A newly excavated archaeological site in central China is reshaping long-held assumptions about early hominin behaviour in Eastern Asia.

Led by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an international team of researchers conducted archaeological excavations at Xigou, located in the Danjiangkou Reservoir Region in central China, uncovering evidence of advanced stone tool technologies dating back 160,000-72,000 years ago.

The explorations, co-led by Griffith University, revealed hominins in this region were far more inventive and adaptable than previously believed, at a time when multiple large-brained hominins were present in China, such as Homo longi and Homo juluensis, and possibly Homo sapiens.

“Researchers have argued for decades that while hominins in Africa and western Europe demonstrated significant technological advances, those in East Asia relied on simpler and more conservative stone-tool traditions,” said expedition leader Dr Shixia Yang of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP).

Study co-author Professor Michael Petraglia, Director of Griffith University’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, added: “The Xigou findings challenge the narrative that early humans in China were conservative over time.”

“Detailed analyses from the site show hominin inhabitants employed sophisticated stone toolmaking methods to produce small flakes and tools that were then used in a diverse array of activities.”

Among the most striking finds was the discovery of hafted stone-tools – the earliest-known evidence of composite tools in East Asia.

These tools combined stone components with handles or shafts, and demonstrated complex planning, skilled craftsmanship, and an understanding of how to enhance tool performance.

Lead author Dr Jian-Ping Yue of the IVPP said: “Their presence indicates the Xigou hominins possessed a high degree of behavioural flexibility and ingenuity.”

The site’s rich layers, covering a 90,000-year period, aligned with growing evidence of increasing hominin diversity in China.

Large-brained hominins identified at Xujiayao and Lingjing, sometimes referred to as Homo juluensis, provided a possible biological context for the behavioural complexity reflected in the Xigou assemblages.

“The technological strategies evident in the stone tools likely played a crucial role in helping hominin populations adapt to the fluctuating environments that characterised the 90,000-year-period in Eastern Asia,” Professor Petraglia said.

The research team said the Xigou findings reshaped our understanding of human evolution in East Asia, proving early populations possessed cognitive and technical abilities comparable to their counterparts in Africa and Europe.

Dr Yang added: “Emerging evidence from Xigou and other sites shows early technologies in China included prepared-core methods, innovative retouched tools, and even large cutting tools, pointing to a richer and more complex technological landscape than previously recognised.”

The study ‘Technological innovations and hafted technology in central China ~160,000–72,000 years ago’ has been published in Nature Communications.