The Paleolithic Culture Of The Yunnan-guizhou Plateau

The Paleolithic archaeology research of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau dates back to1973, but the true archaeology research was started after the establishment of the the People’s Republic of China. The discovery of the Homo erectus yuanmouensis and Guanyindong Site in the1960s marked that the the Paleolithic archaeology research in Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau had matured gradually. A number of Paleolithic sites were discovered one by one in the following decades, with lots of the unearthed paleoliths, fossils of Hominid and mammal, and implements made on bone and horn. Nowadays, this research has been among the top in the country and drawing worldwide attention.Similar with China’s major paleolithic industry in the North, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau’s palaeoliths belongs to flake lithic industrial system. Little changes had taken place in the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau’s paleolithic industry throughout the whole Paleolithic Age. Except for the major changes including Ridged-bipolar flaking Method occurred in the middle period and late period and the relatively bigger stone artifacts in the late period in some places, there was hardly any other change. This reflects that there was only minor external effect on Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau’s paleoliths. Generally speaking, Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau’s paleoliths share the following characteristics:the main blanks for tool were flakes, the principal flaking technique was direct hard hammer percussion and the Ridged-bipolar Method became popular in the middle period and late period. As for the paleolithic processing, hammering was the main method and most of the processing was one-way; the primary processing method in the early period was from the plane of fracture to the back, while processing from the back to the plane of fracture was more popular in the mid-late period. The dominant tools were scrapers, with points and choppers taking the second place and burin, stone cones, concave scrapers and picks being the third. Most of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau’s paleoliths are small and medium sized, with few lager than100mm.After comparing Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau’s Paleolithic Culture with the neighboring areas, we have found that paleolithic industries in the neighboring areas were affected by that of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau more or less. Taking Guangxi, Hunan, Sichuan and Vietnam as examples, Guangxi belongs to the classic Pebble-tool industry, which is totally contrary to that of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. However, the flakes of using Ridged-bipolar flaking Method found in Guangxi proved that Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau’s paleolithic industry did have influence upon Guangxi’s. Both the culture of the Li River region and the culture of the Wu River region as well as Sichuan’s Tongliang culture were affected by Guanyindong Culture.There were not much discovery of Vietnamese Paleolithic Culture of the middle period and late period. But it was also affected by Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau’s Paleoliths. On one hand, the adjacent areas were influenced by Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, so was Taiwan Island. But on the other hand, the adjacent areas exerted little influence on the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau.Based on the materials available, analyzing the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau’s Paleoliths, this paper summarizes the paleolithic cultural features and compares with the adjacent areas respectively to find out their similarities and differences. Thus, this thesis identifies the statues of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau’s Paleoliths in China.This thesis consists of five chapters:Chapter one:introduction of the natural environment of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. It includes four aspects, namely the geographical environment, geological features, climate, flora and fauna.Chapter two:the introduction of the discovery and research overview of the sites. It gives a brief account of the representative sites of the Paleolithic Age found in Yunnan and Guizhou. The Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau’s Paleolithic Age can be classified as early period, middle-late period. The discussion is carried out through several aspects:discovery of the sites, unearthed relics, cultural features and dating. Based on the published materials, this chapter presents the research profile of the paleolithic archaeology in Yunnan and Guizhou respectively, with ten years as a phase.Chapter three:cultural features. Taking the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau as a whole, this chapter probes into its cultural features from the perspectives of raw materials, craftmanship and tools, including early period and middle-late period. Then, the similarities and differences of these two periods are stated.Chapter four:comparison between the Paleolithic Cultures of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the adjacent areas. From the perspectives of raw materials, craftmanship and tools, the Paleolithic Culture of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is compared with those of Guangxi, Hunan, Sichuan and Vietnam, which are also classified as early period and middle-late period. Thus, this chapter finds out the similarities and differences between them and analyzes their effect on the adjacent areas.Chapter five:The status of the Paleolithic Culture of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. The discussion is composed of two aspects. Firstly, the Paleolithic Culture of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau is an important part of China’s the Paleolithic Culture. Secondly, as one of the vital areas for paleoanthropic origin and dispersal, the Paleolithic Culture of Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau had exerted significant influence on the surrounding areas.