Tongtiandong (Chinese: 通天洞, Tōngtiāndòng) is an archaeological site in the Xinjiang Autonomous Region of China, just to the south of the Altai Mountains. The site had hunter-foraging human activity circa 40,000 BP (the Mousterian cultural layer was radiocarbon dated to approximately 46,000–44,000 BP, calibrated).[1][2][3]
Cave
Until the discovery of Tongtiandong, the typical Mousterian techno-complex had not been identified in China, but the whole reduction sequence of the Mousterian techno-complex has now been identified in Tongtiandong cave.[4]
From Tongtiandong and other sites, a general distributional pattern of different techno-complexes between Mongolia-Siberia and northern China can be established, for the dates between 50,000 and 32,000 cal BP.[1]
1: Okladnikov Cave; 2: Strashnaya cave; 3: Denisova Cave; 4: Ust Karakol; 5: Kara-Tenesh; 6: Tongtiandong; 7: Mokhovo-2; 8: Kharganyn Gol-5; 9: Orkhon-1; 10: Jinsitai; 11: Sanlongdong cave; 12: Kara-Bom; 13: Luotuoshi; 14: Chikhen Agui; 15: Tsagaan Agui; 16: Voenny Hospital; 17: Kamenka; 18: Tolbaga; 19: Tolbar-4; 20: Nwya Devu; 21: Lenghu; 22: Yushuwan; 23: Lenghu-.1; 24: Shuidonggou-2; 25: Changweigou; 26: ZS08; 27: Wulanmulun; 28: Longquandong; 29: Zhijidong; 30: Fangjiagou; 31: Zhaozhuang; 32: Laonainaimiao; 33: Xiachuan (Fuyuhe); 34: Xibaimaying; 35: Xigouwan; 36: Xiaogushan; 37: Mingyuegou; 38: Zhoujiayoufang; 39: Guxiangtun; 40: Zhalainuoer; 41: Shiyu; 42: Zhoukoudian Upper Cave.[5]
Terminology
- TMP: Terminal Middle Paleolithic (~50–38 ka BP)
- IUP: Initial Upper Paleolithic (~43-32ka BP)
References
- ^ a b c Zhao, Chao; Wang, Youping; Walden, John P. (3 November 2022). "Diachronic shifts in lithic technological transmission between the eastern Eurasian Steppe and northern China in the Late Pleistocene". PLOS ONE. 17 (11): e0275162. Bibcode:2022PLoSO..1775162Z. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0275162. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 9632798. PMID 36327263.
- ^ Betts, Alison; Vicziany, Marika; Jia, Peter Weiming; Castro, Angelo Andrea Di (19 December 2019). The Cultures of Ancient Xinjiang, Western China: Crossroads of the Silk Roads. Archaeopress Publishing Ltd. p. 10. ISBN 978-1-78969-407-9.
"Recent excavations at the cave site of Tongtiandong in the southern Altai have revealed evidence for human activity at around 40 k BP (Yu and He 2017), and one other stratified but undated preBronze Age context is known, from the site...
- ^ "45,000-Year-Old Stone Tools Recovered in China - Archaeology Magazine". Archaeology. 2018.
- ^ Zhao, Chao; Wang, Youping; Walden, John P. (3 November 2022). "Diachronic shifts in lithic technological transmission between the eastern Eurasian Steppe and northern China in the Late Pleistocene". PLOS ONE. 17 (11): e0275162. Bibcode:2022PLoSO..1775162Z. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0275162. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 9632798. PMID 36327263.
The typical Mousterian techno-complex was long considered absent from China due to a lack of convincing evidence [59]. However, recent discoveries reveal unequivocal evidence of this techno-complex distributed sporadically across peripheral areas of Northwest and Northeast China. At Tongtiandong Cave in Northwest China, the whole reduction sequence of the Mousterian techno-complex has been identified. This sequence comprised Levallois flake cores, Levallois flakes, points, and denticulates
- ^ Zhao, Chao; Wang, Youping; Walden, John P. (3 November 2022). "Diachronic shifts in lithic technological transmission between the eastern Eurasian Steppe and northern China in the Late Pleistocene". PLOS ONE. 17 (11): e0275162. Bibcode:2022PLoSO..1775162Z. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0275162. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 9632798. PMID 36327263.
This article incorporates text by Zhao Chao available under the CC BY 4.0 license.