The Study On Stone Implements From Xingang Site,Jiangsu Province

Stone implements are the major production tools in the Neolithic Age.Their manufacture technique and usage reflect the production mode and human life of the prehistoric society.The Xingang site in Changzhou,which has long duration and complete sequence,is a representative prehistoric site of Songze Culture.The relative researches on the stone implements unearthed from the Xingang site serve as an indispensable bridge for understanding the social visage,production mode and human life of the prehistoric society.The microwear analysis method,using microscopes to observe use-wear on the stone surfaces,provides a new perspective to study the usage and function of the stone implements.100 stone implements from the Xingang site are selected to be the study objects for this dissertation,including 8 poleaxes,1 axe,57 adzes,19 chisels,5 grinders and 10 semi-manufactures.Firstly,a visual inspection is conducted to survey and map these stone implements according to the original size,and to identify their lithology.Secondly,a microscopic inspection is conducted to observe microwear on the stone surfaces,using the low-power and high-power imaging technology,respectively.Finally,the results of both visual inspection and microscopic inspection are used to conjecture the manufacture technique and function of the stone implements.The lithology of the 8 poleaxes and 1 axe,which have handles like the form of “?”,are mainly slates and green pyroxenite,and some of them are sandstone,phyllite and granite.The flake scars of the 8 poleaxes are totally different in shape,number and position,which reflects the different functions of these stone implements.According to the visual inspection and microscopic inspection,the poleaxes can be divided into 2 categories by their functions:chop tools and slaughter tools.The chop tools are used to process hard objects,such as hardwoods and skeletons,while the slaughter tools are used as stone knife to process meat.Duo to the reddish-brown mineral on its blade surface,the axe is conjectured to be a grinding paint tool.The lithology of the 57 adzes are mainly slates and sandstone.Some of the adzes are assembled with their handles like the form of“T”,and others have handles like the form of“?”To assemble the handles better,the ridges of stone front and back surfaces are grinded with rounded corners.Flake scars,microflaking,rounded corners and scratches are the main type of use-wear on the adzes.Based on these use-wear,the adzes can be divided into 5 categories by their functions:chop tools,scrapers,cutters,versatility tools and small chisels.The number and type of adzes are most abundant among the five kinds of stone implements.Most blade surfaces have been renewed in several times,which shows their high frequency of using.The lithology of the 19 chisels are mainly slates and sandstone,which is similar to the adzes.The chisels can be divided into 3 categories by their functions:"wedges","adzes" and small chisels.The "wedges" and "adzes" are used as auxiliary tools to chop wood and scrapers to scape wood,respectively.The small chisels are used to chisel or chop small operation objects.Considering the function of the chisels and adzes,it is observed that these two kinds of stone implements have functional overlaps.However,the number and type of the chisels are far less in contrast with the adzes.The lithology of the 5 grinders are mainly sandstone.The grinders consisting of coarse particles is suited for grinding other stone implements,with the rough surface for coarse grinding and the smooth surface for fine grinding.The 2 pieces among the 5 grinders are reformed from other kinds of stone implements,which demonstrates that the Xingang people are economic in using the stone implements.The lithology of the 10 semi-manufactures are mainly slates,and some of them are sandstone,phyllite and silicalite.The semi-manufactures can be divided into 2 categories:semi-processing manufactures and semi-reforming manufactures.The semi-processing manufactures have the same shape with the adzes,but have no grinding scraches,which demonstrates that the stone implements are shaped before grinding in manufacture process.The semi-reforming manufactures are beat and grinded repeatedly to reform new blade surfaces,which shows the reforming process of the stone implements.The stone implements unearthed from the XinGang site have abundant manufactures reformed from other kinds of implements,small implements and waste stones,which shows that the Xingang people are economic in using the stone manufactures and stone material.According to the visual inspection,the lithology of the stone implements are mainly slates with high hardness.The on-the-spot investigation shows that the similar kinds of slate are found in Mount Huang in Anhui Province and in Mount Tianmu in Zhejiang Province,but not in areas near Changzhou in Jiangsu Province,which indirectly explains why the reformed manufactures are so popular in Xingang site.