*2.1.2 Yindinggang site*

*Yindinggang Site* (No. CP029, 31°04′04.8"N, 119°46′32.8″E), which is not far from the Qiliting site was found in 2005 (**Figure 1**). The excavation with an area of near 560㎡was carried out in 2007, and nearly 300 artifacts and over 200 pebbles were yielded. The deposit can be divided into two cultural layers, in which the lower cultural layer can date back to Late Pleistocene according to the geological sequence [12]. The main raw material consists not only of sandstone and quartzite but also includes flint, which is different from most localities in southern China. The lithic technology is dominated by hammer knapping in association with

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industries.

China [8].

**2.2 Localities in Anji County**

*A Macroscopic Perspective on Lithic Technology and Human Behavior…*

suggested that the technique of knapping is unskillful.

bipolar technique (with a ratio of 4:1). It is worth noting that bipolar technique was

278 stone artifacts were excavated, including cores, flakes, debris, scrapers, chopping-tools and other forms. However, only 6 artifacts belong to the lower layer, the cores, flakes, chunks and points were made of the similar raw material as in the

The upper cultural layer has discovered 13 refitting groups [12], eight of them have a refitting relation of core to flake, others are core to chunk, core to flake to half flake, core to flake to chunk, core to scraper, and chunks. The first 11 refitting relation (Type I) product were produced during the process of knapping tools from blanks. The twelfth refitting relation (Type II) is the product produced during the process of retouching tools from blanks. The last refitting relation (Type III) is composed of the stone artifacts that have broken off because of the fracture of joint place, the striking force or uneven stress during the process of knapping. Type I and Type II are refitting relations between stone artifacts, these are the result consciously made by prehistoric human, and these relations have reflected the technology of stone artifact processing and their purpose of behavior. Type III is the split joint relation between stone artifacts, an accidental result, which shows that the intended purpose of behavior did not match the result. In general, there are many ways of flake production, such as opposite direction, overturn, stagger, multi-direction, etc. Cores commonly have 2 to 3 scars, at most 9 scars, which means that the utilization of cores was relatively high. The shape of the flake is thick, its platform is wide, the position of striking points is scattered and far from the edge of the blank. It can be

In the lower cultural layer of the Yindingang Site, one core to flake refitting group was discovered [10], which indicates that this might have been a place where prehistoric humans briefly stopped and produced some flakes. According to the characteristics of the stone artifacts and their raw materials, two different industries can be identified. One is dominated by artifacts made from raw materials like quartzitic sandstones and sandstones; the other is dominated by artifacts made by flint; these artifacts were much smaller. In general, the average size of the stone artifacts uncovered from this site is smaller than from the pebble

Anji County is located in the northern part of Zhejiang, south to Changxing County (**Figure 1**). During the field work, 186 stone artifacts from 13 Paleolithic localities were recovered. Moreover, the geological date can be estimated to be from Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene. All of the raw materials are locally available, consisting mainly of sandstones and a few other kinds of rocks, such as trachyte, tuff, quartzite, blastopelitics, siliceous limestones, quartz and flint. A type of single-ended scraper is not common in the Pebble Industry in South

*Shangmakan Site* (No. AP003, 119°45′36.3″E, 30°45′19.5"N) is located on the second terrace west to the Xitiaoxi River in Anji County. The sediment can be divided into 5 layers from top to bottom: reticulate red clay, mottled clay, marooncolor boulder clay, taupe-color sandy clay and topsoil. Similar to the dating of Chenshan site in adjacent Anhui province, the age of Shangmakan is dated from ca. 0.455 Ma BP to the Late Pleistocene [14]. 107 stone artifacts were uncovered from the test excavation and investigation in 2002, including cores, flakes, scrapers, choppers, handpicks and spheroids. The majority of them are heavy and thick

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93821*

applied only on flint.

upper layer [13].

**Figure 5.** *Use-wear on specimens from Qiliting [12].*

*A Macroscopic Perspective on Lithic Technology and Human Behavior… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93821*

*Pleistocene Archaeology - Migration, Technology, and Adaptation*

so delicate.

*2.1.2 Yindinggang site*

of southern China, due to the need of digging and chopping, chopping-tools and handpicks appear in large quantities; small-sized tools such as scrapers take only second place in the activity of production, and as a result, their manufacture is not

It is suggested that the upper cultural layer of Qiliting might be a lithic manufacturing place *in situ*, since numerous cores and flakes were unearthed from an area about 30 square meters, and since five refitting groups were identified [10, 11]. According to use-wear analysis, 9 specimens from the upper layer retain positive traces of use (**Figure 5**), while 13 specimens from the middle layer were identified as used tools. Because of the lack of further functional analysis, the exact modes of utilization of these stone tools remains currently unclear, but to some extent, the result of use-wear shows that the knapping followed a purpose related to the function, for example, most of scrapers were retouched intentionally before use [12].

*Yindinggang Site* (No. CP029, 31°04′04.8"N, 119°46′32.8″E), which is not far from the Qiliting site was found in 2005 (**Figure 1**). The excavation with an area of near 560㎡was carried out in 2007, and nearly 300 artifacts and over 200 pebbles were yielded. The deposit can be divided into two cultural layers, in which the lower cultural layer can date back to Late Pleistocene according to the geological sequence [12]. The main raw material consists not only of sandstone and quartzite but also includes flint, which is different from most localities in southern China. The lithic technology is dominated by hammer knapping in association with

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**Figure 5.**

*Use-wear on specimens from Qiliting [12].*

bipolar technique (with a ratio of 4:1). It is worth noting that bipolar technique was applied only on flint.

278 stone artifacts were excavated, including cores, flakes, debris, scrapers, chopping-tools and other forms. However, only 6 artifacts belong to the lower layer, the cores, flakes, chunks and points were made of the similar raw material as in the upper layer [13].

The upper cultural layer has discovered 13 refitting groups [12], eight of them have a refitting relation of core to flake, others are core to chunk, core to flake to half flake, core to flake to chunk, core to scraper, and chunks. The first 11 refitting relation (Type I) product were produced during the process of knapping tools from blanks. The twelfth refitting relation (Type II) is the product produced during the process of retouching tools from blanks. The last refitting relation (Type III) is composed of the stone artifacts that have broken off because of the fracture of joint place, the striking force or uneven stress during the process of knapping. Type I and Type II are refitting relations between stone artifacts, these are the result consciously made by prehistoric human, and these relations have reflected the technology of stone artifact processing and their purpose of behavior. Type III is the split joint relation between stone artifacts, an accidental result, which shows that the intended purpose of behavior did not match the result. In general, there are many ways of flake production, such as opposite direction, overturn, stagger, multi-direction, etc. Cores commonly have 2 to 3 scars, at most 9 scars, which means that the utilization of cores was relatively high. The shape of the flake is thick, its platform is wide, the position of striking points is scattered and far from the edge of the blank. It can be suggested that the technique of knapping is unskillful.

In the lower cultural layer of the Yindingang Site, one core to flake refitting group was discovered [10], which indicates that this might have been a place where prehistoric humans briefly stopped and produced some flakes. According to the characteristics of the stone artifacts and their raw materials, two different industries can be identified. One is dominated by artifacts made from raw materials like quartzitic sandstones and sandstones; the other is dominated by artifacts made by flint; these artifacts were much smaller. In general, the average size of the stone artifacts uncovered from this site is smaller than from the pebble industries.

### **2.2 Localities in Anji County**

Anji County is located in the northern part of Zhejiang, south to Changxing County (**Figure 1**). During the field work, 186 stone artifacts from 13 Paleolithic localities were recovered. Moreover, the geological date can be estimated to be from Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene. All of the raw materials are locally available, consisting mainly of sandstones and a few other kinds of rocks, such as trachyte, tuff, quartzite, blastopelitics, siliceous limestones, quartz and flint. A type of single-ended scraper is not common in the Pebble Industry in South China [8].

*Shangmakan Site* (No. AP003, 119°45′36.3″E, 30°45′19.5"N) is located on the second terrace west to the Xitiaoxi River in Anji County. The sediment can be divided into 5 layers from top to bottom: reticulate red clay, mottled clay, marooncolor boulder clay, taupe-color sandy clay and topsoil. Similar to the dating of Chenshan site in adjacent Anhui province, the age of Shangmakan is dated from ca. 0.455 Ma BP to the Late Pleistocene [14]. 107 stone artifacts were uncovered from the test excavation and investigation in 2002, including cores, flakes, scrapers, choppers, handpicks and spheroids. The majority of them are heavy and thick artifacts made from blocky blanks. The chopping-tools with blunt cutting edge (most over 70°) are a relatively frequent type in this assemblage.

In the excavation between 2004 and 2005, more than 430 stone artifacts were unearthed in three layers with various types: scraper, chopper, spheroid, awl, handpick, graver, point and so on. The lower layer is characterized by lots of pebbles, and the excavator considered it might date back over 0.78 Ma BP [7].

#### **2.3 Localities in Pujiang County**

Pujiang County (119°42′ ~ 120°07′E, 29°21′ ~ 29°41'N) is located at the middle part of Zhejiang. A total of 8 stone artifacts were collected without stratigraphic context from the No. PJ001 site of Daxu Village. The reticulate sediment marks on the surface of some stone artifacts are comparable to those uncovered in Anji and Changxing Counties, thus their age can be estimated to Early to Middle Paleolithic. The raw materials contain quartzites, flints, sandstones and siliceous mudstones. The types of artifacts include core, flake and tool. Flakes are produced by direct hammer percussion, and are commonly thick and heavy. The tool types consist of just chopping-tools and scrapers, which are made of blanks of either pebbles or large flakes. The cutting edges of the tools are often blunt with an edge angle of over 90° [14].

### **2.4 Localities in Lin'an City**

Lin'an City (118°51′ ~ 119°52′E, 29°56′ ~ 30°23' N) is located at the northwest part of Zhejiang, north to Anji County and east to Hangzhou City. Several small rivers cross this region and form developed terraces and diluvia with a thickness of 7 ~ 20 m.

Fragmented fossils of ivory and the limbs of artiodactyl were found at Dadi Cave together with the fossil remains of horse, muntjac, deer, bear, tiger, cattle, monkey and boar were unearthed in Douchuan Cave. However, no archeological remains of hominid occurred.

Five Paleolithic localities have been found on the second terrace of rivers in this area [15]. Among the collection of 22 stone artifacts, only one piece has stratigraphic data. The main raw materials are sandstones and quartz sandstones, in association with a few quartzites. Most stone artifacts are heavy and thick, excepting those quartzite pieces in small size. Hammer percussion is used for flaking and retouching. Most features of this assemblage are similar to the sites in Xitiaoxi River area; however, the amount of thick-flake blanks is much higher.

#### **2.5 Localities in Tonglu County**

Tonglu County is located in the northwest part of Zhejiang, at the middle part of Qiantang River. 8 Paleolithic localities were investigated in the area of Fuchun River, including 3 open-air localities and 5 cave sites. Open-air localities are mainly found on the second river terraces, and cave sites in karst area of Fenshui River.

There are 12 stone artifacts gathered from the open-air localities. The reticulate marks on the surface of stone artifacts help us to date them into the Early to Middle Paleolithic. The main raw materials are quartz sandstones and sandstones, as well as several siliceous mudstones. The types of the stone artifacts are simple cores and tools. Direct hammer percussion is the main knapping method. The lithic artifacts are made from massive pebbles or cores as blanks. Only two kinds of tools were found, scrapers and points [16].

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*A Macroscopic Perspective on Lithic Technology and Human Behavior…*

Hexidong Cave Site, located in 1 km distance from Yindinggang Site, was excavated from 2007 to 2010. Paleolithic remains were uncovered from five localities of this site [16]. According to the types of faunal remains and the stratigraphic sediment, the age of Hexidong Site can be placed into the Upper Paleolithic, though no

Locality 1 is the main locality of Hexidong Site. Its 8-meter thick deposits can be divided into 6 cultural layers. A large amount of Quaternary faunal fossils, bone fragments, stone and bone artifacts were unearthed from the third to fifth layer. The great quantity of fragmentary bones might evidence food processing. In the fourth layer, a possible hearth feature was discovered. Moreover, lots of bone artifacts or bone pieces with cutting marks were discovered from Locality 2 and

A total of over 1000 stone artifacts were retrieved from the Hexidong Site. The raw materials include sandstone, quartz sandstone, quartzite and flint. The types consist of chunks (N = 30), cores (N ≈ 450), flakes (N ≈ 190), scrapers (N ≈ 300), chopping-tools (N ≈ 80), points (N = 30) and stone hammers. The technique applied for flaking and retouching is mainly direct hammer percussion, while several flakes exhibit features of anvilflaking. This is the first appearance of this

As mentioned above, five cave sites were identified in Tonglu County. Some flint stone artifacts were collected from Longdong Cave, Hongshidong Cave and Longdongbeidong Cave. Huidong Cave and Heshangdong Cave discovered few Quaternary faunal remains, including the teeth of sika deer, the shinbone of a deer and the phalanx of roe deer. These artifacts are highly possibly as the Upper

10 stone artifacts were collected from the former three caves, with the types of cores, flakes and tools. They are made of siliceous mudstone mainly, and of a few quartzites and quartz sandstones. Hammer percussion is used to produce flakes and retouch tools. The tools are dominated by scrapers, and in association with a few chopping-tools. Most tools are retouched both sides on the massive blanks. The occurrence of small-sized stone artifacts is different from other localities in

Lithic technology, as defined by Odell (2001), incorporates the various processes that lead to the production of stone tools, including strategies of modification and reduction sequence, knapping equipment, as well as knowledge of raw materials and operative forces [17]. In this regard, lithic technology is an important method to understand the behavior of prehistoric humankind, their societies and history [18]. For the lithic technology during the Early to Middle Paleolithic sites here, we can assume they are products of early to archaic *Homo* species such as *Homo erectus*, while the lithic materials from Upper Paleolitihic sites (Hexidong Cave and some cave sites in Tonglu), they can be recognized as products by *Homo sapiens*.

Paleolithic remains, though the exact C14 dates are not available yet.

**4. Discussion: lithic technology and human behavior**

C14 dates are reported yet and we do not know the exact date of the site.

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.93821*

**3.1 Hexidong cave site**

Locality 3.

technique in Zhejiang.

Zhejiang region [16].

**3.2 Cave sites in Tonglu County**

**3. Upper Paleolithic archeological remains**
