Shuozhou Zhishuyu Site

Shuozhou Zhishuyu Site

The Shuozhou Zhishuyu Site is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Zhishuyu Site (First Batch of Provincial-Level Protected Sites)

Era: Paleolithic

Location: Near Zhishuyu Village, Shuocheng District

Site Description

Zhishuyu Village is located at the foothills of Heituo Mountain in Shuozhou, at the southwestern edge of the Datong Basin. The Zhishuyu River, a tributary of the upper Sanggan River, flows around the village. It is surrounded by mountains on the west, north, and south, and faces the expansive Sanggan River Plain to the east. The site is situated on an isolated sandy dune at the confluence of the Zhishuyu River and Xiaoquangou.

The site covers an area 100 meters long from north to south and 15 meters wide from east to west. It was surveyed and partially excavated in 1963. Artifacts discovered include: one human occipital bone, over 15,000 stone artifacts, multiple pieces of burnt stone and bone, one ornament, and over 5,000 animal teeth. The site is characterized mainly by small stone tools. The era is attributed to the Late Pleistocene, with C14 dating indicating an age of 28,945±1,370 years and 28,135±1,330 years.

The cultural remains at the Zhishuyu Site include stone artifacts, bone tools, and ornaments. Excavated stone tools consist of over 20,000 items such as points, burins, scrapers, and arrowheads. The raw materials used for making stone tools include vein quartzite, siliceous limestone, flint, and igneous rocks. Most of the stone tools are small-sized, with very few large tools and rare chopping tools. Additionally, finely made bone points were found, along with other clearly worked bone fragments that could have served as tools. There was also one flat, round graphite ornament reflecting grinding and drilling techniques.

Coexisting with ashes, stone tools, and burnt bones, animal fossils were often found densely layered, though most were individual animal teeth, totaling over 5,000, plus a large number of artificially shattered animal bone fragments. Among the mammal fossils, wild horses were the most numerous, representing at least 120 individuals, followed by 88 wild asses—clearly these two steppe animals were the primary targets of hunting at the time.

The Zhishuyu Site is an important Late Paleolithic site discovered in North China, playing an irreplaceable role in the study of Late Paleolithic culture and the origins of microlithic culture.

Site Research & Discovery

According to C14 isotope dating, the absolute age of the Zhishuyu Site is about 28,000 years. The unearthed relics are extremely rich, including approximately 150,000 stone artifacts, as well as more advanced indirect percussion products such as fan-shaped stone cores and micro-blades. One graphite-made perforated ornament, with one smooth side and edges ground smooth, shows clear friction marks—indicating that drilling and grinding techniques had already appeared in China over 28,000 years ago. These stone tools also mark the emergence of typical microlithic forms and composite tools. Studies of animal fossils excavated from the Zhishuyu Site revealed a surprisingly high number of horse remains within a relatively small excavation area, a rarity among Paleolithic sites, which earned the Zhishuyu people the title “Horse Hunters.” The Zhishuyu people hunted these steppe animals using bows and clubs, engaging primarily in hunting-based subsistence and creating the most outstanding “Horse Hunter Culture” of China’s Paleolithic era.

Site History

The Late Paleolithic culture in Shanxi, particularly in its later phase, is one of China's most representative microlithic cultures. It consists of a cluster of nearly 20 sites scattered along the edges of mountain basin areas at the eastern foothills of Lishan Mountain, the main peak of the Zhongtiao Mountains. Named after the richest finds near Xiachuan in Qinshui County, it is called the “Xiachuan Culture.” C14 dating indicates it dates back approximately 23,000–16,000 years. In addition to the Xiachuan Site, other Late Paleolithic cultural sites in Shanxi include the “Xueguan Site” (discovered in 1964 on the right bank of the Xinshui River in Xueguan Village, Puxian, on the eastern bank of the Yellow River at the western foothills of the Lüliang Mountains), the “Shizitan Site” (discovered in 1980 by the Qingshui River in Jixian County), and dozens of locations in Pianguan County and neighboring areas of Inner Mongolia’s Jungar Banner and Qingshuihe County. These sites share roughly the same age, about 13,550±150 years, and similar cultural features. The processing techniques and styles of the stone tools show varying degrees of resemblance to those of the Xiachuan Culture. However, the typical tools unearthed from these sites are various types of points and scrapers, indicating that humans at the time had mastered the skills to process animal hides and sew them for warmth. Most valuable of all, two of China’s earliest known rock paintings were discovered at the Shizitan Site, both painted with ochre-red hematite powder—one depicting a nude female figure, the other resembling a hunting or dancing scene. This discovery shows that humans at the time had begun to use pictorial forms for expression and possessed a rich spiritual culture.

Site Fossils

The Zhishuyu Site is located at the foot of Heituo Mountain, 15 kilometers northwest of Shuozhou City. It is a Paleolithic human settlement site, discovered by the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1963. It is now a provincial-level key cultural relics protection unit. In addition to a large number of small stone tools and abundant animal fossils, hundreds of carved bone fragments and one early human weapon—the stone hand adze—were also excavated.

In 1963, scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences discovered a Paleolithic site at the foot of Heituo Mountain, north of Zhishuyu Village in Shuocheng District, Shuozhou. The site dates back about 28,000 years and was designated a key cultural relic protection unit of Shanxi Province in 1965. The Zhishuyu Site is one of the larger Late Paleolithic sites discovered in China during the 1960s, notable for the large number of exquisitely crafted small stone tools and the abundance of mammal skeletal remains. Among the over 20,000 artificially fractured bone fragments, hundreds bear clear straight incisions of varying numbers.

Experts speculate that these incisions on the bone fragments may represent some of the earliest counting symbols used by humans before the invention of writing. On the stratigraphic profile of the Zhishuyu Site, two ash layers within the cultural stratum can be observed. The lower ash layer yielded a bone fragment bearing a relatively complex image with very clear and easily identifiable incised markings, apparently a deliberate bone carving by the Zhishuyu people. A graphite-drilled ornament was also found at the site, demonstrating that the Zhishuyu people were quite advanced, capable of using highly sophisticated stone tools. Additionally, a stone arrowhead was discovered here—this unprecedented weapon proves that humans at the time had invented the bow and arrow. All unearthed relics indicate that when the Zhishuyu people lived here, the mountains were densely forested, the hills covered with shrubs, the plains lush with grass, and the rivers teeming with fish. Animals in the area at the time included antelope, wild horse, wild boar, deer, and ostrich. The Zhishuyu people hunted mostly wild horses, hence they are also called “Horse Hunters.”

A human occipital bone fossil was also found at the Zhishuyu Site. Analysis of its characteristics suggests that the Zhishuyu people lived earlier than the Upper Cave people but later than the Dingcun people of Shanxi, with an age of at least 100,000 years. This indicates that they began laboring and living on the vast land of Shuozhou tens of thousands of years ago. The Zhishuyu Culture is part of North China’s Late Paleolithic culture and constitutes a crucial link—alongside the Zhoukoudian Locality 1, Xujiaiayao Site, and Zhishuyu Site—in representing the developmental trajectory of Paleolithic culture in North China. It also laid the foundation for the microlithic culture of the Neolithic period in North China. The discovery of the Zhishuyu Site has provided valuable scientific data for China’s archaeological endeavors and important clues for studying the origins and development of Paleolithic cultures in Asia and the Americas. This indicates that after the “Xujiaiayao people,” humans thrived increasingly in the Sanggan River Basin, marking the prosperity and progress of prehistoric Chinese society.

Discovered in 1963 in Zhishuyu Village, Shuoxian (now Shuozhou), the site dates back approximately 28,000 years. It yielded one human occipital bone fossil, over 5,000 vertebrate fossils including wild horse, wild ass, water buffalo, antelope, woolly rhinoceros, tiger, and wolf, as well as over 30,000 bone tools and small stone tools. The discovery of stone arrowheads indicates that the Zhishuyu people had invented the bow and arrow—a significant advancement in tool-making that enhanced humanity’s ability to conquer nature. The Zhishuyu people were descendants of the Xujiaiayao people; in terms of physical form, they were already similar to modern humans, and socially, they had entered the early stage of matrilineal clan communes.

Fossil Research

Comprehensive identification of animal fossils reveals that ungulates make up the largest proportion of the Zhishuyu fauna—70% by species and over 95% by quantity—forming the main component of this animal group. Typical steppe animals include Mongolian wild horse, wild ass, Przewalski’s gazelle, and goitered gazelle.

In China, the earliest fossil record of the Mongolian wild horse comes from the Dingcun Site. According to modern zoogeographical data, the Mongolian wild horse is a cold-loving steppe animal distributed south of the Altai Mountains, north of the Tianshan Mountains, in the Junggar Basin and Manas River Basin, extending eastward along the Ulungur River to near the North Tianshan Mountains and the Kobdo Basin of Mongolia. Its known southern boundary during China’s Late Pleistocene (Dingcun, Xiangfen) is shifted about 9° northward in latitude, with an annual average temperature difference of about 10°C.

Based on the nature of the animal group, the geological age of the Zhishuyu Site is determined to be the Late Pleistocene. The environment at the time was steppe and shrub-steppe, with a climate slightly colder and drier than today, and significant seasonal temperature variations. Under such conditions, hunting was the primary means of subsistence for the “Zhishuyu people,” as evidenced by the large number of animal bones found at the site.

Research on the animal fossils from the Zhishuyu Site shows that horse species accounted for over 90% of herbivores, with a preliminary count of at least 120 wild horses and 88 wild asses. The discovery of such a large number of horse fossils within a relatively small excavation area is rare, and it is evident that these wild horses and asses did not die naturally. Archaeologists have concluded that the cognitive abilities and hunting skills of the “Zhishuyu people” had reached a considerable level—they had accumulated extensive experience through prolonged hunting activities and learned to focus their hunts on one or two types of animals based on their presence. Mr. Jia Lanpo referred to the primitive humans of the Zhishuyu area as “Horse Hunters” in the conclusion of his excavation report, a term later adopted by Guo Moruo in "Draft History of China."

Use of the Bow and Arrow

Particularly noteworthy is the discovery at the Zhishuyu Site of the earliest known stone arrowhead in China. It can be inferred that the “Horse Hunters” had invented the bow and arrow—an unprecedented weapon that extended the human arm by several dozen meters and was the most powerful hunting tool of the time. The bow and arrow expanded the range of hunting and improved hunting efficiency, thereby promoting the development of social productivity at the time.

The Shiyu stone arrowheads were made from flint, crafted from very thin, elongated flakes of stone, with sharp tips. One edge was finely worked, while the other retained the original sharp cutting edge of the flake, with only slight retouching near the tip to refine its shape. The base opposite the tip was narrowed on both sides through working, resembling a short arrow shaft. Such typical and exquisitely made stone arrowheads are the first of their kind found among late Paleolithic cultural remains in China.

In ancient Chinese legend, Yi, a descendant of Zhuanxu, was renowned for his exceptional archery skills. There is also the myth of "Yi Shooting Down Nine Suns," which praises his great deeds. As a result, later generations credited him with the invention of the bow and arrow. For example, the "Strategic Preparations" chapter in Sun Bin’s Art of War, recorded on bamboo slips from the Han Dynasty tomb at Yinqueshan, states: “Yi invented…” However, the true origins of the bow and arrow predate the legendary era of Yi by a considerable margin.

Judging from the fine degree of craftsmanship seen in stone arrowheads, the earliest use of the bow and arrow by humans likely predates even this, going back at least 30,000 years. Primitive bows and arrows were made of bamboo or wood, materials that decay easily and rarely survive intact to the present day. As a result, archaeological excavations often uncover only the arrowheads and not the bows themselves.

In terms of basic structure, though the bow and arrow consists of just three components—the bow, the string, and the arrow—it encompasses a wealth of technical knowledge. This includes the selection of various materials, diverse methods of processing, and multi-element joining techniques, as well as an understanding of elasticity and arrow flight dynamics. Therefore, the manufacturing technology of the bow and arrow represents the crystallization of experience and skill in primitive society and marks the pinnacle of early military technology. The emergence of the bow and arrow had epoch-making significance. As Engels stated: “The bow, the string, and the arrow are already quite complex tools. Their invention required long-accumulated experience and relatively developed intelligence, as well as familiarity with many other inventions… For the age of savagery, the bow and arrow were as decisive a weapon as the iron sword was for the barbarian age and firearms for the civilized age.” (The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State)

Stone knives and stone saws

The “axe-shaped small stone knife” unearthed at the Shiyu site is believed to be the earliest known ground stone knife in China. Made of translucent crystal, it features a curved blade about three centimeters wide, with a short, convex protrusion resembling a handle between two flat shoulders. The entire artifact is neat, compact, delicate, and aesthetically pleasing—this type of stone tool had never been discovered at any Paleolithic site in China before. Archaeologists speculate that the small stone knife was likely used for cutting game. It probably had a wooden or bone handle during use and, along with the stone arrowheads found at the site, represents one of China’s earliest composite tools.

At the Shiyu site, the earliest known saw-like artifacts in China were also discovered. These “stone saws” evolved from scrapers, with one edge of a thin flake modified into a serrated cutting edge. The resulting edge was relatively uniform, thin, and sharp, making it quite suitable for sawing. These “stone saws” could be used both for cutting and scraping, which is why archaeologists referred to them in the excavation report as “unifacial scrapers.” Historical texts and folklore have long attributed the invention of the saw to Lu Ban, a renowned craftsman of the Spring and Autumn Period, vividly describing how he came up with the idea. In reality, this attribution stems from the fact that the saw’s invention dates back so far, and the absence of written records from prehistoric times led later generations to credit the earliest identifiable skilled artisans with its creation—just as the invention of vehicles, boats, and houses, whose creators remain unknown, are attributed to the legendary Yellow Emperor, the progenitor of humanity.

Graphite ornaments

Among the unearthed cultural relics is a perforated ornament made of ground graphite, possibly the earliest known piece of human artwork. Also found was a bone pointed tool and numerous bone fragments with scratched lines. “If these indeed are artificially engraved symbols, it reminds us of the legends of ‘knot-tying for record-keeping’ and ‘carving on wood for writing’ before the invention of written language—these would not be baseless tales but rather the products of actual human needs.” (Guo Moruo, ed.: Draft of Chinese History, Vol. 1) Mr. Pei Wenzhong joyfully remarked: “The Shiyu bone fragments show that the art of China’s Paleolithic era had begun to emerge!” (Archaeological Explorations, Shanxi People’s Publishing House)

Research shows—Mr. Jia Lanpo believes that the significance of the Shiyu site can only be fully appreciated when viewed within the series of Paleolithic cultural developments in North China. The cultural evolution of the North China Paleolithic era involves at least two systems. One is the “? River – Dingcun system,” also called the “large flake chopper – triangular point tradition,” characterized by using broad flakes to produce various types of large choppers. The other system is the “Zhoukoudian Locality 1 (Peking Man Site) – Shiyu system” (abbreviated as the “Locality 1 – Shiyu system”), also known as the “boat-shaped scraper – burin tradition,” which is marked by using irregular small flakes to make a variety of fine stone tools. The “Locality 1 – Shiyu system” is widely distributed across North China and forms a rich and diverse cultural system that preceded the microlithic cultures of the Neolithic Age in the region. The importance of the Shiyu site lies precisely in its role as a link between the Peking Man culture and microlithic cultures, providing crucial clues to the origins of microliths in Asia and the Americas.

According to Mr. Jia Lanpo, the microliths of China, East Asia, North Asia, and North America generally belong to the same tradition. While the origins of this microlithic tradition can be traced back to the Peking Man period, the microlithic cultures most closely related to the “Mesolithic” and later periods are those of the Shiyu culture. Within the Shiyu cultural assemblage, not only are common microlithic tools such as arrowheads and thumbnail scrapers present, but there are also fan-shaped stone cores. Though not as typical as those in the “Mesolithic” and subsequent microlithic cultures, the fan-shaped cores at Shiyu show the early stages of development. Additionally, long stone flakes characteristic of microlithic cultures are found at the Shiyu site, representing the earliest examples of flakes detached by indirect percussion method in China.

The “Locality 1 – Shiyu system” stone tool tradition laid the foundation for the hunting-based economic culture of the Neolithic Age in North China, reflecting the specific needs of the people of that economic type for production tools. In the fine stone tool tradition, tools related to hunting dominate, suggesting an economy primarily based on hunting supplemented by gathering.

The geographic distribution of microlithic cultures in China reveals the general living patterns of people at the time. Ancient clans in northern, northwestern, and northeastern China shared the common feature of using microlithic tools. Most of them lived in desert grasslands or mountainous regions, initially maintaining economies based mainly on hunting and supplemented by gathering. Through hunting activities, they gradually learned to domesticate animal herds, giving rise to animal husbandry. To sustain these herds over the long term, they needed to store fodder, which led to the development of primitive agriculture from gathering. During the Neolithic Age, especially in its later phases, a mixed culture of microliths and farming tools such as stone hoes and stone axes became widespread in northern China, symbolizing a lifestyle that combined hunting (including animal domestication) with farming.

In October 2019, the Shuozhou Shiyu Site was included in the eighth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Shanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Eighth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level