New archaeological discoveries in Xiqiao Mountain: Late Paleolithic deposits dating back more than 40,000 years have been discovered

Guangzhou Daily

2024-06-27 17:27The official account of Guangzhou Daily

On June 27, the Guangdong Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Nanhai Museum released the latest research results: a breakthrough has been made in the excavation of the Pinggang site in Xiqiao Mountain in the South China Sea, confirming that the site contains the remains of two periods: Neolithic and Paleolithic! For the first time, the site found that there is a definite dating of the Upper Paleolithic in the Xiqiao Mountain area, which extends the archaeological and cultural axis of the Pearl River Delta region, and is a key material for exploring the origin and diffusion of modern humans in East Asia and the diversity of stone tool technology in the Upper Paleolithic in China.

The relative position relationship between the excavation area of Pinggang site and Xiqiao Mountain

"Before the Pearl River Delta, there is Xiqiao Mountain." As a volcanic eruption in ancient times, the local people have been using the rocks of Xiqiao Mountain given by nature to make stone tools for fishing, hunting, and fishing. However, it has always been a mystery how old the ancient stone tools on Xiqiao Mountain can be traced.

Aerial view of the distribution of ash pits

In 1958, the Xiqiao Mountain ruins were discovered, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangdong Provincial Museum and other units carried out many archaeological investigations and test excavations on the ruins, in 1960 Mr. Jia Lanpo put forward the concept of "Xiqiao Mountain Culture", the ruins group received great attention from the academic circles, and its nature was considered to be a number of important stone tool processing sites, but due to the lack of systematic work, the specific connotation and chronological understanding of the Xiqiao Mountain Ruins and the "Xiqiao Mountain Culture" were not clear.

Experts inspected the site of the Pinggang site of Xiqiao Mountain in the South China Sea

Experts inspect the relics unearthed at the site

Since March 2023, the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has carried out a regional systematic investigation and exploration of the Xiqiao Mountain site group, among which a breakthrough has been made at the Pinggang site, confirming that the site contains remains from the Neolithic and Paleolithic periods.

Neolithic excavated stone tools

According to experts from the Guangdong Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Pinggang site is located on the alluvial fan in front of the mountain at the southeast foot of Xiqiao Mountain, and belongs to Fuxian Village, one of the earliest discovered sites of the Xiqiao Mountain site group. In order to protect cultural heritage, from September 2023 to April 2024, the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology carried out rescue archaeological excavations at the Pinggang site, revealing an area of 130 square meters. The preliminary dating results of carbon 14 at the Pinggang site show that the Paleolithic accumulation age is more than 40,000 years ago, and the Neolithic accumulation age is mostly between 5,900~5,000 years ago. It is the earliest human remains found in the Guangfo area, which extends the archaeological and cultural axis of the Pearl River Delta region, and is a key material for exploring the origin and diffusion of modern humans in East Asia and the diversity of stone tool technology in the late Paleolithic period in China.

Stone tools excavated from the Paleolithic period

In addition, the archaeological excavation unearthed more than 800 pieces of stone tools in the Paleolithic accumulation, the stone is mainly fine rock, and there are tuff, rough face rock, etc. The types of stone tools include stone hammers, choppers, scrapers, stone cores, broken blocks, stone chips, and chips. Neolithic relics include pottery shards, stone tools, and wooden tools with traces of use. There are more than 7,000 pieces of stone tools, mainly fine rock, a small amount of tuff, etc., the types include stone hammers, chopping tools, scrapers, pointed tools, the use of stone chips, stone leaf stone cores, stone leaves, fine stone cores and stone flakes, blanks, and broken tools produced in the production process of double shoulder stone tools. There are more than 10 pieces of woodware, which are made of a wooden stick with a diameter of 2.2~5 cm sharpened at one end, and traces of use can be seen at the tip, and the length of the complete one is about 1 meter.

Aerial photograph of Xiqiao Mountain

Experts said that the excavation of the Pinggang site is of great value and significance for improving the archaeological and cultural sequence in the Lingnan area and revealing the technology and survival methods of the prehistoric people in the area. The excavation revealed the Neolithic primary stratigraphy will help to promote the academic community's understanding of the Xiqiao Mountain culture and deepen the research on prehistoric archaeology in the Lingnan area.

Text/Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Reporter: Gao Minhua Correspondent: Xiqiao Xuan

Guangzhou Daily New Flower City Editor: Huo Zekai

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