The Red Deer Cave People appear to have been some of the most unusual humans in the past 20,000 years. They have been dated to have existed about 14,000 years ago, which is exceptionally recent in terms of human evolution. Yet, their fossils display many ‘archaic’ human features that are associated with more distant relatives in the family tree.
They might have been an
ancient relic of humanity that held on until the end of the last Ice Age. Or
they may have been a hybrid population, possibly related to Neanderthals
and Denisovans. Or perhaps they show that Homo sapiens were
extremely diverse throughout their history.
In 1989, human remains
were unearthed at a cave in Yunnan, southern Chine. It became known at the Red
Deer Cave because of the discovery of giant red deer fossils at the site. It is
believed the human inhabitants cooked and ate the animals.
In 2012, scientists
speculated whether the people in the cave represented a new human species. By
studying their jaws and teeth, it was noted they had thick skulls with flat
faces, broad noses, small chines, large molar teeth and prominent brow ridges,
all features associated with older, long-extinct members of the human family
tree.
The scientists had
discovered a population of prehistoric humans whose skulls display an unusual
mosaic of primitive features, like those seen in our ancestors thousands of
years ago.
A 2015 study of a thigh
bone discovered at Red Deer Cave suggested that individual weighed about 110
pounds (50 kilograms) and shared anatomical features with early Homo erectus
or Homo habilis, both of which went extinct about 1.5 million years ago.
Since the femur was
dated at just 14,000 years old, this did not fit the widely accepted chronology
of human evolution. This femur was part of a living person a few thousand years
before Homo sapiens developed agriculture, which sparked an evolution of
culture that ultimately gave rise to complex civilizations.
It suggests that
primitive-looking humans might have survived until very late in our evolution.
But it is just one bone. A pre-modern species may have overlapped in with
modern humans on mainland East Asia, but that case needs to be built with more
bone discoveries.
By 2022, advancements
in ancient DNA allowed a study of Red Deer Cave hominins’ genetics. It
confirmed that they were modern Homo sapiens. In fact, they had a
significant genetic connection to modern East Asians and Native Americans, who
descended from the same groups of people.
So the Red Deer Cave
People were not as unusual as first thought, even though the small population
did have features not seen in any modern population of humans. With no clear
explanation why they appeared this way, it hints that humans living towards the
end of the last Ice Age were more diverse than those living across the world
today.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/red-deer-cave-people-mysterious-humans-with-archaic-features-lived-just-14-000-years-ago/ar-AA1sjQUN?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=d22bab67fbce4483a434506da43bfd67&ei=110
