Fossils: The earliest modern humans in
southern China (N&V) *IMAGES*
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NATURE
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Anthropology
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& Archaeology
Embargo
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London: Wednesday 14 October 2015 18:00 (BST)
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New York: Wednesday 14 October 2015 13:00 (EDT)
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Tokyo: Thursday 15 October 2015 02:00 (JST)
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Sydney: Thursday 15 October 2015 04:00 (AEDT)
The discovery of 47 human teeth from a cave in southern China indicates that anatomically
modern humans were present in the region at least 80,000 years ago. The findings, reported
inNature this week, add to the understanding of the emergence of modern humans in southern
Asia.
The hominin record from southern Asia during the Late Pleistocene (between about 12,000 and
126,000 years ago) is scarce. Well-dated, well-preserved fossils that are older than 45,000 years
and that can be confidently attributed to Homo sapiens have been lacking. Recent excavations of
Fuyan Cave in Daoxian, southern China, yielded a trove of 47 human teeth and fossils from
various extinct and living mammals. Wu Liu, María Martinón-Torres, Xu-jie Wu and colleagues
report that the teeth date to more than 80,000 years ago, although they may be as old as
120,000 years; detailed morphological analysis supports their attribution to anatomically modern
humans. The teeth are smaller than other Late Pleistocene specimens from Asia and Africa and
bear a closer resemblance to Late Pleistocene Europeans and even contemporary modern
humans, the authors find.
The study indicates that humans with fully modern morphological features were present in
southern China 30,000 to 70,000 years earlier than in the eastern Mediterranean and Europe. In
addition, the results suggest that southern China may have been inhabited by more derived
populations than central and northern China during this period. The work may also provide
insights into the dispersal of modern humans, and, in particular, the reason for the relatively late
entry of modern humans into Europe.
Article and author details
1. The earliest unequivocally modern humans in South China
Corresponding Authors
María Martinón-Torres
University College London, London, United Kingdom
Email: maria.martinon-torres@ucl.ac.uk, Tel: +44 20 7679 4907
Wu Liu
The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Beijing, China
Email: liuwu@ivpp.ac.cn
Xiu-jie Wu
The Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Beijing, China
Email: wuxiujie@ivpp.ac.cn
N&V author
Robin Dennell
University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
Email: r.w.dennell@exeter.ac.uk
DOI
10.1038/nature15696
Online paper*
http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/nature15696
* Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo ends).
Geographical listings of authors
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China
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, Netherlands
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, Spain
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, United Kingdom
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& United States
Image One
Caption: 47 human teeth found from the Fuyan Cave, Daoxian
Credit: S. Xing and X-J. Wu
Image Two
Caption: Geographical location and interior views of the Fuyan Cave, Doaxian with dating sample (lower left),
plan view of the excavation area with stratigraphy layer marked (center), the spatial relationship of the excavated
regions and researcher finding human tooth (right).
Credit: Y-J Cai, X-X Yang, and X-J Wu
Image Three
Caption: Human upper teeth found from the Fuyan Cave, Daoxian.
Credit: S. Xing
Image Four
Caption: Human lower teeth found from the Fuyan Cave, Daoxian.
Credit: S. Xing