A relic site dating back to the late Paleolithic period has been discovered near the Mulanxi River in Putian, East China's Fujian province, the municipal culture and tourism bureau says, adding that the discovery shows that the area started to see human activity at least 20,000 years ago.

Fan Xuechun, head of the archaeological team focusing on the river basin of Mulanxi, says that, during the excavation and research work, which lasted for about a year, the team found a total of 26 prehistorical sites, including one Paleolithic, seven Neolithic, and 18 Bronze Age sites.

Hundreds of collected specimens and nearly 100 complete or recoverable objects were unearthed.

The discovery has filled many archaeological gaps in the region, according to Fan.

Fan says the discoveries showed that the Mulanxi river basin is one of the areas where ancient human activities were frequent.

It was the intersection zone where the prehistoric culture of northern Fujian province met with that of southern Fujian province, which is of great research value.

The Mulanxi is the mother river of Putian. More than 20 relic sites dating back to the pre-Qin period (pre-221 BC) have been discovered along the river in recent decades.