Cangshan Cave Fossil Site

Cangshan Cave Fossil Site

The Cangshan Cave Fossil Site is a cultural relic protection unit of Yingkou City.

The Cangshan Cave Fossil Site is located in Nanlou Town, Dashiqiao City, and is a site of human activity from the Paleolithic Age.

The mountain where the cave is located is composed of limestone, dolomitic marble, and argillaceous limestone from the Precambrian Liaohe Group, Shengshansi Formation. It has a circumference of about 500 meters and an elevation of 110 meters. The cave entrance faces east, located to the southeast of the mountain, approximately 20 meters above the local ground level. There are six layers of sediment at the cave entrance, but excavation has not reached the bottom, and no fossils or other artifacts have been found.

Excavated mammalian fossils include pika from the Lagomorpha order, rodents from the Rodentia order, macaques from the Primates order, and carnivorous animal groups. Cultural artifacts unearthed show evidence of fire use. Several stone tools from the Paleolithic Age bear clear signs of artificial modification, with lithic artifacts resembling those found at the Jinshishan A and C sites. The paleoclimate transitioned from warm to cool and arid.

In 1990, the Yingkou Municipal People's Government (Ying Zheng Fa [1990] No. 38) designated the Cangshan Cave Fossil Site as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit. The announced scope of protection and construction control zone was as follows: with Cangshan as the center, the area within 10 meters is the protected zone; the area extending 30 meters beyond the protected zone is designated as a Class V construction control zone.

Source: Municipal Bureau of Culture, Sports, Radio, Television, and Press & Publication. Contributor: Dong Wenjie