55,000-Year-Old Human Activity Unearthed in Guizhou, China

via ecns, 13 January 2024: Archaeologists have made a groundbreaking discovery at the Chuan Dong site in Puding County, Guizhou Province, China, uncovering evidence of human activities dating back 55,000 years. This site, first discovered in 1978, has revealed over 10,000 artifacts, including stone and bone tools, human skulls, and animal fossils.

A significant breakthrough has been achieved in the archaeological excavation of the Chuan Dong site in Puding County, Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, pushing the history of human activity in the area back to 55,000 years ago, according to a report by the China News Service (CNS) on Monday.

According to the report, researchers have discovered new layers beneath the previously excavated strata after two years of excavations.

“Preliminary assessments suggest that the earliest human activities at the site date back to approximately 55,000 years ago, continuing until around 8,000 years ago, with the most intensive human activities occurring around 12,000 years ago,” said Zhang Xinglong, deputy director of the Guizhou Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute and leader of the excavation team.

“The latest dating data shows that the Chuan Dong site spans the middle and late stages of the Paleolithic era and the New Stone Age,” Zhang added.

Source: Human activities, artifacts from 55,000 years ago found in Southwest China’s Guizhou