Diachronic changes in Early Pleistocene lithic technology at the Donggutuo site, Nihewan Basin, northern China

Recent studies of some Early Pleistocene archaeological sites in North China have generated new discussions regarding Pleistocene technological development and human adaptation. There is a long-standing debate regarding whether Lower Paleolithic assemblages in the Nihewan Basin represent a static mode 1 technocomplex or reflect more sophisticated technical abilities and mental templates. The Donggutuo (DGT) site, a key Early Pleistocene locality in the eastern Nihewan Basin, comprises an ideal case study for understanding technology and hominin adaptability due to its long sedimentary sequence, reflecting a diversity of paleoenvironments and abundant archaeological remains. Although DGT has been the subject of multiple excavations over the past several decades, few detailed analyses have focused on diachronic variability through the sequence. The largest conducted excavation to date at DGT was carried out from 2016 to 2019 in trench 1, uncovering the complete archaeological sequence and thousands of artifacts. Here, we examine technological characteristics and assemblage variation throughout the DGT sequence, emphasizing two especially prolific layers: 6A2 and 6C1. The DGT assemblage is attributed to the core-flake technocomplex, characterized by expedient flaking and nonstandardized retouching. However, we identified subtle yet meaningful intra-assemblage variations in raw material procurement and utilization, flaking methods, and typological composition. These diachronic changes suggest that Early Pleistocene lithic technology in the Nihewan Basin was flexible rather than static, without changing the basic technological repertoire. This highlights the necessity of moving beyond the broad classification of assemblages by technological modes and, instead, focusing on deep understanding of technology and hominin adaptive behavior in response to environmental variability in East Asia.