21 November 2024 The Future is the Product of the Past

Archaeologists discover innovative 40,000-year-old culture in China

Ancient hunter-gatherers living in what is now China may have been the first people in East Asia to process mustard and use complex tools, according to a new study by an international team of researchers.

Archaeological excavations at the Xiamabei site in northern China’s Nihewan Basin reveal the existence of innovative behaviors and unique toolkits.

A new study describes with the earliest known evidence of ochre processing in Eastern Asia and a set of distinct blade-like stone tools, Xiamabei contains cultural expressions and features that are unique or exceedingly rare in northeastern Asia.

Describing their discovery in the journal Nature, researchers say that the recovered artifacts provide new insights into how human culture and technology spread across the globe as Homo sapiens populations expanded out of Africa.

Analysis by researchers from the University of Bordeaux, led by Francesco d’Errico, indicates that different types of ochre were brought to Xiamabei and processed through pounding and abrasion to produce powders of different color and consistency, the use of which impregnated the habitation floor. Ochre production at Xiamabei represents the earliest known example of this practice in Eastern Asia.

40,000 years ago, the stone tools at Xiamabei reflect a distinct cultural adaption for northern China. Because little is known about stone tool industries in Eastern Asia until around 29,000 years ago, when micro blades became the dominant technique, the Xiamabei discoveries give important insights into toolmaking industries during the important transition era.

Ochre pieces and stone processing equipment laying on a red-stained pigment patch. Credit: Fa-Gang Wang, Francesco d’Errico / Wang et al., Innovative ochre processing and tool-use in China 40,000 years ago. Nature. 2022
Ochre pieces and stone processing equipment laying on a red-stained pigment patch. Photo: Fa-Gang Wang, Francesco d’Errico / Wang et al., Innovative ochre processing and tool-use in China 40,000 years ago. Nature. 2022

Researchers also discovered 382 tools significantly more complex than those found at any neighboring site. Produced using two different knapping techniques, these multipurpose implements are described as being “miniaturized,” with over half measuring less than 20 millimeters (0.8 inches).

Commenting on the significance of these findings, study author Dr Shixia Yang explained in a statement that “the ability of hominins to live in northern latitudes, with cold and highly seasonal environments, was likely facilitated by the evolution of culture in the form of economic, social and symbolic adaptations.”

“The finds at Xiamabei are helping us to understand these adaptations and their potential role in human migration.”

The researchers said that records from East Asia show that various adaptations took place when modern humans entered the region about 40,000 years ago. In their write-up, they explain that modern humans are believed to have arrived in the region around 40,000 years ago, although the nature of their interactions with other local hominins – such as Neanderthals and Denisovans – remains a mystery.

Given the unique nature of Xiamabei, the authors of the new paper argue that the archaeological record does not fit with the idea of continuous cultural innovation, or of a fully formed set of adaptations which enabled early humans to expand out of Africa and around the world.

“Our findings show that current evolutionary scenarios are too simple,” says Michael Petraglia of the Max Planck Institute in Jena, “and that modern human, and our culture, emerged through repeated but differing episodes of genetic and social exchanges over large geographic areas, rather than as a single, rapid dispersal wave across Asia.”

MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE

Cover Photo: © Fa-Gang Wang

Related Articles

New Study shows Early Native Americans in Alaska were freshwater fishermen 13,000 years ago

15 June 2023

15 June 2023

A team led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers has discovered the earliest known evidence that Native Americans living...

Artificial intelligence is Detecting New Archaeological Sites in the Arabian desert

5 October 2024

5 October 2024

A team of researchers at Khalifa University in Abu Dhabi has developed a machine-learning algorithm to help them trawl vast...

Theater of Perinthos Ancient City to be unearthed

9 August 2021

9 August 2021

The theater area in the Ancient City of Perinthos, whose history dates back to 600 BC, will be unearthed during...

The longest inscription in Saudi Arabia turned out to belong to the last king of Babylon

25 July 2021

25 July 2021

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage has announced the discovery of a 2,550-year-old inscription etched on basalt stone...

Israeli researchers uncover earliest evidence silver used as currency in Levant

9 January 2023

9 January 2023

On Sunday, Israeli archaeologists revealed that they had found the earliest proof of silver being used as money in the...

A mosaic floor from the 2nd century BC depicting the muse Kalliope was discovered in ancient city of Side, southern Türkiye

24 May 2024

24 May 2024

During the excavations carried out in the ancient city of Side, a mosaic floor from the second century BC, depicting...

4750-year-old Megalithic Stone Plaza Discovered in the High Andes of Peru

15 February 2024

15 February 2024

Two anthropology professors from the University of Wyoming have discovered a prehistoric plaza high in the Andes, known as Callacpuma...

Lost medieval road thought to have been used by famous Scottish king Robert the Bruce found

27 June 2021

27 June 2021

Excavating a hill considered to have played a critical part in the Battle of Bannockburn, archaeologists discovered a forgotten medieval...

Israeli Archaeologists discover two shipwrecks filled with treasure

22 December 2021

22 December 2021

Israeli archaeologists have been discovered ancient artifacts and treasures amid the wrecks of two ships on the seafloor off the...

Remains of 14th-century Synagogue thought to be one of largest in region discovered in Poland

14 August 2023

14 August 2023

The remains of what is thought to be a sizeable 14th-century synagogue complex, including a mikvah, have been discovered during...

Researchers find 3,000-year-old shark attack victim in Japan

24 June 2021

24 June 2021

In a paper published today, Oxford-led researchers reveal their discovery of a 3,000-year-old victim—attacked by a shark in the Seto...

1650-Year-Old Earthen Grills Unearthed in Assos Excavations

14 August 2021

14 August 2021

Excavations continue in Assos Ancient City, a rich settlement of the period, which is located within the borders of Behramkale...

The Earliest Evidence of Christianity on Bulgarian Territory Found in Roman city of Deultum

13 July 2024

13 July 2024

A silver amulet was discovered during excavations of the Deultum-Debelt National Archaeological Reserve, near the village of Debelt in the...

Three-room Urartian tomb with liquid offering area (libation) found in eastern Turkey

18 January 2023

18 January 2023

A three-room Urartian tomb with a rock-cut libation (liquid offering area) to offer gifts to the gods was unearthed in...

Archaeologists identify a sunken Nabataean temple dedicated to the God Dusares at Pozzuoli

12 April 2023

12 April 2023

Off the coast of Pozzuoli on the Phlegrean Peninsula in Campania, Italy, underwater archaeologists have identified a sunken Nabataeans temple...