Pu L, Fang C, Hsing-hua M, Ching-yu P, Li-Sheng H, Shih-chiang C
Sci Sin. 1977 Sep-Oct;20(5):645-64.
Since the discovery of the fossil teeth of Yuanmou man (Homo erectus yuanmouensis) on May 1, 1965 from Yuanmou county, Yunnan Province, the Institute of Geomechanics, relying on the local poor and lower-middle peasants and co-operating with other units concerned, has been conducting intensive researches on the fossil man-bearing strata as well as Quaternary glaciation. Palaeomagnetic technique lately used in the study has for the first time shown that the Yuanmou man appeared around 1.7 million years ago, earlier than both Peking man and Lantien man. Hence the age formerly assigned to the earliest fossil man in China has to be increased by more than a million years. Furthermore, as the age of Yuanmou formation is fixed at 1.5--3.1 million years, the length of Quaternary has to be extended by more than two million years. Of special interest is that under the Yuanmou formation there occur glacial traces which prove beyond doubt the existence of glaciation over 3 million years ago. This is a new discovery in the Quaternary history of China, and provides a new approach to the future study of this period.
自1965年5月1日在云南省元谋县发现元谋人（直立人元谋亚种）的化石牙齿以来，地质力学研究所依靠当地贫下中农，并与其他有关单位合作，对含人类化石地层以及第四纪冰川作用进行了深入研究。最近在研究中使用的古地磁技术首次表明，元谋人出现在大约170万年前，比北京人和蓝田人都要早。因此，以前赋予中国最早人类化石的年代必须增加100多万年。此外，由于元谋组的年代确定为150万至310万年，第四纪的时长必须延长200多万年。特别值得注意的是，在元谋组之下发现了冰川遗迹，这无疑证明了300多万年前冰川作用的存在。这是中国第四纪历史上的一项新发现，为今后这一时期的研究提供了新的途径。
