Overview
- The new age is roughly 600,000 years older than previous estimates of about 1.0–1.1 million years derived from faunal association and ESR/U-series dating.
- Scientists measured Aluminum-26 and Beryllium-10 in quartz from the fossil-bearing layers to calculate burial time for the sediments enclosing the crania.
- If upheld, the date would place East Asian H. erectus close in time to Georgia’s Dmanisi fossils, suggesting rapid early dispersal across Eurasia and leading one co-author to propose considering an earlier species origin.
- The Yunxian crania appear larger-brained than the roughly contemporaneous Dmanisi specimens, highlighting substantial variation among early hominins outside Africa, according to independent experts.
- Around a 600,000-year gap persists between these fossils and older Chinese stone tools dated to 2.1–2.43 million years, and several specialists, including Chris Stringer, urge further dating to reconcile conflicts with the broader fossil record.