Chinese academics point to fossil finds as evidence modern humans evolved in Southeast Asia
THE idea that Africa was the cradle of human evolution may have to be revisited, Chinese researchers claim, after the discovery of fossils suggesting we may have evolved in Asia.
Palaeontologists recently unearthed three teeth in an ancient limestone cave in the district of Bijie in China’s Guizhou Province.
But it was when these teeth were dated that the significance of the discovery was realised.
The fragments were found to be between 112,000 years and 178,000 years old.
This is some 75,000 years earlier than the first modern human (homo sapien) fossil finds in Africa.
The discovery was published in the Chinese science journal Acta Anthropologica Sinica earlier this year, and was at first linked to the existence of a previously unknown humanoid branch that walked the Earth about the same time as early Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens.
The species has been dubbed homo altaiensis, or Denisovian.
But a story from the South China Morning Post, which was picked up by a leading Beijing newspaper, the People’s Daily last week, says the teeth have now been identified as belonging to modern humans.
It says the discovery is the latest in a long chain of recent discoveries which call our understanding of human evolution into doubt.
OUT OF CHINA
“Many Western scientists tend to see Asian fossils and artefacts through the prism of what was happening in Africa and Europe,” high-profile Chinese palaeoanthropologist Wu Xinzhi, of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, wrote in Nature magazine on July 12.
He argues the prominence of African fossil finds was largely due to their proximity to major palaeoanthropology research institutions.
“It’s increasingly clear that many Asian materials cannot fit into the traditional narrative of human evolution,” he says.
JINNIUSHAN 260,000 years old Archaic H. sapiens from China. Largest female in fossil record https://t.co/9J4b0wla5D pic.twitter.com/qk2vFypHNc
— PaleoAnthropology+ (@Qafzeh) July 24, 2016
According to the Xinhua News Agency, in the past decade more than 47 teeth fossils have been found and categorised. These also appear to date from 80,000 to 120,000 years.
Among the most recent discoveries is what could possibly be the oldest known piece of crafted jewelery - a chlorite bracelet.
A Homo erectus skull was also found in Chinese soil late last year. It has since been dated to between 150,000 to 412,00 years old.
But it the recent discovery of a modern human fossil in Daoxian, Hunan, that first set the palaeontological community aflame. An article published in the science journal Nature last year indicates it is more than 100,000 years old.
ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES
It’s not the first time such an ancient hominid fossil has been found in China: A skeleton dubbed “Beijing Man’ was found at a mountain named ‘Dragon Bone Hill’ in 1929. It was determined to be roughly 780,000 years old.
The suggestion that China may be the cradle of humanity has spurred Beijing to invest tens of millions of dollars into new excavations each year.
A new specialist ancient DNA lab is also being built.
Established thinking on human evolution places Homo erectus in Africa two million years ago, with Homo heidelbergensis evolving some 600,000 years ago.
Homo heidelbergensis Wielded Sophisticated Tools and Weapons #Schöningen https://t.co/JNQ5XH1UxO via @Senckenberg pic.twitter.com/GfSQ2XxBoc
— PaleoAnthropology+ (@Qafzeh) July 24, 2016
Heidelbergensis is believed to have moved out of Africa about 400,000 years ago, dividing into two populations — one which moved west, the other east.
According to Western academics, these populations then diverged in their evolution: the western population became Neanderthals while the eastern population may have become Denisovian. Meanwhile, the heidelbergensis remaining in Africa evolved into homo sapiens.
Homo sapiens (modern humans) is believed to have moved out of the African continent some 60,000 years ago — pushing aside all who went before them.
CONTRADICTORY EVIDENCE
Previous studies of the male Y chromosome among Asian populations indicate the existence of a Chinese “Adam” some 60,000 years ago. The South China Morning Post says this ‘man’ arrived out of Africa in Southeast Asia, finding either a landscape devoid of competing hominids or killing all in their path.
“It is quite clear now that (this) the first hypothesis was incorrect,” Professor Wu said.
But Chinese media concedes the evidence needs verification.
In particular, the new-found teeth may have been disturbed in antiquity.
“More needs to be done to attempt to date the teeth, as geological upheaval can affect the surroundings in which fossils are found, so the dates could be misleading,” the People’s Daily reads.
But its academics are sounding increasingly convinced.
“There is overwhelming evidence from fossil records that China was populated with humans before the arrival of African settlers,” Professor Wu Xinzhi said.
“This has nothing to do with nationalism,” says Wu. It’s all about the evidence—the transitional fossils and archaeological artefacts, he says. “Everything points to continuous evolution in China from H. erectus to modern human.”
Originally published as Now China says humans evolved there