(February 23, 2006) Archeologists have found 44 ruins at the dam site dating back at least 10,000 years, underscoring the region’s reputation as a cradle of ancient Chinese culture, Xinhua news agency reports.

Chongqing-Chinese archaeologists have found 44 ruins dating back to the Palaeolithic age (at least 10,000 years ago) at the construction site of the Three Gorges Project, making the region a principal centre for study of the period. The Three Gorges Dam Area, covering Chongqing Municipality and Hubei Province, has long been considered a cradle of ancient Chinese culture and is the location of a large number of archaeological discoveries. The two million-year-old Wushan man, discovered in 1984, has stirred great interest from archaeologists worldwide. The Yandunbao Ruins was listed as one of the 10 major archaeological discoveries in China in 1996. Gao Xing, a research fellow of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the collection of Palaeolithic age ruins along the Yangtze River indicates that the Yangtze played an important role in the creation of the Chinese nation and civilization. “Our ancestors living along the Yangtze River worked out stone artefacts with screes washed down by the waterway, showing their intelligence and ability to adapt to local conditions,” Gao added. Other experts said the new-found ruins at the Three Gorges Dam Area will be valuable to the study of man’s adaptability to his surroundings, and to the study of cultural evolution during the Pleistocene Epoch.

Xinhua news agency, February 23, 2006