The Appearance of Blade Technique in East Asia

Abstract

In North China, blades were first produced about 32, 000yrs B. P. There were two conditions for the appearance of blade technique. One is represented by blades from Shuidonggou(_??__??__??_), Ningxia province, which are distinguished by the presence of a tabular core and a scraper on the blade. Based on the technological resemblance between Shuidonggou and Mousterian objects in North Asia, it is assumed that the two cultures were related, and techniques were diffused from North Asia to North China with the change of cultural area.
The other set of conditions is represented by blades from Shiyu(_??__??_), Shanxi province, which are related to North Chinese Middle Palaeolithic cultures. Stone tools were used, and surviving blades are relatively few in number in this area. Based on archaeological records, three stages of the emergence of blade technique are hypothesized for this set of conditions. The first stage is represented by late Middle Palaeolithic industries such as those from Liujiacha(_??__??__??_), Gansu province. The technological foundation for blade technique was formed in this stage. The next stage is represented by Xinmiaozhuang(_??__??__??_), Hebei province. The blades produced in this stage were relatively wide, and were not used in tool making. Blades in the third stage were used for tools. The representative site is Shiyu. It is assumed that this sequence of stages illus trates the domestic development of palaeolithic technology in North China.
In the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Islands, blade industries appeared about 30, 000yrs B. P. Those blade techniques are similar to those of Shiyu, and younger than those of North China. It may be supposed that blade techniques in Korea and Japan spread from North China with the movement of human groups. At the same time, there are many differences between palaeolithic cultures in these three areas, and the domestic development of blade technique is also observed in the archaeological records of Japan. Thus, if there was cultural diffusion around East Asia in the early Upper Palaeolithic age, its influence was relatively limited; the main origin of Upper Palaeolithic culture in each area of East Asia was the domestic development of techniques that progressed independently.