Lithic Technology, typology and cross-regional comparison of Pleistocene lithic industries: Comment on the earliest evidence of Levallois in East Asia

Abstract During past decades the lack of sufficient clarification between typology and lithic technology has caused misapprehension and misuse of “lithic technology” and more than once generated two opposing views on characterization of the same lithic industry. Here the authors would like firstly to take issue with Hu et al.’s recently published paper claiming “the earliest evidence of Levallois at Guanyindong site of Southwest China” (Nature 565: 82–85), secondly to clarify the essential difference between these two methods which Hu et al. failed to do, with expectation for deeper discussion and larger application of lithic technology in East Asian Paleolithic research.