Recently, the National Cultural Heritage Administration announced the new archaeological discoveries nominated for consideration, with 30 projects submitted from various provincial cultural heritage departments, including the Hualongdong site in Dongzhi County, Chizhou City, Anhui. In December 2024, an academic seminar on the Hualongdong site released significant findings, stating that the Hualongdong people are the earliest ancient humans in East Asia evolving towards Homo sapiens.

On March 31, reporters visited the Hualongdong ancient human site in Dongzhi County, Chizhou City, to trace the footsteps of our ancestors.

According to Wang Qi, the head of the Hualongdong ancient human site, the cave has been officially excavated since 2006, with 11 excavations conducted so far. Archaeologists have discovered a group of 20 ancient human individuals, over 19,000 animal fossils, more than 400 stone artifacts made and used by ancient humans, and a large number of bone fragments with signs of human cutting, along with over 80 species of vertebrate fossils.

The Hualongdong site is like a time capsule, preserving a wealth of information about the "Dongzhi people" from 300,000 years ago. The unearthed skull fossil of the "Dongzhi people" is the only fossil in China from the late Middle Pleistocene that preserves both the complete facial structure and jawbone, allowing archaeologists to glimpse the "chin" of humans from 300,000 years ago for the first time.

Wang Qi stated that as the earliest ancient humans evolving towards Homo sapiens, the Hualongdong people spread from this area to the entire East Asia region.

Currently, the Hualongdong site has been developed into an educational excursions base, receiving over 2,000 students this year. Students can learn about the flora and fauna from 300,000 years ago, as well as the development history of humans and the natural world. The next step for the site is to create more experiential content centered around the cultural heritage of the site, upgrading it to the Hualongdong Ancient Human Site Park and sharing the stories of our ancestors with a larger audience.

Source: Anhuinews.com