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Western profile of Trench 2 at Bianfu Cave, showing the stratigraphic layers containing Denisovan remains, marked by red stars.
Image Credit:
Rao et al., Nature (2026)
Ancient Proteins Reveal Major Denisovan Fossil Site in Southwest China
Ancient proteins recovered from fossilized human remains in Bianfu Cave, southwestern China, have identified five specimens as Denisovan, filling a major geographic gap in the known distribution of this archaic human group. The finds include two teeth, two fragments of parietal bone from the skull and part of a radius from the forearm, providing new evidence for Denisovan presence in a region connecting East, South and Southeast Asia.
Bianfu Cave lies in western Yunnan Province, near the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Archaeological deposits at the site span roughly 190,000 to 70,000 years ago and have yielded 1,366 stone artifacts and more than 64,000 mammal fossils. Four hominin teeth had previously been recovered from one of the deeper cultural layers, raising the possibility that additional human remains were hidden among the tens of thousands of fragmentary bones.
To investigate this possibility, researchers visually screened more than 60,000 bone fragments, examining features such as size, cortical thickness and surface morphology. Twenty-two fragments were selected as possible hominin remains. Protein-based screening then identified three bones as belonging to the genus Homo: two parietal fragments and a partial radius. Attempts to recover ancient DNA from these bones were unsuccessful, so the researchers turned to proteomic analysis, which examines surviving ancient proteins.
The results linked all three bones, as well as two previously excavated teeth, to Denisovans. Each of the five specimens preserved a protein variant regarded as diagnostic of Denisovan ancestry, while no confidently identified variants specific to Neanderthals or modern humans were found. Phylogenetic analysis also grouped the Bianfu specimens with previously identified Denisovan remains, strengthening their attribution.
The fossils come from deposits dated to approximately 167,000–134,000 years ago. This places Denisovans in southwestern China during the Middle Pleistocene and expands their documented range into the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau. Until now, molecularly identified Denisovan remains had been concentrated in areas such as Siberia, the Tibetan Plateau, northeastern China and the Taiwan Strait. Bianfu Cave therefore provides an important link between these regions and routes leading toward Southeast Asia.
The discovery is also notable for the amount of material recovered. With the newly identified bones and teeth, Bianfu Cave has produced the most abundant collection of molecularly confirmed Denisovan remains outside Denisova Cave in Siberia. The site lies along an important migration corridor connecting the Tibetan Plateau with East, South and Southeast Asia, a location that may prove important for understanding how different Denisovan populations dispersed across the continent.
Among the new fossils, the radius is especially significant because Denisovan postcranial remains remain extremely rare. The preserved portion belongs to the upper end of the forearm bone and probably came from an adult or near-adult individual. Its anatomy presents a mixture of characteristics. The size of its upper end and the likely orientation of the radial tuberosity resemble Neanderthal examples, while its overall external shape and the geometry of the bone’s neck are closer to modern humans.
These differences are important because the shape of the radius is influenced by mechanical loading and the action of the biceps muscle. The combination of traits may therefore provide clues to the physical demands and activities experienced by Denisovans, although a single incomplete bone cannot define the anatomy or behaviour of the entire population.
The skull fragments add further anatomical information. Their thickness falls within ranges seen in several archaic human groups from the Middle Pleistocene, while also showing differences from many modern human specimens. Together with the forearm bone, they begin to broaden knowledge of Denisovan anatomy beyond the jaws, teeth and cranial remains that dominate the existing fossil record.
The findings demonstrate the value of ancient protein analysis when DNA is no longer preserved and when fossils are too fragmented to identify by appearance alone. Further discoveries from Bianfu Cave and neighbouring regions may eventually help clarify how Denisovans varied across Asia, how different populations were related and how they adapted to diverse environments long before modern humans became established across the region.
Published on: 10-09-2026
Edited by: Abdulmnam Samakie
Source: Nature
