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Early Homo and associated artefacts from Asia

Nature volume 378, pages 275–278 (1995)Cite this article

Abstract

THE site of Longgupo Cave was discovered in 1984 and excavated in 1985–1988 by the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (Beijing) and the Chongqing National Museum (Sichuan Province). Important finds include very archaic hominid dental fragments, Gigantopithecus teeth and primitive stone tools. Palaeomagnetic analysis and the presence of Ailuropoda microta (pygmy giant panda) suggested that the hominid-bearing levels dated to the earliest Pleistocene1. In 1992, joint Chinese–American–Canadian geochronological research corroborated the age using electron spin resonance (ESR) analysis. We report here that the hominid dentition and stone tools from Longgupo Cave are comparable in age and morphology with early representives of the genus Homo (H. habilis and H. ergaster) and the Oldowan technology in East Africa. The Longgupo dentition is demonstr-ably more primitive than that seen in Asian Homo erectus. Long-gupo's diverse and well preserved Plio-Pleistocene fauna of 116 species provide a sensitive contextual base for interpreting the early arrival of the genus Homoin Asia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Academia Sinica, Beijing, 100044, China

    Huang Wanpo & Gu Yumin

  2. Departments of Anthropology and Pediatric Dentistry, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, 52242, USA

    Russell Ciochon

  3. Department of Anthropology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts, 01003, USA

    Roy Larick

  4. Chongqing Museum of Natural History, 72 Loquat Hill Park Street, Chongqing, Sichuan, 630013, China

    Fang Qiren

  5. Department of Geology, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L85 4M1, Canada

    Henry Schwarcz & William Rink

  6. Department of Physics & Astronomy, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada

    Charles Yonge

  7. National Museum of Natural History, Post Office Box 9517, 2300, RA Leiden, The Netherlands

    John de Vos

Authors
  1. Huang Wanpo
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  2. Russell Ciochon
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  3. Gu Yumin
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  4. Roy Larick
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  5. Fang Qiren
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  6. Henry Schwarcz
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  7. Charles Yonge
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  8. John de Vos
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  9. William Rink
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Wanpo, H., Ciochon, R., Yumin, G. et al. Early Homo and associated artefacts from Asia. Nature 378, 275–278 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/378275a0

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