Longgupo Site

　　The Longgupo Site covers an area of about 1,300 square meters. In 1984, Chinese paleoanthropologists and paleolithic experts Huang Wanbo, Li Xuanmin, and others were the first to discover the site. In 1985, archaeologists unearthed a fragmented left mandible of Homo erectus with two molars, along with some bone fragments showing signs of artificial modification, from the early Lower Pleistocene strata at the location. In 1986, three incisors and a fragment of a lower jawbone with two teeth were also excavated. Additionally, the site has yielded fossils of 116 mammalian species from the early Lower Pleistocene, including Gigantopithecus blacki, Stegodon orientalis, Stegodon orientalis preorientalis, Megantereon, Dicerorhinus, and Ailuropoda microta.

　　According to scholarly research, the artifacts unearthed at the Longgupo Site represent a new subspecies of Homo erectus, later named "Homo erectus wushanensis," commonly referred to as "Wushan Man." These fossils date back approximately 2.01 to 2.04 million years. The "Wushan Man" fossils are the earliest human remains discovered in China to date. This discovery sheds light on the process of human evolution, fills a gap in the fossil record of early humans in China, and holds significant scientific value for the study of human origins and the developmental history of the Three Gorges region. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)