China Media Group picks top 10 domestic archaeology news for 2024

China

China Media Group picks top 10 domestic archaeology news for 2024

2024-12-23 21:30 Last Updated At：12-24 01:17

China Media Group (CMG) on Monday unveiled its selection of top 10 news stories for China's archaeological findings in 2024.

The top 10 domestic archaeology news for 2024 are as follows.

1. Fifty-six Chinese cultural relics were returned from Italy.

On Nov 8, President Xi Jinping witnessed the return of 56 lost Chinese cultural relics from Italy, part of over 2,100 items returned to China.

2. The highest-level tomb from ancient Chu state dating back to over 2,200 years was discovered in east China's Anhui Province.

The Wuwangdun tomb excavated in Huainan City of Anhui has been confirmed as the largest and highest-level tomb from ancient Chu state and the most structurally complex of its kind.

Covering a total area of some 1.5 million square meters, the millennia-old mausoleum includes a main tomb (Tomb No. 1), a rectangular chariot and horse pit, accompanying tombs, and sacrificial pits.

Key findings included the largest ancient bamboo mat ever found in China, bronze wares, over 100 wooden figurines and many well-preserved seeds.

3. Mengxihe site in southwest China's Sichuan Province reveals a comprehensive picture of early human society through stone tools and remains dating back to the Palaeolithic Age.

The Mengxihe Site located in Sichuan's Ziyang City dates back to between 50,000 to 70,000 years ago, and preserves a number of organic matter remains including animal fossils, ebony and plant seeds, which are of great significance to the study of ancient humans' collecting behaviors.

4. A tomb from the Three Kingdoms (Wei, Shu and Wu) period, linked to Eastern Wu minister Zhang Zhao, was uncovered in Nanjing, shedding light on aristocratic burial rituals and highlighting Nanjing's historic role as Eastern Wu's capital.

5. Archaeologists made more discoveries at one of the largest tombs in the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau in northwest China.

This newly researched tomb complex belongs to Reshui graveyard site which was built during the Tuyuhun-Tubo period of the early Tang Dynasty (618-907) in Dulan County, Haixi Mongolian Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, northwest China's Qinghai Province, according to the archaeological team.

6. Large-scale building foundations dating back approximately 2,500 years were discovered in Shaoxing City, east China's Zhejiang Province.

This discovery marks the first confirmation of such structures from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) within the city, providing crucial clues in the search for the capital of the ancient Yue State.

7. A 1.1-million-year-old site in the Nihewan Basin shows advanced tool-making techniques, highlighting early human innovation.

An international research team, led by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, carried out systematic study on the characteristics of stone tool technology at the Cenjiawan site in Nihewan basin, northern China, revealing the earliest prepared core technology in Eurasia.

8. Fossils dating back 300,000 years found at the Hualongdong site east China's Anhui Province offer insights into early human evolution in East Asia. Discovered in late 1988, the Hualongdong site has yielded remarkable finds during continuous excavations since 2013. Approximately 20 individual ancient human fossils, including a relatively complete skull, over 400 stone artifacts, numerous bone fragments with evidence of artificial cutting and chopping, and more than 80 vertebrate fossils have been unearthed at this site.

9. The discovery of a relics site dating back about 3,700 years marks a major breakthrough in archaeological research on the Xia Dynasty (2070 BC-1600 BC), China's earliest known dynasty.

The Baliqiao archaeological site, located in Fangcheng County in the city of Nanyang, central China's Henan Province, shows enormous similarity to the Erlitou ruins, a previously excavated ground-breaking site that was identified by archaeologists as one of the capital cities during the Xia Dynasty.

10. The unearthing of nearly 4,000 artifacts from an excavation of 1,240 tombs in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province, sheds light on burial customs during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Among the finds in Xi'an Jiali Village is the family tomb of the Tang Dynasty imperial consort, concubine Dong. It offers invaluable insights into the reign of the Emperor Xuanzong (685-762) and the political and social dynamics of the era.

Caribbean tourism shows resilience despite Middle East tension challenges

Amid the rising fuel costs and airline surcharges linked to the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran, Caribbean tourism officials gathered at the 44th Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association Forum this month and expressed cautious optimism, citing resilient visitor demand, strategic marketing adjustments, and strong seasonal performance as foundations for continued recovery.

The U.S.-Israeli war against Iran is already affecting Caribbean economies as fuel prices surge and airlines pass costs on to passengers. This not only pressures the region's tourism-dependent economies but also raises the cost of imported food, electricity, and transportation.

Since the start of the conflict, the price of Brent crude has surged nearly 50 percent, prompting airlines to find the ways to share the burden with travelers.

"The impacts are unfolding in stages. In the first place, when the uncertainty, or the disturbance occurred in the Middle Eastern region, it actually cut the supply chain to some extent to the Pacific, and people started to look at the region in particular. We amplified out marketing presence, to ensure that when people are looking for an option or places to rebook, that St. Lucia would turn up. And we've actually seen some of that result," said Louis Lewis, chief executive officer of the Saint Lucia Tourism Authority.

During the International Monetary Fund's Spring Meeting, the international financial institution expressed its concern for Caribbean tourism, warning that it could see a decline as ticket prices increase.

Lewis acknowledged the potential for longer-term disruption.

"The second thing is that if the conflict continues as a prolonged activity, we anticipate that it could impact us. We will have to diversify from our major source markets, hence the reason why we are looking at Latin America," he said.

But some of the region's top tourism officials are seeing positive signs. The region is coming off another successful year, where tourism arrivals grew by 2.5 percent, adding an additional 900,000 visitors over 2024.

"The region has been witnessing a very good winter season, and I have no doubt whatsoever that the forecast that we have for the summer will continue to be very strong," said Ian Gooding-Edghill, minister of tourism of Barbados.

Still, structural vulnerabilities remain. As an import-dependent region, the Caribbean is highly exposed to global price fluctuations. Concerns are mounting that rising prices in the United States could trigger sharper inflationary pressures, including higher operating costs in the tourism sector.

"In Saint Lucia, we just saw the cost of energy increase about 20 percent, and that's having an impact now going into the summer when our rates are lower. It rallies points to the importance of us building a bit more resilience into Caribbean tourism," said Sanovnik Destang, president of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.