China Shandong Evolution Model Chapter 5: The Mengxihe Site — East Asian Echoes of Cognitive Modernity and Archaeological Confirmation of the "Proactive Strategy" (~80–60 ka)

This chapter takes the Mengxihe site in Ziyang, Sichuan (~80–60 ka) as the core case study to test the hypothesis of “effective pressure → proactive strategy” established in Chapter 2. Located on the eastern margin of the Sichuan Basin, the site sits precisely within the window of severe climatic oscillation during the last glacial period. Within the same cultural layer, multiple behaviors co-appear: systematic raw material provisioning, broad-spectrum economy, dense distribution of hearths, spatial functional zoning, and geometric engravings. This chapter demonstrates that this is not an East Asian replica of African “symbolic modernity”, but an independent origin of “survival-driven modernity” under mid-latitude oscillatory pressure. These behaviors do not constitute a mere “laundry list of traits” but rather a complete “proactive survival algorithm”.