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A
Site of Fossil Man Discovered on the Wuxia Gorge of the
Yangtze River
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????Prof.
Huang Wanpo of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology
of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has discovered a rich and well
preserved site of fossil man in a karst cave at Heliang, near Chongqing,
Sichuan Province.
???? In the summer of 1999, when Zhu Kaijun, a businessman, was
developing tourism resources at Xinjian Village, in the Heliang
District of Wushan County, he found a fossil of a mammal in a karst
cave. Supported by the county government, Prof. Huang, together
with personnel from the Institute of Paleoanthropology of Wushan
at Longgupo, discovered sediments on the bed of an ancient river
and a human parietal bone fossil in the cave. He also collected
about 30 varieties of fossils of other mammals, and more than 40
stone articles in the upper and lower cave. At the same time, he
also discovered charcoal ashes--traces of the use of fire by man.
???? Later, the team discovered that "Heliang Man" had lived in the
area of the Three Gorges 15,000 years ago. "Heliang Man" was the
master of Mount Bashan, who went hunting with stone tools, and used
fire to keep warm. The population was continually reproduced and
developed. The researchers presume that the study of the Ba culture
of the Bashu culture, or the Chongqing culture, should start with
"Heliang Man" and "Heliang culture."
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