Fossils found in Chinese cave

 

Fossils found in Chinese cave could shed new light on origins of modern humans


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.

Excavation team leader Wu Xiujie, a researcher with the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the CAS, said the fossils had characteristics between the Homo erectus and modern human stages, unlike other premodern human fossils.

Referring to the skull of a girl aged 13 or 14 that was found in 2015, Wu said the fossil displayed “a unique blend of primitive and modern characteristics”, according to a report by state news agency Xinhua.

“The facial structure and mandible show early evolution towards modern humans, including a flat face, high eye sockets, slender skull and a jawbone that displays the early development of a chin – a defining feature of modern humans,” Wu was quoted as saying.

“She already looked very similar to us, but still retained some ancient features.”

Wu said the fossils suggested the group was intelligent, their finely crafted stone tools pointed to a relatively high level of technical skill, and that they had evolved towards the stage of Homo sapiens.

She said the family had likely prepared food in a dining hall area and slept in a bedroom inside a karst cave to protect themselves from wild beasts. But the cave has collapsed and the team said exploring that area would be their next step in the hope of finding more fossils.

Liu Wu, another researcher at the institute who has been working at the cave site for more than a decade, said the evolutionary transition from ancient to modern human forms in East Asia may have taken place 300,000 years ago – about 100,000 years earlier than previously thought.

“The Hualongdong humans were the earliest ancient humans in East Asia who exhibited the most characteristics of Homo sapiens and were at a key turning point in the evolution from ancient humans towards modern humans,” Liu told Xinhua.

“The initial evolutionary transition to modern humans likely happened in relatively isolated areas, while other parts of China were still inhabited by more ancient human members.”

Palaeontologist Xu Xing, director of the institute, said while the long-held human evolution theory suggests modern humans originated in Africa and spread globally, recent fossil discoveries – particularly in China – have shown that this process is more complex than previously thought.

“For much of the past, fossil evidence of ancient humans primarily came from Africa or the Middle East. The 300,000-year time frame is critical for understanding the origins of modern humans,” he told Xinhua, adding that the mandible of the teenage skull fossil might answer key questions about the emergence of Homo sapiens.

“Some scholars believe that the origin of modern humans may have been in different places. We will wait and see if the Hualongdong fossils can provide support for this viewpoint,” he said

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