Preliminary Study Of The Xigouwan Paleolithic Locality 1 In Huailai Basin

The Xigouwan Paleolithic Locality 1(XGW1)is situated in Zhuwoyuan village,Guanting town,Huailai county of Hebei Province.The Paleolithic remains are mainly buried in the second terrace of the right bank of the Yongding River.From July to August 2014,supported by the Hebei Cultural Relics Bureau and Institute of Archaeology,a joint archaeological team which consisted of the Department of Archaeology of the School of History and Culture of Hebei Normal University and the Huailai County Museum discovered the site.This Paleolithic locality was excavated from August to September,2015.And the excavation exposed an area of 27m~2,and 232 stone artifacts and 19 mammalian fossils were unearthed.Most mammalian fossils consist of burned bones that cannot be identified because of their small size.On the basis of the archaeological materials of Xigouwan Paleolithic Locality 1(hereinafter referred to as XGW1),this paper analyzes and discusses the stripping techniques,behaviors and activities of ancient humans in this site and forming causes of the site through observing stone artifacts and by using the refitting technique.The lithic assemblage of XGW1 includes cores(N=8,3.4%),flakes(N=141,60.8%),chunks(N=68,29.3%),a hammerstone(N=1,0.4%)and pebbles(N=14,6.1%),but there were no retouched pieces found.The general features of these artifacts can be summarized as follows:a)Raw materials for stone knapping are mainly volcanics;b)On the whole,most stone artifacts are small in size,and the micro and medium-sized pieces only account for a certain amount,and large specimens are very few;c)The principle flaking technique was direct hard hammer percussion;d)The overall reduction of these cores is relatively high according to the number of platforms and flaked surfaces,the proportion of remaining cortex,and the platform angles.Most complete flakes were produced from non-cortical platforms,and the relatively high percentage(60%)of type III and VI flakes indicates that many whole flakes represent continuous flaking of the core.The typological and technological characteristics of stone artifacts show that they belong to a flake tool technological system.The study on the formation process of the site shows that the site has suffered a certain degree of water flow disturbance,and some of the smaller stone artifacts may be taken away by the water flow,resulting in a low proportion in the assemblage.The remaining stones are roughly distributed in northeast–southwest direction.And most of the stone artifacts are not subjected to long distance handling and exposure.Based on the comprehensive relics and accumulation conditions,it is inferred that XGW1 is most likely a short-term factory site with less disturbance in the later period.The AMS Carbon-14 dating results show that XGW1 can be dated to the late Paleolithic(Cal 41997-41186 BP).The Xigouwan Paleolithic locality 1 is not only an important part of the“Grand Nihewan”archaeology,but the report on its excavation also provides valuable information for the study on the culture of the late Paleolithic in the Huailai Basin,and also provides important information for exploring human activities and their adaptation in this region.