Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 3 March 2000:
Vol. 287. no. 5458, pp. 1622 - 1626
DOI: 10.1126/science.287.5458.1622
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Research Articles

Mid-Pleistocene Acheulean-like Stone Technology of the Bose Basin, South China

Hou Yamei, 1 Richard Potts, 2* Yuan Baoyin, 3 Guo Zhengtang, 3 Alan Deino, 4 Wang Wei, 5 Jennifer Clark, 2 Xie Guangmao, 6 Huang Weiwen 1

Stone artifacts from the Bose basin, South China, are associated with tektites dated to 803,000 ± 3000 years ago and represent the oldest known large cutting tools (LCTs) in East Asia. Bose toolmaking is compatible with Mode 2 (Acheulean) technologies in Africa in its targeted manufacture and biased spatial distribution of LCTs, large-scale flaking, and high flake scar counts. Acheulean-like tools in the mid-Pleistocene of South China imply that Mode 2 technical advances were manifested in East Asia contemporaneously with handaxe technology in Africa and western Eurasia. Bose lithic technology is associated with a tektite airfall and forest burning.

1 Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Box 643, Beijing 100044, China.
2 Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20560-0112, USA.
3 Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Box 9825, Beijing 100029, China.
4 Berkeley Geochronology Center, 2455 Ridge Road, Berkeley, CA 94709, USA.
5 Natural History Museum of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning 530012, China.
6 History Museum of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning 530022, China.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: potts.rick{at}nmnh.si.edu

Read the Full Text


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Cultural Adaptations After Progressionism.
L. W. McCall (2009)
Cross-Cultural Research 43, 62-85
   Abstract »    PDF »
Small Mid-Pleistocene Hominin Associated with East African Acheulean Technology.
R. Potts, A. K. Behrensmeyer, A. Deino, P. Ditchfield, and J. Clark (2004)
Science 305, 75-78
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
First Toba supereruption revival.
M.-Y. Lee, C.-H. Chen, K.-Y. Wei, Y. Iizuka, and S. Carey (2004)
Geology 32, 61-64
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Early Pleistocene 40Ar/39Ar ages for Bapang Formation hominins, Central Jawa, Indonesia.
R. Larick, R. L. Ciochon, Y. Zaim, Sudijono, Suminto, Y. Rizal, F. Aziz, M. Reagan, and M. Heizler (2001)
PNAS
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Paleolithic Technology and Human Evolution.
S. H. Ambrose (2001)
Science 291, 1748-1753
   Abstract »    Full Text »
Thermal ionization mass spectrometry U-series dating of a hominid site near Nanjing, China.
J.-x. Zhao, K. Hu, K. D. Collerson, and H.-k. Xu (2001)
Geology 29, 27-30
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Early Pleistocene 40Ar/39Ar ages for Bapang Formation hominins, Central Jawa, Indonesia.
R. Larick, R. L. Ciochon, Y. Zaim, Sudijono, Suminto, Y. Rizal, F. Aziz, M. Reagan, and M. Heizler (2001)
PNAS 98, 4866-4871
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)