Discovery of large Paleolithic site in Ganzi Daocheng empirically proves that humans set foot on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 130,000 years ago
The site of Pilo has unearthed the finest remains of hand axes in East Asia
The Paleolithic is the first stage of human history, which is generally believed to have begun more than 3 million years ago and ended around 10,000 years ago.
On the plateau at an altitude of 3,750 meters, have there been human activities since ancient times? Recently, the Piluo site discovered by archaeologists in Daocheng County, Kardze Prefecture, has brought people the answer.
On September 27, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held a working meeting on the progress of the major project of “Archaeological China”, and released the important archaeological findings of the Daocheng Pilo site for the first time.
At an altitude of 3,750 meters in the eastern foothills of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the archaeological team discovered a rare large-scale Paleolithic wilderness site – the Pilo site, which has a special location in time and space, a grand scale, well-preserved strata, a clear cultural sequence, rich relics and relics, distinctive technical characteristics, and a variety of cultural factors, and found the most exquisite hand axe remains in East Asia, proving that the academic argument that “the early human culture of the East lagged behind the West” is pure nonsense.
Experts believe that this is a new archaeological discovery of great academic and socio-political significance in the world, which will have an important academic influence at home and abroad.
incredible
The altitude is 3750 meters
Discover nearly a million square meters of Paleolithic sites
Since 2019, the Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has organized relevant teams to carry out special investigation of Paleolithic archaeology on the West Sichuan Plateau, and 24 new Paleolithic sites above 3,000 meters above sea level have been discovered in Kardze Prefecture. On May 12, 2020, the archaeological team discovered the Pilo site near Daocheng County.
According to Zheng Zhexuan, director of the Paleolithic Research Office of the Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Piluo site is located in Qijia Pingluo Village, Jinzhu Town, Daocheng County, about 2 kilometers away from the county seat of Daocheng, at an altitude of 3,750 meters, and is in the third-level terraces of the Ponghe River, a second-level tributary of the Jinsha River, with an overall area of about 1 million square meters and an age of at least 130,000 years ago.
“It is very incredible to find nearly a million square meters of Paleolithic ruins on the plateau.” Zheng Zhexuan said that since the excavation of the site, archaeologists have found nearly 10,000 stone artifacts, of which more than 6,000 stone artifacts have been unearthed in 7 cultural layers, and more than 3,000 have been collected on the surface, which shows that the frequency and intensity of ancient human activities here are very high, “which breaks through our previous understanding.” ”
Abundant in quantity
More than 6,000 stone tools were unearthed
Unearthed the finest remains of a hand axe in East Asia
With the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, in April, the Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the School of Archaeology and Museum of Peking University organized a multidisciplinary research team to officially start archaeological excavations. After five months of field excavations and systematic collection of surface relics, archaeologists revealed multiple human surfaces and stone tools made with fire and beating.More than 6,000 stone products have been obtained, and hundreds of multidisciplinary research samples such as photoluminescence dating, ancient DNA, particle size, magnetic susceptibility, pollen, soil micromorphology, and flotation soil samples have been obtained.
Among them, the remains of the hand axe, a representative stone tool of the Acheulian culture, were found. According to reports, the Acheulian culture is an early Paleolithic culture in Africa, Western Europe, West Asia and India. It is named after its first discovery in Saint-Aschelle, a suburb of Amiens, France.
The Acheulian remains found in East Asia before are much rougher than the typical “Acheulian stone tools” in the West in terms of technology and finesse, so there are many controversies in the world, and some scholars call them Acheulian remains.
The archaeological excavation of the Pilo site unearthed the world’s highest altitude, rich quantity, clear strata and era of Acheulian technical remains, and the unearthed stone products such as hand axes and thin-bladed axes are the most typical, exquisitely made, most mature and most complete Acheulian assemblages in East Asia.
Gao Xing, director of the Chinese Paleolithic Archaeology Professional Committee, and other experts believe that the discovery is comparable to the late Acheulian remains in the West, and is the first product of the conclusive Acheulian technical system found in East Asia.
Special value
Discovery of the remains of a hand axe
Resolve the “Morvis Line” debate
The hand axe is an important tool created and used by early Paleolithic humans, the first stereotyped tool in human history, with symmetry, versatility, can be used for logging, hunting, etc., some people call it the “window of the human mind”.
“Before making a hand axe, you need to form the basic appearance of the target product in your mind, professionally called a ‘concept template’, which shows that people at that time already had complex thinking skills. They knew they needed a complex, structured target product. Zheng Zhexuan said.
In the 40s of the last century, Morvis, an anthropologist at Harvard University in the United States, drew a “cultural line” from the north-central part of Britain to the Himalayan Indian plate, he believed that in the Paleolithic period, the area located west and south of the line was an advanced area of early human culture, represented by the Acheulian hand axe cultural tradition; Regions such as China, located east of the line, are “culturally lagging peripheral areas” characterized by traditions of making choppers. People later called this “cultural line” the Morvis line.
The new discovery of the Pilo site has disproved the “Morvis Line” theory. Gao Xing and other experts believe that the remains of Acheulian technology found at the Pilo site can be said to have erased the “Morvis line” and put an end to the debate.
In addition, the spatial location of the Pilo site is equally important and sensitive. According to experts, according to previous research, the sites in eastern Asia containing the remains of Acheulian technology are scattered in the Indian and Pakistani subcontinent and China Guangxi Baise in China, Yunan in Guangdong, Dongting in Hunan in Hunan, Yunxian and Danjiangkou in Hubei, and Hanzhong and Luonan in Shaanxi., Shanxi Ding Village and other areas. Sites containing hand axes such as the Pilo site fill a key gap and missing link in the technical system, connecting the Acheulian cultural transmission belt in the Indian and Pakistani subcontinent, the north and south of China to the Korean Peninsula, which has special value and significance for understanding the migration of ancient people and cultural communication and exchange.
Significant significance
Revealing early humans
The historical process of conquering the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau
Not only that, Zheng Zhexuan also told reporters that this Paleolithic site on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has completely preserved and systematically displayed the Paleolithic cultural development process of “gravel stone tool combination-Acheulian technical system-stone chip stone tool system”, and established for the first time a landmark Paleolithic cultural sequence in southwest China.
What does the emergence of the 3 continuous cultures of “gravel stone tool assemblage – Acheulian technical system – stone chip stone tool system” mean? Zheng Zhexuan said: “Different stone tool assemblages indicate that they may have been created by different groups of people, or the same group of people made technical adaptations to adapt to changes in the environment, and also indicate that ancient humans had long-term and frequent activities here more than 100,000 years ago.” He introduced that three stages of human culture were found in the same place, which are very rare in the world, and the three stages of development represent cultural changes and can clearly reflect the historical process of human conquest of the plateau.
Zheng Zhexuan said that in particular, the continuous stratigraphic accumulation, intact burial conditions and clear sequence of stone tool technology evolution show the ability, mode and historical process of early humans to conquer high-altitude extreme environments, and provide an important ecological background and chronological scale for the coupling relationship between paleoenvironmental changes and human adaptation in the region.
West China Metropolis Daily – cover news reporter Dai Zhuxin
According to the Sichuan Academy of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Ruins of Daocheng Pilo
Four rarrities
Very large Paleolithic site of about one million square meters
The Pilo site covers an area of about 1 million square meters. Experts say the discovery of nearly a million square meters of Paleolithic sites in alpine regions is incredible. Such a large Paleolithic site is rare at home and abroad.
It has 7 cultural layers
Since the excavation of the site, archaeologists have found nearly 10,000 stone artifacts in 7 cultural layers. This shows that the frequency and intensity of ancient human activities here are very high, breaking through people’s previous understanding. According to experts, under normal circumstances, it is difficult to accumulate strata in plateau denuded landforms. However, in archaeology, in most cases, experts judge the age of the site, the environment and other background information based on the strata. As far as sites discovered on the Tibetan Plateau are concerned, the vast majority have no strata, and many have only one or two strata. The continuous 7 cultural layers of the Pilo site are very rare, which is not only valuable for archaeology, but also for the study of geology and other disciplines.
Discover the complete stages of cultural development in one place
The ruins of Pilo are intact,.The system shows the Paleolithic cultural development sequence of “gravel tool assemblage-Acheulian technical system-stone chip stone tool system”.
According to experts, the discovery of 3 stages of human culture in one place is very rare not only on the plateau, but also in the whole world. The different combinations of stone tools indicate that they may have been created by different groups of people, or that the same group of people made technical adaptations to adapt to changes in the environment, and indicate that ancient humans had long-term and frequent activities here more than 100,000 years ago. In particular, continuous stratigraphic accumulation, intact burial conditions and a clear sequence of stone tool technology evolution show the historical process of early human ability and method of conquering extreme environments at high altitudes.
Discover the finest remains of hand axes in East Asia
The Acheulian technical remains with the highest altitude, abundant quantity, clear stratigraphy and era in the world have been found at the Pilo site, and the stone products such as hand axes and thin-bladed axes unearthed are the most typical, most exquisitely made, most mature and most complete Acheulian assemblages in East Asia. This discovery completely solves the controversy about the “Morvis line” and provides valuable and crucial evidence and information for studying and understanding the relationship between Eastern and Western cultural exchanges and people in different regions in the Paleolithic period.