Early to Late Pleistocene human settlements and the evolution of lithic technology in the Nihewan Basin, North China: A macroscopic perspective

Magnetostratigraphic dating of the fluvio-lacustrine sequence in the Nihewan Basin, North China, has permitted the precise timing of the basin infilling and associated Nihewan mammalian faunas. The combined evidence of new paleomagnetic findings from the Hongya and Huabaogou sections of the eastern Nihewan Basin and previously published magnetochronological data suggests that the Nihewan Formation records the tectono-sedimentary processes of the Plio–Pleistocene Nihewan Basin and that the Nihewan faunas can be placed between the Matuyama–Brunhes geomagnetic reversal and the onset of the Olduvai subchron (0.78–1.95 Ma). The onset and termination of the basin deposition occurred just prior to the Gauss–Matuyama geomagnetic reversal and during the period from the last interglaciation to the late last glaciation, respectively, suggesting that the Nihewan Formation is of Late Pliocene to late Pleistocene age. The Nihewan faunas, comprising a series of mammalian faunas (such as Maliang, Donggutuo, Xiaochangliang, Banshan, Majuangou, Huabaogou, Xiashagou, Danangou and Dongyaozitou), are suggested to span a time range of about 0.8–2.0 Ma. The combination of our new and previously published magnetostratigraphy has significantly refined the chronology of the terrestrial Nihewan Formation and faunas.

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Luminescence dating of Youfangbei early late Pleistocene site, Nihewan Basin, North China

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1017/qua.2021.19 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-11

Author(s):

Ying Lu ◽

Xuefeng Sun ◽

Hailong Zhao ◽

Peiyang Tan

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

North China ◽

Luminescence Dating ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Paleolithic Site ◽

Nihewan Basin ◽

Infrared Stimulated Luminescence ◽

The Relationship ◽

Early Late ◽

Small Flake

Abstract Sites dated to the early late Pleistocene are still limited in North China, which has hindered the detailed analysis of the development of Paleolithic industries in the late Pleistocene in this area. The Youfangbei (YFB) site is a newly excavated small-flake-tool Paleolithic site near the Youfang (YF) microblade site in the Nihewan Basin, North China. Because the small-flake-tool industry still existed in the late part of the late Pleistocene and might be related to the emergence of microlithic industries, the relationship between the two sites needs to be determined through a chronological study. Two profiles were excavated, and most of the artifact assemblages were unearthed in the lower profile (T1) from a depth of 0.9 m from the bottom. In this study, the feldspar post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence method was applied to determine the age of the YFB site. Results showed that the upper profile was deposited from 86–0.5 ka, and the cultural layer in T1 yielded age of 124–82 ka, corresponding to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, with an irregular but generally mild climate. The age of the YFB site is too old to be directly related to that of the YF site, but it partly bridges a chronological gap of human occupation in the Nihewan Basin.

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Decision letter for "Stratigraphy and its environmental implications of the Late Pleistocene Shuidonggou Formation in the western Ordos Block, North China"

10.1002/gj.3972/v2/decision1 ◽

2020 ◽

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

North China ◽

Environmental Implications ◽

Ordos Block

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A Giant Ostrich from the Lower Pleistocene Nihewan Formation of North China, with a Review of the Fossil Ostriches of China

Diversity ◽

10.3390/d13020047 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 47

Author(s):

Eric Buffetaut ◽

Delphine Angst

Keyword(s):

Geographical Distribution ◽

Late Pleistocene ◽

North China ◽

Hebei Province ◽

Early Pleistocene ◽

Wide Geographical Distribution ◽

Lower Pleistocene ◽

The Crimea

A large incomplete ostrich femur from the Lower Pleistocene of North China, kept at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), is described. It was found by Father Emile Licent in 1925 in the Nihewan Formation (dated at about 1.8 Ma) of Hebei Province. On the basis of the minimum circumference of the shaft, a mass of 300 kg, twice that of a modern ostrich, was obtained. The bone is remarkably robust, more so than the femur of the more recent, Late Pleistocene, Struthio anderssoni from China, and resembles in that regard Pachystruthio Kretzoi, 1954, a genus known from the Lower Pleistocene of Hungary, Georgia and the Crimea, to which the Nihewan specimen is referred, as Pachystruthio indet. This find testifies to the wide geographical distribution of very massive ostriches in the Early Pleistocene of Eurasia. The giant ostrich from Nihewan was contemporaneous with the early hominins who inhabited that region in the Early Pleistocene.

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