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yesterday

Proteins Identify Multiple Denisovan Bones and Tools at Bianfu Cave

Proteomic analysis linked several bones, including the first Denisovan radius, to a large assemblage of tools with cut-marked animal bones, showing sustained Denisovan presence in southwest China.

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A tiny bone found in a Siberian cave belonged to a girl who lived around 90,000 years ago, and her DNA revealed something archaeologists had never seen directly before — her mother was Neanderthal and her father was Denisovan
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Overview

  • Researchers reported in Nature on Wednesday, Sept. 9 that protein (ZooMS) analysis and a morphological pre-screen recovered two skull fragments, four teeth and part of a radius from Bianfu Cave.
  • The fossils could not yield ancient DNA, so the team used preserved amino-acid markers including a Denisovan-specific COL1A2 variant to assign the remains to Denisovans.
  • The radius is the first forearm bone identified for this group and shows a mix of features, with orientation like Neanderthals and overall shape closer to modern humans.
  • Archaeologists uncovered more than 1,300 stone and bone tools and animal bones with cut marks in the same stratigraphic sequence, indicating repeated hunting, butchery and marrow extraction.
  • Dates place the human bones between about 167,000 and 134,000 years ago and tools in layers spanning roughly 190,000–70,000 years, and the team plans sediment DNA tests and further analyses to strengthen context and chronology.