Archaeologists have recently unearthed more than 5,000 important relics in Bashan, Yishui county, Linyi, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/dzwww.com]

Archaeologists have recently unearthed more than 5,000 important relics in Bashan, Yishui county, Linyi, East China's Shandong province.

The 5,000 uncovered relics are mainly stone and bone wares and animal fossils. Among them is an extremely rare 99,000-year-old ivory shovel, according to Li Gang, an archaeologist at the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.

Li added that the new excavations in Bashan are of great importance to the research of human evolution in China and East Asia, and will greatly enhance our understanding of the production and living styles and living environment of ancient people.

The new excavations in Bashan are of great importance to the research of human evolution in China and East Asia. [Photo/dzwww.com]