The paleontological community has had a great year, and to end it, they’ve discovered new and exciting information about the Red Deer Cave people. A lot of our history has been rewritten this year, thanks to ancient genomics and very arduous study in Africa and China, and this brings a great end to 2015.
The Latest Discovery Puts One More Prehistoric Homos on Earth
As it turns out, there were archaic humans walking northern China until about 70,000 years ago. They are considered the oldest anatomically modern humans discovered in the region. The initial discovery was made in 2012, and these ancient humans are called the Red Deer Cave people.
The Red Deer Cave People Have More Secrets Than We Can Count
The initial findings included cranial and jaw bones and teeth found in two sites in Southwest China. Now, new bones have been found and analyzed, and it outs the Red Deer Cave people played a very mysterious role in the group of pre-modern humans.
The anatomy of these pre-humans is unique. Their characteristics had not been seen before in modern humans, thus giving them a special place in the scientific community. The initial theories were that they were like the Neanderthals living in isolation in Southwest China until the end of the Ice Age. They also could be a hybrid between humans and another ancient species, which would explain their strange characteristics. Naturally, there were no clear answers.
Researchers Found More than Red Deer Cave People
The team behind the discoveries believe this new skull represents something else. They’ve decided to separate this specimen, confirmed to be 10,500 years old, aside from the Longlin or Laomaocao Cave specimen.
The strongest theory right now is that this specimen is a hybrid of human and something else. The new bones found, of the thigh and femur from Maludong, indicate that this hybrid is closer to a Homo erectus or Homo habilis, dated to have lived over 1.5 million years ago in Africa. The rest of the information is speculative, and introduces a lot of controversies and riddles that this discover brings forth. We have a theory of our own.
Could This Have Been a Wookie Lookalike?
The images have a hilarious resemblance to the Star Wars Wookie race. Not exactly in their hariness, since science can’t totally clarify that, but in the basic face shape. Wookies are a great mix of many things, and it is probably inspired by things we have encountered in our history.
There Could Be Solid Truth Even in Sci-Fi
It could well be feeding something that we did not know was in our history. What if a race resembling the Wookies actually existed? That would be fascinating. The image bears a close resemblance to the ape-ish association we have with the ancient human. What could the other part of this hybrid be?
There aren’t enough answers to this question. We could find out that George Lucas’s vision was actually better than any of us could ever imagine. If we were to descend from the Wookies, it’s possible we could find one or two cousins of Chewie’s in Asia or Austrasia.
Whether Chewbacca is Our Cousin or Not, There Is Still A Lot to Be Discovered
Meanwhile, we have to settle for the vagueness. There are a lot of secrets being kept by the Red Deer Cave People and all objects found around it. The paleontological community will probably have many more ground breaking discoveries in the near future.
This is proof that our world is really full of things we do not yet know or understand. It’s in our best interest to always keep an open mind and remember that we could be the product of many things, and most likely, not what we expect.
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