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New perspectives on the Late Pleistocene peopling of the Tibetan Plateau: the core-and-flake industry from the Tongtian River valley

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2021

Youcheng Chen ,
Guangliang Hou ,
Xiaoliang Chen ,
Jingyi Gao  and
Sunmei Jin
Youcheng Chen
Affiliation:
School of History, Capital Normal University, P.R. China
Guangliang Hou*
Affiliation:
School of Geographical Science, Qinghai Normal University, P.R. China Academy of Plateau Science and Sustainability, P.R. China
Xiaoliang Chen
Affiliation:
School of Geographical Science, Qinghai Normal University, P.R. China
Jingyi Gao
Affiliation:
School of Geographical Science, Qinghai Normal University, P.R. China
Sunmei Jin
Affiliation:
School of Geographical Science, Qinghai Normal University, P.R. China
*
*Author for correspondence: ✉ hgl20@163.com
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Abstract

The prehistoric peopling of the Tibetan Plateau is a contentious issue, with most archaeologists proposing that the first occupants migrated into the region from the north and the north-east, including from the vast area between the Altai Mountains and northern China. Here, the authors report on a newly discovered core-and-flake industry at the Tangda and Xiege sites in the south-eastern hinterland of the Tibetan Plateau. The discovery at these two sites of a lithic technology typical of the Upper Yangtze region provides new evidence for a south-eastern route of Late Pleistocene human dispersal onto the Tibetan Plateau. This research emphasises the diversity and complexity of early immigration events on the pre-Holocene plateau.

Keywords

East AsiaTibetan PlateauLate Pleistocenecore-and-flake lithic industrymigration
Type
Research Article
Information
Antiquity , Volume 95 , Issue 381 , June 2021 , pp. 587 - 604
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Antiquity Publications Ltd

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