Archaeologists have unearthed three stone tools, dating back 80,000 years, in Hechuan City of Chongqing Municipality, southwest China.

The three tools, unearthed recently at a Paleolithic site near Weituo Town, to the west of Hechuan City, include two chopping tools and one scraper.

Lin Bizhong, one of the leaders of the archaeological excavation, said the stone tools advanced the history of human activities in the area to over 50,000 years earlier.

He said the discovery also provided important clues to the study of ancient human activities in the area and to the study of the sequencing of Paleolithic culture in the area and in the Yangtze River Valleys, one of the cradles of the Chinese civilization.

Archaeologists with the Chongqing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau also discovered five tombs from the Song Dynasty (960-1279),one tomb of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and one of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) in the same area. They unearthed three stone sculptures, a deer, a dragon and a tiger, from one of the five Song tombs.

Other relics unearthed from the tombs included 20 porcelain articles, such as bowls and dishes.

Lin said stone sculptures of a deer, a dragon and a tiger provided more materials for studying art development in the Song Dynasty.
 
(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2004)