Complex prehistoric tools unearthed at an archaeological site in central China are upending long-standing assumptions about human evolution, scientists claim in a new study.
Excavations at the Xigou site in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region in central China have revealed evidence of advanced stone tool use by early human ancestors dating back 160,000–72,000 years ago.
This was during a time when multiple large-brained hominins were present in China, such as Homo longi and Homo juluensis, and possibly our species, Homo sapiens.
The research reveals that human ancestors in this region were far more inventive, challenging the long-held view that early humans in China remained conservative and less-sophisticated for a long time.
“Researchers have argued for decades that while hominins in Africa and western Europe demonstrated significant technological advances, those in East Asia relied on simpler and more conservative stone-tool traditions,” said expedition leader Shixia Yang, an author of the study published in the journal Nature Communications.
One of the most striking findings at the site was a hafted stone tool, marking the earliest evidence yet of composite tool use in East Asia.
Such tools combined stone components with handles or shafts, and demonstrated complex planning, skilled craftsmanship, and an understanding of how to enhance tool performance.
“Their presence indicates the Xigou hominins possessed a high degree of behavioural flexibility and ingenuity,” said Jian-Ping Yue, another author of the study from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP).
The find also points to an increasing diversity of ancient human ancestor species in China over a 90,000-year period.
Some of these ancestor species identified at Xujiayao and Lingjing were large-brained, scientists say, providing a biological context for the behavioural complexity reflected in the latest discovery.
“Detailed analyses from the site show hominin inhabitants employed sophisticated stone toolmaking methods to produce small flakes and tools that were then used in a diverse array of activities,” said Michael Petraglia, director of Griffith University’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution.
“The technological strategies evident in the stone tools likely played a crucial role in helping hominin populations adapt to the fluctuating environments that characterised the 90,000-year-period in Eastern Asia,” Dr Petraglia said.
These early human populations possessed cognitive and technical abilities comparable to their counterparts in Africa and Europe, the study suggests.
“Emerging evidence from Xigou and other sites shows early technologies in China included prepared-core methods, innovative retouched tools, and even large cutting tools, pointing to a richer and more complex technological landscape than previously recognised,” Dr Yang added.