Top archaeological discovery 2013- The Red Deer People

[Ichingcarpenter]

The discovery of the Red Deer Cave people by UNSW's Darren Curnoe has been named the top archaeological research finding in the world for 2011-2012 at the inaugural Shanghai Archaeological Forum.

The Red Deer Cave people were archaic humans with a unique mix of primitive and modern features who lived in southwest China between 14,500 and 11,500 year ago.

Associate Professor Curnoe’s research was selected for the honour in a two-stage process involving a committee of 150 of the world’s leading archaeologists from institutions including Oxford University, Cambridge University, Harvard University and The Natural History Museum in London.

The award, which archaeologists have described as their equivalent of a Nobel Prize, was made by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which set up the biennial Shanghai Archaeological Forum as a global initiative to promote the investigation, protection and utilisation of the world’s archaeological resources and heritage.

http://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/science/top-archaeological-honour

The Red Deer Cave people are the youngest known prehistoric population who do not look like modern humans. Fossils dated between 14,500 and 11,500 years old were found in Red Deer Cave and Longlin Cave in China. Having a mix of archaic and modern features, they are tentatively thought to be a separate species of humans that became extinct without contributing to the gene pool of modern humans.[1] Evidence shows large deer were cooked in the Red Deer Cave, giving the people their name


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Deer_Cave_people

[Judi Lynn]

1. Wonderful to hear about this. Southwest China. Had to go see a map.

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Hope to get to learn more about this new body of information for contemporary people.