North Koreans discover fossils from late Stone Age, state media says

July 14 (UPI) -- North Korea state media says the regime has excavated "hunting grounds" and stoneware dating from the late Paleolithic period.

Korean Workers' Party newspaper Rodong Sinmun reported Sunday the site was unearthed in Sinpung-ri, Sukchon County, South Pyongan Province, and dates anywhere between 15,000 and 50,000 years.

Artifacts were discovered by archaeologists under North Korea's Academy of Social Sciences, in a field more than a mile away from Sinpung-ri, according to the Rodong.

Remains include more than 460 fossils, more than 10 tools made of animal bones, 20 pieces of stoneware, and 1,200 pieces of unfinished stoneware, North Korean state media said.

The remains were found between the third and fourth layers of the excavated strata. According to the Rodong, the discovery marks the first prehistoric artifacts uncovered in an area outside natural caves.

North Korean archaeologists with the Academy of Social Sciences and scientists of the history department at Kim Il Sung University used electron spin resonance for absolute dating of the materials. ESR dating is often applied to fossil remains.

The method showed the fossils are more than 15,700 years old, North Korea state media said.

North Korea has previously invited the South for joint excavations in the country, but the regime has yet to increase engagement despite a recent summit at the border involving Kim Jong Un, U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

On Saturday KCNA condemned South Korea's "conservative" media for its critical reporting of Pyongyang.