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Astepped stone adze is a tool forwoodcrafting orwhittling.[1][2] It is commonly found atNeolithicsites inTaiwan. The stone adzes are generally in arectangle shape but look like atrapezoid from the side. Theacute angle on thehypotenuse is the cutting edge of the stone adze; the surface stretching from the cutting edge is the “blade”.[1] The stone adze can be categorized into different types based on their shapes, and the stepped stone adze is one of them. The “stepped” here means that the back of the adze is not a single flat surface but presents two successive levels of flat surfaces.[1][3] It is particularly noticeable due to its unique appearance and cultural meaning.[4]
Currently, the stepped stone adzes found inTaiwan are mostly polished, and therefore they are fine-processed with high quality. The “stepped” back side of the adze is for being tied and fixed on a woodenhandle withropes, as well as for enhancing strength when swinging arms in order to increase work efficiency.[4]
So far, stepped stone adzes were only found in a few sites, primarily in the north, including theFengshan site inTaipei City,Tapenkeng site inNew Taipei City, along withChihwuyuan (Botanical Garden) site,Koutishan site,Tanti site,Tayuanchienshan site, andChanlungshan site. They are found in thecultural layers ofTapenkeng Culture,Yuanshan Culture, andBotanical Garden Culture.[4][2]
The renownedarchaeologist,Sung Wen-Hsun, had discussed the distribution of stone adzes ineastern Asia. It was discovered that the stone adzes were unearthed from the south of theYangtze River inChina all the way toSoutheast Asia, among which the stepped stone adzes were mainly distributed in the north of theJiangnan area. In addition, by comparing the appearances, the stone adzes inMainland Southeast Asia seemed to be crafted in a “shouldered” shape instead of a “stepped” shape. However, going north to China and Taiwan, we only see “shouldered stone axes.” After comparing the distribution of the tools, Sung Wen-Hsun thinks that the Yuanshan Culture with the stepped stone adzes unearthed might be closely related to the coastal areas ofGuangdong.[4][5]
In recent years, there have also been scholars comparing the artifacts unearthed innorthern Taiwan and the Tapenkeng site in the south, and they pointed out that there are stepped stone adzes in the north but not theshouldered stone axes, so it is likely related to theHemudu Culture in China; the Nankuanli site in southern Taiwan has shouldered stone axes but no stepped stone adzes, indicating that it is related to the sites inFujian andGuangdong.[6]