井水湾旧石器遗址初步研究

PRELIMINARY STUDY ON JINGSHUIWAN PALEOLITHIC SITE,THREE GORGES REGION

井水湾遗址是三峡地区一处重要的旧石器时代遗址。遗址埋藏于长江右岸的第Ⅱ级基座阶地内,在1998—2002年间经历了5次系统发掘,揭露面积2121m2,出土石制品910件,动物化石58件。古人类因地制宜地选取河卵石为原料进行剥片和加工石器;石制品类型包括石器、石核、石片、石锤和断块等;剥片技术为锤击法;石器以大型和中型为主,石器毛坯多为完整石片,砍砸器和刮削器是石器的主要类型;石器加工较简单,多数单向加工,且以正向为主。石器工业具有中国南方旧石器时代主工业鲜明特点。环境分析显示古人类生活在温暖湿润的针叶、阔叶混交林-草原环境条件下。光释光年代测定表明,井水湾遗址使用者生活在距今约8万年前,属旧石器时代中期。

?The Jingshuiwan Paleolithic site, buried in the second terrace of the right bank of the Yangtze River, is located in the Xinwan village, Sanhe town, Fengdu county, Chongqing. The site was excavated from 1998—2002 for five successive seasons,exposing an area of about 2?121?m2, as past of the salvage archeological project in the Three Gorges Region.Seven stratigraphic layers were identified at the site,with the total thickness of more than 21 meters.Archaeological materials were mainly unearthed from the 7th layer, a layer of fine sands, 2.0m in thickness, 158—162?m above the sealevel, in clear primary context. A total of 910 stone artifacts and some mammalian teeth and bones,including Stegodon, Cervids and Bovids,were unearthed from the site.The stone assemblage includes cores (304), flakes (382), stone hammers (4),chunks (102) and retouched tools (118). The general features of these artifacts are summarized as follows:1) Stone raw materials exploited at the site were locally available from ancient riverbeds. More than 5 kinds of raw material were utilized in core reduction and tool manufacture: silicarenite, quartzite, hypabyssal irruptive rock, volcanic rock and volcanic breccia lava. Silicarenite is the predominant raw material used for producing stone artifacts at the site.2) The principal flaking technique at the site is direct hammer percussion without core preparation.3) About 7.6 percent of flakes could have been utilized directly without modification.4) Major blanks for tool fabrication are complete flakes (67.0%), followed by cores and incomplete flakes.5) Most tools are large and middle in size.6) Choppers and scrapers are the dominating tool types, followed by points and notches.7) Modified tools appear to be retouched by direct hammer percussion,mostly unifically retouched on the dorsal surface of blanks.The Jingshuiwan stone tool assemblage shows close tie with the Main Industry in South China. Comparative studies indicated that it might serve as a technological link between Paleolithic industries from the Sichuan Basin and that from the lower reach of the Yangtze River.Environmental analyses conclude that hominids at Jingshuiwan site were living in warmmoist climatic condition, indicated by the existence of coniferous trees, broadleaf trees, and mixed forestprairie vegetations. Optically Stimulated Lumininescene dating on soil samples that from the artifact-bearing layer has yielded an age close to 80,000 B.P., which place the Jingshuiwan industry to the Middle Paleolithic in China.