Zhou Guoxing introduces his donated item. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

Zhou Guoxing, a renowned paleoanthropologist born in Nantong, Jiangsu province, donated 320 boxes of historical materials to the Nantong Archives ahead of International Archives Day, which occurs on June 9.

The donations span a long historical period, cover a broad range of topics, and hold substantial research value. They are expected to greatly support local studies in both social and natural sciences.

Zhou Guoxing visits the Nantong Archives. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

The 320 boxes of donations include 48 boxes of materials related to paleoanthropological research, 91 boxes of books, 163 boxes of specimens, and 18 boxes of exhibits.

Among them, in addition to common animal fossils, there are also mammoth fossils dating back tens of thousands of years, biological specimens collected from around the world, and replicas of ancient human fossils.

A report about Zhou Guoxing is featured in Nantong's Jianghai Evening News in 2007. [Photo/Nantong Daily]

This is the third time that Zhou has donated his collections to his hometown. In 2020, he donated his major academic papers, monographs, collections of popular science essays, letters on archaeological work to the Nantong Archives. Five years later, the archives received nearly 800 items related to the Japanese war of aggression against China from Zhou.

Chen Haibin, head of the Nantong Archives, noted that they will further sort through the materials so as to make better use of them in education and research.