Title: What Insights into Ancient Human Life Do the Yishui Banshan Archaeological Sites Reveal?
— An Interview with Li Gang, Head of the Banshan Archaeological Project
The study of Paleolithic archaeology is one of the essential means to unveil the origins of humanity. In March 2024, the Yishui Banshan archaeological sites in Shandong were recognized as one of China’s “Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of 2023.” What kinds of prehistoric cultural insights have been revealed by this site? What did ancient humans’ lives look like? Li Gang, the head of the Banshan archaeological project and a researcher at the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, recently sat down with China News Service for an in-depth interview to shed light on these questions.
**China News Service Reporter:** How were the Yishui Banshan archaeological sites discovered? What do these sites include?
**Li Gang:** The discovery of the Banshan sites was a fortunate accident. In the summer of 2020, following a typhoon, heavy rains caused the water level of the Yihe River in Linyi, Shandong, to rise sharply. The Banshan Reservoir was forced to release water beyond normal levels, and about 300 meters downstream from the overflow outlet, a piece of ivory was unexpectedly washed out from the riverbank, marking the beginning of the archaeological excavation of the Banshan sites.
The cultural and tourism bureau of Yishui County reported this to the Shandong Provincial Cultural Heritage Administration. I was subsequently sent to assess the situation on-site, confirming it was a rich prehistoric archaeological site, now known as the Banshan site.
The discovery has provided vital clues for locating more Paleolithic sites across a broader time frame. Excavation work officially started in 2021. Over three years, we’ve identified over 80 sites in the upstream area of the Yihe River, including the Shuimen site, Shuiquanyu site, Gezhuang site, and Yihetou site, representing a range from the mid to late Paleolithic, as well as transitional periods between the Paleolithic and Neolithic.
Among them, the Shuiquanyu site, which has the thickest stratification, has preliminary dating suggesting it dates back between 20,900 and 65,000 years. It reflects two cultural traditions: microlithic tools and simple core-flake techniques. This site has overlapping strata with the Banshan site preserved for at least 15,000 years, demonstrating clear characteristics of inheritance and development in tool-making.
**China News Service Reporter:** What significant artifacts have been unearthed at the Yishui Banshan sites? What aspects of ancient human life do they reveal, dating back a hundred thousand years?
**Li Gang:** The Banshan site is essentially a “treasure trove” of prehistoric culture. With nearly 8 meters of accumulated strata, we have delineated 14 cultural layers and uncovered over 40,000 cultural relics, including stone tools, animal bones, and a small amount of organic specimens made of bamboo and wood.
Notably, in the stratum dating back around 100,000 years, we discovered a shovel-shaped tool made from elephant ivory, crafted using the molars of ancient proboscideans. This is a “rare treasure” and represents the earliest and largest known ivory artifact to be discovered in this era in China. Its well-defined shape and clear usage marks indicate not only ancient humans’ diverse material choices for tools but also hint at advancements in human intelligence, suggesting a potential connection to the emergence of new human populations.
Based on our dating data, and through comprehensive analyses of the artifacts, flaking techniques, animal species, and environmental reconstructions, we can tentatively reconstruct a glimpse of what life looked like along the Yihe River around 100,000 years ago. At that time, the climate was favorable, with average temperatures higher than today. The ancient Yihe River flowed abundantly, nourishing the local flora and fauna, including ancient proboscideans, rhinoceroses, primitive cattle, antelopes, horses, and deer.
Moreover, the rich quartzite resources in the nearby low mountains suggest that ancient Banshan inhabitants frequently utilized this area. They thrived here for thousands of years, relying on access to water, stone materials, and various animal and plant resources.
**China News Service Reporter:** What significant conclusions have archaeologists drawn from the excavation results of the Yishui Banshan sites?
**Li Gang:** Investigations centered around the Banshan and Shuiquanyu sites reveal a complete stratigraphic section spanning from around 100,000 to 20,000 years ago, effectively enriching the cultural development sequence of Late Pleistocene humans in the Haidai region, which is quite rare for Shandong and its surroundings.
The Banshan site showcases a simple core-flake tool industry using quartzite, a characteristic that can be traced back to earlier technological traditions in North China, developing in the Haidai region from at least 100,000 years ago, leading into the appearance of microlithic tools around 30,000 years ago.
The microlithic technology at the Shuiquanyu site serves as a transitional phase, appearing no later than 28,000 years ago and continuing until about 20,000 years ago. This marks the onset of a Neolithic civilization in the Haidai area, highlighting the deep-rooted and continuous nature of Chinese cultural heritage.
It is noteworthy that the thousands of stone artifacts and animal fossils unearthed at the Banshan sites chronologically illustrate the continuous historical evolution of Late Pleistocene humans in the region. They connect with the simple core-flake industries found in surrounding areas, revealing the consistency of Paleolithic cultural traditions across northern and central China and even into southern China, underscoring the longstanding continuous development of Chinese culture as early as the Paleolithic period.
Considering environmental archaeology, dating data, and artifacts, we recognize that during the warmer period around 100,000 years ago, ancient humans utilized large animals extensively. During the colder period around 70,000 years ago, fire usage became frequent to combat the cold. By the time of the last glacial maximum about 30,000 years ago, the emergence of microlithic technologies reflected humanity’s strategic adjustments to changing environments. These findings vividly illustrate ancient human responses to the climatic changes during the Late Pleistocene between the Yellow, Huai, and Hai Rivers.
**China News Service Reporter:** The origin of modern humans has long been a contentious topic in archaeology. What new evidence does the Yishui Banshan sites offer in addressing this question?
**Li Gang:** The African origin hypothesis suggests that about 200,000 years ago, early Homo sapiens evolved from African homo erectus, migrating out of Africa around 100,000 years ago and fully replacing local indigenous populations in East Asia by about 60,000 years ago. This hypothesis posits complete replacement, indicating that the original residents of East Asia could not survive the harsh environment of the last glacial maximum around 70,000 years ago.
However, the discovery of the Banshan sites offers crucial evidence regarding the origin of modern humans, specifically concerning our direct ancestors. The concentrated utilization of large mammals, such as ancient proboscideans and rhinoceroses, dating back roughly 100,000 years, alongside the concentrated evidence of fire use during colder periods, and the establishment of microlithic technologies as the last glacial maximum approached, indicate that Late Pleistocene humans continually adapted their strategies to contend with alternating cold and warm periods.
The continuous cultural deposits from the Banshan sites since the Late Pleistocene, alongside the uninterrupted sequence of Paleolithic cultural development, illustrate the historical progression of humans in this area. In particular, the cultural trends around 70,000 years ago provide evidence of human activities in China, utilizing local stone technology distinct from that used by contemporaneous Africans, directly disputing theories that suggest the extinction of ancient humans in East Asia during the last glacial maximum and clearly demonstrating the enduring evolution of early human cultures in this region and beyond.
**Interviewer Background:**
Li Gang is the director of the Scientific Archaeology Research Center at the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, a researcher in cultural artifacts, and a distinguished young talent in national-level talent programs. He is a member of the Paleolithic Committee of the Chinese Archaeological Society and serves as an executive director of the Shandong Archaeological Society, having led over 20 archaeological excavation projects.
