Chinese archaeologists have unearthed 5,000-year-old ancient tombs in eastern China containing the remains of a mysterious race of “unusually tall and strong” people. The remains of the ancient race of “giants,” with unusually strong and robust physiques, measured more than six feet in height, with some measuring up to six feet, three inches, according to the People’s Daily Online.
The average height of the ancient giants was much greater than the average for modern Chinese men estimated at about five feet, seven inches. This suggests that China’s ancient race of “giants,” who lived in the region in the late Neolithic about 5,000 years ago, were distinct from modern day Chinese people.
The discovery of the “unusually tall and strong” ancient race was made in Jiaojia village near Jinan in the Shandong province of eastern China. Excavation of the site by Chinese archaeologists began in 2016, according to People’s Daily Online.
The site reportedly consists of the ruins of more than 100 houses, 205 graves, and 20 man-made pits near the village of Jiaojia.
Chinese archaeologists estimated the age of the site to be more than 5,000 years old. The ruins and the human remains represent a previously unknown late Neolithic culture that flourished along the banks of the Yellow River in prehistoric times.
The people discovered in the tombs measured between nearly six feet and six feet, three inches tall. Archaeologists speculated that the taller men found in bigger and more elaborate tombs might have been the members of the prehistoric society’s ruling class. Archaeologists also speculated that their superior physique might have been caused by their ability to obtain better food.
Although the people of the prehistoric culture were much taller than modern Chinese people, the modern people of the Shandong area of China are known to be among the tallest people in China, according to official statistics.
Shandong men aged 18 and over have an average height of five feet, nine inches, compared with the national average of about five feet, seven inches. Despite being among the tallest people in modern China, Shandong men are still significantly shorter than the mysterious “race of giants” found at the prehistoric Neolithic site. The ancient “race of giants” were found to be “unusually tall and strong,” ranging in height from nearly six feet to over six feet, three inches, according to archaeologists.
People’s Daily Online reported that according to Fang Hui, the head of Shandong University’s school of history and culture, the prehistoric culture was agricultural and the people had a rich and diverse supply of food. This could partly explain their robust physique.
“Already agricultural at that time, people had diverse and rich food resources and thus their physique changed.”
The people lived in small villages but their lives were relatively comfortable. Fang Hui told People’s Daily that the prehistoric Neolithic communities reared pigs and cultivated millet. They also produced intricate jade ornaments and pottery.
However, archaeologists also found evidence of violence suggesting power struggle among the ruling classes. One of the remains had a damaged skull and broken leg bones believed to have been due to violence.
“Further study and excavation of the site is of great value to our understanding of the origin of culture in east China,” Zhou Xiaobo, the deputy head of Shandong bureau of cultural heritage, said.
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