Archeologists have unearthed a giant animal fossil in central China's Henan Province, which proved that prehistoric people might have taken the elephant meat as their food.
The fossil was excavated in early March in Houzhai town of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan Province.
Experts believed that the fossil could date back to over 10,000 years ago and was the leg of an ancient elephant.
After making a careful study of the fossil, an archeologist by the name of Li Zhanyang said that the leg has been completely petrified. But the weathering condition of the surface of the fossil showed that the elephant was not buried immediately after death.
Archeologists also found scrapes made by stone knives on the surface of the joint of the leg and 13-14 parallel cuts on one of the bone scraps.
Li concluded that the scrapes and cuts are the most direct proof that the prehistoric people cooked and ate the elephant. It is also the first time that signs of prehistoric people's activities were found on the outskirts of Zhengzhou.
(Xinhua 03/29/2001)
