Changyang Man Site

Changyang Man Site

The Changyang Man Site is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Changyang Man Site is located in Zhongjiawan Village, Dayan Township, Changyang Tujia Autonomous County, 45 kilometers from Longzhouping County, the seat of Changyang. Fossils of ancient humans dating back 190,000 years were unearthed here. The discovery of “Changyang Man” proves that human beings were already living and active in the area during ancient times. The site is a cave located at an altitude of about 1,300 meters. The cave entrance is approximately 2 meters high and 6 meters wide, with an irregular shape. The fossil-bearing cave is distributed on both sides—left and right—one sloped and the other slightly more level. Since 1956, fossils such as a human upper jawbone, teeth, and coexisting ancient vertebrates have been discovered here. Among them, the “Changyang Man” fossils were found in the more sloped part of the cave.

Knowledge Link: “Changyang Man” is one of the earliest ancient humans discovered south of the Yangtze River in China. Professor Jia Lanpo wrote in the article “Changyang Man Fossils and the Associated Mammalian Fauna”: “The discovery of ‘Changyang Man’ not only adds new species to the fauna of southern China, but also provides new evidence for stratigraphic classification, as well as new data on the distribution and evolution of humans.” The emergence of “Changyang Man” shows that the vast region south of the Yangtze River Basin, just like the Yellow River Basin, is also one of the birthplaces of ancient Chinese culture and the cradle of the Chinese nation.

Yichang, Hubei

Dayan Township: Located on the southern bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Qingjiang River, Dayan Township borders the counties (cities) of Wufeng and Yidu, and is 58 kilometers from the Geheyan Hydropower Station. It governs 15 villages and 59 villager groups, covering a total area of 248.5 square kilometers, with 2,978.9 hectares of arable land and an agricultural population of 34,786. This township is the birthplace of “Changyang Man,” who lived 190,000 years ago. The largest Catholic church in southwestern Hubei—the Shiguntang Church—is located in Shiguntang Village, Dayan.

In 2002, the total industrial and agricultural output value of Dayan Township reached 93.61 million yuan, and fiscal revenue reached 3.362 million yuan... More detailed information about Dayan Township ++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units