LATE PALEOLITHIC OCCUPATION OF NORTH CHINA

Until recently, almost all that was known about the early Upper Paleolithic of North China derived from one site, Shuidongguo (Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region; 106.5º E, 38.3º N), conclusively dated between 29.5 – 23.8 krcyBP and characterized by a distinctive flat-faced core and blade technology sharing basic similarities with the Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) of Northeast Asia. Limited expression of Shuidonggou technology beyond the type-site, and the terminal date for the site itself, suggested a small population that did not survive the Last Glacial Maximum. Research conducted in Gansu and Ningxia in the summers of 2001 and 2002 produced radiocarbon dates suggesting Shuidonggou is both earlier and more widely distributed than previously thought. Radiocarbon assay of carbonate encrusting a flake in a Shuidongguo assemblage from Temple Canyon #1, (Nei Mongol Autonomous Region, 105.7º E 38.7º N), produced a date of 40,690 +/- 890 (Beta 161632), suggesting this technology may coeval with the IUP technologies of Mongolia and Siberia, from which it was previously thought to be derived. Radiocarbon dates of 31,360 - 24,840 rcyBP (CAMS 93162, CAMS 93161) from Guyuan 3 (Ningxia, 106.6º E, 35.8º N), 25030 +/- 80 rcyBP (CAMS 93167, CAMS 93168) from Tong Xin 3 (Ningxia, 105.7º E, 36.7º N), 24760 +/- 220 rcyBP (CAMS 93169) from Tong Xin 8 (Ningxia, 105.2º E, 36.7º N), and 24660 +/- 200 rcyBP (CAMS 93172, 93173) from Zhuan Long 5 (Gansu, 106.1º E, 35.3º N), collectively suggest a much broader distribution for Shuidonggou-age materials, well south of the type site. More recent dates of 18350+/-70 rcyBP (CAMS 94203) from Punyang 3 (Ningxia, 106.6º E, 35.8º N), 16460 +/-45 rcyBP (CAMS 94204) from Tong Xin 4 (Ningxia, 105.8º E, 36.8º N), and 10670 +/-40 rcyBP (CAMS 94202) from Punyang 4 (Ningxia, 106.6º E, 35.8º N) attest to a time gap corresponding to the Last Glacial Maximum and subsequent reoccupation south of Shuidongguo, possibly from areas still further south.