Flint knapping strategies at Cenjiawan, an Early Paleolithic site in the Nihewan Basin, North China

Nihewan Basin is considered a vital region for the study of early human evolution, migration and behavioral variation in East Asia. Cenjiawan, dated to 1.1 Ma, is one of the Early Paleolithic sites in the basin, and yielded 1625 pieces of stone artifacts which provide significant information on early stone working techniques. The high proportion of small pieces suggests that Cenjiawan was not disturbed by natural agencies which would have removed the small debris away from the site area. Consequently, we were able to conduct refitting analysis to the whole lithic assemblage.