Chinese archaeologists announced recently in Hangzhou that rhinoceros did exist during the Neolithic period, in contrast to the traditional view that the species went extinct as far back as the Paleolithic period, approximately 10,000 years ago.
The archaeologists drew the conclusion after analyzing the newly discovered bones of a rhinoceros in a Neolithic site in Zhuji City in east China's Zhejiang Province.
The site, dating back 6,000 years, also contained the remains of elephants, deer and pigs.
Although the rhinoceros was recorded in ancient Chinese books, their bones have never been unearthed in a Neolithic site in China, which prompted Chinese archaeologists to rule out the possibility of its existence in the Neolithic period.
Even though rhinoceros remains were discovered in the well-known Hemudu Neolithic site in 1973, the archaeologists doubted their own accuracy rather than questioning the traditional view.
(People's Daily 10/07/2000)
