Opening ceremony of the conference [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

The International Conference on the 100th Anniversary of the Discovery of "Ordos Tooth" was inaugurated on August 14 in Uxin Banner, Ordos city, North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Over 170 experts and scholars from domestic and foreign archaeological research institutions and universities attended the forum, including those based in Russia, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, and France.

During the opening ceremony, Du Huiliang, mayor of Ordos, introduced the archaeological excavation and related work of "Ordos tooth". A ceremony was launched to unveil the Salawusu Site Museum and the Hetao Man Cultural Research Center. Experts delivered keynote speeches on the conference's theme.

The three-day event facilitated field visits to the Salawusu Site Museum, archaeological sites, and protective sheds tailored to archaeological conservation. Discussions were also held on topics such as Salawusu, Paleolithic and environmental archaeology, Hetao culture, and archaeological site park construction.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (left) and Émile Licent (right) [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

In 1922-23, French scholars Émile Licent and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin discovered the Salawusu Site during their scientific exploration in northwestern China. They unearthed around 200 Paleolithic artifacts and a deciduous upper left lateral incisor of a 7- to 8-year-old child, which became known as "Ordos tooth". In the 1940s, Pei Wenzhong, a researcher from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, referred to the human tooth fossil as representative of an ancient human species "Ordos Man", or "Hetao Man".

Salawusu means yellow water in Mongolian. The Salawusu River is the name of the Ordos section of the Wuding River, a primary tributary of the Yellow River.

[Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Located in the Salawusu River Basin of Uxin Banner, the Salawusu Site is the earliest site of Paleolithic human activity with clear stratigraphic relationships discovered in China and even East Asia. It is where the first-known Paleolithic human remains in Asia were found in the 1920s. In 2001, the Site was made a national key cultural relics protection unit by the State Council. It was included in the list of National Archaeological Site Parks in 2013.

A specimen of Megaloceros ordosianus exhibited at the Salawusu Site Museum [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Since 2021, great breakthroughs have been made in the excavation work. Archaeologists have rediscovered the original excavation site of Émile Licent and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin after nearly a century, and unearthed abundant Paleolithic and animal fossils that provide valuable research materials.

So far, one human fossil excavation site, two Paleolithic cultural sites, and 22 Salawusu animal fossil excavation sites have been identified, and 47 species of mammals and birds have been discovered within the site.

A model showcases Hetao Men using well-crafted stone scrapers to cut prey. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

This conference aims to leverage domestic and international think tank resources to reach new research consensuses and yield new theoretical achievements. It will further enhance the international influence and visibility of Hetao culture and promote the archaeological research of the Salawusu Site to a new level. At the same time, it will support the site's application to be designated a World Cultural and Natural Heritage.

The event is organized by the Department of Culture and Tourism of Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the People's Government of Ordos, the Cultural Heritage Administration of Inner Mongolia autonomous region, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Minzu University of China and the Institute of Archaeology of CAS. It is co-hosted by the Uxin Banner and Ordos authorities.