Concrete historical evidence of human habitation on Daxing'an Mountain was found in a cave in the latest archeological breakthrough in Harbin, Heilongjiang province on Nov 16.

Thousands of items, including stone tools, bone artifacts, jade articles, pottery, ironware, antique glass and agate beads, were discovered by archaeologists in a natural cave seven kilometers northwest of Bishui Town, Huzhong District of Daxing'an Mountain range, after over 70 days' hard work involving salvaging and archaeological cleaning. The archaeologists also explored eight culture layers overlaying each other closely in the rock and soil, which represent the progress of civilization from the late Paleolithic Age to the Xianbei culture of the Eastern Han (25-220).

According to the experts, this discovery opened up a "wordless history book" of Daxing'an Mountain culture, one of the origins of Chinese civilization.

A "stone axe" found in the cave. [Photo/Xinhua]

The color brown indicates a layer of plant ash in the cave. [Photo/Xinhua]

Eight cultural layers are marked by the archeologists. [Photo/Xinhua]