Chapter 317: Earth- Shattering Discovery! A Finding That Overturns the Scientific Community! (1)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“How could there be so many of them grouped up?”
“There are already seven or eight skulls in a row!”
Over the course of several dozen minutes, Luo Feng had been continuously digging. Once this section was cleared, he found seven or eight skulls, an absolutely astonishing discovery. Two of them were even in perfect condition, while the remaining five or six had varying degrees of damage.
“It seems like the nasal bones are generally quite large, and the jawbones are wide with a protruding sensation.”
“Do they appear to be Homo Erectus?”
Luo Feng pondered. These characteristics did indeed match. But were they not different from the Homo sapiens they had analyzed earlier?
“Yes, indeed, they do resemble Homo erectus. However, to confirm if they really are Homo Erectus, the simplest and most effective method would be to measure their cranial capacity, ” Dr. Wu suggested.
“Alright.”
Luo Feng nodded, picked up one of the skulls, and began to examine it. He did not need to perform any tests to measure cranial capacity; there was a formula for it. As long as the data was accurate enough, he could still calculate an approximate range.
Holding the skull, Luo Feng quickly measured its length, width, and other relevant dimensions with his fingers. Soon, he estimated a cranial capacity of between 800 and 1000 milliliters. This was clearly the cranial capacity of Homo Erectus. Although there might be some errors in his measurements, the difference would not be too significant.
The upper limit of Homo Erectus cranial capacity was the lower limit of Homo Sapiens, and vice versa. The gap between the two was significant.
“When facing the disaster, why didn’t these Homo Erectus individuals flee? Why did they cluster here?” Dr. Wu raised a new question after confirming the cranial capacity, which was the same question Luo Feng had asked earlier. “Could it be that the disaster struck too quickly, leaving them no time to react?”
“Yeah, after all, Homo Erectus at that time would have had great difficulty predicting disasters. They were quite vulnerable when facing natural calamities!” Qin Rubing and Su Meiji each chimed in.
Luo Feng furrowed his brows and said, “I still cannot understand why these Homo Erectus were so intelligent.”
“Huh? Intelligent? How so?”
“Don’t you think it’s very difficult for Homo erectus to hunt these large prehistoric creatures? If they happened to kill one or two, that would be reasonable. But there are so many large fossils here. How do you explain that?”
Initially, Luo Feng had suspected these fossils to be that of Homo sapiens, because their hunting skills were more advanced, and they were more intelligent. But now that they had found out that these were Homo Erectus, he could not help but question their intelligence.
“Little Luo, don’t underestimate the Homo Erectus. They were natural hunters, so it’s possible they killed large animals,” Dr. Wu said.
“But there are just too many of them. Imagine, with such crude stone tools and their low efficiency, it would be difficult for humans during the Stone Age to have an ample food supply. They would not engage in high-risk hunting just to stave off hunger. If they killed one of those ancient gomphotheres, that would be enough for Homo erectus to eat well for a while!” Luo Feng argued.
“Your speculations make sense, but who knows what really happened back then? We still don’t know whether or not these large animals were killed by these people. Maybe the bodies of these large animals were not killed by Homo erectus but were buried here after the disaster struck?” Dr. Wu analyzed.
“True, it’s possible. We can only keep looking and perhaps find something more meaningful. ”
Luo Feng nodded. In fact, he had another question that he did not voice: why had these Homo erectus only left behind skulls, while their limbs were nowhere to be found? However, Luo Feng had his own explanation for that the skulls in fossils were the hardest parts and thus more likely to be preserved. This was why most unearthed fossils were skulls.
Of course, there were cases where limb fossils had been found. In Africa, for example, some fragmented skeletal fossils were discovered, which, when pieced together, belonged to a female individual whom scientists named “Lucy.”
At that moment, the news of Luo Feng unearthing seven ancient human skulls immediately caused an uproar in the academic community. Not only did it stir up the paleontological community within the country, but it also reached experts in Europe, America, Africa, and East Asia. Many paleontologists found themselves woken up by a series of phone calls.
Once the age and identity of these seven skull fossils were confirmed, they would significantly impact society’s understanding of the Stone Age. After all, the scientific community had relatively limited knowledge of Homo Erectus at that time.
“Professor Gu, I’ve found something else!”
Suddenly, a young man shouted.
“What did you find?”
Following the sound, Gu Santong looked over and, after a few seconds, he also shouted, “Little Luo, come and take a look at this!”
Luo Feng, seeing this, naturally stopped digging. Dr. Wu also walked over.
“Are these two pieces of stone tools?”
“They look palm-sized! Long and rectangular, with uneven cutting edges.”
After observing them for a while, Wu Yingxiong seemed baffled, “Could these be grinding stones?”
“Yes, they are grinding stones!”
For a moment, Luo Feng was at a loss for words..
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