The earliest recognized fossils of Homo erectus in Asia date to in between 1.78 and 1.85 million years back and were discovered at Dmanisi in Georgia(Sakartvelo).

Farther east, nevertheless, the age of the earliest Homo erectus remains has actually long referred argument.

” While Homo erectusour far-off forefather, is extensively acknowledged to have actually come from Africa before distributing into Eurasia, the accurate timeline of its arrival in eastern Asia was unidentified,” stated Dr. Christopher Bae, a scientist at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.

“Using the mix of the Yunxian Homo erectus fossils and burial dating information, we have actually now had the ability to recreate a relatively robust dating restoration of when these hominins appeared in eastern Asia.”

The scientists utilized aluminum-26 (Al-26) and beryllium-10 (Be-10) burial dating to identify the age of the Yunxian fossils.

“Al-26 and Be-10 isotopes are produced when cosmic rays struck quartz minerals,” stated Dr. Hua Tu, a scientist at Shantou University and Nanjing Normal University.

“Once buried deeply underground, isotope production stops and radioactive decay takes control of.”

“By utilizing aluminum’s and beryllium’s recognized decay rates, and comparing the ratio of the 2 kinds of atoms left in sediment samples surrounding a fossil, we can determine the length of time a fossil has actually been buried.”

“This is crucial as conventional carbon-14 dating is restricted to the last 50,000 years while the Al-26/ Be-10 technique enables us to precisely date products as far back as 5 million years earlier.”

Previous dating efforts put the Yunxian fossils in between about 800,000 years and 1.1 million years of ages.

“Our findings challenge long-held presumptions concerning when the earliest hominins are believed to have actually vacated Africa and into Asia,” Dr. Bae stated.

“While these outcomes are considerable, the secret of precisely when Homo erectus Appeared and last appeared in the area stays.”

“If Homo erectus was not the earliest resident to reach Asia, alternative types need to be thought about. The upgraded chronology for Yunxian is a crucial action towards solving these disputes.”

The findings will appear in the February 20, 2026 problem of the journal Science Advances

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Hua Tu et al2026. The earliest in situ Homo erectus crania in eastern Asia: The Yunxian website dates to ~ 1.77 Ma. Science Advances 12 (8 ): eady2270; doi: 10.1126/ sciadv.ady2270