Yunnan Denisovan Fossils Reveal 1 Ancient Hunting Paradise in Southwest China
Updated
Updated · South China Morning Post · Sep 13
Yunnan Denisovan Fossils Reveal 1 Ancient Hunting Paradise in Southwest China
2 articles · Updated · South China Morning Post · Sep 13
Summary
Southwest China fossils from Yunnan show Denisovans built a stable subsistence system around specialized hunting and intensive use of animal resources, including deer.
Coniferous forests and forest-steppe habitats appear to have provided an ancient “hunting paradise,” indicating the archaic humans were closely adapted to local environments.
The finds fill a geographic gap in the sparse Denisovan record, which has remained poorly understood since the group was first identified in 2010 from only a handful of molecularly confirmed remains.
Denisovans once ranged across Eurasia after splitting from modern humans and Neanderthals several hundred thousand years ago, making the Yunnan evidence important for mapping how they lived.