Teeth of Earliest Modern Humans Discovered, Hunan

The archaeological excavation site at Daoxian County.

Some human teeth are found sealed in a cave of Daoxian County.

47 teeth belonging to modern humans that date to at least 80,000 years ago are found around the Fuyan Cave of Daoxian County.

The excavation site of Fuyao Cave.

The paper focusing on 47 human teeth with fully modern morphology discovered in a cave of Daoxian County of Hunan was reported on the scientific journal Nature on Oct. 15. The study by Chinese experts including Wu Xiujie shows that the teeth belonged to Homo sapiens, the species of modern humans that lived between 80,000 and 120,000 years ago. It is of great significance to probe into the appearance and diffusion of modern men lived in East Asia.

The investigation and evacuation of the 47 teeth and a number of animal fossils were initiated from the year of 2010 by a research team. The members are from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleo anthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hunan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics & Archaeology and the Culture Bureau of Daoxian County. They made a comprehensive analysis on the morphology, related stratum and date of the fossil teeth and fauna in Daoxian. The reliable stratum and date data as well as detailed information of fossil morphological characteristics are new evidences to prove that South China are the place where the earliest modern humans lived. The discovery is a breakthrough finding in the study of the origin of modern men