China News Service, Chengdu, January 11 (Reporter Yue Yitong) The reporter learned from the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau on the 11th that hand axes, hand picks, heavy scrapers, and rare animal fossils in the southern wilderness site were found at the Taohuahe site in Suining, Sichuan. Preliminary estimates are between 200,000 and 50,000 years ago.
Experts believe that the site is another important and rare large-scale wilderness site in the Paleolithic period in Sichuan after the Piluo site, and it is another major breakthrough in Paleolithic archeology in my country.
In 2021, the Suining Cultural Management Institute and the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology will carry out active archaeological investigations in the Fujiang River Basin, and have made a series of important discoveries including the identification of Paleolithic remains.
Since then, the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has carried out special Paleolithic archaeological investigations in the Suining section of the Fujiang River Basin and the Mianyang section of the Fujiang River Basin in May, June, and November 2022, respectively, and discovered 20 ancient stone artifacts in Suining City and Mianyang City, respectively. There are many Paleolithic sites, all of which are located on the third and fourth terraces in the Fujiang River Basin.
The survey found hundreds of typical stone products such as hand axes, hand picks, and heavy scrapers, which fully demonstrated the great potential of Paleolithic archaeological work in the Fujiang River Basin. The Taohuahe site is good but is being destroyed by infrastructure construction.
In July 2022, in order to cooperate with the local infrastructure work, the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology conducted rescue archaeological excavations on the Taohuahe site.
Zheng Zhexuan, director of the Paleolithic Institute of the Institute and leader of the archaeological project of the Taohuahe site, introduced at the seminar that the site is located in Xiangshan Town, Shehong City, Suining City, Sichuan Province, including two sites, Yanjiagou and Tianjiawan, both of which belong to the The terraces on the left bank of Fujiang River.
Yanjiagou of the Taohuahe site is located in Liangchen Village, Xiangshan Town. It is preliminarily believed to belong to the third-level terrace on the left bank of the Fujiang River.
Tianjiawan is located in Xinchengba Village, Xiangshan Town, and it is preliminarily believed to belong to the fourth-order terrace on the left bank of the Fujiang River.
This excavation initially revealed three phases of Paleolithic culture.
The three phases of culture developed continuously from bottom to top, but showed staged differences.
Among them, the first phase contains a relatively high proportion of large stone cores, large stone flakes, and heavy scrapers with large stone flakes as blanks in the stone product combination, and a small amount of typical large cutting tools such as hand axes, hand picks, and stone knives; the second phase The size of stone products in the period has shrunk, the proportion of large stone cores, large stone flakes and heavy scrapers has decreased compared with the first period, the proportion of small and medium stone cores, stone flakes and tools has increased, and there are small and medium stone flake tools; the third period basically does not see large stone flakes And heavy-duty scrapers, mainly small and medium-sized stone cores, stone flakes and tools, and have certain selectivity for stone materials.
Concentrated areas of stone products were found in all three cultural periods, and different dense areas have their own characteristics. Most of the stone products have no signs of weathering or abrasion, and some stone product fragments can be successfully assembled, which preliminarily shows that the site is buried in situ. Patterns, functional zoning and spatial structure of the site provide clues.
In addition, dozens of animal fossils have also been found at the site, and it is preliminarily determined that there are large and medium-sized herbivores such as deer, cattle, and horses.
According to reports, the dating work of the Taohuahe site is underway. According to the existing archaeological materials and preliminary analysis of cultural factors, experts believe that the preliminary estimate of the age of the Taohuahe site is between 200,000 and 50,000 years ago. A more accurate date Subsequent OSL dating will prevail.
According to Wang Youping, a professor at the School of Archeology and Museology of Peking University, Paleolithic archeology in southern China has been discovered frequently from Baise, Guangxi to Hanzhong, Shaanxi.
Many ruins were discovered, but the number of unearthed stone products was not large. "The Taohuahe ruins have a large area, many relics found, and high density. They should belong to the basic camp or central camp and provide very rich information. This is what we have been looking forward to. A long-standing good site.”
According to reports, the relics found at the Taohuahe site are also very rich.
The largest volume is stone products, which are large in number and densely distributed, and are relatively rare in the southern wilderness sites.
Because the soil in the south is acidic, the preserved animal fossils are very precious.
In addition, the human technology and cultural characteristics embodied in the site are very distinct. The source of the stone tools used in the site is clear, that is, the riverbed gravel was used for peeling in situ. Especially from the lower layer to the upper layer of the site, it can be seen that the stone tools showed obvious changes—combined size and The utilization of raw materials is different, especially the source of raw materials in the upper layer is more single, which shows that the selectivity of stone tool raw materials is stronger.
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