Archaeologists working at an ancient site in central China have discovered evidence that early humans may have become more inventive while living during a brutal ice age. The discovery comes from the Lingjing archaeological site, where researchers have spent more than 10 years excavating animal bones and sophisticated stone tools belonging to an extinct human relative. homo juluensis.
A new study found that the site is about 146,000 years old, placing it within the Cold Ice Age rather than the Warm Ice Age, as scientists once believed. The findings challenge the long-held view that creativity and technological progress evolved primarily in times of environmental stability and abundance.
“People often imagine creativity as something that flourishes in good times,” says Yuchao Zhao, assistant curator of East Asian archeology at the Field Museum in Chicago and lead author of a paper describing the findings in the Journal of Human Evolution. “Finding that these stone tools were made during a harsh ice age tells a different story. Hard times may force us to adapt.”
Advanced Stone Tools of Ancient China
Zhao and his colleagues, led by senior author Zhangyang Li of Shandong University, are studying unusually sophisticated stone tools discovered in Lingjing. This site was once occupied homo juluensisAn ancient human group related to modern humans (homo sapiens). Researchers believe that these populations may have interacted with our own ancestors.
homo juluensis It had a mix of physical characteristics seen in many ancient human groups. They had very large brains as well as traits associated with archaic humans in East Asia and Neanderthals in Europe.
For many years, archaeologists believed that early humans in East Asia during the Middle Pleistocene (300,000–120,000 years ago) showed relatively limited technological development compared to populations in Africa and Europe. The Lingjing discoveries are forcing scientists to reconsider that notion.
At first glance, the disc-shaped stone cores found at the site may not seem remarkable. However, detailed analysis revealed that they were made using a highly organized manufacturing process. homo juluensis Carefully strike smaller stones onto the core of a larger stone to shape useful cutting pieces.
Some cores were worked equally on both sides, while others followed a more deliberate design. In those cases, one side served primarily as a striking platform while the opposite side was prepared to produce sharp fragments. The researchers say these asymmetric designs show that toolmakers understood how to handle the stones as three-dimensional objects rather than simply breaking them randomly.
“This was not accidental flake production, but a technique that required planning, precision, and a deep understanding of the stone properties and fracture mechanics,” says Zhao. “The underlying logic of this system – and the cognitive abilities that reflect it – show significant parallels with the Middle Paleolithic technologies often associated with Neanderthals in Europe and human ancestors in Africa, suggesting that advanced technological thinking was not limited to western Eurasia.”
Crystals inside bones reveal true age of site
The new study also reshapes scientists’ understanding of when these devices were made.
Lingjing appears to have been a slaughterhouse site homo juluensis Processed animals like deer. Along with stone tools, archaeologists also discovered many animal bones. A rib bone of a deer-like animal contained sparkling calcite crystals that proved important in the dating of the site.
Calcite crystals naturally contain small amounts of uranium. Over a long period of time that uranium slowly gets converted into thorium. By measuring the ratio between two elements, scientists can determine the age of crystal formation.
“The calcite crystals inside the bone act like a natural clock, allowing us to refine the age of the site,” says Zhao.
Earlier estimates suggested that the Lingjing tools were no more than about 126,000 years old. The new crystal analysis pushed the age back by about 20,000 years to about 146,000 years ago.
This difference may seem small, but it dramatically alters the environmental context of the site.
creativity during the ice age
“Even though these devices are a little older than we thought, the whole story has changed,” says Zhao. “During the Pleistocene, the Earth repeatedly shifted between cold ice age periods and warmer intervals between them. We used to think that these tools were made during warm interglacial periods 126,000 years ago, but based on new dates suggested by the crystals, some of these tools were actually made during harsher, cooler glacial periods 146,000 years ago.”
The revised timeline suggests that these ancient humans were developing complex technology while facing extreme environmental stress rather than comfortable conditions. The researchers say the findings support the idea that difficulty itself may have encouraged innovation and adaptability.
“Overall, this research reveals a very rich story of innovation, intelligence, and human evolution in East Asia,” says Zhao.