A new study published in the journal Nature by an international team of archaeologists has provided fascinating new insights into hunter-gatherer lifestyles 40,000 years ago in north China, and Homo sapiens expansion out of Africa. Archaeological excavations at the site of Xiamabei in the Nihewan Basin of northern China have revealed the presence of inventions, tools, and behaviors associated with younger sites. But that’s not all! The new study also shows that the ochre workshop found at the site is the oldest in East Asia and that the lithic tools found there link to Africa, but in a new way.
“Xiamabei stands apart from any other known archaeological site in China, as it possesses a novel set of cultural characteristics at an early date,” Dr Fa-Gang Wang of the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, whose team first excavated the site, states a Max Planck Society release.
While archaic humans are known to have begun reaching Eurasia at least 2 million years ago, when their anatomically modern counterparts began their outward spread from Africa is more of a mystery, reports the Haaretz.
