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Groundbreaking study reveals that East Asia was inhabited by hominids with advanced tool-making skills equivalent to Mode 2 technology more than 1.1 million years ago, challenging previous timelines and perceptions of early technological development in the region. . This discovery, which highlights sophisticated techniques and planning, suggests a reassessment of early human culture and connections across Eurasia. (AE) Thin flakes are intentionally broken off and used as blanks for retouching pointed tools. (GI) Points retouched unifacially. (JM) Borers. Credit: IVPP
A new study from China’s Nihewan Basin has revealed that hominids possessing advanced carving capabilities equivalent to Mode 2 technological characteristics occupied eastern Asia 1.1 million years ago (Ma), 0.3 Ma before the date associated with the first hand axes found in East Asia. This suggests that Mode 2 hominids dispersed into East Asia much earlier than previously thought.
The study, which was carried out by a joint team led by Prof. PEI Shuwen from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Prof. Ignacio de la Torre from the Institute of History of the National Council of Investigations of Spain (CSIC), was published in PNAS on March 4 and will provide information on the first dispersals and adaptations of hominids in Eurasia.
Advanced tool making techniques
By reconstructing the Cenjiawan workover assemblages of the Nihewan Basin, the research team discovered organized flaking techniques that aimed to produce thin flakes by preparing the core on both the impact platform and the flaking surface. The standardized operating process was not only demonstrated by the reconditioning assemblies: many products were stripped at each stage of the process, providing strong evidence of standardized core preparation.
Operational scheme of prepared core technology (A and B) and default products in CJW (C and D). Credit: IVPP
The prepared core technologies were characterized by organized methods for obtaining predetermined flakes that required detailed planning and a deep understanding of flaking mechanisms, which originated in the Acheulean and, in particular, more than 1.0 Ma.
As for the retouched tools, the technological analysis of the reconditioned products detached from the prepared core technology indicates the intentional breaking of thin flakes into two halves. One or more of the resulting fragments were then selected as blanks for retouching, with the goal of creating pointed tools with two converging sides, thus significantly altering the original shape of the blanks.
Furthermore, patterns of retouching tools such as points and borers, which showed a standardization of tool shape, were also well documented in the Cenjiawan assemblage, suggesting complex mental templates among Cenjiawan toolmakers.
Complexity in Early Pleistocene Tool Making
The prepared core technology, standardized predetermined products and tool shape retouching, together with the high level of manual precision, fragmented reduction sequences, long reduction sequences and organized raw material management documented in the Cenjiawan set, provide evidence convincing of complex technical skills. and depth planning behaviors among early Pleistocene hominids in East Asia.
The CJW site and CJW profile lithology and corresponding magnetic polarity time scale. Credit: IVPP
“The advanced technological behaviors documented at the Cenjiawan site are similar to those of Mode 2 technology, rather than the technical simplicity attributed to Mode 1,” said Dr. MA Dongdong, first author of the study, who conducted the research during his Ph.D. at the IVPP and currently works as a postdoctoral researcher at the CISC Institute of History.
Lower Paleolithic technology in China has long been considered simple (Oldowan type/Mode 1) and homogeneous before the late Pleistocene. The compelling evidence from the Cenjiawan set provides a new perspective for understanding the small debit system in China and may force a reconsideration of current perceptions of technological stagnation in East Asia.
The authors argued that technological characteristics, rather than the mere presence or absence of specific tool types (e.g., hand axes), should be the basis for studying Early and Middle Pleistocene assemblages in East Asia. This allows for a more integrated understanding of Mode 2 technology, as well as the human, cultural and biological connections between East Asia and other regions of the Old World.
Reference: “The First Core Technology Prepared in Eurasia from Nihewan (China): Implications for Early Human Capabilities and Dispersals in East Asia” by Dong-Dong Ma, Shu-Wen Pei, Fei Xie, Zhi Ye, Fa- Gang Wang, Jing-Yue Xu, Cheng-Long Deng and Ignacio de la Torre, March 4, 2024, proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313123121