A team of scientists revealed that an ancient human skull, found in China more than 30 years ago, had changed our understanding of the origins of the rational person.
“Yonningyan” skull analysis
The skull, which was found in Hobby County in 1990, was initially classified as a dating back to the erect man (Homo Erectus), one of the ancestors of the ancient human beings. But using modern techniques such as 3D tomography and high -resolution digital scanning, the researchers concluded that the skull may belong to another type called “HOMO LONGI”, closely related to Denisovan, and they are a mysterious human group that lived alongside the rational person and nanishtal.
What does this discovery mean?
If this new classification is correct, the skull represents the closest discovered fossils to the moment the main human strains were divided: the sane person, Neanderthal, and the Denisovan. This may mean that the origins of the rational person go back to a much earlier time than what was previously conducted, and it originated in West Asia instead of Africa.
A radical change in our understanding of history
Professor Chris Strenger, from the Natural History Museum in London, said: “This discovery almost doubles the age of the rational person, and shows that our ancestors began to divide into different groups a million years ago, and not 500,000 years ago as it was believed.”
An open discussion between scholars
Despite enthusiasm, there are still conservative opinions. Some researchers point out that DNA analysis of such fossils may provide conclusive evidence to confirm or deny this new classification. However, most scientists agree that this skull represents an important step to understand what is known as “middle chaos” in human history, that is, the mysterious period between one million and 300 thousand years ago.
