五台山发现旧石器

STONE ARTIFACTS FROM WUTAISHAN

在华北的屋脊五台山发现了一些石制品。遗物主要分布在河流第二级阶地的黄土层中。根据地貌和地层判断,石制品的时代应为晚更新世后期。

In the summer of 1984 a paleolithic locality was discovered in the center of the Wutaishan (The Five Platforms Mountains), in Wutai County, Shanxi (39°00'37'N, 113°35'39'E). This site is situated at an altitude of 1.730 meteres above sea-level and half a kilometer north of the town of Taihuai. The site has yielded a small assemblage of stone artifacts in associa-tion with fauna including Equus przewalskyi, Ovis ammon and Bos primigenins. This assem-blage derives from the loess and gravel in the second terace of the Qinshui He (river) and is thought to be late Pleistocene in age. The artifact assemblage includes quartzite cores, fla-kes, chopper, scrapers, and point. In addition to artifacts which are obviously worked, un-modified quartzite blocks are also present. Paleoenvironmental evidences suggest that the mean annual temperature during the forma-tion of this site was approximately 6°lower than at present in the Wutaishan. The lower temperature and the high elevation of the site make it likely that this locality represents a seasonally exploited site which was utilized during the summer months.