Jixian Paleolithic Site Cluster

Jixian Paleolithic Site Cluster

Jixian Paleolithic Site Cluster is a protected cultural heritage site of Tianjin Municipality.

Jixian Paleolithic Site Cluster

Era: Paleolithic Age

Address: Jixian County, Tianjin

Category: Other

Most of the stone tool sites are located on mountain-front terraces or second-level river terraces, with only one site at Guanzhuang Yegou situated on a relatively isolated small hill. The survey found that many sites have gravel layers beneath the surface, below which there are yellow soil layers of varying thicknesses. A few sites consist solely of accumulated yellow soil. The collected stone artifacts are primarily made of flint, with a small number crafted from quartz and quartz sandstone. These stone tools show clear signs of human workmanship and exhibit a rich variety of types. Tools mainly include numerous types of scrapers, along with points, drills, choppers, as well as cores, flakes, fragments, chunks, and debris. At some sites, a small number of microlith cores and atypical microblades were also discovered, indicating the diversity of the Paleolithic culture in this region. In terms of stone tool manufacturing techniques, except for the microliths, almost all others were made through direct percussion. Based on the collected stone artifact specimens and the geomorphological features of their discovery sites, it is preliminarily inferred that these artifacts date to the late Paleolithic period, approximately 100,000 to 10,000 years ago, belonging to the small tool tradition of northern China. This survey also identified sites dating from the late Paleolithic to the early Neolithic periods, providing important clues for studying the transition between the two eras.

Renowned Chinese Paleolithic archaeologists and researchers from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dr. Zhang Senshui and Dr. Gao Xing (both doctoral advisors), commented: "This Paleolithic archaeological survey in Jixian has finally eliminated the blank area of Paleolithic archaeological research at the provincial and municipal level. It marks a significant and remarkable achievement in the history of archaeology in Tianjin and represents an extremely important discovery, holding great significance for both the archaeology of Tianjin and that of China."

The discovery of Paleolithic sites and artifacts in Jixian is a major archaeological find in Tianjin over the past half-century. It not only fills the gap in Paleolithic archaeological research in the Tianjin area but also pushes the region’s human history back more than 10,000 years.