Rescuing early humans' legacy

He also said that no individual or organization can destroy that which benefits society for the sake of immediate interest.

Still, it wasn't an easy decision.

From 1989 to 1999, archaeological research indicated the site might host Paleolithic objects.

"Animal bones found there were at least 10,000 years old," Sanming Conservation Center for Cultural Heritage director Yu Shengfu recalls.

"They might show human settlement," he thought then.

But its protection was fiercely debated by locals and Sanming Steel Group, a major State-owned steelwork that'd used the area for its quarries.

And the boom of explosives seemed imminent.

The company wasn't hoping to mine iron ore but, rather, the area's top-quality limestone, which is also used in steel production.

But residents of Yanqian village, where Wanshouyan is located, strongly supported keeping the caves as they were-and still are, today.

That's not only because they were aware of its potential significance for Paleolithic discoveries. The hills also hosted the villagers' veneration toward nature and their homeland. And the ruins of a Song Dynasty (960-1279) temple was also believed to safeguard their peace.