Earliest hafted tools uncovered in central China (160k–72k years ago)
TL;DR
New findings from Xigou in central China date to roughly 160,000–72,000 years ago and reveal advanced lithic technologies—core-on-flake and discoid reduction, a diverse suite of small flakes, and the earliest hafted (composite) tools in Eastern Asia—indicating a long span (about 90,000 years) of technological innovation and adaptive strategies during the late Middle to middle Late Pleistocene, with implications for hominin variability (e.g., brain size) at contemporary sites like Lingjing.
Topics:sciencearchaeology#archaeology#east-asia-archaeology#hafting#lithic-technology#middle-pleistocene#xigou-site
- Technological innovations and hafted technology in central China ~160,000–72,000 years ago Nature
- 160,000-year-old sophisticated stone tools discovered in China may not have been made by Homo sapiens Live Science
- News - Hafted Stone Tools Dating Back 160,000 Years Uncovered in China Archaeology Magazine
- Hafted stone tools in China suggest early hominins were more inventive than thought Phys.org
- Composite tool find puts China at centre of tech revolution up to 160,000 years ago: paper South China Morning Post
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