The site is situated at the brim of the Yuanmou Basin. A 695-meter-deep deposit in the basin is divided into 28 layers of 4 sections from top to bottom. On May 1, 1965, the Geological Mechanics Research Institute found two fore-tooth fossils of Yuanmou Man in the site. The crown of the teeth is well preserved while the root is incomplete. These two teeth, belonging to the same male adult, are believed to be about 1,700,000 years old. These are the earliest ape-man fossils that have been found in China. Archaeologists named the ape-man as Erectus, Yuanmou New Asian Race, Yuanmou Man for short.

In later excavations, Yuanmou animals of early Pleistocene period, such as Yunnan horse, saber tooth tiger, and saber tooth elephant, were unearthed together with stone tools and coal ash. Archaeologists also discovered in the Yuanmou Basin signs of glacier movements during the 4^th Geological Age. A stone sign was erected in the site.