Twenty-two projects were shortlisted for the top ten new archaeological discoveries in China in 2022 on Monday morning, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

They were chosen from 32 projects selected to participate in this year's evaluation, which started in early February.

A panel of experts authorized by the administration voted to recommend the 22 to enter the final evaluation stage.

The 22 shortlisted projects span millions of years, with distinctive features and fruitful research results.

At the Xuetangliangzi site in Shiyan City of central China's Hubei Province, No.3 "Yunxian Man" skull dating to the Paleolithic Age was excavated.

The skull, dating back approximately one million years, is the most complete ancient human skull ever unearthed in the Eurasian inland so far, offering important clues to the study of humans appearing and developing in East Asia.

Another candidate is the discovery of the complete and precious remains of buildings, stone tools, and pottery from the Neolithic age at the Sitai site in Shangyi County of north China's Hebei Province, testifying to over 10,000 years of cultural history in northern China.

The Nanzuo site in northwest China's Gansu Province is a large-scale high-level central settlement in the late period of Yangshao Culture.

Built 5,000 years ago, the core area of the spectacular site surrounded by nine tall rammed earth platforms is as large as 300,000 square meters.

In southwest China's Yunnan Province, the Hebosuo site in Kunming City has helped archaeologists build the archaeological cultural sequence of the Dianchi Basin from the Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Zhou (1046-256 BC) dynasties to the Qin (221-207 BC) and Han (202 BC-220 AD) dynasties. The excavated roads, architecture foundation trenches, and bamboo slips inscribed with characters have strongly proved the effective rule of the Western Han Dynasty over Yunnan.

The ruins of two temples in Hunchun City, Jilin Province in northeast China date their construction back to the 5th century. Archaeological discoveries of the Buddhist temple architectural ruins with complete structure and clear layout, and unearthed Buddha statues show how Buddhist culture was introduced from border areas and evolved under the influence of Central Plains culture during the Southern and Northern (420-589), Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907) dynasties.

The Helan Suyukou Site in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), has been identified as a new type of kiln industry, "Helan Kiln." A large number of fine white porcelain and various kiln furniture have been unearthed here, and the site of official porcelain kilns for the court of Western Xia has been found.

Also shortlisted is the family cemetery of Zhang Rong, King of Jinan during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) found in east China's Shandong Province. It is the highest-ranking cemetery of the dynasty that has been unearthed in the province so far with the richest textual materials unearthed at one time, which shows the scene of ethnic integration at the time.

The series of major discoveries and the latest research results of the shortlisted projects have continuously perfected the temporal and spatial framework of Chinese history, which is of great significance in exploring the origin and development of the Chinese civilization.