The Zhuanglang River is a primary tributary of the Yellow River. Tracing back to the prehistoric period, the numerous scattered settlement sites within the basin indicate that early inhabitants settled and flourished here, creating a unique and splendid culture. The Gejiawan site differs from other nearby Neolithic sites in that it is characterized by the widespread use of stone tools and a relatively high proportion of knapped (flaked) implements, a distinctive feature. We tentatively propose that the Gejiawan site may have served as a regional center of the Machang-type Neolithic in this area. Compared with contemporaneous surrounding sites, the Gejiawan site occupies a more open location with a wider visual field and covers a larger area; the artifacts recovered from the site are abundant in quantity, diverse in type, and finely worked, and craft technologies appear well developed. These attributes fully demonstrate the composite characteristics of the Machang cultures subsistence strategies.
Zhang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.