Renzidong Site

Renzidong Site

The Renzidong Site is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit and a patriotic education base.

The Renzidong Site, an ancient human site located in Fanchang County, Anhui Province, has yielded over 300 stone and bone artifacts to date, offering a glimpse into some of the earliest human activities ever discovered on the Eurasian continent.

The Renzidong Cave is situated at an altitude of 100 meters. It is a cave formed through water erosion in Triassic rock formations and served as an ideal habitat for early humans. The cave deposits are approximately 30 meters thick and 8 to 12 meters wide. Due to its naturally V-shaped profile, it is called Renzidong (literally "Human-shaped Cave") and is divided into eight strata from top to bottom.

The Renzidong Site was discovered in May 1998. After years of excavation, archaeologists have unearthed more than 7,000 fossil specimens of early Pleistocene mammals at Renzidong, including a rich diversity of vertebrate fossils—particularly large primates. Notably, the presence of true horses within the animal assemblage is extremely rare and valuable. Moreover, among the unearthed stone and bone artifacts, over ten bone tools show signs of processing, with clear impact points and even finely crafted retouching marks visible. Experts infer that these implements were made by ancient humans, indicating that human activity already existed in China’s Yangtze River Basin during the early Pleistocene, some 2 to 2.4 million years ago.

It has been reported that a complete mastodon skeleton fossil has been excavated at the Renzidong Site in Fanchang, believed to be the earliest ancient human site in Asia. According to experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, this is the most intact mastodon fossil ever unearthed in Asia.

The mastodon was about 14 years old, with its tusks, skull, vertebrae, and leg bones all relatively well-preserved. Possibly due to prolonged sedimentation or heavy pressure after its death, the mastodon fossil is now flattened. Although archaeologists have previously discovered mastodon fossils at Renzidong several times, such a complete specimen is found for the first time. This discovery holds significant value for research in paleobiology, environmental climatology, paleogeography, and taphonomy.

“Renzidong” is located on Lali Mountain in Fanchang County, Anhui. Since 1998, the research team of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ project “Searching for the Origins of Humans and Their Background” has carried out six large-scale excavations here, unearthing a large number of primate fossils and ancient human stone artifacts dating back 2 to 2.4 million years. These finds include 67 animal species, 5,000 mammal fossils, and a number of primate fossil specimens, as well as stone and bone artifacts. These fossils have been verified as the earliest human cultural relics discovered in Asia to date.

As a Paleolithic site, the Renzidong Site has been approved by the State Council for inclusion in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Protected area: Centered on the Renzidong excavation site, extending 200 meters southward and 500 meters eastward, westward, and northward.

Construction control zone: Same as the protected area.

Further reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units