Xiachuan Site

　　Xiachuan Site (Second Batch of Provincial Protected Sites)

　　Era: Paleolithic

　　Address: Xiachuan Township, 70 kilometers west of Qinshui County

　　The site is mainly distributed across an area spanning 20–30 kilometers in the border regions of Yuanqu, Qinshui, and Yangcheng counties at the eastern end of the Zhongtiao Mountain Range. The cultural remains are most concentrated in the Xiachuan Basin. The basin is located on the eastern foothills of Mount Li, the main peak of the Zhongtiao Mountains. It stretches narrowly about 4.5 kilometers from north to south and reaches up to 2 kilometers in width from east to west, with an elevation of 1,550 meters. The bedrock beneath the basin and the surrounding mountains consist of Cambrian and Ordovician limestone. At the southern end of the basin, there is a narrow valley with a steep slope where water flows out.

　　The stratigraphy of the Xiachuan region is well-preserved, and the remains are the richest, hence the name Xiachuan Site. Carbon-14 dating indicates that it dates back from 23,000 to 16,000 years ago. It was discovered and excavated in the 1970s.

　　The Xiachuan Culture is represented primarily by stone tools, which are divided into two major categories. One category is the large stone tools, made from sandstone, quartzite, and vein quartz, accounting for 4.7% of the total stone artifacts. The other category is the microlithic tools, mainly made from flint. The small stone tools are the most representative artifacts of the Xiachuan Culture, including typical microblade cores and microblades, round scraper (fingernail-shaped), core scrapers, burins, backed knives, various types of pointed tools, awls, and stone arrowheads. In addition to the small stone tools, the Xiachuan Culture also includes a certain number of large stone tools such as pointed tools, scrapers, choppers, stone hammers, and grinding plates, among which the notched flake scrapers are the most distinctive.

　　The Xiachuan Culture is a typical microlithic tradition. The variety of microlithic core types is rich, their characteristics are distinct, the stratigraphy is clear, and the dating is early. This makes it highly significant for exploring the origin and evolution of the same technological tradition of microliths, which are widely distributed across China, Mongolia, Siberia (Soviet Union), Korea, Japan, and Alaska (North America).