Message #248820

[Kerissa Faad]

“Furthermore, creation of such an engraved object may indicate the possible existence of complex communicative systems such as language,” he said.

“In addition to the engraved stone artifact, one ostrich egg bead was unearthed from Locality 1. The lithic assemblage of this locality includes blade production and elongated tool blanks. The blade technology was probably introduced from the Altai region of Russian Siberia, according to comparison between lithic assemblages. The flake technology is typical of the Late Paleolithic in north China.”

“So, who created the ostrich beads and incisions? Were they made by the populations who migrated from the west, such as from the Altai region? Or were they the result of acculturation, such that aborigines in north China learned this kind of technology from exogenous populations? Or were they created solely by the local people because of technological renovation or cognitive advancement?”

“At this time, we cannot provide a clear scenario. We need not only more archaeological evidence, but also evidence from anthropological, genetic and other disciplines. Integrating all information from different fields of study is the means to solve the puzzle,” Dr Peng concluded.

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Bibliographic information: Fei Peng et al. An engraved artifact from Shuidonggou, an Early Late Paleolithic Site in Northwest China. Chinese Science Bulletin, July 2012; doi: 10.1007/s11434-012-5317-6

http://www.sci-news.com/archaeology/article00755.html