Facial Reconstruction of Hominins of the Second Half of the Middle Pleistocene Period from China

DOI: 10.33876/2311-0546/2024-2/364-388

Authors

Keywords:

China, anthropological facial reconstruction, hominins, Middle Pleistocene of Asia, Hualondong, Jinniushan, Dali, Harbin

Abstract

The work is devoted to the facial reconstruction and study of hominins of the second half of the Middle Pleistocene period in China: the skulls from the Hualongdong, Jinniushan, Dali, and Harbin sites. Contour and graphic reconstructions were performed using the "Appearance Algorithm" facial reconstruction program, and verbal portraits summarizing the specific features of each skull were composed. The finds date back to the Middle Pleistocene period (around 330–146 kyr). The study revealed a significant similarity between the four finds. All four individuals are undoubtedly pre-modern hominins, distinct from Homo sapiens. The portraits of individuals from Dali, Jinniushan and Harbin are similar to each other, while the one from Hualondong is somewhat different, which may be explained by his younger age, greater antiquity, or individual variability. The study suggests that they belong to the same monophyletic group. The possibility of the existence of a distinctive hominin lineage in Asia, which may represent Denisovans, is not excluded, which requires further evidence, including new genetic investigations.

Author Biographies

  • Olga Grigorieva, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology

    Grigorieva, Olga M. — Ph.D. in Biology, Senior Researcher, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (Moscow, Russian Federation). E-mail: labrecon@yandex.ru ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1113-8171

  • Olga Alyokhina, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology

    Alyokhina, Olga I. — Laboratory Assistant, the Russian Academy of Sciences N. N. Miklouho-Maklay Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (Moscow, Russian Federation). E-mail: danga-alyokhina@yandex.ru ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0674-4812

  • Lin Guo, M. V. Lomonosov Moscow State University

    Guo, Lin — Graduate Student, Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow, Russian Federation). E-mail: 904621462@qq.com ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5135-1976

    For citation: Grigorieva O. M., O. I. Alyokhina and Lin Guo. 2024. Facial Reconstruction of Hominins of the Second Half of the Middle Pleistocene Period from China (Hualongdong, Jinniushan, Dali, Harbin). Herald of Anthropology (Vestnik Antropologii) 2: 364–388.

    Funding: The research was carried out within the framework of the research topic «The Evolutionary Continuum of the Genus Homo». Sub-topic «Anthropology of Ancient and Modern Populations».

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Published

08.06.2024

Issue

No. 2 (2024): Herald of Anthropology

Section

Physical anthropology