[Special section on the Yiluo project] INFLUENCES ON SELECTION OF LITHIC RAW MATERIAL SOURCES AT HUIZUI, A NEOLITHIC/EARLY BRONZE AGE SITE IN NORTHERN CHINA

Abstract

At Huizui, a major centre of ground stone tool manufacture, five main lithologies were used, each for a particular purpose: oolitic dolomite for spades; diabase for axes, adzes and chisels; fine micaceous sandstone for knives and sickles; other sandstone for grinding slabs; and fine limestone for lime. This reflects the functional properties of these lithologies. Diabase, oolitic dolomite and fine micaceous sandstone are tough and take sharp edges, which for diabase are particularly sharp and easily resharpened. All five rock types are probably available within 8 km of the site. Ground stone tool production may have been located at Huizui because of its proximity to the adjacent sandstone hills, which provided abundant abrasive material. Overall, raw materials are dominated by oolitic dolomite, which was quarried from a single thin-bedded layer that outcrops as flat pavements. Diabase was sourced from river cobbles, and micaceous sandstone was quarried. All three of these lithologies were extracted as raw material that required minimal shaping to make tools. This factor was probably responsible for the choice of oolitic dolomite over fine-grained dolomite, which is more common and occurs closer to Huizui, but cannot be easily quarried. The small amounts of probably exotic lithologies (including red rhyolite, marble, turquoise, ?jade) may have been used for elite items.