Recently, a fossil of an ancient human skull, named "No. 3 Skull of Yunxian Man," was found at the Xuetangliangzi Site in Hubei province. It is the most complete Homo erectus skull found in Eurasia so far.
Archaeologist observing No. 3 skull
Xuetangliangzi Site, located in Yunyang district (previously known as Yunxian county), Shiyan, is a large wilderness site of the early Paleolithic Age. In 1989 and 1990, two fossils of ancient human skulls were unearthed from the site, dating between 800,000 and 1.1 million years ago. The No. 3 skull fossil was found more than 30 meters away from the previous two. Preliminary studies showed that the No. 3 skull belongs to the same period of time as the first two, while the specific data needs to be confirmed by scientific dating.
Archaeologist researching at Xuetangliangzi Site
Since 2021, Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has carried out systematic archaeological excavations on the excavation site. Although the No. 3 skull has not been fully excavated from the ground yet, the part that has been exposed so far, including the frontal bone, eye sockets, left cheekbone and temporal bone, indicates that the skull's structure is intact. At the same time, a large number of animal fossils and stone items have also been unearthed.
No. 3 skull before being unearthed
No. 1 (left) and No. 2 (middle) skulls and restored model
Link: Excavation history of skulls of 'Yunxian Man'
1989 and 1990
On May 18, 1989, the fossil of "No. 1 Skull of Yunxian Man" was found in the site; In the following year, the fossil of "No. 2 Skull of Yunxian Man" was unearthed in the first official excavation of the site, and a large number of animal fossils and stone tools were found.
2021
Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology excavated an area of 105 square meters, about 4 meters deep, finding 83 stone items, and another area of 126 square meters, about 1.6 meters deep, finding 148 stone items. It discovered remains from the late Paleolithic Age, extending the history of ancient human activities at the Xuetangliangzi Site.
2022
The excavated area covers a total of 203 square meters, with one fossil of an ancient human skull, 45 stone items and 205 identified animal fossils. Among them, the No. 3 skull fossil is better preserved than the No. 1 and No. 2 skulls of "Yunxian Man," and the characteristics of Homo erectus are much clearer and more definite.
