Chinese researchers unveiled the first-ever scientific facial reconstructions of two million-year-old hominid skulls, shedding new light on a pivotal moment in human evolution.

A research team presented the reconstructions at the Hubei Provincial Museum in central China Thursday.

Dubbed “Yunxian Man” after the Hubei county where they were discovered more than three decades ago, the fossils are the most complete specimens from the period ever found in the interior of Eurasia.

Remains of a third Yunxian Man were excavated from the same site in 2022.

Chinese researchers have spent years restoring and studying the fossils. In June 2017, a multidisciplinary team — including experts from the Hubei Provincial Museum, Shanxi University, and other scientific institutions — undertook highly precise scanning and facial reconstruction of the first two skulls, found in 1989 and 1990 and labeled Yunxian 1 and Yunxian 2, respectively.

“The facial reconstructions of the Yunxian Man skull fossils brought together paleoanthropologists, forensic experts, 3D reconstruction specialists, and Paleolithic archaeologists,” Feng Xiaobo, a researcher from Shanxi University, said at the unveiling Thursday.

This marks the world’s first scientific reconstruction of a hominid skull dating back 1 million years, offering a unique opportunity to study ancient human fossils.

According to Feng, the research team first produced models of the two skull fossils using a high-precision, industrial-grade scanner. They then applied sculpting, painting, and computer imaging techniques to recreate its features, including the eyes, nose, mouth, and hair.

The team identified Yunxian 1 as female and Yunxian 2 as male. Both are estimated to have been between ages 25 and 40 at their time of death. Their brain volumes were also found to be larger than that of the more recent Peking Man, who lived in North China between 700,000 and 200,000 years ago.

Feng said that this suggests that Yunxian Man had enjoyed a more favorable living environment and better food supply, which would have been beneficial for brain development.

Wang Xianfu, a deputy director at the Hubei Provincial Museum, highlighted the significance of the reconstructions for the study of human evolution. “Yunxian Man fills a critical gap in the human evolutionary timeline, covering the 1-million-year period between Yuanmou Man, Lantian Man and Peking Man,” he said, referring to other fossils found in what is today China and dating back as many as 1.7 million years ago.

“With the continued study of the recently discovered Skull No. 3, we anticipate that our understanding of China’s million-year human history will deepen,” said Feng. “We are also hopeful for future discoveries, including additional Yunxian Man skulls.”

(Header image: Scultures of a pair of restored human skulls dating back over one million years on display at the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan, Hubei province, Dec 26, 2024. Xinhua)