Archeologists discovered artifacts in a cave near Lincang city, southern Yunnan Province. Initial research shows that the specimens date back to the early Paleolithic Period.

According to experts, Yuanmou Man, who lived in today's Yunnan Province around 1.7 million years ago, was the earliest human ever discovered in China. The artifacts found were probably made by Homo erectus, who lived in the same period as Yuanmou Man.

The findings provide important clues in the search for human fossils of erectus (ape man) and are of much significance to the research of early culture and east-west cultural exchanges in South and Southwest China.

By People's Daily Online