BEIJING, May 4 (Xinhua) -- The following are highlights of China's key news on archaeology from the past week:

-- 5,000-year-old mysterious tomb

The identity of the owner of a tomb recently discovered by archaeologists at Huangshan ruins in the city of Nanyang, central China's Henan Province, has aroused discussions.

The tomb is said to be the highest-grade clan tomb of Qujialing culture found in southwest Henan and even in the middle reaches of the Hanjiang River. Qujialing culture is a late Neolithic culture centered primarily around the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

-- Traces of ancient Denisovans on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

Chinese and overseas researchers said a fossil on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is believed to belong to the ancient Denisovans, who lived around 160,000 years ago.

The mandible, or lower jaw, was found in the Xiahe County of Gansu Province in the northeastern part of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Denisovans are members of a hominin group who are currently only known directly from fragmentary fossils, the genomes of which have been studied from a single site, the Denisovan Cave in Siberia, Russia, according to a paper published in Nature.

-- 3,500-year-old animal paintings in northwest China

Archaeologists have discovered 16 pieces of rock paintings carved with vivid animal figures in northwest China's Gansu Province, including paintings of deer, an important indicator of the area's changing eco system.

The paintings date back 3,500 years ago, according to initial appraisals by researchers. Enditem

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