Fossils found in Chinese cave could shed new light on origins of modern humans
They have both ancient and modern traits – a finding that could challenge ‘out of Africa’ theory of human evolution, scientists say
Ancient human fossils discovered in a cave in eastern China have traits of both primitive and modern humans – a finding that could potentially challenge the “out of Africa” theory of human evolution, scientists say.
The fossils of a family of 20 were found in the Hualongdong cave in Anhui province. They date back to around 300,000 years ago – a period between archaic Homo erectus and modern Homo sapiens for which limited fossil evidence is available.
A team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing said the group represented the earliest ancient human population found in East Asia in their evolution process towards Homo sapiens – today’s humans.
The researchers presented their findings at an academic conference last week attended by nearly 100 Chinese and international scientists in Dongzhi county, where the cave is located.
Scientists started excavating the site in 2013 after it was discovered in 1988.
Over the years, the fossils of 20 ancient humans have been dug up, including a relatively complete skull, along with fossils of more than 80 species of vertebrate, more than 400 stone artefacts, and many bone fragments with traces of cuts.
This year’s ancient human fossil finds include a well-preserved metatarsal bone, a frontal bone, part of a femur and eight skull fragments. The foot bone could hold clues about the height and walking style of the human.
Fossils of mammals and reptiles have also been unearthed this year, including extinct animals such as ancient pandas and stegodon, which are related to modern elephants. According to the scientists, many of the animals did not live near the cave – meaning they might have been transported from far away.
