Research On Stone Tools Unearthed At The First Site Of Xinglonggou Site In Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia

Stone tools have been the most frequently-used artifacts in the production and daily life during prehistoric societies before the emergence of metal objects.Rocks with diversity of physical and chemical characteristics can meet people's needs in all aspects.In the meantime,the preservation of stone tools is relatively better than other items among prehistoric remains.The first locality of Xinglonggou site is a well-preserved settlement in the middle Xinglongwa Culture of large size.Stone tools of abundant quantities,diverse materials and exquisite workmanship have been unearthed.Starting from the classification,this dissertation focuses on several relevant issues on the stone tools unearthed from the first locality of Xinglonggou site,including subsistence strategy and social development process.This dissertation consists of 6 chapters.Chapter 1 is introduction.This part begins with general information about excavations and discoveries of Xinglonggou site,followed by a summary of existing researches on both Xinglonggou site and stone tools of Xinglongwa Culture.Objective and methodology make up the final part of this chapter.Chapter 2 focuses on archaeological discoveries of stone tools at Xinglonggou site.A brief summary of the houses,burials and ash pits will be made first,specifically the number,location and assemblages of stone tools.In addition,the overall spatial layout will be discussed.Chapter 3 are the typology and related problems.The lithic materials and their sources will be identified,apart from analysis of the manufacturing techniques.The focuses of this chapter shall be sorting and classification of those lithic artifacts.According to utilization and functions,they are divided into 10 categories,such as cutting &wood processing tools,horticultural tools,food processing tools,grinding tools,cutting &smashing tools,hunting tools,ornaments,textile tools,bone processing tools and the rest,along with systematic typology within each category.Chapter 4 is the comparative studies on stone tools in Liaoxi area.Comparison will be made both among different archaeological cultures and also other typical sites during the same period,leading to summaries of characteristics of the stone tools at Xinglonggou.Similarities and differences with other archaeological cultures ends this chapter.Chapter 5 is preliminary study on the subsistence strategy,which will be on the basis of studies and analysis on the climate,environment,settlement,production&living tools,animal and plant remains as well as primitive agriculture of the first locality of Xinglonggou site.Chapter 6 is summary,illustrating the main points of this dissertation.