When did our ancient ancestor Homo erectus first arrive in China out of Africa?
Researchers push back the timeline for their arrival by 600,000 years, raising new questions about how the species spread around the globe
An analysis of Homo erectus fossils found in modern-day Hubei province using new techniques concluded that the remains were almost 1.8 million years old – pushing back their arrival date by around 600,000 years and suggesting the species may have spread across continents earlier and more successfully than scientists previously thought.
While the species is believed to have originated in Africa before travelling across Eurasia, scientists are still trying to work out the precise timeline for its arrival in eastern Asia.
In the latest study, researchers used a dating technique capable of accurately dating materials up to 5 million years old, far longer than the 50,000-year timespan for traditional carbon-14 dating techniques.
The team from Shantou University, Nanjing Normal University and Shanxi University in China, as well as Purdue University and University of Hawaii in the United States, published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Science Advances on February 18.
The research was based on fossils found at the Yunxian archaeological site on the Han River. Animal fossils were first discovered in the area in the 1960s and 1970s, with three hominin skulls being unearthed over the subsequent decades.