Pieces of jade jewelry among Shijiahe relics, Tianmen, Hubei province, 4,000 years old. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Wang Wei, head of the Society of Chinese Archaeology, said preparation work for urban construction has been a main source of the discovery of archaeological sites, but Chinese archaeologists also have been trying to undertake projects away from cities.

That led to the discovery last year of some important prehistoric relics. At a 13,000-year-old site in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, for instance, rare and exquisite ornaments made of ostrich eggs were excavated. This also is an award winner.

"People used to have a stereotype that there can hardly be any top-tier findings later than the Song Dynasty (960-1279)," he said. "But the time distribution of the 10 findings is more balanced this year."

Nevertheless, Wang said physical beauty is not a prerequisite to be among the Top 10.