Decipher mysterious human bones in China

The strange fossil bones that scientists found in southern China may be the remains of a new strain who lived with modern people more than 11,000 years ago.

A few years ago archaeologists discovered many human bones in the Red Deer cave near Mong Tu city, Chau Hong Ha, Van Nam province and a skeleton in another cave in Long Lam district, Bach Sac city, Quang province. West. They are the remains of at least 5 people. Realizing the strange features of the bones, Professor Ji Xueping, a researcher at the Yunnan Institute of Cultural and Archeological Heritage in China, and international colleagues decided to study them, the BBC reported. .

Scientists continue to excavate at the Red Deer Cave in China. (Photo: Darren Curnoe)

Fossil bone fragments date from 11,500 to 14,500 years. Thus, they are the remains of those who lived in the same territory with the first Chinese farmers. Although two bones were discovered at two locations, their skulls and teeth had many things in common. So the team identified two bones that belong to a human community. But they have many characteristics that are quite different from those of modern people. In fact, the "Red Deer Cave" - the name the research team gave to those who lived in the Red Deer cave - is a mixture of modern people and a different kind of people.

'This fossil gathering may be a remnant of a human race that we never knew. That person survived until the end of the ice age 11,000 years ago. However, they may also be the remains of modern people. They have migrated from Africa to China, but the genes of that community are not present in modern people today , ' Livescience quoted Darren Curnoe, an anthropologist at the University of New South Wales in Australia. Curnoe is a member of the team studying fossils in the Red Deer cave.

Portrait of the Red Deer Cave by the research team
restoring from bone fragments in southern China.

In general, Red Deer Cave people have round skulls with fairly prominent foreheads. Their skulls are relatively thick, and their faces are quite short and flat. Their noses are wider than modern people's noses. Their teeth jutted forward but they had no chin. Their frontal lobe resembles modern humans but the top lobes are completely different. Red Deer Cave people also have molars.

Ji, Curnoe and colleagues set out two Plos One hypotheses about the origin of the Red Deer community. First, they are modern people but live separately from other modern communities before extinction. According to the second hypothesis, they are a race that evolved in Asia and lived with modern people.

The third hypothesis, made by scientists not involved in the study, suggests that the Red Deer Cave is a hybrid product of modern humans and some ancient race.

The team will try to take DNA from bone fragments for analysis. The results of the analysis will help them determine whether the Red Deer Cave is a modern person or a hybrid product of a modern person with a certain human race.

"We are very cautious in classifying Red Deer Cave people in the current period. One of the difficulties with the classification process is that the scientific world still does not have a unified definition of modern people. Definition About ourselves is a very controversial issue, " Curnoe said.