Prehistoric Age — Lantian Ape-man
2000 years ago, Sima Qian, a native of Shaanxi Province, compiled the first biographical historic record, Shiji, Records of the Historian, which describes Shaanxi as a heavenly state boasting fertile land, abundant natural resources and favorable natural location. Apart from these superior natural conditions, Shaanxi is also the birthplace of the Chinese civilization, which is testified by such archeological sites as Lantian Ape man Site and the prehistoric city remains of Yangguanzhai. On this land legendary figures like Yandi and the Yellow Emperor appeared and initiated the earliest farming and production. After death, they were buried here by their offspring. Archeological data prove that Shaanxi is the center of the ancient civilization and the cradle of Chinese civilization.
From 1963 to 1965, geologists unearthed an intact skull fossil in Gongwangling and later a mandible fossil in Chenjiawo. The two places are both located at the northern foot of Qinling Mountains in Lantian County, Shaanxi Province, 50km away from Xi’an City. Data analysis revealed later that the skull unearthed in Gongwangling belongs to a female living about 1,150,000 years ago and the mandible belongs to a person living about 650,000 years ago. These fossils are another evidence of the existence of the oldest Homo erectus in north Asia and therefore the most significant fossils of ancient human beings since the discovery of the “Beijing Man in Zhoukoudian, Beijing. To honor these discoveries, archeologists named these Homo erectus “Lantian Man”.
As we know, the cranial capacity is an important index of intelligence. Studies revealed that the skull of Lantian Man can only hold 780ml of brain tissue, about half of the average modern human brain capacity, which is 1430ml. Along with the evolution of human beings, the cranial capacity shows a tendency of gradual growth. Therefore, the brain development of the Lantian Man was still in the primitive stage. Additionally, Lantian Man shows similarity to chimpanzee, gorilla and gibbon in terms of physical features and is therefore named Lantian Ape-man.
Apart from Lantian Ape-man fossils, other ancient human fossils and remains have been unearthed in other places of Shaanxi Province, which cover different stages of human evolution from ancient ape-man to Homo sapiens. Among these discoveries, an intact ape skull fossil unearthed in Dali County in 1978 was dated to about 200,000 years ago. At that time, the ape men were evolving into Homo sapiens. This is the first time to find the fossils of the early stage of ancient Homo sapiens in China. With a comparatively larger cranial capacity and bulgy forehead, Dali Man has been proven to be more intelligent compared to the previous ape men. Due to the similarity of the facial bone structure to that of modern Yellow Race, some scholars believe that Dali Men are the forefathers of the Yellow Race. This important discovery fills the gap of paleoanthropological studies in this area in China and even in East Asia. Furthermore, it has significant meaning for further studies of the origin and the evolution of the Yellow Race.
The fossils and relics of the ancients over various periods excavated in Shaanxi indicate the changes in the physical features of human beings and the development of human civilization in different stages, which in combination offer a holistic view of the whole evolution process of human beings. Among these discoveries, Lantian Ape-man and Dali Man are typical of two epoch-making stages, starting from which the civilization of Shaanxi, with Weihe River Valley as the center gradually gained its leading position in Chinese civilization.
