Vast trove of pre-historic stone artifacts unearthed

More than a thousand Paleolithic stone artifacts have been unearthed at a cultural relic site near Yichang.

These pre-history artifacts were found at Jiuligang cultural relic site in Dangyang City. Included in the findings were pointed tools, scrapers and hand picks. Archaeologists say it is probable there is a small-scale stone processing site in the vicinity of where the artifacts were found. They said this is a valuable discovery to help us understand how people at the middle reaches of the Yangtze River lived and worked during the transition from the Paleolithic period to the early Neolithic period.

Xiang Qifang, the project leader, explained that this is a mid-Paleolithic site with a wide distribution and rich accumulation. The site provides a long and continuous vertical section that possesses important academic value.

Since July, Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology have joined hands with local universities and research institutions to form 20 archaeology teams that will set out to check 22 underground cultural relic sites along the Yanjiang Railway line construction strip.

Stone artifacts unearthed from the Jiuligang cultural relic site in Dangyang City.