A groundbreaking study published on Friday has revealed that humans may have diverged from our ancient ancestors 400,000 years earlier than previously believed, and in Asia rather than Africa. The findings, based on a digital reconstruction of a million-year-old skull discovered in China in 1990, could reshape our understanding of human evolution and resolve the so-called ‘Muddle in the Middle’ period of human history. The skull, labeled Yunxian 2, was initially thought to belong to Homo erectus, an early human ancestor. However, advanced reconstruction technologies, including CT scanning and virtual modeling, revealed features more closely aligned with later species such as Homo longi and Homo sapiens. Chris Stringer, an anthropologist at London’s Natural History Museum and a member of the research team, stated, ‘This changes a lot of thinking. It suggests that by one million years ago, our ancestors had already split into distinct groups, pointing to a much earlier and more complex evolutionary split than previously believed.’ The study, published in the journal Science, also challenges the long-held assumption that early humans dispersed exclusively from Africa. Michael Petraglia, director of Griffith University’s Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, noted, ‘There’s a big change potentially happening here, where east Asia is now playing a very key role in hominin evolution.’ However, some experts remain skeptical, cautioning that the findings are likely to be disputed. Andy Herries, an archaeologist at La Trobe University, argued that fossil morphology alone may not be a reliable indicator of human evolution, emphasizing the importance of genetic analysis. The study underscores the complexity of human origins and highlights the need for further research to unravel the mysteries of our evolutionary past.