An Initial Upper Palaeolithic attribution is not empirically supported at Shiyu, northern China

Abstract

arising from: S.-X. Yang et al. Nature Ecology & Evolution https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02294-4 (2024)

Initial Upper Palaeolithic (IUP) assemblages are increasingly thought to be linked to the first widespread dispersal of Homo sapiens across Eurasia between 55 and 40 thousand years ago (kya cal bp). As a result, today the identification of IUP assemblages plays a key role in archaeological research focused on this key period, which is also characterized by the eventual disappearance of Neandertals and Denisovans from the fossil record. In a recent paper, Yang et al.¹ claim to have identified the oldest and easternmost IUP at Shiyu, northern China, dated to ~45 kya cal bp and with this to transform knowledge of the routes and timing of the migration of H. sapiens in Asia. We argue, however, that this attribution is based on a biased sample of artefacts, the misuse of technological definitions and the misreading of stone artefacts central to their argument. Furthermore, it relies on the questionable assumption that the studied material (750 lithic artefacts from an original number of ~15,000) is a representative sample of a single assemblage. Although we recognize the value of technological re-evaluations of previously excavated assemblages, we believe that an IUP attribution is not empirically supported. In fact, it detracts attention from more pressing issues concerning the character of this technology, the association between lithics and personal ornaments and the overall integrity of the assemblage. Below, we highlight the key problems in the conclusions reached by Yang et al. ¹.