Researchers have uncovered a significant collection of Denisovan fossils and associated artifacts at Bianfu Cave, located in Heqing County, western Yunnan Province in southwestern China. The findings, detailed in two studies published in Smithsonian Magazine, provide new insights into the biology, technology, diet, and daily lives of these extinct human cousins.
Unprecedented Denisovan Discoveries at Bianfu Cave
The site was excavated in 2019 by the Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and other cooperative institutes. Urgent excavation was necessary because nearby quarrying and engineering work was causing the mountain containing the cave to collapse, rendering the site inaccessible. Excavators successfully recovered cultural materials and fossils before the entrance was destroyed.
Fossils, Proteins, and Anatomical Features
The excavations yielded seven remains identified as Denisovans from at least four individuals who lived between 134,000 and 167,000 years ago. While delicate DNA did not survive in the ancient specimens, researchers were able to identify them using preserved ancient proteins and collagen signatures. The remains include four teeth, two skull fragments, and part of a forearm bone—specifically a radius, which marks the first time such a bone has been securely identified for a Denisovan.
According to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the radius displays a mosaic of features: its large proximal end and inward-facing muscle attachment resemble Neanderthal radii, while its overall outer shape and mid-shaft shape align closer to modern humans. Morphological analysis of the four hominin teeth—comprising a lower left lateral incisor, a lower left fourth premolar, and two lower right second molars—showed close affinities with teeth from Xiahe and Laos Denisovans, as well as East Asian late Middle Pleistocene archaic Homo from Hualongdong. Additionally, protein from a Y chromosome indicated that two of the specimens were males.
Tools, Hunting Practices, and Environment
The cultural deposits at the cave span a time range from approximately 190,000 to 70,000 years ago, making it the earliest Palaeolithic site discovered in western Yunnan. Researchers recovered 1,366 stone artifacts, including both core and flake tools, along with bone tools. According to Hao Li, an archaeologist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, these tools were simpler than those made by Neanderthals at the time and were likely constructed quickly as a flexible adaptation.
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More than 64,000 mammal fossils were recovered from the cultural layers, of which more than 60,000 were fragmentary bones, and roughly 1,600 were identified more precisely. The remains, which included deer, bovids, small numbers of rhinoceros, hyenas, and water buffalo, carried cut marks and fracture patterns indicating that the cave inhabitants hunted and processed large prey for meat, marrow, and grease. Pollen samples analyzed by the team suggest that the cave was surrounded by a conifer forest or forest-grassland environment during climatic changes.
Geographic Bridge and Wider Legacy
Antonio Rosas, a paleoanthropologist at the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Spain who was not involved in the research, noted that the papers provide important new information regarding evolutionary anatomy, stone tool production, and hunting practices. Mike Morley, an archaeologist at Flinders University who also did not participate in the discovery, stated that having objects found directly around the fossils gives a much better sense of who these people were, noting that previous Denisovan sites had also been used by Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.
The discovery provides a geographical bridge between northern Denisovan finds and the genetic legacy found in Asia and Oceania, offering physical support to models of southern dispersal and areas where interbreeding with modern humans may have occurred.
