An evolution in stone

Chinese archaeologists have discovered evidence of a pivotal stone tool technology dating back 30,000 years at the Xinmiaozhuang site in Zhangjiakou, Hebei province's Nihewan Basin, often called the "Homeland of Eastern Humans".

The discovery of bladelet (narrow, small, and elongated flakes) technology fills a crucial missing link in understanding the origins of later, more refined microblade technology in North China.

"It acts like a key, unlocking the door to a technological transition that happened tens of thousands of years ago," says Wang Fagang, 45, the lead archaeologist at the Xinmiaozhuang site and a researcher with the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.

The story of Xinmiaozhuang is one of persistent pursuit. The site was briefly excavated in 1986, yielding over 5,000 stone artifacts. The remote location was later lost to researchers due to changes in the landscape and imprecise records.

Wang first encountered the legend of this lost site nearly 20 years ago as a young graduate.

"We came looking, but the landscape had changed. We even thought road construction might have destroyed it," he says.

The breakthrough came in 2014 when senior archaeologist Xie Fei, after comparing a newly found soil exposure with a faded 1986 black-and-white photo, made the connection, according to a report by Hebei Daily.

Since systematic work began in 2016, nearly 30 Paleolithic sites have been identified in the small mountain basin. Formal excavations started in 2022.

According to Wang, from 2022 to 2024 at Locations 1 to 5, six consecutive periods of cultural deposits were identified spanning from 120,000 to 10,000 years ago. These encompass various technologies such as flake tools, Mousterian-style stone tools, bladelets and microblades.

The 2025 excavation focused on two areas within the site complex — Location 4 and 20. At Location 20, archaeologists uncovered two clear cultural layers.