Drawing the Paleolithic picture

Excavations reveal settlements close to rivers and evidence of hunting, reports Zhao Ruixue in Linyi, Shandong province.

It had been raining heavily for more than 10 days in Hekui, a village in Linyi city's Yishui county in Shandong province. The continuous downpour that July in 2020 caused levels at the Bashan Reservoir, about 300 meters to the east of the village, to exceed the safety limit, forcing it to release water.

The cascade eroded the riverbanks, carrying mud and sediment downstream into the Yihe River. However difficult it might have been to imagine at the time, this event changed the fate of the village and the surrounding areas for the best, as the force of the water washed away the soil to reveal significant archaeological remains.

"Someone found animal fossils likely been washed out by the water," says Li Gang, a researcher at the Shandong Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, as he recounted the call he received from the dean. "He said, 'You should go and take a look. There might be artifacts from the Paleolithic period'."

Upon arriving at the village, Li was greeted by a trove of fossils covered in riverbank mud, with one particularly memorable find being a segment of an elephant molar.

However, it was the presence of quartz items in the strata that caught his attention. After examining a few of the pieces, Li, who has dedicated 15 years of his life to Paleolithic archaeology, felt a surge of joy — this vast alluvial plain and sloping hill before him was a rare and well-preserved Paleolithic site.

As he stood there, he tried to picture the scene 100,000 years ago, in what would have been lush grasslands. This was a time when humans wielded stone tools. In the distance, he could almost hear the trumpeting of extinct prehistoric straight-tusked elephants, and the neighing of wild horses.