Palaeolithic sites Tolbor-4 and Tolbor-16 may prove a missing link in the map of these ancient hominins.
‘If the Denisovans existed both in Altai and in China, they could not help but pass through Mongolia.’ Picture here and below: IAET SB RAS
The early human species known as Denisovans were initially known only for living in a cave in the Altai Mountains.
Recent analysis of the teeth in a jawbone found omg the Tibetan plateau in China’s Gansu province fixed the remains of this extinct grouping outside Siberia for the first time.
Now Siberian scientists are to examine whether large pointed stone implements found at two archeological sites in Mongolia offer proof of the Denisovan existence here, too.
The tools resemble those known to be used by jewellery-making Denisovans in the Denisova Cave in Altai.
Pointed plates and beads of stone and ostrich egg shell from Tolbor-4 and tolbor-16.
So who brought the stone remains to Mongolia, Home sapiens of the elusive Denisovans?
Dr Arina Khatsenovich, researcher of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in Novosibirsk, said the ‘prevailing view’ was that Homo sapiens were behind the implements unearthed at sites Tolbor-4 and Tolbor-16.
‘But the recent discovery of a Denisovan jaw in Gansu province in China has mixed things up.
‘We consider Mongolia as a crossroads of the ways of ancient people at different stages of its development.
‘If the Denisovans existed both in Altai and in China, they could not help but pass through Mongolia, especially given that similar implements were found in Altai.’
Stone implements and beads found in Denisova Cave.
A cave called Tsaga-Nogui in Mongolia is now attracting particular interest.
‘We have big expectations about this,’ said the researcher.
‘We plan to do a DNA analysis of the sediments in the cave to check if there are traces here of Homo Sapiens or Denisovans.’
Denisovans are the third branch of humans in addition to Home sapiens and Neanderthals.
Could the Denisovans left their traces in Tolbor, Mongolia on the way from Altai to China?
Russian archeologists have credited them with creating stunning jewellery including a bracelet of green-hued chlorite.
The Denisovan branch of ancient man was first identified more than a decade ago when a tiny finger bone fragment of so-called ‘X woman’ was discovered in this cave.
She was found to be neither Homo sapiens nor Neanderthal.
Later details were revealed in Nature journal of the discovery of a fragment of bone belonging to an inter-species love child called Denny who lived some 90,000 years ago.
She was the product of a sexual liaison between a Neanderthal mother and a Denisovan father, according to DNA findings.
Dr Arina Khatsenovich, researcher of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in Novosibirsk.
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