Chinese Scientists Conclude Wushan Find Is Oldest Human Fossil In China At 2.04 Million Years

Although this doesn't appear to be a new fossil discovery, as indicated by some some other sources, Huang Banbo of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, has announced that the fossils nevertheless represent the oldest known in China, at just over 2 million years old. This from AHN...

Chinese archeologists have concluded that the two million years old human fossils found in Wushan County, Chongqing municipality from 1985 to 1988 belong to the earliest human species in China.

The lower jawbone fragment, an incisor and more than 230 pieces of stone tools of the so-called Wushan Man pre-dated the fossils of the Yuanmou Man by 300,000 years, the Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

The Yuanmou Man was discovered in southwestern Yunnan Province in the 1960s. It was previously regarded as the oldest human species found in China.

Whilst over at China.org, we hear from Huang Banbo himself...

"It's an exciting discovery because it may rewrite China's history," said Huang.

Huang said his team unearthed the human fossils during their first excavation, from 1985 to 1988. In the same stratigraphic interval, they also discovered fossils of 120 species of vertebrates, including 116 mammals, and a large number of stone artifacts.

"Various dating techniques corroborate the geological layer containing the Wushan Man fossils being as old as 2 million to 2.04 million years, but we think we need more evidence," said Huang.

Huang's team conducted two excavations from 1997 to 1999 and from 2003 to 2006 at the Longgupo Site with partners from Britain, Canada, and France.

They found more stone tools and animal fossils dating back 2 million years in the same stratigraphic interval in which Wushan Man fossils were found before, and also in the upper layers.

"The most important findings are the many leg fossils of animals, such as the elephant, rhinoceros, and deer fossils we found in an area of no more than two square meters," said Huang.

"It is not natural that the fossils, all legs, were arranged in layers in such a small space. Only an animal with thinking capacity could do it in that way," he said.

The Three Gorges area was once an expanse of hilly land with luxuriant vegetation and a warm, humid climate in which various vertebrates and mammals lived and thrived.

"It was just in such a natural environment that the Wushan Man led a primitive life by hunting and gathering. When night fell, the inhabitants returned to the Longgupo Cave, enjoying the fruits of their day's labor," said Huang.

Located on Wushan Mountain, the Longgupo Site is considered one of the best-preserved Paleolithic sites in China and even Asia, with a wealth of primitive cultural relics.

Huang said they plan a fourth excavation at the Longgupo Site next year, which is expected to yield more evidence of the Wushan Man.

see also, from 1995: Early Homo and associated artefacts from Asia

Ancient Human Ancestor Emerges In China

NYT : Bones in China Put New Light on Old Humans