Bubing Basin Cave Site Cluster

Bubing Basin Cave Site Cluster

The Bubing Basin Cave Site Cluster is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Bubing Basin Cave Site Cluster is located at the junction of Tiandong County and Tiandu County, developed within the Bubing Basin during the Himalayan movement phase. Stretching 16 kilometers from east to west and 2 kilometers from north to south, it is a small subsidiary basin parallel to the Baise Basin.

The Tienzhou Cen Clan Tusi Tombs and the Mowei Cave—once inhabited by human ancestors—are situated on the rocky mountains in the central part of the basin.

In March 2001, an archaeological team from the Guangxi Natural History Museum discovered during a survey that Mowei Cave preserved relatively abundant sediments. They collected fossilized teeth of mammals such as the lesser bamboo rat and macaque, as well as one large primate tooth fossil from the strata. This primate tooth fossil differs from those of Gigantopithecus and orangutans but closely resembles those of Homo erectus, though its size significantly exceeds the variation range of Homo erectus, appearing similar to the “Gigantopithecus (giant)” tooth fossils excavated in Indonesia.

Subsequently, the Guangxi Natural History Museum archaeological team conducted two excavations in Mowei Cave, unearthing additional fossils of higher primates, a large number of mammal fossils, and stone artifacts, including over 40 species such as the small panda, Asiatic black bear, and Stegodon. The unearthed specimens—such as Gigantopithecus blacki, giant pandas, chalicotheres, Pliorhinus, and lesser bamboo rats—are typical of the Liucheng Gigantopithecus fauna, showing strong comparability and likely dating back to the same period, which is the Early Pleistocene.

On May 3, 2012, the State Council announced the list of the “Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units,” and the Bubing Basin Cave Site Cluster—including Mowei Cave—was included. On June 13, 2013, the “Guangxi Bubing Basin Quaternary Cave Research Center” was jointly established by the American Museum of Natural History, the University of Hawaii, the Institute of Geology and Geophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China University of Geosciences, the Guangxi Natural History Museum, and the People’s Government of Tiandong County to further excavate and study the Bubing Basin Cave Site Cluster.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units