Huanglong cave, a new late pleistocene hominid site in Hubei Province, China

Abstract

For the past 20 years the modern human origins debate has received a significant amount of attention in paleoanthropological research. Primarily supported by the evidence of earlier dates of anatomically modern human fossils and genetic studies, the “Out of Africa” hypothesis is based on the belief that the ancestor of all modern humans, including modern Chinese, came from Africa. The opposite hypothesis “Mutiregional evolution” proposes that continuous evolution occurred on a regional scale, for which human paleontology offers strong support. However, due to the paucity of hominid fossils in China between 100 and 50 ka, support to the latter hypothesis is currently weak. This is a report here of five human fossil teeth, and associated stone tools and mammal fossils from a newly discovered cave site, Huanglong Cave, located in Yunxi County, Hubei Province, China. Preliminary studies indicate: (1) the morphological features of the human fossils resemble those of late Pleistocene human fossils from China; (2) the stone tools display patterns of both the southern and northern Paleolithic cultures of China; (3) the mammal fossils represent the “Ailuropoda-Stegodon” faunal unit which lived in southern China throughout the Pleistocene. ESR and U-series dating on animal teeth and a stalagmite derived from the same layer as the human teeth indicate two possible ages: 103±1.6 ka and 44±12.5 ka. In addition to other evidence presented here, it is believed that hominid occupation of the cave was likely around 100 ka. If this age is further substantiated, Huanglong Cave will be the first late Pleistocene hominid fossil site in China where anatomically modern humans lived about 100 ka. The human fossils and other related materials from Huanglong Cave will provide important information for research on the origin of modern Chinese.