Fossil discoveries near Yunxian, China, indicate that the forerunners of today’s human population inhabited East Asia approximately 1.7 million years ago. This predates earlier assumptions by 600,000 years.
Reconstruction of the Yunxian Homo erectus. Photo: Xiaobo Feng
Paleoanthropologists have reassessed the timeline for the emergence of early humans in East Asia. Recent research indicates that Homo erectus might have emerged in that geographical area circa 1.7 million years in the past—several hundred millennia sooner than formerly posited.
This information originated from The Independent.
The fossils were unearthed in Yunxian, China. Before, the most ancient Homo erectus remnants discovered in that area were estimated to be roughly 1.1 million years old. Nevertheless, fresh scrutiny reveals that hominids potentially dwelled there as early as 1.7 million years ago – approximately 600,000 years prior to previous estimations.
Homo erectus represents an ancestral relative of contemporary humans, originating in Africa before dispersing across Eurasia. The precise era of their arrival in East Asia has long been an issue for scholarly argument. These discoveries could significantly reshape our comprehension of the tempo and scope of initial human dispersal.
According to Christopher Be, one of the study’s contributors, the scientists integrated examination of the Yunxian fossils with advanced sediment dating techniques. This enabled them to construct a more accurate chronology for hominin existence within the region. The scientist remarked that the updated findings bolster the theory of a swift and extensive dissemination of early Homo erectus from Africa.
To ascertain the age, they employed a technique involving the analysis of radioactive aluminum and beryllium isotopes found in sedimentary rock formations. These isotopes arise due to cosmic ray effects and undergo gradual disintegration subsequent to burial. By contrasting the proportions of atoms within the samples, the researchers successfully deduced the duration the fossils had remained buried underground.
Study co-author Hua Tu clarified that this methodology facilitates the dating of materials up to five million years in age, in contrast to radiocarbon dating, which possesses a limit of approximately 50,000 years.
The findings challenge prevailing assumptions concerning the chronology and pathways of primitive human migration from Africa into Asia, while concurrently raising unresolved inquiries regarding when Homo erectus initially materialized within the region and the duration of its presence there.
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