Levallois Technology in China

Levallois technology dispersal is associated with several events of human habitation of the Asian region. Emergence of the Levallois technology in China precedes or coincides in time with the penetration of Initial Upper Paleolithic laminar industries into this region. All known Paleolithic localities, the assemblages of which include the Levallois component, are located in the border or adjacent zones in the modern China. The authors examine all these complexes and make an assumption about the nature of the Levallois technology introduced from the territories of the Russian Altai, Mongolia and India. Such complexes are dated to the terminal Middle Paleolithic and the initial Upper Paleolithic. In general, this period in China is characterized by a flake industry, often made on poor quality stone raw materials. In this region, three Levallois techniques are distinguished: preferential centripetal and parallel for the production of flakes and convergent unidirectional for the production of points. The convergent bidirectional reduction aimed at point production is not recorded in assemblages originating from the territory of China. In Mongolia, this technique is recorded along with the bidirectional parallel laminar technology in the Initial Upper Paleolithic industries, while in China both Levallois point and blade production techniques were unidirectional. The authors conclude that for most of the Paleolithic sites in China, the Levallois technology is an intrusive element that emerged along with the large blade industry. The exception is the Middle Paleolithic flake industry originating from the Jinsitai Cave, which is similar in its characteristics to the materials from the Denisova Cave. The composition of Xinjiang industries indicates that this territory was a kind of region where cultural complexes spread together with the bearers of these traditions along the Altai Mountains.