(TibetanReview.net, Jul22’24) – Chinese scientists have discovered a microblade technology site on the south bank of the Serling Tso lake (in Amdo county of Nagchu City), Tibet autonomous region, reported China’s official chinadaily.com.cn Jul 22. The discovery, named the Niadi Site, is the earliest of its kind, adding to the historical timeline of early human activity on the Tibetan Plateau, the report said, citing a research team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology.
Microblade technology is a period of technological microlith (tiny-blade-tool) development marked by the creation and use of small stone blades, which are produced by chipping silica-rich stones like chert, quartz, or obsidian. It was said to have come into widespread use over vast parts of northern Asia and northeastern Siberia in hunter-gatherer cultures during and after the Ice Age.
Migration to the Tibetan Plateau in that period may be closely linked to the long-term occupation of the region by humans and the formation of modern populations in Tibet, said China’s official globaltimes.cn Jul 21, citing a report by the Science and Technology Daily.
This ground-breaking find fills a gap in the region’s prehistoric cultural history and offers crucial insights into early human migration and adaptation on the plateau, the report said.
Significantly, the site has been dated to between 11,000 and 10,000 years ago. This time frame not only outlines the early activities of microblade technology groups in the heart of the plateau, but also provides an essential chronological marker for understanding the evolution of prehistoric human culture in the region.
In addition to the archaeological discoveries, the research team was stated to have integrated molecular biology findings, discovering that the migration of microblade technology groups into the Tibetan Plateau may be closely linked to the long-term occupation of the region by humans and the formation of modern populations in Tibet,