吊桶环遗址位于江西万年县境内的大源盆地,是一处坐落在盆地西南边缘的孤立小山顶山的岩厦遗址。岩厦内发现晚更新世晚期以来文化堆积厚达4m以上。1993—1999年期间曾经过三次发掘,出土了数以千计的石制品,包括石片石器、砾石石器及局部经过磨制加工的石制品,数量众多的动物骨骼遗存。尤为重要的是时代早,数量较多,类型复杂的骨、角及蚌制品的发现,如鹿角斧、骨鱼镖及穿孔蚌壳刀等。与此同时,还有多处用火与居住活动遗迹的发现。这些新发现清楚地记录了晚更新世人类在岩厦内活动的历史,为认识华南地区晚更新世晚期人类的“行为现代性”或“复杂化”进程提供了重要的新证据。
Diaotonghuan is a rock shelter located in the limestone hills of the southwestern Dayuan basin in Wannian County, Jiangxi Province. The Diaotonghuan site was excavated in 1993, 1995 and 1999. Thousands of stone artifacts that include both flake and pebble tools were found during the excavations. A large number of antler and bone tools, as well as shell knives, were also found, and fireplaces and occupation surfaces were uncovered in different cultural horizons. The diversity of the finds indicates that the rock shelter had been used by Late Pleistocene hunter-gatherers for a variety of activities, including base camps, stone workshops, animal butchery, etc. in the late Late Pleistocene. The research at Diaotonghuan is significant as it opens a new window for examining the diversity of modem human behaviour in the Late Pleistocene of South China.