Researchers have found evidence of advanced material culture in East Asia from 45,000 years ago, highlighting the complex tool making and cultural practices of early Homo sapiens. A team of researchers from China, Australia, France, Spain and Germany has revealed the advanced material culture of East Asia 45,000 years ago. The new research will be published today (January 18) in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.
The researchers examined archaeological collections previously excavated from the Zhiyu site in Shanxi Province.
Associate Professor Yang Shixia, a researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, and first and corresponding author of the study, said: "Our new study uncovered an Upper Paleolithic archaeological assemblage dating back 45,000 years ago from the Zhiyu site in Shuozhou, North China, which includes blade technology, handles and short-handled nailing devices, and the use of perforated graphite disks."
The discovery uncovered a treasure trove of cultural and technological innovation. This discovery, together with the now-lost human skull, reveals the ancient migration of Homo sapiens to East Asia about 45,000 years ago.
Researchers dated three animal bone samples discovered during the initial excavation in 1963. The results showed that the animal bone samples had been modified by humans and had cutting marks. The radiocarbon method has accurately determined the age of the main cultural layer in Zhiyu to be between 45,800 and 43,200 years ago.
Comprehensive scientific research on the archaeological discoveries at Duangzhiyu has revealed advanced material culture dating back 45,000 years ago. These include Levallois points with traces of impact fractures, angular and stalked projectile points, obsidian transported over long distances from sources hundreds of kilometers away, perforated graphite disks and well-formed bone points.
The petrological analysis of mammal fossils, combined with the wear analysis of stone tools, indicates that the residents of Zhiyu were "horse hunters". They were equipped with angular and handled shooting nails, and therefore had the ability to hunt and selectively kill adult wild horses.
Zhiyu gives us the opportunity to understand the life of hunters in northern China 45,000 years ago. The people who inhabited this area had a highly advanced tool kit that included a range of Upper Paleolithic innovations, including scrapers, cones and other tools, including a variety of Middle Paleolithic band tools, toothed tools and chisels.
This unique set of stone artifacts, combined with unusually shaped graphite disks and bone tools, demonstrates the rich culture of early humans. Long-distance transportation of obsidian from sources hundreds of kilometers away also demonstrates advanced long-distance resource procurement strategies and migration capabilities.
Zhiyu reflects a process of cultural creolization - through contact between societies and migrating peoples - in which inherited characteristics merge with new innovations, complicating traditional understandings of the global expansion of Homo sapiens.
Compiled source: ScitechDaily