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. 2021 Feb 23;118(8):e2019158118.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.2019158118.

Ancient DNA and multimethod dating confirm the late arrival of anatomically modern humans in southern China

Xue-Feng Sun  1 , Shao-Qing Wen  2 , Cheng-Qiu Lu  3 , Bo-Yan Zhou  2 , Darren Curnoe  4 , Hua-Yu Lu  5 , Hong-Chun Li  6 , Wei Wang  7 , Hai Cheng  8 , Shuang-Wen Yi  5 , Xin Jia  9 , Pan-Xin Du  2 , Xing-Hua Xu  5 , Yi-Ming Lu  5 , Ying Lu  5 , Hong-Xiang Zheng  2 , Hong Zhang  2 , Chang Sun  2 , Lan-Hai Wei  2 , Fei Han  10 , Juan Huang  11 , R Lawrence Edwards  12 , Li Jin  2 , Hui Li  13   14
Affiliations

Ancient DNA and multimethod dating confirm the late arrival of anatomically modern humans in southern China

Xue-Feng Sun et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

The expansion of anatomically modern humans (AMHs) from Africa around 65,000 to 45,000 y ago (ca. 65 to 45 ka) led to the establishment of present-day non-African populations. Some paleoanthropologists have argued that fossil discoveries from Huanglong, Zhiren, Luna, and Fuyan caves in southern China indicate one or more prior dispersals, perhaps as early as ca. 120 ka. We investigated the age of the human remains from three of these localities and two additional early AMH sites (Yangjiapo and Sanyou caves, Hubei) by combining ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis with a multimethod geological dating strategy. Although U-Th dating of capping flowstones suggested they lie within the range ca. 168 to 70 ka, analyses of aDNA and direct AMS 14C dating on human teeth from Fuyan and Yangjiapo caves showed they derive from the Holocene. OSL dating of sediments and AMS 14C analysis of mammal teeth and charcoal also demonstrated major discrepancies from the flowstone ages; the difference between them being an order of magnitude or more at most of these localities. Our work highlights the surprisingly complex depositional history recorded at these subtropical caves which involved one or more episodes of erosion and redeposition or intrusion as recently as the late Holocene. In light of our findings, the first appearance datum for AMHs in southern China should probably lie within the timeframe set by molecular data of ca. 50 to 45 ka.

Keywords: East Asia; Late Pleistocene; anatomically modern humans; ancient DNA; dating.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
(A) Geographical location of Huanglong Cave (1), Luna Cave (2), Fuyan Cave (3), Yangjiapo Cave (4), and Sanyou Cave (5). (B) Human remains from three localities: Yangjiapo Cave (i), Sanyou Cave (ii), and Fuyan Cave (iii). b = buccal, d = distal, l = lingual, m = mesial, and o = occlusal).
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Phylogenetic trees incorporating complete human mtDNA sequences from Yangjiapo Cave and Fuyan Cave. (I) Phylogenetic analysis of the eight Yangjiapo Cave and two Fuyan Cave mtDNA genomes, inferred using the neighbor-joining method. The eight Yangjiapo Cave and two Fuyan Cave mtDNA genomes fall within the cluster of modern humans and outside of the cluster containing Neanderthals, Denisovans, and a hominin from Sima de los Huesos. (II) mtDNA Haplogroup of the Yangjiapo Cave and Fuyan Cave individuals (red stars) and their closest present-day relatives collected from this study and published data (SI Appendix, Table S4). The polymorphic positions are indicated on branches; recurrent mutations are underlined.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
Multimethod dating results for southern Chinese paleoanthropological cave localities. 1) Huanglong Cave, 2) Luna Cave, 3) Fuyan Cave, 4) Yangjiapo Cave, and 5) Sanyou Cave. Three stages (a, b, and c) in the history of each cave are also indicated (see text for discussion). Error bars are measurement errors. ka is thousands of years ago.
Fig. 4.
Fig. 4.
Two models of depositional history for cave sites in southern China and their effect on the exposed sedimentary profile. Sections a and b belong to the same profile, but the layers occur in alternate depositional order.
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