Shuidonggou

38°17′24″N 106°30′18″E / 38.29°N 106.505°E / 38.29; 106.505

Shuidonggou is an archaeological site and tourist attraction in Ordos, Yinchuan, Ningxia. It is the earliest paleolithic site in China, dating from over 30,000 years ago,^[1] and one of the AAAAA Tourist Attractions of China, a list of the most important and best-maintained tourist attractions in the People's Republic of China.^[2]

History

Human occupation of the site took place in the Late Pleistocene to Middle Holocene. Over 50,000 individual items have been collected from the site.^[3]

A section of the Great Wall of China lies within the site.^[3]

Discovery

Émile Licent, a paleontologist from France, was the first to discover the site in 1920, finding a Rhinoceros fossil and stone tools. His discovery was followed up by a formal excavation in 1923 and successive excavations since.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b Tiballi, Anne. "SHUIDONGGOU – A Time And Space Tunnel Of China's Archaeology Study – Li Li". Penn Museum Blog. Penn Museum. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
^ "Shuidonggou, Yinchuan". China Daily. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
^ ^a ^b Pei, Shuwen (2012). "The Shuidonggou site complex: new excavations and implications for the earliest Late Paleolithic in North China". Journal of Archaeological Science. 39 (12): 3610–3626. Bibcode:2012JArSc..39.3610P. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.06.028.

[penn-1] Tiballi, Anne. "SHUIDONGGOU – A Time And Space Tunnel Of China's Archaeology Study – Li Li". Penn Museum Blog. Penn Museum. Retrieved 15 December 2022.

[Chinadaily-2] "Shuidonggou, Yinchuan". China Daily. Retrieved 15 December 2022.

[Pei-3] Pei, Shuwen (2012). "The Shuidonggou site complex: new excavations and implications for the earliest Late Paleolithic in North China". Journal of Archaeological Science. 39 (12): 3610–3626. Bibcode:2012JArSc..39.3610P. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.06.028.

[1]

[2]

[3]