The year is 1933 and China is under the control of an invading Japanese army. While building a bridge near Harbin in the northeast, a local man working for the Japanese made a startling discovery. It’s an ancient human skull. He immediately recognizes the value of the skull. Determined not to give the fossil to the occupiers, he buried it in an abandoned well.
The skull remained there until 2018, when a man told his family of its existence shortly before his death. Eventually, Harbin’s skull ended up in the hands of scientists. It was worth the wait. In particular, it provides clues for those searching for the mysterious Ancestor X, the species that gave rise to the human race.
As long as researchers have found fossils resembling ancient humans, one question has remained in the back of their minds. That is how we relate to other prehistoric groups and species. In particular, how does it fit Neanderthals and Denisovans, who shared the Earth for most of our existence? It is this question that the discovery of Ancestor X promises to answer. However, the search turned brutal after many twists and turns. In recent years, it has also led to some surprising discoveries. clever person, has evolved. Now, with the reappearance of Harbin’s skull, the search for Ancestor X appears to be easier in some ways and more difficult in others.
When it comes to the big picture of human evolution, the universal consensus…
