More than 60 paleolithic sites were found in the western Sichuan Plateau? 100 left and right axe found at Piro site.
In 20 19, the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology took the opportunity of cultural relics investigation in sichuan-tibet railway and entered Ganzi Prefecture to carry out cultural relics investigation. In the 1920s, foreign missionary Houston Edgar collected two axes in the western Sichuan Plateau. If the Paleolithic relics such as hand axes are collected on a larger scale, it is expected that the course of early human landing on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau will be clearer. Archaeologists conducted a large-scale investigation in Litang, Daocheng, Kangding, Daofu, Luhuo and other places, and newly discovered 24 paleolithic sites. In this context, the Provincial Institute of Archaeology continued its work and found more than 60 paleolithic sites in the western Sichuan Plateau, including the Piro site discovered in May last year.
The Piro site is located in Qijiapingluo Village, Zhu Jin Town, Daocheng County, about two kilometers away from Daocheng County, with an average elevation of more than 3,750 meters. It is the third level of the second tributary of Jinsha River. The altitude here is high, the climate is cold, the rocks on the rolling hills are exposed, and only low grass grows. But in the eyes of paleolithic archaeologists, it is a well-developed terrace, and loess accumulation may have a history of tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years. Zheng Zhexuan, director of the Paleolithic Research Office of the Provincial Institute of Archaeology, said that when archaeologists climbed the terraced fields, the surprise really appeared: although the "stones" exposed on the surface and the front of terraced fields and the soil erosion areas on both sides of gullies were partially weathered, it was still clear that many of them were made by ancient humans. These stone tools include stone cores, stone chips and tools, totaling more than 200 pieces. What excites archaeologists even more is that they found a hand axe on the surface.
"The hand axe is recognized by the academic community as the first heavy tool for standardized processing in human history, representing the highest technical level of stone tool processing from ancient humans to Homo erectus." Zheng Zhexuan introduced that in East Asia, hand axes have also been found in recent years, but the number is small. Surprisingly, there are quite a lot of hand axes in Piro site, and about 100 pieces have been found so far, which is quite rare in Paleolithic sites in East Asia. Archaeologists quickly conducted a more detailed investigation of this area and found that this site is about two kilometers long from north to south, 500 meters long from east to west, and covers an area of about 6,543.8+100,000 square meters. It is a Paleolithic relic with the largest continuous accumulation of strata and the richest cultural types found in the southeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Site/kloc-more than 0/30,000 years old? The phenomenon of alternating cold and warm can be clearly seen in different strata.
At the end of 2020 10, the provincial institute of archaeology conducted further investigation and exploration here; At the end of April this year, the Provincial Institute of Archaeology and Peking University Institute of Archaeology and Culture started excavations, and more discoveries followed. During the excavation, it can be clearly seen that the stratum more than two meters deep presents different colors such as red, yellow and gray. According to Zheng Zhexuan, the time corresponding to different strata is ten thousand years. According to dating, even the uppermost ground was at least 654.38+300,000 years ago.
Stone tools of different periods have been unearthed in these strata. Gravel stone tools such as stone cores, kitchen knives and heavy scrapers were found below the first floor; Achery industrial stone tools such as hand axe and thin-edged axe were found on the third floor; There are two kinds of stone products on the second floor, one is a small stone tool made in time, and the other is a small double-sided device. Early human activities can also be seen on the plane of different cultural layers, with traces of artificial fire and stone processing. The whole site shows the paleolithic cultural development sequence of gravel tools-hand axes-stone chips.
Especially the phenomenon of alternating cold and warm, can be seen clearly from different strata. In the archaeological exploration profile, it can be clearly seen that the cultural layer starts from the second layer, and the stratum changes alternately from yellow to red. The cold period represented by grayish yellow is relatively dry and cold, red is warm, the climate is relatively warm and humid, and the hydrothermal conditions are good. "In the past, we generally thought that human beings entered the plateau frequently or for a long time in the warm period of about 40,000 years, and they were modern people who could build houses and make clothes. However, the ruins of Piro show that 1.3 million years ago, humans went to the plateau, and they could go to the plateau in warm and cold periods, indicating that the ability and mode of early humans far exceeded the expectations of the past. " Zheng Yuxuan said.
According to the distribution of relics in the same area, archaeologists speculate that "sporadic stone tools farther and higher may be related to temporary activities." These stone tools are mainly small stone tools, indicating that the later the age, the stronger the human activity ability and the larger the activity range. "This discovery reveals the life form of ancient humans from the end of the Middle Pleistocene to the Pleistocene, and it has become a microcosm of the temporal and spatial changes of Paleolithic culture in the western Sichuan Plateau.
After five months of field excavation and systematic collection of surface remains, the archaeological team revealed many stone remains of human activities and fire, and found nearly 10 thousand stone products.
Solve the dispute of "Movis Line" once and for all.
"First of all, I think the Movis line can be erased." Director of China Paleolithic Archaeological Committee said happily.
In the field of western archaeology, the "movie line" put forward by American scholars and anthropologists of Harvard University is regarded as the standard. Movis believes that in the Paleolithic Age, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, which are located to the west of the line, were advanced areas of early human culture, and they were advanced cultural circles represented by the cultural tradition of Asheli hand axe and able to master advanced tool manufacturing technology. China and other areas located to the east of this line are "culturally backward marginal areas", which are characterized by the traditional manufacture of simple chopping tools and the lack of sophisticated stone tools and techniques, such as hand axes.
In recent years, archaeologists in China have discovered the hand axe system in Baise and Luonan. "In addition to the small quantity, the technology is different from that of the West." I'm glad to introduce, especially Luonan's hand axe, which is relatively heavy and has no thinning and exquisite craftsmanship. The hand axe found in the Piro site is symmetrical and balanced in processing, and its two sides are thinned. It is the most typical system found in China and even in East Asia, with exquisite production, complete assembly and mature technology, and can be compared with the Achery site in the late West. "This completely solved the debate about the' Movies Line' and provided valuable and key evidence and information for studying and understanding the cultural exchanges between the East and the West and the relationship between people in different regions in the Paleolithic."
Experts believe that the spatial location of the Piluo site is very important and sensitive. The sites in East Asia, including the relics of Asheli technology, are scattered in the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, China, Baise, Guangxi and Yunnan, Guangdong. Piro and other sites containing hand axes fill a key gap and missing link in the technical system, connecting the zhina subcontinent and the north-south Asherie communication belt on the Korean peninsula, which is of special value and significance for understanding the migration and cultural exchange of ancient people.
It provides new information for the historical process of human entering the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is considered unsuitable for human survival because of its high altitude and cold environment. The mainstream view in academic circles once believed that human beings "walked out of Africa" twice about 6.5438+0.8 million years ago and 6.5438+0.5 million years ago, and the migration routes all bypassed the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It was not until six or seven thousand years ago that humans entered the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
A few years ago, archaeologists in China discovered a Paleolithic site in Ali, Tibet, about 30,000 to 40,000 years ago. Because the site has only one cultural layer, experts believe that it may be that human beings chose to go to the plateau during the warm climate and moved away as soon as the climate changed. 20 19 baishiya paleolithic cave site was discovered in xiahe county, Gansu province, which is located on the northeast edge of Qinghai-Tibet plateau. About190,000 years ago. The discovery of the Piro site further clarified the complex historical process of ancient humans entering the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Experts speculate that the minimum age of the Pillao site may exceed 200,000 years.
This is a rare site that has been continuously covered by three cultural stages. Chen Fahu, an academician of the China Academy of Sciences and director of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that the value of the Piluo site lies not only in its long age and high altitude, but also in its long duration. "The rice city at an altitude of more than 3,700 meters is a huge challenge for modern people, but the early humans can survive here, indicating that their IQ has developed to a certain extent and can cope with this extreme environment at high altitude. Perhaps, they climb the plateau seasonally, hunt here and live elsewhere. In short, this discovery is of great significance and further deepens the academic understanding of the early human evolution model in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. "
The reporter learned that in Litang, Kangding and Luhuo areas outside Daocheng, archaeologists also found gravel stone tools and hand axes on the third-class and above ground. The rich relics may reflect the historical process of early human migration and diffusion to high altitude areas to some extent.
Will have a significant academic impact at home and abroad.
"Great value!" "The stone is shocking!" At the expert seminar on September 12, experts reached a consensus on the value of this site, which is not only an archaeological achievement in China, but also a new archaeological discovery of great academic significance in the world, and will have a great academic impact at home and abroad.
I'm glad to say that the Piro site focuses on the development of human technology and cognitive ability in the Paleolithic Age, the migration of ancient people in the East and the West, cultural exchange and integration, and the conquest and adaptation of the ancient people to the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. "The future research on the Piluo site will enhance the academic influence and international discourse power of China academic circles on these hot issues, help trace back to the ancient roots of human destiny and the prehistoric roots of the Chinese nation and civilization with a long history, establish cultural self-confidence and enhance soft power."
This is just an ordinary stone? Don't! ? This is the "Swiss army knife" of ancient humans.
Sichuan Daily All-Media Reporter Wu Xiaoling
As soon as the paleolithic found at the Piro site was announced, netizens were not calm: it looked like an ordinary stone. Why can it be regarded as a tool used by the ancients? Tan, assistant librarian of Paleolithic Research Office of Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, explained this.
Paleolithic refers to the stone tools mainly hammered, and the era of hammering stone tools is called Paleolithic Age. According to the technical characteristics of stone tools, this era can be divided into five technical modes, that is, five cultural stages, that is, Oday culture (gravel stone tools, stone chips stone tools)-Asheli (hand axe, etc. )-Most Culture (Levalova Technology)-Stone Leaf-Fine Stone Leaf.
The stone tools unearthed from the Piluo site can be divided into three technical modes (gravel stone tools-Asheli technology-small stone tools), and three completely different technical modes have formed a rare three-layer paleolithic culture, which indicates that there are different crowd activities in the site, or the same crowd has made technical adaptation to adapt to the environment.
This kitchen knife looks most like an ordinary stone. But in the eyes of archaeologists, the cutting edge of this stone is thick and tortuous, which can play the role of chopping and smashing, so it can be used to cut trees, make sticks and smash nuts.
Handaxe processing is more complicated than stone tools. The ancients hammered on both sides of the stone and finally formed a symmetrical hand axe. It is of great use value. Early humans used it to dig roots, process wood and scrape skin, and also used it to slaughter large and small prey and cut skin. Known as the "Swiss army knife" of ancient humans.
There is a kind of stone with a pointed tip, called a small double-sided device, which was first discovered in the Paleolithic Age in China. It looks a bit like a hand axe, but it is much smaller than a hand axe, with sharp edges and sharp ends. It also has the functions of cutting and drilling.
/kloc-what was the rice city like 0/0.3 million years ago? ? Maybe it's different from now? But it can't be a plain.
Sichuan Daily All-Media Reporter Wu Menglin
Daocheng has beautiful scenery and the largest and most typical remains of ancient ice sheet on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and even in the world. However, due to the altitude of more than 3700 meters, the environment is relatively harsh. After the news of the discovery of human remains13 million years ago was released, many netizens were curious: What was the Daocheng like13 million years ago? Could it have been a plain, and now it has become a plateau?
Zhang Zhigang, an associate professor at the School of Geographical Sciences of Nanjing Normal University, has studied the ancient glacial landform of Daocheng (the planation plane of Haizi Mountain between Daocheng and Litang). In an interview with reporters, Zhang Zhigang said that according to research, there were moraines 500,000-600,000 years ago in the ancient ice cap area of Daocheng, indicating that the ancient ice cap area of Daocheng may have entered the cryosphere 500,000-600,000 years ago, thus developing glaciers. At present, the exposure age of the youngest glacier landform in Daocheng ancient ice cap area is about 654.38+0.2 million years ago. "So 1.3 million years ago, the ancient ice cap area in Daocheng should be in a plateau environment. From 600,000 years to the last deglaciation period, there were many glacier propulsion events." Zhang Zhigang said that the time and coverage of the Quaternary glacial advance of Daocheng ancient ice cap need to be further studied from the aspects of chronology and climate simulation.
"13 million years, the altitude and terrain of Daocheng may be different from now, but it can't be the plain that netizens said." In Zhang Zhigang's view, ancient people were able to live in the Daocheng Plateau environment, and they found a way to live in harmony with nature.
(Editor in charge, editor in charge, giant newspaper drawing, Zhu Wei layout editing section)