Stable and Inherited: Technological Strategy and Human Adaptation During 67–30 Thousand Years Ago at the Dashanpo Site in Chengdu Plain, Southwest China

HAN Fang*, CHEN Liwen, HUANG Ming, YANG Qingjiang, ZUO Zhiqiang, LU Hongliang, and GAO Xing

The Middle Palaeolithic to Upper Palaeolithic transition is a pivotal period for cultural evolution and human adaptation, most recently archaeological remains indicate the human behaviour diversity and distinct regional characteristics of technological development. In this study, we present lithics from a newly excavated Dashanpo site, located in the Chengdu Plain of the western Sichuan Basin – a region previously thought to have seen limited human activities during the Palaeolithic period. Our results provide evidence of stable technological strategy characterized by the coexistence of different reduction sequences between 67 and 30 ka BP. This technological pattern supported the adaptation of hunter-gatherers to the warm and humid region, despite the challenges posed by geological and hydrological instability. By examining the lithic technological trajectory of the Sichuan Basin, the technological component of Dashanpo reflect a gradual technological and cultural revolution from the terminal Middle to the Late Palaeolithic period in this region.