Scientists in China have studied an ancient skull that may change what we know about human history. The skull, called Yunxian 2, was found more than 30 years ago in Hubei Province, but it was badly damaged. For many years, experts could not fully understand it.
Now, with new digital technology, researchers have rebuilt the skull’s shape. They believe it is between 940,000 and 1.1 million years old. The study shows that the skull may not belong to Homo erectus, as earlier thought. Instead, it has features that look closer to other ancient human relatives, such as the Denisovans and Homo longi, also known as “Dragon Man.”
The skull has a large braincase, a strong brow, a flat face, and a forward-pointing nose. But unlike Neanderthals, it does not have a very prominent middle face. These signs suggest the skull belongs to a separate branch of humans that lived in Asia long before modern humans appeared.
If this is correct, scientists say the split between modern humans and Denisovans may have happened much earlier than previously believed more than a million years ago. Until now, many researchers thought this separation took place only a few hundred thousand years ago.
The discovery is also important because it helps to explain a confusing period in history known as the “Muddle in the Middle.” This refers to the time from about one million to 300,000 years ago, when many fossils from different human groups show mixed features.
Researchers believe more discoveries are needed to fully understand these early human branches. But Yunxian 2 already shows that human evolution was not a straight line. Instead, there were many different groups living at the same time, and some of them survived in Asia with their own unique traits.
This discovery gives scientists a new look at the complex story of human evolution and could change the timeline of how modern humans came to be.
