Zhoukoudian in transition: Research history, lithic technologies, and transformation of Chinese Palaeolithic archaeology

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• 作者：Chen Shen^a ; ^b ; ^{chens@rom.on.ca" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author} ; Xiaoling Zhang^a ; ^{zhangxiaoling@ivpp.ac.cn" class="auth_mail" title="E-mail the corresponding author} ; Xing Gao^a
• 关键词：Zhoukoudian ; Lithic technologies ; Pleistocene archaeology ; Human evolution ; China
• 刊名：Quaternary International
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：2 May 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：400
• 期：Complete
• 页码：4-13
• 全文大小：1880 K

文摘

Zhoukoudian, near Beijing, is where the Homo erectus Sinathropus pekinensis (Peking Man) fossils were found in the 1920s, and has always been a focus for studies of Palaeolithic archaeology in China. This paper discusses two aspects of Zhoukoudian in transition: research histories and lithic technologies. From a historical perspective, the study considers the change in research paradigms and perspectives to examine how research at Zhoukoudian has transformed Chinese Palaeolithic archaeology in the last two decades. This paper will give an overview on lithic assemblages at Zhoukoudian to illustrate the complexity of lithic industries in North China, which are not yet fully understood. In conclusion, the study suggests more research problems rather than prestige collections that were inherited by the current generation of scholars, who call for careful reviews of valuable historic data, including lithic, faunal, sediment, and human remains, before any further interpretations are produced. This study suggests that lithic industries in transition at Zhoukoudian can provide another line of evidence to support the continuous development of Pleistocene hominid evolutions, especially leading to the origins of modern humans in China.