The early appearance of Shuidonggou core-and-blade technology in north China: Implications for the spread of Anatomically Modern Humans in northeast Asia?

Abstract The identification and dating of South Temple Canyon 1 (STC 1), an Early Upper Paleolihic (EUP) site in north-central China near Shuidonggou (SDG), helps confirm that SDG is one of the earliest EUP sites in northern Asia. Materials from STC 1 bear a strong resemblance to the early SDG core-and-blade lithic technology that includes flat-faced cores and elongate blades. We obtained a 14 C age estimate of 41,070 ± 890  14 C yr BP on the innermost lamina of a calcium carbonate pendant attached to one of the quartzite flakes from the site. The purity of the micrite lamina, the care taken in obtaining the carbonate sample for processing and dating, and the geomorphological setting from which the flake came suggest the age estimate represents a reasonable assessment of an accurate minimum age for STC 1. Together with recently derived age estimates of >35  14 C ka for the initial EUP occupations at SDG 1 and 2, it appears that the EUP in the SDG area is as old as any of the handful of EUP sites in Mongolia and Siberia dating to about 40  14 C ka, and brings into question a postulated north-to-south spread of the EUP lithic technology present at SDG. Whether or not the dispersal of this technology is associated with the spread of Anatomically Modern Humans remains unknown.