Fossil skull may hold answers to evolution of human species

A fossil skull of Homo heidelbergensis, an extinct species of humans, was believed to have been discovered in Northeast China and is considered to be one of the most complete fossils of ancient humans ever found, experts said.

This is the first discovery of a Homo heidelbergensis fossil in Asia, Ni Xijun, a researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at Chinese Academy of Sciences, was quoted as saying on the website of Hebei GEO University.

The skull has an interesting history. It was handed over to professor Ji Qiang at Hebei GEO University by an acquaintance, a farmer, who wanted to ensure the fossil would be safe. The farmer said that the skull had been dug up by a co-worker of his grandfather back in 1933 in the sediment of Songhua River in Harbin, Heilongjiang province.