Archeological breakthrough made in eastern Zhejiang province

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 ◆ Archeological breakthrough made in eastern Zhejiang province

A large number of Paleolithic sites have been discovered in east China's Zhejiang province, enabling scientists to trace the existence of humans in Zhejiang area back at least 126,000 years.

The province used to be considered China's only province without Paleolithic sites.

The latest findings are the resultant from one-month efforts of an archeological team formed jointly by the Zhejiang provincial archeology research institute and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

They have discovered 31 Paleolithic sites, including five with clear stratums. One site has yielded 333 pieces of stoneware, including stone balls, stone hatchets, and other stone tools and stoneware used for cutting or smashing.

The findings are of great importance since they help to extend the Paleolithic humans' activity areas one degree longitude eastward in southern China, said Zhang Senshui, head of the team and a noted researcher with the IVPP.

Zhang said the archeologists are still working on the relic sites in the hope of finding grottoes with fossils of Paleolithic mankind.