Chinese archaeologists have discovered an almost complete human skull from 1 million years ago in the central province of Hubei, providing an important insight into a key moment in evolutionary history.
The Hubei Daily reports that the fossilized skull was excavated at the Xuetang Liangzi site in the city of Shiyan.
The skull, which has been dubbed the “Yunxian Man,” was identified has having belonged to an archaic hominin known as Homo erectus , which first appeared on the earth about two million years ago.
Although the skull has not yet been completely unearthed, the parts that have been exposed, such as the frontal bone, eye sockets, left cheekbone, and temporal bone, show that the structure of the skull is more or less complete.
Although it is still unknown how Homo erectus and later Homo sapiens are related, this finding adds to our understanding how modern humans first appeared in East Asia.
The Xuetangliangzi site is well-known for the historic 1989 and 1990 finds of two hominid craniums. Scientists have dubbed the two relics, which date to between 800,000 and 1.1 million years ago, the No. 1 and No. 2 skulls of Yunxian Man.
Yunxian county was the previous name for the Yunyang district. The two fossils were discovered to be significantly distorted, though, when they were discovered.
There are no visible deformations in the current fossil, No 3. It is in excellent shape and demonstrates the traits of Homo erectus.
The third skull was located around 35 meters apart from the first two and was buried about 62 centimeters below the present ground level.
Their buried settings are comparable, as are the different kinds of other animal bones and lithic artifacts that have been discovered.
An Incredibly Important and Rare Discovery
Because the skull is complete and well-preserved, the scientists are hopeful they can learn more about the evolutionary history of Homo erectus in East Asia. Once the intact skull has been extracted a total collection of anatomical features will be available for further study and analysis.
The skull will also provide excellent data on Homo erectus brain volume, and on regional variations between different versions of the species (through comparisons with Homo erectus fossils found elsewhere in the world).
This type of information is extremely useful for evolutionary scientists, who must try to reconstruct evolutionary timelines and histories from a severely limited number of high-quality samples.
“There are very few human fossils around one million years old,” onsite excavation leader Gao Xing confirmed, during a press conference given by China's National Cultural Heritage Administration to announce this discovery.
“In China and East Asia, the only ones over one million years old are Yuanmou Man, which dates back to 1.7 million years ago, and Lantian Man, which is around 1.6 million to 1.2 million years old.”
What scientists can discover about this long-extinct species has clear relevance to the study of the evolution of modern humans.
Homo erectus is the forerunner of Homo antecessor , the last common ancestor of both modern humans and Neanderthals. This means Homo erectus is just two steps removed from Homo sapiens (us) and features many characteristics that make it easily recognizable as one of our long-lost cousins.
