Trove of Denisovan Fossils and Tools Found in Southwest China Cave

Researchers have uncovered a trove of Denisovan fossils, tools and animal remains in Bianfu Cave in China's Yunnan Province, offering an unprecedented look at the extinct human relatives' lives, according to two studies published September 9 in Nature.

The team sifted through more than 60,000 bone fragments, sorting them by shape and using protein analysis to identify which belonged to Denisovans. The work yielded two skull fragments, four teeth and part of a forearm bone from at least four individuals who lived between 134,000 and 167,000 years ago, said Hao Li, a co-author at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research.

The forearm fragment is the first Denisovan forearm bone ever found. It resembles Neanderthal arm bones somewhat, but its overall shape is closer to modern humans, which "likely provided functional advantages for lightweight, precise manipulation," said Qiaomei Fu, a paleogeneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology. Ancient proteins survived in the fossils, but the cave's old, warm conditions meant DNA did not.

The researchers also unearthed more than 1,300 stone and bone tools; sediment layers indicate hominins used the site between 70,000 and 190,000 years ago. With no evidence of other hominins nearby, the team believes Denisovans made the tools, which were simpler than Neanderthal tools of the time and likely built quickly as a "flexible adaptation," Li said. Pollen samples suggest a surrounding conifer forest, and cut marks on deer and water buffalo bones indicate the inhabitants hunted large prey using a skillful strategy.

Denisovans were first identified in 2010 from DNA in a finger bone found at Denisova Cave in Siberia and are now formally named Homo longi. They lived across Asia between about 400,000 and 30,000 years ago, sharing a common ancestor with Homo sapiens and Neanderthals before the lineages split about 600,000 years ago. Bianfu Cave offers the first direct evidence of Denisovans in southwestern China.