?This study examines lithic artifacts recovered from four Upper Palaeolithic sites from southern Shandong, and the preliminary
results suggest that lithic
industries in the study region are more complex than we previously thought. Different techniques can be recognized, which make it apparent that the concept of a "Fenghuangling Culture" is no longer relevant. Microblade technology was clearly defined based on three sites: Fenghuangling, Qingfengling, and Wanghailou. At Wanghailou the use of raw materials and
reduction techniques are distinctive, possibly indicating a variation of the Shandong microblade industries. The Heilongtan site represents a flakecore reduction technology, resulting in a nonmicroblade tradition at the site, a finding which contradicts previous arguments that this site has yielded a microblade assemblage. Investigations from additional fieldwork at the Heilongtan site indicate that microblade remains previously collected from this site derive from secondary deposits, as a result of erosion from upland microblade locations, such as Wanghailou.