Remnants of bones found in a Tibetan cave at an altitude of 3,280 meters suggest that an ancient human population thrived in this location for numerous centuries, as per a recent publication in Nature.
The Denisovans, an extinct species of ancient humans who coexisted with Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, have only left behind a few remains that have been uncovered by archaeologists. Limited information is available about this group, including their extinction timeline, but there are indications that they interbred with both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens.
A team of researchers from Lanzhou University in China, the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research at CAS, China, and the University of Reading conducted a study on over 2,500 bones from the Baishiya Karst Cave situated on the high-altitude Tibetan Plateau. This cave is one of the only two locations where Denisovans have been found to have resided.
Their recent analysis, which was published in Nature on Wednesday, 3 July, has unveiled a new Denisovan fossil and provided insights into the species’ capability to endure fluctuating climatic conditions, including the ice age, on the Tibetan plateau between approximately 200,000 and 40,000 years ago.
“We were able to identify that Denisovans hunted, butchered, and ate a range of animal species. Our study reveals new information about the behavior and adaptation of Denisovans both to high altitude conditions and shifting climates. We are only just beginning to understand the behavior of this extraordinary human species,” said Dr. Geoff Smith, a zooarchaeologist at the University of Reading and a co-author of the study.
Remains of bones from Baishya Karst Cave were shattered into numerous pieces, making identification difficult. A new scientific technique was employed by the team to differentiate bone collagen among different species and determine the origin of the bone fragments.
Dr Huan Xia of Lanzhou University said, “Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) allows us to extract valuable information from often overlooked bone fragments, providing deeper insight into human activities.”
The majority of the bones were found to be from blue sheep, also called bharal, along with wild yaks, equids, the extinct woolly rhinoceros, and spotted hyenas, as confirmed by the research team. Additionally, bone fragments from small mammals like marmots and birds were also identified by the researchers.
Dr Jian Wang of Lanzhou University said, “Current evidence suggests that it was Denisovans, not any other human groups, who occupied the cave and made efficient use of all the animal resources available to them throughout their occupation.”
The examination of the fragmented bone surfaces reveals that the Denisovans extracted meat and bone marrow from the bones while also suggesting that early humans utilized them as raw materials for crafting tools.
In addition, the researchers have identified one rib bone belonging to a previously unknown Denisovan individual. The stratum where the rib was recovered has been dated to between 48,000 and 32,000 years ago, indicating that this particular Denisovan individual lived during a period when modern humans were spreading across the Eurasian landmass. The findings suggest that the Denisovans endured two cold periods, as well as a warmer interglacial period between the Middle and Late Pleistocene epochs.
Dr Frido Welker of the University of Copenhagen said, “Together, the fossil and molecular evidence indicates that Ganjia Basin, where Baishiya Karst Cave is located, provided a relatively stable environment for Denisovans, despite its high altitude.
“The question now arises when and why these Denisovans on the Tibetan Plateau went extinct.”
Journal reference:
- Huan Xia, Dongju Zhang, Jian Wang, Zandra Fagernäs, Ting Li, Yuanxin Li, Juanting Yao, Dongpeng Lin, Gaudry Troché, Geoff M. Smith, Xiaoshan Chen, Ting Cheng, Xuke Shen, Yuanyuan Han, Jesper V. Olsen, Zhongwei Shen, Zhiqi Pei, Jean-Jacques Hublin, Fahu Chen & Frido Welker. Middle and Late Pleistocene Denisovan subsistence at Baishiya Karst Cave. Nature, 2024; DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07612-9