NANNING, March 29 (Xinhua) -- A round face, narrow eyes, relatively full lips and a flat nose: Using 3D technology, scientists in south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have reconstructed the face of a prehistoric human who lived 16,000 years ago.

Their results were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, and experts believe they could provide important technical methods and reference materials for the study of the physical characteristics of early humans and the evolution of human facial features in south China.

A fossil of the early human's skull was discovered at the Yahuai Cave site on a hill in Bolang Village of Guangxi's Longan County. The site was excavated between 2015 and 2018.

"The Yahuai Cave burial site was the second Paleolithic burial site found in China," said Xie Guangmao, a researcher at the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology.

Xie noted that the fossil is the only complete human skull fossil found in south China that has allowed for precise stratigraphy and reliable dating, and it is of significant value to the study of the diversity of early people, the migration and communication practices of prehistoric populations, and the burial customs of humans in the late Paleolithic Age.

The reconstruction was carried out in 2023 by researchers from Guangxi Normal University, the Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust in the U.K., the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, the Guangxi Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology, and Beijing Normal University.

Xie, who was in charge of the project, said that the joint research team used a computer-assisted facial restoration method and carried out high-precision restoration work with the help of 3D modeling software.

The team also adopted a 3D geometric morphometry method to analyze and compare the similarities and differences between the geometric shapes of the skull found at the Yahuai Cave site and modern human skulls.

The scientists found the prehistoric skull to be bigger than female skulls today, but smaller than modern male skulls. Its geometric shape more closely resembles that of a modern female skull, though with a more elevated frontal bone.

Guangxi is an important gateway linking East Asia and Southeast Asia. "The study of the skull fossil from the Yahuai Cave site is helpful in developing our understanding of the physical characteristics of early humans in south China, and is of great importance to questions such as how the prehistoric humans there migrated and spread," Xie said.

Last year, researchers from the Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the School of Archaeology at Jilin University in northeast China digitally reconstructed the face of a man from the Hongshan culture who lived during the Neolithic Age, offering people today a glimpse into life over 5,000 years ago. Enditem

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