Dadong Site

Dadong Site

The Dadong Site is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Dadong Site is located in Shiping Village, Zhudong Township, Pan County, Qiannan Buyei and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in southwestern China’s Guizhou Province, approximately 49 kilometers from the county seat. It is a mid-Paleolithic site.

The Dadong Site is a limestone cave site, with a cave entrance 55 meters wide and about 40 meters high, and the main cave stretching 1,600 meters in length. In 1992, archaeologists conducted their first excavation here, uncovering an area of 80 square meters. Over 1,300 stone artifacts have been unearthed at the site, some of which exhibit characteristics comparable to contemporary cultures in the West. In addition, more than 40 types of animal fossils belonging to the Mid-Pleistocene giant panda–saber-toothed elephant fauna have also been discovered.

The Dadong Site is currently the earliest cultural site discovered in Guizhou Province. Its cultural relics and remnants of primitive life have been preserved in the state they were left in. The site contains rich and well-preserved Quaternary deposits, providing valuable physical material for establishing a standard for Quaternary cave sediments in South China. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units