Yuanmou people, known as "Yuanmou Homo erectus" because they were found near the village of Shangnabang in Yuanmou County, Yunnan, belong to the paleominids of the early Paleolithic age and are also the earliest ancient humans in China. The word "Yuanmou" comes from the Dai language and means "horse".
Ruins of the Yuanmou people
The Yuanmou people lived in a subtropical grassland-forest environment 1.7 million years ago, surrounded by mountains, mild and humid, and cool climate. The trees in the mountains are evergreen all year round, and the foothills are overgrown with weeds. Yunnan horses, chamois, pigs and other species, as well as tigers, leopards, elephants, rhinos and other large and fierce beasts live here. Some of these fauna live in areas with lower humidity among the bushes, while others live in forests in the mountains. The Yuanmou people may have lived a "drifting" life along the riverbank.
The living environment of Yuanmou people
Although the Yuanmou belong to the category of humans, they still retain more of the characteristics of apes. For example, the head cover is low, the forehead is tilted back, the brow bone is raised, the nose bridge is low, the nose is wide and flat, the neck is thick and short, the teeth are large, the lip surface is relatively flat, the back is muscular, the arms are long, the legs are arched, and they can walk upright.
Fossil teeth
Metamorphic humanoid figure
Natural selection, survival of the fittest. The Yuanmou people used crude stone tools to hunt in order to survive better. According to the animal bones, stone artifacts (stone tools), and charcoal chips excavated at the time of excavation, it is proved that they were primitive humans who could make tools and use fire.
Stone tools made by the Yuanmou people
Charcoal chips in the ruins of the Yuanmou people