The easternmost Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) from Jinsitai Cave, North China

Feng Li; Steven L Kuhn; Fuyou Chen; Yinghua Wang; John Southon; Fei Peng; Mingchao Shan; Chunxue Wang; Junyi Ge; Xiaomin Wang; Tala Yun; Xing Gao

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.10.004

The easternmost Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) from Jinsitai Cave, North China

J Hum Evol. 2018 Jan:114:76-84. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.10.004. Epub 2017 Oct 31.

Authors

Feng Li¹, Steven L Kuhn², Fuyou Chen³, Yinghua Wang⁴, John Southon⁵, Fei Peng³, Mingchao Shan⁴, Chunxue Wang⁶, Junyi Ge³, Xiaomin Wang⁷, Tala Yun⁴, Xing Gao⁸

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 142 Xizhimenwai Street, Beijing 100044, China; Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen 72070, Germany. Electronic address: lifeng@ivpp.ac.cn.
² Department of Anthropology, Bldg. 30, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721-0030, USA.
³ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 142 Xizhimenwai Street, Beijing 100044, China.
⁴ Inner Mongolia Museum, Hohhot 010010, China.
⁵ Department of Earth System Science, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697-3100, USA.
⁶ The Research Center for Chinese Frontier Archaeology, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 142 Xizhimenwai Street, Beijing 100044, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
⁸ Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No. 142 Xizhimenwai Street, Beijing 100044, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China. Electronic address: gaoxing@ivpp.ac.cn.

PMID: 29447762
DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.10.004

Abstract

The dispersal of Neanderthals and their genetic and cultural interactions with anatomically modern humans and other hominin populations in Eurasia are critical issues in human evolution research. Neither Neanderthal fossils nor typical Mousterian assemblages have been reported in East Asia to date. Here we report on artifact assemblages comparable to western Eurasian Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) at Jinsitai, a cave site in North China. The lithic industry at Jinsitai appeared at least 47-42 ka and persisted until around 40-37 ka. These findings expand the geographic range of the Mousterian-like industries at least 2000 km further to the east than what has been previously recognized. This discovery supplies a missing part of the picture of Middle Paleolithic distribution in Eurasia and also demonstrates the makers' capacity to adapt to diverse geographic regions and habitats of Eurasia.

Keywords: Jinsitai Cave; Lithic technology; Middle Paleolithic; Mousterian; North China.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Archaeology*
Caves
China
Humans
Neanderthals*
Technology*