Chinese archaeologists said Tuesday that they found remains of 30 kinds of plants dating back 8,000 years in east China's Shandong Province.

The remains were found near the construction site of an international exposition center in the coastal city of Qingdao.

Zhang Zhigang, expert with China Paleontology Society, said a team of archaeologists had been digging for ancient plant remains since the end of last year when they first found remains of a 10-cm-long reed at the site. He said the discovery is a breakthrough and will provide evidence for human evolution research.

The 30 kinds of plant remains include oak leaves, Siberian cocklebur, water nut and something similar to rice, Zhang said. Zhang said that some remains had a rare orange or brownish luster when excavated.

Zhang said that finding a large number of well-preserved ancient plant remains in China is rare. The discovery will shed some light on environmental changes 8,000 years ago that eventually led to human evolution.

Zhang said the discovery was also helpful to understanding the geology and climate in ancient times, as well as a study of the human activities related to climate change.
 
(Xinhua News Agency June 18, 2005)