Early Man in China

Abstract

THE reconnaisance inaugurated in 1921 by Dr. J. G. Andersson on behalf of the Geological Survey of China has brought to light evidence of exceptional interest and importance for students of archæology and human palæontology. In the province of Honan, Dr. Andersson discovered a rich industry, including painted pottery, the cultural link of which with ancient Sumer is widely admitted. It provides positive confirmation of the early diffusion of culture from Mesopotamia to the eastern limits of Asia during the third millennium B.C. In addition, he recovered a number of interesting human remains in association with the early industries in Honan and Kansu. His survey has also been responsible for the discovery of the fossil remains of the early Pleistocene genus of the human family which Prof. Davidson Black called Sinanthropus—roughly contemporaneous with Pithecanthropus and Eoanthropus.