News Archaeology

Stone tools put early hominids in China 2.1 million years ago

The discovery suggests hominids left Africa 250,000 years earlier than thought

stone tool at Shangchen

EARLY ARRIVAL  Researchers excavate a stone tool from 2.1 million-year-old sediment at Shangchen, China. Newly reported discoveries at Shangchen indicate that it’s the oldest known hominid site outside Africa.

Z. Zhou/CAS

By Bruce Bower

- More than 2 years ago

Members of the human genus, Homo, left Africa far earlier than thought, reaching what’s now central China by around 2.12