| As a significant part of ancient human beings in the Middle Paleolithic age, Houjiayao-Heyaozhuang site plays an important role in the research of Paleolithic culture and ancient human evolution. Although Houjiayao site was discovered 40 years ago, there are still many questions about it’s existence age and stratigraphic features, while it is empty about Heyaozhuang site. Based on previous works on the ancient river, and supported by the project (13277611 D)" The human origins of oriental human-the research about the origins, environmental and geological background of Nihewan " of Hebei province, this paper does a systematical research on the site’s geologic environment, especially the ancient river and the relationship between the river and the ancient’living stage and environment, by carrying out geological observations and geomagnetic measurements and resistivity sounding for 8 times. The results are as follows:(1) In the late Middle Pleistocene, there exited an ancient river near Houjiayao-Heyaozhuang site, which came from Xionger mountain, and stretched in the direction of NNW-SSE, and the river’s width is more than 1.5 km. The ancient river formed 240 ka B.P., when the ancient Nihewan lake shrank sharply, and ended in the late Pleistocene buried by fluvial deposits and it finished its form history. The old river went through the history of the ancient human.(2) The paleogeomorphic forms of Houjiayao-Heyaozhuang site tended to slip in the direction of south during the history of the river, and its altitude ranged 920-960 m, while the gradient of its surface is 1/90. The main channel bed flats in the direction of south east, and the area near Houjiayao site slope around 1/60, while it was about 1/120 around Heyaozhuang site. The ancient river’s plane form is very complicated, and it not only had many divarications or river branches, but also had shallow and wide river bend, as well as an oxbow lake; in vertical direction, both sides were steep, and the bottom was wide with a slow concave. From the point of the ancient river sedimentary structure type, there exited not only flood plain deposit, which got clear dual structure and river sediment with mud and sand lens, pyrite-bearing peat layer deposition, river (bog) phase and oxbow lake deposition.(3) The ancient cultural relics of Houjiayao-Heyaozhuang site was buried at the oxbow lake sediments and the clay layer, which was on the top of oxbow lake sediments. That means the ancient human lived on the river not the lake. And the ancient river was not Liyigou river. The two sites are(4) separated by less than 3 km, and their buried environment is similar to each other, so we guess the two ancient cultural remains of contemporaries belong to the same group of people.(5) In this paper, the research of the site’s sedimentary strata sequence of the ancient culture layer and have good consistency with others dating results, that is, the ancient human lived there during 220 ka B.P. to 160 ka B.P., for about 60 ka B.P..(6) The ancient river provided the old not only good ecological environment, what’s more, different graphical features of the ancient river created superior hunting ground. Because of soft lacustrine sediments, the water of the river contained more mud and sand. But the water of the oxbow lake sediments at Houjiayao site and the river bend facies at Heyaozhuang site was clear and slow, with more aquatic plants, so it attracted animals to look for food and it became an important hunting place for the ancient humans.(7) The climate was cold when the ancient people lived here in glacial. The landform looked like a chair with wide handrail facing to southeast, and made the Houjiayao-Heyaozhuang site receiving more sunshine and less cold wind, with a river and plentiful sourse for making stone implements. So the habitats of the site was more superior than other place and that is why it is an inevitable trend for ancient people to choose the Houjiayao-Heyaozhuang site to live. |
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