13 July 2025 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

Remains of 240 people found beneath Ocky White department store in Wales

13 October 2022

13 October 2022

Archaeologists found skeletal remains of over more than 240 people, from beneath a former department store in Pembrokeshire in Wales,...

An extraordinary medieval belt loop found near Kamień Pomorski in Poland

18 March 2024

18 March 2024

A late medieval belt loop for hanging keys or a bag was found near the town of Kamień Pomorski in...

The human remains dating back 10,000 years unearthed in Vietnam

15 November 2023

15 November 2023

In Ha Nam Province, northern Vietnam, skeletal remains dating back 10,000 years have been discovered. This is marking the oldest...

Hundreds of skeletons found on Welsh beach

4 July 2021

4 July 2021

Archaeologists found the burial site of women and children just below the surface of the sand dunes on Whitesands Bay...

Archaeologists discovered a mausoleum dating back to Golden Horde era in Kazakhstan

8 July 2023

8 July 2023

Remains of a mausoleum dating back to the Golden Horde in the 15th century were discovered on the territory of...

200 Feet to the Past: The Millennium-Old Mystery of the Himalayan Towers

8 May 2025

8 May 2025

In the remote and rugged landscapes of the Himalayas, a series of enigmatic structures known as the Himalayan Towers, or...

A rural necropolis from Late Antiquity discovered in northeastern France

5 November 2022

5 November 2022

Inrap archaeologists have unearthed a small rural necropolis from the late 5th century (Late Antiquity) at Sainte-Marie-aux-Chênes in northeastern France....

Ritual Sacrifice of Pregnant Woman: Ecuador may Reflect the Community’s Fear of Her Power

28 January 2025

28 January 2025

In a remarkable archaeological find in Ecuador, researchers have uncovered the rich burial of a pregnant woman and her fetus,...

One of the greatest gold treasures in Danish history found in Vindelev

6 September 2021

6 September 2021

Near the town of Jelling in Denmark, one of the biggest treasures ever found dating from the sixth century has...

An important discovery in Haltern: Mini temples and sacrificial pit discovered in Roman military encampment

16 November 2023

16 November 2023

Archaeologists from the Westphalia-Lippe Regional Association (LWL) have found remains of the foundations of two mini Roman temples and a...

5500-year-old pentagon structure found in North China

13 November 2021

13 November 2021

Archaeologists discovered the remnants of a pentagonal structure going back 5,500 years in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province, north China. According to...

One of Gaul’s Largest Roman Villas Discovered Near Auxerre, France, Spanning Over 4,000 m²

7 June 2025

7 June 2025

Archaeologists uncover a massive 4,000 m² Roman villa near Auxerre, revealing elite lifestyles in ancient Gaul. A remarkable archaeological discovery...

19 funerary tombs from Roman times were discovered in Tartus, Syria

27 May 2022

27 May 2022

During search and excavation operations in the archaeological area of Amrit in Tartus, Syria, a joint excavation team from the...

Around 400-year-old Bronze idols found during house construction in India

25 April 2024

25 April 2024

Three bronze idols, estimated to be about 400 years old, were unearthed during excavation for a house construction project in...

New research reveals the true function of Bronze Age daggers

30 April 2022

30 April 2022

A new study led by Newcastle University has revealed that the analysis of Bronze Age daggers has shown that they...