Paleoanthro-
pological Investigations in the Nihewan Basin, China
Archaeological excavations by Stone Age Institute directors, Nicholas Toth and Kathy Schick, and the late J. Desmond Clark from the University of California at Berkeley, have investigated some of the earliest archaeological sites in far eastern Asia. Located in an ancient sedimentary basin about 100 west of Beijing, the Nihewan sites document hominid dispersal to eastern Asia, early stone tool-making, and ancient animal fossils beginning at least 1.3 million years ago.
Research here by a joint Chinese-U.S. team of archaeologists beginning in 1990 represents the first collaborative excavations involving foreigners in China since World War II. These sites have produced Oldowan-like stone technologies associated with fossil animal bones, providing valuable information about early Homo erectus in mainland Asia. A monograph on this research will be published by the Stone Age Institute Press and is currently in preparation.
Kathy Schick
