Chongqing - As part of the 2025 Yangtze River Civilization Forum, the Longgupo Site Academic Seminar opened on September 17 at the Yuelai International Convention Center in Chongqing, drawing more than 70 experts and scholars from China and abroad to reflect on four decades of excavation at one of East Asia’s earliest known prehistoric cultural sites.
Group photo of participants at the 2025 Longgupo Site Academic Seminar. (Photo/Chen Chang)
The seminar, marking the 40th anniversary of the discovery of the Longgupo site in Chongqing’s Wushan County, convened researchers from France, Malaysia, and leading Chinese institutions. Discussions centered on topics such as the excavation, protection, and utilization of the Longgupo site, as well as broader questions of East Asian human origins and evolution.
Two academic sessions will be held, alongside field visits to the site. In addition, the Chongqing China Three Gorges Museum released two new volumes about the research on Longgupo Site, providing a systematic account of findings to date.
A Key to Tracing Humanity's Roots in East Asia
Since its first excavation, Longgupo has yielded remarkable finds, including fossilized human mandibles and teeth attributed to “Wushan Man," thousands of stone tools, and a diverse assemblage of vertebrate fossils. Paleomagnetic dating in 2022 placed the site at 2–2.5 million years old, making it one of the most significant prehistoric cultural sites in East Asia. Recent excavations from 2023 to 2024 expanded the picture further, uncovering younger layers dating to the Middle to Late Pleistocene, evidence of possible bone tools, and fossilized carnivore droppings, including the first discovery of saber-tooth cat coprolites in Asia.
"Longgupo offers irreplaceable evidence for understanding early human activities and environments in East Asia," said Huang Wanbo, Research Fellow at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), during his keynote speech. "The cultural remains—human fossils, stone tools, animal bones—demonstrate continuous human presence in the Three Gorges area at least two million years ago."
Huang Wanbo is delivering a speech. (Photo/Zheng Yu, Visual Chongqing)
Huang noted that more than 3,000 stone tools have been unearthed across 18 cultural layers, characterized by practical chopping implements. He also highlighted four distinct activity floors, one of which contained over 40 animal limb bones bearing cut marks but no evidence of carnivore gnawing—direct traces of Wushan Man’s subsistence behaviors. "These finds show that Wushan Man, the creators of the Longgupo culture, had already begun moving beyond reliance on natural objects to making tools for survival," Huang emphasized.
Insights from International Scholars
For Malaysian scholar Paul Rummy, Associate Research Fellow at IVPP, the site's ecological record is equally revealing. His presentation focused on fossilized animal droppings that reconstruct an ancient cave ecosystem.
"Trace fossils allow us to fill gaps beyond skeletal evidence," Rummy explained in an interview with iChongqing’s reporter. "They tell us about food chains, predator-prey relationships, and how humans interact with surrounding fauna. At Longgupo, we clearly see the intimate connection between early humans and their environment."
Paul Rummy is delivering a speech. (Photo/Chen Chang)
Rummy added that visiting the site left a deep impression: "Even today, traveling from Chongqing to Wushan takes effort. To imagine humans surviving here 2 million years ago, adapting to the terrain and making tools, is extraordinary. It is a powerful reminder of their resilience."
He also stressed the importance of the seminar for international awareness: "Many foreign scholars, even those working in China, are not familiar with Longgupo. Forums like this one are crucial to presenting its significance to the world and making Longgupo and Wushan known as global scientific landmarks."
Bridging Science, Education, and Tourism
Looking ahead, Huang Wanbo hopes the site will grow into more than a subject of academic study. "Longgupo should become a cultural calling card for Chongqing and East Asia," he said. "With strong local support, it could serve as a comprehensive base for research, education, science popularization, and tourism, attracting visitors from around the world to experience the deep roots of civilization in the Yangtze River region."
During the seminar, scholars exchange the latest research and chart new directions in methods and theories of human origin studies. For Chongqing, Longgupo represents more than an archaeological treasure: it is a window into humanity’s shared past, and a symbol of the city’s role in advancing global dialogue on civilization.