Chinese archaeologists claim that findings unearthed in the areas along the Qinghai-Tibet railway proved that human beings lived there at least 30,000 years ago. Archaeologists with the Qinghai Provincial Archaeological Institute said they collected large number of chipped stone tools including knives and pointed implements dating back 30,000 years in the Tuotuo River valley, Hoh Xil, and Qaidam Basin, where the railway runs through, during recent excavations. More than 30 stone implements were also discovered at the site of Sancha River bridge on the Qinghai-Tibet railway, located in Golmud, a city over 70 kilometers to the north of Kunlun Mountains, said Xu Xinguo, head of the Qinghai Provincial Archaeological Institute.
     Xu said these stone tools might reveal an important link of the cultural exchanges between Hailar, a city of northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Nyalam County of the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwest China.
     Additionally, archaeologists have unearthed many sites of historical interest in Xining, the starting point of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, and in the eastern part of Qinghai. These sites include Xiaochaidan Ruins and Layihai Ruins of Paleolithic (500,000-10,000 years ago), the Hulijia Ruins, Zongri Ruins and Lajia Ruins of the Neolithic (10,000 to over 4,000 years ago), as well as Nuomuhong Ruins dating to the Bronze Age.

Sources: Xinhua, crienglish.com (24 June 2006)