Lithic Technological Behavioural Continuity During the MIS 5 - MIS 4 Climatic Transition in the North–South Transitional Zone of China: Evidence from the Wuying Site

LI Wencheng

The lower Danjiang River region, located in the north–south transitional zone of China, plays an important role for investigating technological behaviour and human evolution during the Late Pleistocene in China. This study presents new archaeological evidence from the Wuying site, integrating systematic excavation, luminescence dating, paleoenvironmental analyses, and techno-typological investigation of the lithic assemblage. Luminescence dating and paleoenvironmental analyses indicate that hominin occupations occurred at ca. 107-68 ka, spanning the climatic transition from the relatively warm and humid conditions of MIS 5 to the cooler and drier environments of MIS 4. Despite the environmental fluctuation, the lithic assemblage exhibits no substantial technological shift and is characterized by predominantly small-flake production based on freehand and bipolar reduction, with no evidence for predetermined cores, while the toolkit is dominated by diversified light-duty implements accompanied by very limited proportion of Large Cutting Tools. Regional comparisons further suggest a long-term trajectory of technological continuity and development in the lower Danjiang River region from the late Middle Pleistocene onward. By ca. 160 ka, more flexible and versatile reduction strategies and increasingly diversified toolkits had emerged, likely enhancing hominin adaptive capacity and contributing to the persistence of lithic technological traditions and relative population stability despite climatic fluctuations during the MIS 5 - MIS 4 transition.