Massive Cranium from Harbin in Northeastern China Establishes a New Middle Pleistocene Human Lineage
Graphical abstract
It has recently become clear that several human lineages coexisted with Homo sapiens during the late Middle and Late Pleistocene. Here, we report an archaic human fossil that throws new light on debates concerning the diversification of the Homo genus and the origin of H. sapiens. The fossil was recovered in Harbin city in northeastern China, with a minimum uranium-series age of 146 ka. This cranium is one of the best preserved Middle Pleistocene human fossils. Its massive size, with a large cranial capacity (～1,420 mL) falling in the range of modern humans, is combined with a mosaic of primitive and derived characters.
