New Study Puts a Face on the Denisovans, and Reaches Back 130,000 Years

Keypoints:

• A Nature study published on 21 October analyzes fossils from Xujiayao in northern China
• The remains are at least 130,000 years old and include skull fragments, teeth and jaws from about 20 fossils
• Ancient proteins link the fossils to the Denisovans
• A single amino-acid change known as a Denisovan marker appeared in several peptides
• The fossils were once classified as a separate species called Homo juluensis

Archaeologists say they now have a clearer picture of what Denisovans looked like. A Nature study reports on a collection of about 20 fossils from Xujiayao in northern China. The remains include skull fragments, teeth and jaws. They are at least 130,000 years old. Nature clarified after publication that the finds are skull fragments, not whole skulls.

The fossils have a long history. Researchers found them in the 1970s alongside animal bones and stone tools. At the time, nobody knew what type of human they belonged to. Some scientists placed them in a species called Homo juluensis. The new analysis argues that name does not hold up.

The key evidence is protein. DNA does not survive well in old bones, but proteins can last longer. The team recovered protein sequences from the Xujiayao bones and found a single amino-acid change in multiple peptides. The change appears in the COL1A2 collagen gene, and it is a known genetic marker for Denisovans. It also appeared in other East Asian fossils.

The features add up to a recognizable face. Denisovans had a low, sloping forehead and a massive brow ridge that curves backward. Their eye sockets were rectangle-like, their cheeks flat and the bridge of the nose moderately raised. Researchers say these traits are hallmarks of the group.

The finding builds on earlier work. In 2025, studies in Science and Cell identified the nearly complete Harbin cranium, at least 146,000 years old, as Denisovan. They used proteins and mitochondrial DNA from dental calculus. Harbin and Xujiayao now serve as reference material for the group's physical features. Denisovans were first recognized in 2010 from a finger bone in Siberia, and they were identified through DNA alone.

The limits are clear. The protein evidence comes from two specimens, and the other fossils are linked by shape. The study also shows how widely Denisovans lived across Asia and in different environments.