Innovative ochre processing and tool use in China 40,000 years ago

Fa-Gang Wang, Shi-Xia Yang (), Jun-Yi Ge, Andreu Ollé, Ke-Liang Zhao, Jian-Ping Yue, Daniela Eugenia Rosso, Katerina Douka, Ying Guan, Wen-Yan Li, Hai-Yong Yang, Lian-Qiang Liu, Fei Xie, Zheng-Tang Guo, Ri-Xiang Zhu, Cheng-Long Deng (), Francesco d’Errico () and Michael Petraglia ()
Additional contact information
Fa-Gang Wang: Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology
Shi-Xia Yang: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jun-Yi Ge: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Andreu Ollé: Institut Català de Palaeoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA)
Ke-Liang Zhao: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Jian-Ping Yue: Anhui University
Daniela Eugenia Rosso: Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS, CEPAM
Katerina Douka: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Ying Guan: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Wen-Yan Li: Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology
Hai-Yong Yang: Museum of Yuzhou
Lian-Qiang Liu: Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology
Fei Xie: Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology
Zheng-Tang Guo: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Ri-Xiang Zhu: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Cheng-Long Deng: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Francesco d’Errico: PACEA UMR 5199, Université de Bordeaux, CNRS
Michael Petraglia: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History

Nature, 2022, vol. 603, issue 7900, 284-289

Abstract: Abstract Homo sapiens was present in northern Asia by around 40,000 years ago, having replaced archaic populations across Eurasia after episodes of earlier population expansions and interbreeding1–4. Cultural adaptations of the last Neanderthals, the Denisovans and the incoming populations of H. sapiens into Asia remain unknown1,5–7. Here we describe Xiamabei, a well-preserved, approximately 40,000-year-old archaeological site in northern China, which includes the earliest known ochre-processing feature in east Asia, a distinctive miniaturized lithic assemblage with bladelet-like tools bearing traces of hafting, and a bone tool. The cultural assembly of traits at Xiamabei is unique for Eastern Asia and does not correspond with those found at other archaeological site assemblages inhabited by archaic populations or those generally associated with the expansion of H. sapiens, such as the Initial Upper Palaeolithic8–10. The record of northern Asia supports a process of technological innovations and cultural diversification emerging in a period of hominin hybridization and admixture2,3,6,11.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04445-2

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