New Light on the Earliest Hominid Occupation in East Asia

Previous articleNext article FreeReportsNew Light on the Earliest Hominid Occupation in East Asia1XingGao, QiWei, ChenShen, and SusanKeatesXingGaoInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 643, Beijing 100044, China ([email protected]) (Gao and Wei)/Department of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada ([email protected]) (Shen)/University Village 701H, 601 S. Providence Rd., Columbia, MO 065203, U.S.A. ([email protected]) (Keates). 18 ii 05, QiWeiInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 643, Beijing 100044, China ([email protected]) (Gao and Wei)/Department of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada ([email protected]) (Shen)/University Village 701H, 601 S. Providence Rd., Columbia, MO 065203, U.S.A. ([email protected]) (Keates). 18 ii 05, ChenShenInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 643, Beijing 100044, China ([email protected]) (Gao and Wei)/Department of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada ([email protected]) (Shen)/University Village 701H, 601 S. Providence Rd., Columbia, MO 065203, U.S.A. ([email protected]) (Keates). 18 ii 05, and SusanKeatesInstitute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 643, Beijing 100044, China ([email protected]) (Gao and Wei)/Department of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada ([email protected]) (Shen)/University Village 701H, 601 S. Providence Rd., Columbia, MO 065203, U.S.A. ([email protected]) (Keates). 18 ii 05Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, P.O. Box 643, Beijing 100044, China ([email protected]) (Gao and Wei)/Department of World Cultures, Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C6, Canada ([email protected]) (Shen)/University Village 701H, 601 S. Providence Rd., Columbia, MO 065203, U.S.A. ([email protected]) (Keates). 18 ii 05PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreThe Nihewan Basin in northern China is a major area of archaeological research in East Asia and a prime focus for the search for early hominids. It is located in Hebei Province, about 150 km northwest of the Zhoukoudian Locality 1 Homo erectus site near Beijing (fig. 1). The Nihewan is a large extinct lacustrine basin with extensive Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits containing hominid activity sites with associated fossil fauna and stone artifacts. These sites are indicative of the earliest hominid occupation in East Asia at 40 north latitude (Schick et al. 1991, Zhu et al. 2001, Wei 1991, Keates 2000, Shen and Chen 2003). The newly identified site of Goudi, in the eastern Nihewan Basin, where in situ lithic artifacts and fossil fauna have been found associated in Early Pleistocene sediments, has been dated paleomagnetically to about 1.66 million years (Zhu et al. 2004) and therefore represents the earliest hominid occupation in East Asia.Fig. 1. The Nihewan Basin in relation to Zhoukoudian near Beijing (A) and the location of Goudi in the Nihewan Basin (B). Other sites are 1, Majuangou; 2, Banshan; 3, Xiaochangliang; 4, Xiantai; 5, Putaoyuan; 6, Shanshenmiaozui; 7, Donggutuo; 8, Feiliang; 9, Huojiadi; 10, Xujiapo; 11, Madigou; 12, Cenjiawan; 13, Guangliang; 14, Maliang; 15, Xigou; 16, Youfang; 17, Shangshazui; 18, Banjingzi.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointThe search for early hominid presence in the Nihewan Basin began in the 1920s, when Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Emile Licent discovered and studied Pleistocene faunal fossils there (e.g., Barbour, Licent, and Teilhard 1927). In 1935 the Abb Henri Breuil announced his discovery of a stone tool, but this find was dismissed as nonartifactual (Breuil 1935, Teilhard de Chardin 1935). The breakthrough in archaeological research in the Nihewan was the identification in 1978 of the Xiaochangliang site, where an assemblage of lithic artifacts in association with faunal remains was excavated from Early Pleistocene sediments (You, Tang, and Li 1978). At the end of the last century, a series of international collaborations between scholars from China, the U.S.A., the U.K., and Canada conducted excavations of Early Pleistocene sites in the Nihewan, including Donggutuo, Feiliang, and Xiaochangliang. These collaborative investigations introduced new approaches to the study of early hominid occupation in northern China, among them the refinement of the paleomagnetic stratigraphic framework in the Nihewan Basin and new methods of lithic analysis including refitting and usewear analysis (Schick et al. 1991; Keates 2000; Shen and Chen 1999, 2000, 2003; Shen and Wei 2004).Since the discovery of Xiaochangliang, a number of other sites, including Banshan, Putaoyuan, Guangliang, and Xiantai, have been identified in the same sedimentary layer. In addition, the layers above the Xiaochangliang sediment have yielded Shanshenmiaozui, Donggutuo, Madigou, Huojiadi, and Xujiapo, and one site, Majuangou, has been identified below it (Wei 1997). Goudi was found in the sediments directly below Majuangou (fig. 2). Chinese and American scientists have confirmed that the Xiaochangliang artifactbearing layer resides in the reversedpolarity magnetozone bounded by the Olduvai and Jaramillo subchrons (Li and Wang 1982, Wei 1991, Yuan et al. 1996), indicating an age ranging between 1.07 and 1.77 million years. The paleomagnetic dating of Goudi by Zhu and colleagues (2001) placed Xiachangliang at 1.36 million years ago. Therefore, on the basis of comparative stratigraphic and paleomagnetic data, we believe that the date of Goudi lies somewhere between 1.36 and 1.66 million years or possibly earlier, given the fact that the Goudi layer is close to the onset of the Olduvai subchron.Fig. 2. Elevations of sites mentioned in text in relation to lithostratigraphic sections at Donggutuo and Majuangou.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointDiscovery of the SiteThe new site was first identified in spring 2001 during an archaeological survey in the Nihewan Basin as part of a research project of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology(IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The site was named Goudi and excavated during August and September 2001 under the direction of Q. Wei. In July 2001 an independent research team of paleontologists investigated a locality with possibly similar deposits as Goudi and close to the latter and reported Early Pleistocene fossils and five stone artifacts (Cai and Li 2003). Cai and Lis (2003:418) report considered this new deposit a new layer of the Majuangou site identified in 1992, given its location at 8 meters below the Majuangou site on geolithographic sediment sections. Because of the significance of the early dates, the site immediately caught the attention of archaeologists in Hebei Province, where the site was registered with the provincial authority. Goudi was subsequently excavated by archaeologists from the Hebei Provincial Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics (2002) in the late fall of 2001 and summer of 2002. The Hebei excavation team renamed the site Majuangou III (MJGIII) in view of its close stratigraphic relation to the Majuangou site. Therefore, MJGIII (e.g., Zhu et al. 2004, Hebei Provincial Institute of Archaeology and Cultural Relics 2002) is the same site as Goudi (Wei 2002, 2003). We retain the original name for this report of the first excavation.The IVPP ExcavationGoudi is located about 1.5 km from Donggutuo village (401$$\arcmin$$31$$\arcsec$$N, 11439$$\arcmin$$51$$\arcsec$$E) at an elevation of 821.92 m above sea level. The artifacts and fossils were recovered from claysilt and sand sediments 50 cm in thickness, close to the ancient shoreline of the lake. After hominid activities had ceased, Goudi was inundated by the rising lake level. The test excavation exposed a 1 10m trench area (figs. 3 and 4) and two 1 1m test pits. Lithic artifacts and associated fossil fauna were concentrated in the northern part of the trench, with an average density of 115 artifacts and fossil remains per cubic meter (fig. 5).Fig. 3. Goudi site viewed from above, in stratigraphic relation to Majuangou site.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointFig. 4. Excavation at the Goudi site in 2001.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointFig. 5. Spatial distribution of archaeological materials from the Goudi site, 2001 excavation.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointThe excavation yielded 50 lithic artifactscores, flakes, modified pieces, and chunks (fig. 6). All of them were manufactured using a locally abundant poorquality chertlike quartzite similar to that found at Xiaochangliang (Keates 2000, Shen and Chen 2003). Two are cores and have doubleplatform features with multiple flake facets. Almost half (24) are flakes, including 6 specimens with cortical striking platforms (1 with a cortical dorsal, 5 with a partial cortical dorsal), 7 with noncortical platforms (3 with a partial cortical dorsal, 4 with a noncortical dorsal), a left split, a snapped distal, and an angular fragment. Only 2 pieces show edge modification, while 22 pieces are identified as chunks. Although the lithic assemblage from this test excavation is rather small, traces of intentional hominid tool manufacture, including striking platforms, bulbs of percussion, and edge modification, are clear. The most intriguing discovery is that three pieces (a core, a flake, and a modified piece) can be refitted (fig. 7), indicating onsite activity by early hominids.Fig. 6. Samples of lithic artifacts recovered from the Goudi site, 2001 excavation.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointFig. 7. Refitted artifacts from Goudi.View Large ImageDownload PowerPointMore than 600 faunal fossils were found at the site; most of these are concentrated in two excavation units (N105106/E99). Preliminary identification of the bones and teeth, most of which are in a fragmentary state, points to birds, including ostrich (represented by eggshell), rodents, carnivores, elephantids, Equus sp., rhinocerotids, and cervids. The very numerous plant fossils have been identified as Trapa sp. (Cui Haitang, personal communiation, November 2002), and laboratory analysis identified thinshelled molluscs in the archaeological sediment (Victor Paz, personal communication, November 2002).Stratigraphy and ChronologyThe Brown fault, situated between Xiaochangliang and Donggutuo and between Majuangou and Banshan (Wei 2002), is a southwestnortheast normal strike. Xiaochangliang and Donggutuo are located at the foot of the fault and Majuangou and Banshan on the hanging wall block (fig. 2). The vertical throw of the fault near Majuangou is about 60 m. Majuangou is located in a layer 25.12 m below Banshan and about 60 m below the onset of the Jaramillo subchron, probably close to the onset of the Olduvai subchron. This observation was confirmed by F. Browns paleomagnetic study (Wei 2002) and also later by Zhu et als (2004) paleomagnetic study, indicating an estimated age of 1.55 million years for Majuangou. The archaeological layer of Goudi is positioned 7.37.9 m below Majuangou and 160 m below the current ground surface. Because of the interval distance of 60 m resulting from faulting, the actual distance from the original ground surface to the Goudi layer is about 100 m. Zhu et al.s (2001, 2004) magnetostratigraphic dates of 1.36 million years for Xiaochangliang and 1.66 million years for Goudi (or MJG III in their terminology) were determined on the basis of an estimated rate of soil accumulation within a known magnetozone. While their results represent the best estimate for the earliest dates of these sites, it should be borne in mind that the continental sediments of the basin, especially the riverbank and lake deposits, are composed of many layers or beds superimposed in a discontinuous sequence and therefore paleomagnetic studies must sample the entire deposit to be dated (preferably five soil samples per meter of deposit).All of the Palaeolithic sites in the Nihewan Basin are located near Donggutuo, on the margins of a Pleistocene lake or river. The geologic sections of these sites are made up of many beds varying in color and granularity. Each layer or bed built up over a short period of time, and the sterile sediments between them reflect long periods of time. Up to now, paleomagnetic sampling in the Nihewan Basin has not been able to trace these long periods of time when no sedimentation occurred. For example, none of the paleomagnetic studies has detected the BrunhesMatuyama boundary. The age of a stratum must be calculated on the basis of averaged sedimentation rates. In order to date any stratum, it should be recognized that a stratum is a continuous sequence deposited over time, such as can be observed in oceans or the central part of large lakes. An obvious characteristic of the Nihewan beds is a great change in facies, both horizontally and vertically. At Xiaochangling, the cultural layer is a sandsilt sediment, while at Putaoyuan, 290 m away, it is gravel. The strata of the five sections analyzed by paleomagnetic research differ in thickness, and the geological sections identified near Donggutuo have different averaged sedimentation rates (Table 1). For example, according to the sedimentation rates calculated by Wei (2002), the 3.2m thick cultural layers at Donggutuo were deposited at least 1.09631.1329, 1.10901.1733, or 1.12851.2098 million years ago. The employment of averaged sediment accumulation rates for dating therefore remains problematic.Table 1 Averaged Sediment Accumulation Rates (mm/1,000 years) of Some Sections in the Nihewan Basin PeriodDonggutuoXiaochangliangDonggouHaojiataiMajuangouN1(Brunhes)32.0026.8624.0062.82 R1(N1N2 Matuyama)40.1021.91126.10127.62 N2(Jaramillo)87.5035.0044.6255.0060.00R2(N2N3 Matuyama) 46.21 90.00N3(Olduvai) 49.33 30.56N1R135.4647.0245.6676.57 R1N258.9797.93103.62107.59 N2R2 46.05 86.92R2N3 46.85 77.84N1R1N239.3546.1245.5874.95 R1N2R2 63.03 N2R2N3 46.67 75.94N1R1N2R2 45.83 R1N2R2N3 60.92 N1R1N2R2N3 46.15 View Table ImageDiscussionThe Nihewan Basin has abundant archaeological evidence of early hominid activity. The geochronological framework and cultural sequence of the Palaeolithic (especially the Lower Palaeolithic) are well established, and a number of Early Pleistocene sites have strong geostratigraphic correlations as well as many artifacts, providing an excellent opportunity for researchers interested in the search for early hominids in East Asia. Recent reports suggest that artifacts over 2 million years old have been found at Danangou (Tang, Chen, and Chen 1999), Dongyaozhitou, Yuxian County, Hebei Province, at Renzhidong Cave, Fanchang County, Anhui Province (Zhang, Han, and Jin 2000), and at Longgupo Cave, Wushan County, Chongqing Province (Hou, Xu, and Zhang 1999). These socalled stone tools either lack clear features of intentional modification or are not strongly supported by stratigraphic evidence and therefore have been rejected by many scientists (Wei 2000; and see Chen 2003) as evidence of hominid presence at these locations. The newly discovered Goudi site provides evidence of Early Pleistocene hominid activity that is even earlier than that recorded at Gongwangling (Lantian), in central China, where fossils including Homo erectus and lithic artifacts date to ca. 1.1 million years ago (e.g., Wu and Piorier 1995). Furthermore, the refitted artifacts indicate onsite activity of early hominids in the region. Further investigations at Goudi will undoubtedly shed new light on early hominid behavior in China.References CitedBarbour, George B., Emile Licent, and Pierre Teilhard De Chardin. 1927. Geological study of the deposits of the San Kan Ho Basin. Bulletin of the Geological Society of China 6:26378.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarBreuil, Henri. 1935. Ltat actuel de nos connaissances sur les industries palolithiques de Choukoutien. LAnthropologie 45:74046.First citation in articleGoogle ScholarCai, Baoquan, and Qiang Li. 2003. Early Pleistocene artifacts and palaeoenvironment in the Nihewan Basin. 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