A Study On Stone Artifacts In Baidu River Basin Of Napo,Guangxi

The Baidu River Basin Lithic Site is a group of Late Paleolithic sites located on the gently sloping terraces along the Baidu River in Napo County,Baise City,Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.In order to better understand the distribution and characteristics of prehistoric cultural remains in Guangxi,four units-Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology,Guangxi Min Zu University,Baise Right River Ethnic Museum and Napo County Frontier Museum-jointly conducted a survey and study of prehistoric archaeological sites in the Baidu River Basin,from 2018 to 2022.Forty-nine Late Palaeolithic sites were discovered and a total of 1354 lithic were collected,including hammerstones,cores,flakes,sharpened stones and tools.The Palaeolithic typology was used to systematically collate and classify the lithic collected in the Baidu River Basin.The overall attributes,industrial assemblages and technological attributes of the lithic are analysed through observational measurements and quantitative statistics.The analysis results show that the lithic industry in Baidu River Basin belongs to the typical gravel industry.The raw materials of lithic are mainly derived from river gravel and the lithology is mainly sandstone,with a certain proportion of diabase.The type of lithic assemblage includes hammerstones,cores,flakes,abrader and tools.Percussion flaking is generally used,with sharp-edged smashing also seen.The cores flaking pattern is simple and not highly utilised.The flakes are mostly sharp-edged,with a predominantly natural table surface,mostly retaining the dorsal surface of the gravels,indicating that most of the flakes are in the primary flaking sequence and are poorly utilised.Tools including choppers,scrapers,pointed implements and picks.The majority of the tools were made by direct hammer percussion onto the gravel,with the majority of the tools having only an edge and a low degree of finish,and could still be repaired.The number of choppers in the tool is overwhelming.A higher proportion of pointed implements,which were sharpened on both sides of the gravel and had a corner,and a proportion of more elaborate picks,provided a wide range of options for ancient production.In comparing the lithic of the Baidu River Basin with those of Guangxi,Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and northern Vietnam Son Vi Culture Site,the temporal and spatial specificity of lithic from the Baidu River Basin is better understood.The lithic in Baidu River Basin have strong regional characteristics and are largely consistent with the chopper-industry of the Guangxi region.The presence of a large number of sharp-edged flakes with characteristics of the Yunnan-Guizhou plateau and the many commonalities with the Son Vi culture of northern Vietnam enrich the cultural connotations of the site complex,reflecting the adaptation of ancient humans in the Baidu River to local ecology at the end of the Pleistocene and the exchange and influence with the cultures of the Yunnan-Guizhou region and northern Vietnam.The Baidu River Basin connects Guangxi,the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and northern Vietnam.It is an important area of prehistoric cultural connection between South China and Southeast Asia.The discovery of lithic from the Baidu River Basin provids important research material for refining the Late Palaeolithic cultural sequence in Guangxi,and even for enriching the connotations of prehistoric cultures in South China and Southeast Asia.