DISCOVERY OF PALEOLITHIC ARTIFACTS AND MAMMAL FOSSILS FROM THE LOWER PLEISTOCENE AT THE LUJIAOLIANG IN NIHEWAN BASIN
Nihewan Basin has been explored scientifically for a century.Nihewan Basin is famous for its Early Pleistocene fossil mammal fauna,and has attracted close attention for its abundant Early Pleistocene paleolithic sites.A growing number of archaeological finds in the basin suggest that humans could not have migrated out of Africa later than 2 million years ago.Lujiaoliang(40°13′01″N,114°39′26″E)is a newly discovered Early Pleistocene paleolithic site in Nihewan Basin.Here 34 stone artifacts were unearthed,including 2 trimmed pieces,18 flaks,5 cores and 9 chunks,as well as a large number of mammal bones and teeth.The identified species Mammuthus trogontherii and Elasmotherium peii constitute the distinctive features of Early Quaternary mammal fauna.Lujiaoliang is located at the bottom of the Houshishan Member of the Nihewan Formation of the Lower Pleistocene,and its age is slightly later than that of Xiaochangliang site,which is estimated to be close to 1.5 Ma.The discovery of Lujiaoliang site not only supplemented a missing link in the sequence of Early Pleistocene human sites in Nihewan Basin,but also added some rare fossil materials of Nihewan Fauna,providing physical evidence for the study of the occurrence and evolution of steppe mammoth and Elasmotherium peii in China and even in East Asia.
stone artifactsMammalsLower PleistoceneLujiaoliang siteNihewan Basin
万方数据
维普
