489 stone artifacts and 96 fragments of mammalian fossils from about 7.6 m3 of excavated volume. The assemblage of stone artifacts consists of cores (0.36%), flakes (97.9%), chunks (1%) and implements (0.74%); the flakes include 87.74% angular fragments. Most of the stone artifacts are small and well preserved; three sets of refitted flakes were found at the site. There was a dense accumulation of artifacts manufactured with the bipolar technique accounting for at least 19.74 artifacts per cubic meter in the cultural layer. The stone artifacts from Heitugou indicate the fact that humans occupied East Asia when the Dmanisi “little people” emerged in Georgia as the original out of Africa travelers. Judging on the basis of the characteristics of the stone artifacts, it is suggested that Heitugou is not the earliest site with evidence of human activity in the Nihewan basin. In the Nihewan basin the search for the most ancient Paleolithic remains and early human fossils is an important survey subject worthy to continue exploring in the future.