Almost-fossilized remains, believed to belong to a primitive pithecanthropus man who lived over 10,000 years ago, have been discovered in a cave in central China's Hunan Province.

Before this discovery, archeologists unearthed the stone tools two kilometers from the cave, and they were digging to find out the possible users of the ancient stone tools.

The Paleolithic Age is the period beginning with the earliest chipped stone tools, about 750,000 years ago, to the beginning of the Mesolithic Age, about 15,000 years ago.

The skull was largely calcified, an indication that it is in the process of fossilizing, experts said.

The operation of a local hydropower reservoir, in Longshan County, pushed the water level of the Youshui River up to 10 meters below the cave in the cliff, making access to the cave easier. The water level was previously 30 meters below the cave.

Pithecanthropus man was the creature having characteristics of both apes and humans. It also refers to various extinct primates and sometimes is considered intermediate in evolution from anthropoid apes to modern human beings.
 
(Xinhua News Agency February 26, 2004)