A new archaeological find in southwestern China has challenged existing theories about the geographic range of Neanderthals, suggesting these ancient human relatives may have ventured much further east than previously thought.
A team of researchers has unearthed approximately 3,500 stone artifacts at the Longtan site in Yunnan province, dating back 50,000 to 60,000 years.
What makes this discovery remarkable is that many of these tools display characteristics of Quina technology – a toolmaking tradition previously associated exclusively with Neanderthals in Europe and the Middle East.
“The Longtan Quina technology reshapes our understanding of East Asia’s evolutionary landscape,” said Ruan Qijun, director of the paleoanthropology department at the Yunnan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and co-first author of the study, according to SCMP.
The research, published last week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), could significantly alter our understanding of human evolution in Asia.
Until now, scientists believed that early hominids in China demonstrated slower technological development, particularly regarding Middle Paleolithic advancements that occurred elsewhere between 300,000 and 40,000 years ago.
The discovered Quina scrapers possess distinctive features that make them immediately recognizable to archaeologists.
According to Ben Marwick, a professor of archaeology at the University of Washington and one of the study authors, these tools are typically “thick and asymmetrical, with sharp edges for cutting.”
They are crafted by flaking pieces from a stone core, creating durable implements ideal for hunters needing to process their kills efficiently.
Analysis of wear patterns on six scrapers from the site revealed different uses: some were employed for scraping bones, antlers, or wood, while others processed softer materials such as meat, hides, or non-woody plants.
The environmental conditions at the Longtan site further strengthen the Neanderthal connection. Pollen analysis suggests the ancient inhabitants lived in “a relatively open mountainous forest-grassland landscape, likely with scattered pine forests and small lakes or ponds.”
This dry, cool environment closely resembles conditions at Quina sites in Europe, where similar tools have been linked to hunting seasonally migrating herds of reindeer, giant deer, horses, and bison.
Located at the southern margin of the Hengduan Mountains on the Tibetan Plateau, approximately 1,540 meters above sea level, the Longtan site was discovered in 2010 and excavated in 2019 and 2020.
While the presence of Quina technology strongly suggests Neanderthal habitation, researchers acknowledge that other human species could have made these tools, including modern humans, Denisovans, or even undiscovered hominin species.
The discovery adds to a growing body of evidence pointing to multiple hominin groups coexisting in ancient China. According to Ruan, diverse early human relics from the period between 300,000 and 40,000 years ago indicate that various groups – including Xiahe Denisovans, “Dragon Man” Homo longi, the large-brained Homo juluensis, and an unknown hand-axe-using group – likely formed “a complex mosaic of regional adaptations.”
This finding not only expands our understanding of Neanderthal geography but also challenges conventional theories about technological development in East Asia during the Middle Paleolithic period.
The research team, comprising archaeologists from Australia, China, France, Italy, Spain, and the United States, has potentially uncovered a missing piece in the complex puzzle of human evolution in Asia.
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