The Face of Ancient Man

There’s a lot of fossil evidence from Neanderthals that has allowed scientists to estimate how our extinct human relatives looked. 

Now, a new study on a 146,000-year-old skull is helping researchers do the same for another extinct hominin species, the Denisovans.  

Denisovans are believed to be related to the Neanderthals, but fossil evidence is scarce: Scientists have been able to identify them thanks to DNA analysis of bone fragments discovered across Asia and Siberia’s Altai mountains. 

But there was no skull to get a clearer picture of how they appeared – until now. 

In their paper, paleontologist Qiaomei Fu and her colleagues analyzed the Harbin cranium, a nearly complete skull that was first discovered during the construction of a bridge in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin in 1933. 

Known as Homo longi – or “Dragon Man” – the fossil had previously been described in a 2021 study, but DNA extraction from the bone and teeth initially failed. 

Without genetic evidence, researchers couldn’t say for sure if Dragon Man was a Denisovan or just closely related.  

But the recent breakthrough came from an unexpected source: Fu’s team extracted hardened plaque, or dental calculus, on the fossil’s lone remaining molar. The prehistoric plaque yielded ancient mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) that matched Denisovan genetic material.  

Researchers also ran a protein analysis from the same sample, identifying more than 95 human proteins and multiple Denisovan-specific variants – independently confirming the skull’s identity. 

“The mtDNA falls within Denisovan mtDNA variation and is related to an mtDNA branch carried by early Denisovan individuals in southern Siberia, previously observed in Denisova Cave,” the authors wrote, as reported by Sci.News. “This suggests that Denisovans inhabited a large geographical range in Asia in the Middle Pleistocene.” 

With its thick brow ridges, wide eye sockets, large teeth, and a braincase capacity within the range of modern humans and Neanderthals, the Harbin fossil is unlike any previously confirmed Denisovan specimen.  

“Now we have a face for Denisovans, and that’s very, very cool,” University of Toronto paleoanthropologist Bence Viola, who was not involved in the study, told Science Magazine. 

Scientists explained the finding not only connects Denisovan DNA to a full skull but could help identify other fossils – such as those from Dali or Hualongdong – as Denisovan as well. 

But while it marks a major milestone, the study still doesn’t answer the question as to whether Denisovans should be considered a separate species or a subgroup of H. sapiens. 

“This is a pin in the map we can use to say, ‘This is what Denisovans looked like,’” evolutionary anthropologist Carina Schlebusch told Science.