Stone Tools Found in China Mirror Neanderthal Technology from Europe, Posing a Middle Stone Age Enigma

Photo credit: www.smithsonianmag.com

Recent archaeological discoveries in East Asia challenge long-held beliefs about tool development during the Middle Paleolithic era.

Margherita Bassi

April 4, 2025 11:34 a.m.

For many years, researchers believed that East Asia did not see significant advancements in tool technology during the Middle Paleolithic period, which spans approximately 40,000 to 300,000 years ago. This era marked the rise of various hominin groups, including modern humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans, who innovated new stone tools mainly observed in Africa, Europe, and western Asia. However, the absence of similar archaeological evidence in East Asia led to the conclusion that the region experienced little to no progress during this critical phase of human history.

A groundbreaking discovery in southwest China has emerged, challenging this narrative and potentially transforming our understanding of human technological and cultural development.

In excavations conducted in 2019 and 2020, researchers uncovered a set of tools associated with the Quina technology, which is roughly estimated to be around 55,000 years old. This tool-making system is primarily linked to Neanderthal sites in Europe and regions of the Middle East. A recent study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences details this significant find, highlighting the implications it has for our understanding of East Asia’s prehistoric context.

“This discovery fundamentally alters our perception of that geographic area during the Middle Paleolithic,” stated Ben Marwick, a co-author of the study and an archaeologist at the University of Washington. He emphasized that the findings prompt questions about the extent of human innovation in the area during this period, suggesting that there may be more undiscovered evidence about human activity in East Asia.

The Quina system is characterized as a toolkit designed primarily for creating other tools. These artifacts include thick and asymmetrical scrapers, which were presumably used for processing various materials, including meat, animal hides, and wood. Scholars believe that these tools may have been utilized by prehistoric humans for hunting migratory species, as noted by Paul Smaglik in Discover.

Notably, these scrapers would have been beneficial to nomadic groups adapting to increasingly harsh climates. According to co-author Davide Delpiano of the University of Ferrara, the climatic conditions in southwestern China during the time of these tools’ creation closely resembled those in Europe.

Despite the promising nature of this discovery, it raises intriguing questions about the origins of the Quina tools in China. In Europe, these tools are primarily linked to Neanderthal populations; however, no Neanderthal remains have been discovered in East Asia. This presents a puzzle: How did such technology find its way to China?

Delpiano posits two potential scenarios that could explain this phenomenon. One possibility is that Neanderthals migrated to China and brought the Quina technology with them, either directly or through interactions with various human groups. Alternatively, it is plausible that another group, such as the Denisovans, developed this system independently at a similar time.

Paleolithic researcher Dongju Zhang of Lanzhou University, who did not participate in this research, expressed that while both theories are conceivable, it might still be premature to definitively determine the origins of these tools in the Longtan archaeological site.

Future excavations may yield more comprehensive archaeological layers that could help clarify the origins and development of Quina technology in East Asia. Such investigations could unveil earlier iterations of these tools, thereby supporting the idea that early human populations in the region achieved significant technological advancements independently.

Continued research promises to further illuminate the role of East Asia during the Middle Paleolithic era, a time that has historically been overshadowed in discussions of human evolutionary history.

Source
www.smithsonianmag.com