A Sino-Russian archaeological team announced on earlier this month
that the original settlements on both banks of the Heilongjiang
(Amur) River were very similar and the region may have been an
important route for humans migrating from Asia to America.
This is the first time China and Russia have jointly studied the
original settlements along their border river.
The Heilongjiang River is located in the central area of northeast
Asia, close to Bering Strait which connects Asia to North America.
Therefore the original river settlements have attracted wide
attention from China, Russia, the United States, Japan and the
Republic of Korea (ROK).
Zhang Wei, head of the joint archaeological team said that their
explorations started in July 2001. So far more than 300 stoneware
and earthenware pieces produced between 1300-9000 years ago in the
early period of the Neolithic Age have been unearthed in the suburb
of Habarovsk, a city near the river.
Yu
Huili, a member of the joint archaeological team, said that among
hunting tools found such as stone spearheads and stone swords, a
stone pendant used to weigh down a fishing net in the river was the
first discovery of a fishing tool in the Heilongjiang River Valley.
It demonstrated that both hunting and fishing were commonly
practised in the Heilongjiang Valley as early as the beginning of
the Neolithic Age.
Archaeologists have also found from their study that the ancient
people selected materials very carefully before producing
stoneware. And that stoneware includes both chipped stone
implements and ground stone implements, which demonstrates again
that as early as during the transitional period between the
Paleolithic Age and the Neolithic Age, human beings were already
living in the Heilongjiang River valley.
Chinese and Russian archaeologists also agree that such a big
quantity and high quality of stoneware is rarely seen compared with
stoneware of the same age discovered in other parts of the world.
It reflects that settlements in the Heilongjiang River valley were
well developed in the early Neolithic Age.
More evidence supporting the theory
The theory has long existed that humans migrated from Asia to
America via the Far East because calculations show that during a
drop in sea levels between 12,000 and 25,000 years ago, Bering
Strait emerged from the sea, creating the only land link between
Asia and America.
More evidence supporting the theory is that the physical looks of
American Indian and Maya peoples were quite similar to early
Asians.
Archaeologists say that the new finds along the Heilongjiang River
also back the theory as the stoneware proves that the time when
human activities began was quite close to the time the land link
emerged.
Another striking fact is that earlier this year, Chinese
archaeologists discovered a site on China's side of the border
river with similar remains to those discovered at Habarovsk.
Zhang said that it meant that the original settlements on both
banks were quite similar. In future, China and Russia will
strengthen cooperation to seek more evidence supporting the
view.
( June 11, 2002)