Nihewan site

Nihewan site group is mainly located in Yangyuan County, Hebei Province. It is a holy land to study the origin of early Paleolithic human and Quaternary Geology in China. Since the 1970s, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, Hebei Institute of culture and research, and experts and scholars from more than 20 countries and regions have been engaged in the archaeological research of Nihewan for a long time. Nihewan site group is located on the Bank of Sanggan River in Yangyuan County, Hebei Province. It is famous for its quaternary standard strata recognized by international geological and archaeological circles, as well as abundant mammal fossils and human Paleolithic relics. Zhang Baohua, chairman of the Zhangjiakou Municipal Committee of the Chinese people's Political Consultative Conference, who has long devoted himself to this research, said that the excavation of the majuangou site in October last year made a great breakthrough in the age of Nihewan site, pushing the origin of Asian culture to 2 million years ago, thus finding the second ancient human activity site on the earth 2 million years ago outside the auduway gorge in East Africa, which is "the only human in Africa" "Source theory" presents a decisive challenge. At the same time, it also found the world's Paleolithic archaeological excavation is extremely rare, 2 million years ago, can restore the ancient human eating scene. It can be said that this group of sites has directly rewritten the history of human origin and the development of human civilization in the world, and has become a holy land for human beings to seek their roots and ancestors

Nihewan site group

synonym

Nihewan site generally refers to Nihewan site group

Nihewan site group, located in the east of Yangyuan County, Hebei Province, on the North Bank of Sanggan River, in Nihewan village of huashaoying Town, is located in Yangyuan basin on the upper reaches of Sanggan River.

Nihewan site group, about 1.77 million years ago, ancient human activities on this land, Nihewan standard stratum records the late Tertiary to Quaternary earth evolution and biological, human evolution history, by domestic and foreign geology, paleontology, paleoanthropology and prehistoric archaeology experts great attention.

Historical origin

Nihewan Basin, a part of Datong Basin, is located in the east of Yangyuan County, Hebei Province, on the North Bank of Sanggan River and in Nihewan village, huashaoying town. It is more than 60 kilometers long from east to west and 10 kilometers wide from north to south.

More than 2 million years ago, it was a large lake. Around the lake, it was a world of ancient animals. Later, the lake dried up and the lake bottom was exposed. Due to the erosion of rivers, the dried up "ancient lake plain" became hills, platforms and basins, among which Nihewan Basin was one.

The findings of the investigation

At this time, the mountain forest around the basin is dense, the climate is warm and humid, and the wildlife is dense. At the same time, it is also an ideal living place for ancient human beings. As early as the 1920s and 1930s, Chinese and foreign scientists discovered many bivalve mussel fossils and mammal fossils in this area. After the founding of new China, Chinese geologists and paleontologists visited here for many times, and found hundreds of animal fossils of various kinds, as well as many Paleolithic cultural sites, ranging from more than 1 million to 10000 years old There are many sites in each stage of the early, middle and late stone age.

Cultural value

Among them, there are 18 sites more than one million years old, which is unique in the world. The findings show that Nihewan site is an important area for searching for early human fossils. Archaeologists in Hebei Province call Nihewan site "the holy land of Paleolithic archaeology". When some archaeologists mentioned Nihewan, they all said that "there are treasures everywhere.".

Main position

Nihewan site group is located on the Bank of Sanggan River in Yangyuan County, Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province. It is famous for its abundant mammal fossils and human Paleolithic remains. Zhang Baohua, chairman of the Zhangjiakou Municipal Committee of the Chinese people's Political Consultative Conference, who has long devoted himself to this research, said that the excavation of the majuangou site has made a great breakthrough in the age of the Nihewan site, pushing forward the origin of Asian culture to 2 million years ago, thus finding the second ancient human activity relics on the earth 2 million years ago outside the auduville gorge in East Africa, which is a reference to the theory of "the only human origin in Africa" There are decisive challenges. At the same time, it also found the world's Paleolithic archaeological excavation is extremely rare, 2 million years ago, can restore the ancient human eating scene. It can be said that this group of sites has directly rewritten the history of human origin and the development of human civilization in the world, and has become a holy land for human beings to seek their roots and ancestors.

In September 1924, French paleontologists de Rijin and sang Zhihua came to Zhangjiakou on their way back from their investigation of Salawusu in Inner Mongolia, and conducted a short geological investigation in Nihewan with American geologist Balbo. In the scientific report, Balbo named the river and lake sediments in the basin Nihewan layer, which opened the curtain of scientific research on Nihewan Basin.

Since then, more than 80 years have passed. Through the archaeological excavation and research of more than 500 experts and scholars from more than 20 countries and regions, the area on both sides of the Sanggan River, which is 82 km long from east to west and 27 km wide from north to south, has been built More than 80 sites containing early human cultural relics have been found in the area, and tens of thousands of ancient human fossils, animal fossils and various stone tools have been unearthed, which almost records the whole process of development and evolution from the Paleolithic age to the Neolithic age. Among the 25 early human cultural relics more than 1 million years ago discovered in China, the Nihewan site group accounts for 21.

significance

Such a concentration of early human remains is unique in the world. There are tens of thousands of ancient human fossils, animal fossils and various stone tools unearthed from Nihewan site group. These ancient cultural sites are widely distributed and rich in content, including many disciplines such as Paleoanthropology, Paleolithic archaeology, paleontology, Quaternary geology, paleomagnetism, paleoclimatology and dating. They almost record the whole process of human origin and evolution. They are a natural museum, which is of great significance for exploring the development of early human beings and the evolution and development of their culture in the world significance.

The high density and long age of Nihewan's early cultural remains are rare not only in China, but also in the world. In particular, the excavation of maquangou site in 2001 first discovered the remains of human eating about 2 million years ago, which is the earliest place of human origin in China so far. Nihewan shows us that human beings are not only coming from the oduvie gorge in East Africa, but also from Nihewan in China. Experts said that the value of protecting and developing Nihewan site group is immeasurable. It is a unique Paleolithic archaeological research base in China and even in the world. Nihewan Basin has a quaternary standard stratum recognized by the international geological and archaeological circles. Nihewan Basin, Nihewan geological section, Nihewan flora and fauna, Nihewan cultural sites have become a treasure house of multi-disciplinary research on ancient human culture in the world.

In 1978, Chinese archaeologists discovered a large number of Paleolithic and mammalian fossils in Donggutuo, Xiaochangliang, near Nihewan, including a large number of stone cores, flakes, stone tools, and stones discarded during the making of stone tools.

Cultural relics protection

Because of this special status, it became the first provincial geological heritage protection area in Hebei Province in 1997. In 1998, it was rated as one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in China and the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units.

Taking the report of Guangming Daily in 1994 as an example, academician Jia Lanpo, one of the famous geologists and paleontologists in China and one of the discoverers of Peking man, and his colleagues discovered a large number of the world's earliest small stone tools at Xiaochangliang site in Nihewan Basin. These stone tools are relatively small, mostly weighing between 5 and 10 grams, the smallest less than 1 gram. It can be divided into sharp, scraper, Carver and cone type, with a total of about 2000 pieces. These stone tools have been determined by paleomagnetic experts and proved to be about 1.6 million years ago. Academician Jia Lanpo said that the dating of Xiaochangliang site "is the most detailed and reliable.". It is hard to understand that there are so many small stone tools found at the Xiaochangliang site in Nihewan Basin, so early, and the processing technology is so fine and advanced, and there is no record in the world. In 1957, academician Jia Lanpo observed that the "Beijingers" had made great progress in making stone tools and could use and control fire. Therefore, he concluded that the "Beijingers" five or six hundred thousand years ago were by no means the earliest human beings, and "Beijingers" were not the first. The discovery of the small stone tools confirmed that "the stratum of Nihewan period was the place where the earliest human stepped on". Therefore, academician Jia Lanpo believed that there were such advanced stone tools 1.6 million years ago, proving that the origin of human beings was much earlier than that of the past. It is no exaggeration to say that there were human beings 4 million years ago.

From August 1995 to September 1998, on the basis of previous excavations, the Institute of cultural relics of Hebei Province and the Department of Archaeology of Peking University jointly excavated the Yujiagou site, and found extremely rare stratigraphic and cultural sections from the end of Pleistocene to the middle of Holocene in North China. This excavation was selected as the "top ten new archaeological discoveries in China" in 1998. During the period from June to August 1996, the Sino US joint archaeological team composed of Indian university and Hebei Institute of cultural relics also conducted a two-month excavation and Research on Nihewan site, and obtained a large number of precious animal fossils and Paleolithic materials, which further confirmed that Nihewan Basin is the cradle of Chinese human origin and the birthplace of ancient human beings 1、 It is a huge science that needs further research, development and utilization

Chinese PinYin : Ni He Wan Yi Zhi