Nihewan Archealogical Site
The Chinese Goverment has recognized the work of the early archaeologists at Nihewan. Today the busts of the four pioneering archaeologists can be found at the entrance to Nihewan National Museum.
The four archaeologists started their study on the Peking Man in the 1900's.
Did man start walking upright on Earth two million years ago? Where did they first walk? China? Africa? Europe?
Discoveries of skulls in the Nihewan (Ni He Wan Basin in Hebei, China) which lies in the Yangyuan Plain on the banks of the Sanggan River, attracted great attention from the first decade of the 20th Century.
More than 100 years later, this place continues to be a centre of research on prehistoric organisms, humanity, geological movement and geography.
In 1970, over 500 experts from 30 countries started working there.
In 1990, a joint Chinese-US team of archaeologists began the first collaborative excavation, further increasing Nihewan’s reputation.
Nihewan contains wellpreserved fossils of animals and plants from the Earth’s Quaternary Period. A 21st century museum is now attracting even more international recognition. SCAC teams I had the opportunity to join the Sarawak Chinese Association of Churches’ (SCAC) History and Archive team on a recent field study trip to this famous archaeological site, the Nihewan Museum and other Hebei historical venues in North China region.
I was given the opportunity to join a 17-member team ,drawn from the central committee and district levels, and led by Dr Wong King Sing, a senior lecturer at the Methodist Theological School.
He was assisted by the chief administrative officer and chief editor of the Methodist Message (Weilibao), Wong Meng Lei, a Sibu author and historian, specialising in Foochow migration history and Christian history.
The rest have been serving and contributing to their churches for many years in different capacities.
Hii Kai Yuen, curator of the Kwang Hua Methodist History and Archive Gallery, Sibu, told thesundaypost the trip to the Nihewan Museum and Archeaological Site was an eye opener.
Nihewan Basin is like an encyclopedia of ancient human activities. Relics from each significant period of primitive society can be found there.
At an on-site briefing, our friend said the site was discovered by US geologist George Barbour in 1923.
Barbour invited French archaeologists Pierre Teilhard de Chardin and Émile Licent to the site. And in 1935, Teilhard found a stone (flint) tool and determined the age of the site to be over a million years. The tool was the oldest known artefact at the time.
Many scientists, including Teilhard, had debated the origin of the tool — whether it might not be naturally formed. Boosting tourism The actual site is presently being developed to boost tourism.
The busts of four eminent archeaologists who spearheaded the excavations of the Nihewan Canyon, are located at the main entrance to the site.
The inscriptions are in English and Chinese, recognising the works of these pioneers — Terliard, Emile Licent, Barbour and CC Young.
Other important construction projects will commence in the next few years to attract more tourists.
Peking Man (homo erectus pekinensis) was discovered between 1923-27 during excavations at Zhoukoudian (Chou K’ou-tien) near Beijing.
In 2009, these fossil specimens were dated roughly 750,000 years old, and a new dating suggests they are in the range of 680,000780,000 years old.
In 1921, other pioneers like Swedish geologist Johan Gunnar Andersson and American palaeontologist Walter W Granger went to Zhoukoudian and were directed to the site at Dragon Bone Hill by local quarrymen.
Andersson recognised the deposits of quartz that were not native to the area. Realising the importance of this find, he turned to his colleague and announced: “Here is primitive man — now all we have to do is find him.” Museum visit The Nihewan Museum in Yangyuan County, Hebei Province, is the first domestic museum to exhibit relics spanning the Old Stone Age to the New Stone Age. It was officially opened only in 2012.
The Museum has an exhibition floor area of 2,145 sq metres — with a reception hall, four other halls and a temporary hall.
Indeed, it’s the biggest museum in China, exhibiting relics from the Paleolithic Age. It draws on the resources of Nihewan Lake, exhibits drawings, sculptures, relics and fossils and has the most up-to-date interactive technology.
The local government is working hard to develop all the potential tourist attractions, offering spots for cultural relics and souvenirs.
More hotels are planned according to our friend. And being a local, he is hopeful more tourists will soon be pouring in.
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