Red Deer Cave people
| Red Deer Cave People Temporal range: Late , 0.0145–0.0115 Ma |
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| Longlin 1, a partial skull | |
| Scientific classification (disputed) | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Primates |
| Family: | Hominidae |
| Tribe: | Hominini |
| Genus: | Homo |
| Species: | Undetermined |
The Red Deer Cave People were the most recent known prehistoric archaic human population. Fossils dated to between 14,500 and 11,500 years old were found in Red Deer Cave and Longlin Cave in China. Having a mix of archaic and modern features, they are (tentatively) thought to be a separate species of humans that persisted until recent times and became extinct without contributing to the gene pool of modern humans. Evidence shows large deer were cooked in the Red Deer Cave, giving the people their name.
In 1979, the partial skull of a cave dweller was found in Longlin Cave in the Guangxi region of China. Additional human remains were excavated from Maludong ("Red Deer Cave"; Chinese: 马鹿洞) in Yunnan Province.Fossils of the Red Deer Cave dwellers were indirectly radiocarbon dated between 14,500 and 11,500 years of age, using charcoal found in the fossil deposits. It is thought that during this period all other prehistoric human species, including Neanderthals and Homo floresiensis had died out.
In spite of their relatively recent age, the fossils exhibit features of more primitive humans. The Red Deer Cave dwellers had distinctive features that differ from modern humans, including: flat face, broad nose, jutting jaw with no chin, large molars, prominent brows, thick skull bones, and moderate-size brain.
Although the physical features of the Red Deer Cave people suggest that they may be a previously undiscovered species of prehistoric human, the scientists who discovered them are reluctant to classify them as a new species.Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London has suggested that they could be a result of mating between Denisovans and modern humans. Other scientists remain skeptical, suggesting that the unique features are within the variations expected for Homo sapiens populations.
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