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The oldest artefact-bearing layer at the site was dated at 2.12 million years ago, while the youngest was dated to 1.26 million years, indicating that the site was occupied (not necessarily continuously) for 850,000 years. Some of the tools were found with bone fragments of animals including deer and
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The authors of the study argue that a natural origin of the claimed artefacts is ruled out as
Shangchen and its immediate vicinity have no known ancient rivers, which might have carved natural rocks into shapes resembling human-made tools. Uninvolved scientists who reviewed the findings such as
298:, were discovered in 1964. The oldest fossil, a skull, was initially dated to 1.15 million years ago. In 2001, geologist Zhu Zhaoyu and other scientists began researching the site again, and determined that the skull was 1.63 million years old.
409:
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Zhu's team surveyed the region around the fossil site, and discovered stone tools buried deep in the side of a gully in
Shangchen, less than three miles away. The team, later joined by British paleoanthropologist
361:, the oldest hominin fossils found in East Asia, dating to 1.7 million years. As the Shangchen site lacks volcanic minerals which are abundant in African sites, the study dated the sediments using the
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in a 2018 study. Artefacts were found in 17 layers, dated to between 1.26 Ma (palaeosol S15) and 2.12 Ma (loess L28). The date of 2.12 Ma predates the earliest known fossils of
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is a soil made by extremely fine particles blown in by the wind, all larger rocks found in loess deposits had to have been carried in by humans or other animals.
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bovines. Even older remains may still lie undiscovered, as the deepest layers at
Shangchen are inaccessible as of 2018 because the area is "actively farmed".
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in 2010, thoroughly searched the gully and excavated the site between 2004 and 2017, and their findings were published in July 2018 in the journal
380:, and one William Jungers (unaffiliated with the study) is cited as even reserving "the possibility that the Shangchen toolmaker was a species of
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Michael
Petraglia, an archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, Germany consider the dates convincing.
544:[Paleolithic site discovered in Lantian County; evidence of hominins on the Loess Plateau from 2.12 million years ago].
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A total of 96 stone tools have been found at
Shangchen, including flakes, points, and cores. They were found in 17 artefact layers.
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reporter was cited as speculating that "the
Shangchen toolmakers belonged to an earlier species in the genus Homo" than
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Zhu, Zhao-Yu (2015). "New dating of the Homo erectus cranium from
Lantian (Gongwangling), China".
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Paleolithic archaeological site in
Shangchen village, Yushan town, Lantian County, Shaanxi, China
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470:) (2018). "Hominin occupation of the Chinese Loess Plateau since about 2.1 million years ago".
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The findings are highly significant as they represent one of the earliest evidence of
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site outside Africa, dating to 1.85 million years ago. It is also older than the
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601:"Archaeologists in China Discover the Oldest Stone Tools Outside Africa"
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704:"Tools from China are oldest hint of human lineage outside Africa"
272:. The archaeological site is on the cliff faces of a gully in the
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Shangchen is located in and named after the village of
Shangchen (
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222:. It was discovered in 1964, and excavated during 2004 and 2017.
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Institute of
Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
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669:"Oldest Tools Outside Africa Found, Rewriting Human Story"
567:"Ancient Humans Lived in China 2.1 Million Years Ago"
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288:Lantian County is where fossils of the
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416:); Dennell, Robin; Huang Weiwen (
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778:2018 archaeological discoveries
667:Greshko, Michael (2018-07-11).
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749:Gibbons, Ann (2018-07-11).
599:Zimmer, Carl (2018-07-11).
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788:Paleolithic sites in China
716:10.1038/d41586-018-05696-8
626:Journal of Human Evolution
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541:蓝田新发现旧石器遗址 212万年前黄土高原已现人迹
492:10.1038/s41586-018-0299-4
184:Zhu Zhaoyu, Robin Dennell
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26:Not to be confused with
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121:34.218587°N 109.48562°E
702:Barras, Colin (2018).
239:Homo erectus georgicus
153:1.26 million years ago
145:2.12 million years ago
333:outside Africa after
173:Excavation dates
464:); Ouyang Tingping (
242:) by 300,000 years.
126:34.218587; 109.48562
673:National Geographic
484:2018Natur.559..608Z
230:magnetostratigraphy
208:archaeological site
117: /
82:Shangchen village,
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793:Homo erectus sites
605:The New York Times
205:Lower Palaeolithic
162:Palaeolithic China
70:Shown within China
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478:(7715): 608–612.
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355:Lower Paleolithic
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783:History of Xi'an
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410:Zhu Zhaoyu (
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632:: 144–157.
374:Nature News
359:Yuanmou Man
296:Lantian Man
226:Stone tools
124: /
112:109°29′08″E
100:Coordinates
772:Categories
760:2018-07-13
683:2018-07-13
610:2018-07-13
576:2018-07-14
551:2018-07-12
422:); Wu Yi (
388:References
378:H. erectus
349:region of
276:. Because
168:Site notes
109:34°13′07″N
28:Shangcheng
732:188286436
724:0028-0836
646:0047-2484
500:0028-0836
365:method.
191:Shangchen
176:2004–2017
150:Abandoned
38:Shangchen
32:Shancheng
654:25456822
516:49670311
508:29995848
347:Caucasus
246:Location
79:Location
755:Science
480:Bibcode
351:Georgia
345:in the
343:Dmanisi
266:Shaanxi
216:Shaanxi
203:) is a
195:Chinese
158:Periods
142:Founded
137:History
94:Shaanxi
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708:Nature
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472:Nature
309:Nature
220:Weinan
197::
90:Region
728:S2CID
512:S2CID
335:Masol
278:loess
270:Xi'an
720:ISSN
650:PMID
642:ISSN
504:PMID
496:ISSN
467:欧阳婷萍
330:Homo
319:Date
712:doi
634:doi
488:doi
476:559
461:韩江伟
455:谢久兵
449:侯亚梅
443:饶志国
437:杨石霞
431:邱世藩
419:黄慰文
413:朱照宇
384:".
312:.
260:),
253:上陈村
210:in
30:or
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425:吴翼
396:^
339:fr
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258:zh
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200:上陈
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
