Chapter 319: Earth-Shattering Discovery! A Finding That Overturns the Scientific Community! (3)
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Flint, due to its hardness, produced sharp edges when shattered, making it a favored material for the primitive people of the Stone Age. The vast majority of stone tools were made by striking flint, and sparks could be created when flint and metal were struck together. Thus, ancient people used flint as a fire-starting tool. In ancient China, a small piece of flint and a steel “fire sickle” were often used to create fire, giving flint the name “firestone.” Flintlock guns also employed a trigger to strike the flint and ignite the gunpowder. In modern times, the hardness of flint has been utilized as a material for grinding.
Of course, if flint were discovered, it could be determined that the site belonged to Homo Sapiens. After all, only Homo Erectus relied on naturally occurring fire, whereas Homo Sapiens had the great invention of artificial fire-starting. Fire was like a secret weapon bestowed upon humanity by the heavens. Once humans had fire, their civilization took a significant step forward.
Why was Homo Erectus eliminated while Homo sapiens emerged as the ultimate winner? Homo sapiens were intelligent and realized that striking flint with metal would produce sparks, allowing them to create fire artificially.
Homo Erectus, on the other hand, was too unintelligent to comprehend such deep thinking.
The excavation continued, and many other archeologists discovered fossils at various locations. The number of ground stone tools increased, as did the fossils of ancient creatures. Over 200 fossils were unearthed, a staggering number. The discovery of 200 artifacts at the Lantian County human site had already caused a sensation in the scientific community, so one could only imagine the significance of the current 200 fossils.
“Clang!” With a strike of the shovel, Luo Feng discovered another skull fossil. But there was more. Beneath the skull were more bones?
“Wow!” exclaimed one archeologist. “This fossil is so well-preserved!”
“Almost 70% of the skeleton is intact?” Dr. Wu, an intellectual, could not help but be amazed. After all, such complete skeletal fossils were incredibly rare.
After carefully continuing the excavation, they revealed the full picture: an ancient human missing one leg, standing about 1.6 meters tall. Although they could only vaguely make out the human form, it was already a rare sight in the world. Luo Feng glanced at the skeletal fossil. The femur was relatively thick, which was consistent with the well-developed limbs of Homo Erectus. After measuring the cranial capacity, they confirmed it was indeed Homo Erectus.
“It’s still Homo erectus? How can this be?” Dr. Wu scratched his head, puzzled. “If they’re all Homo Erectus, these ground stone tools really can’t be explained!”
“Why do we need to explain it? We’re only responsible for discovering the problem, not explaining it,” Luo Feng replied with a smile. Although he was curious, he was just focused on making money. Whether it was Homo Erectus or ground stone tools, that was the scientists’ concern.
Dr. Wu almost cursed at Luo Feng for his lack of scientific contributions. But after some thought, he realized that everyone had their own pursuits, and he could not force his own way of thinking onto others.
“What if Homo Erectus and Homo Sapiens coexisted peacefully for a period?” Luo Feng speculated.
“Impossible, absolutely impossible!” Dr. Wu insisted.
“Don’t rush to refute it. As scientists, you should boldly propose hypotheses,” Luo Feng countered.
“Yeah, I remember hearing about the possibility that ancient humans interbred,” Su Meiji chimed in.
Luo Feng laughed and agreed, saying, “I think Meiji has a point. After all, during the ancient human period, the demand for breeding must have been quite large. And since Homo Erectus was so robust, wouldn’t their increasing demand lead them to take wives from Homo Sapiens?” He saw that the beautiful woman was actually discussing this topic and he could not help but join the conversation with a smile.
Dr. Wu was speechless. Why did they have to bring this up? He was still a young… Well, that kind of man. However, this viewpoint had been raised by others before. Some experts had compared the genomes of modern Africans, Andertals, and Denisovans, showing that they had interbred during the ancient human period. This discovery had been quite shocking at the time.
“Here’s a tooth fossil!”
“I’ve found one too!”
“And there are more here!”
Soon, the archaeological team discovered new items — a large number of tooth fossils. But it seemed that there were some holes in the teeth?
“I know! I know!” Wu Yingxiong looked at the tooth fossils and immediately widened his eyes, as he understood the significance.
What was he muttering about? What had he discovered?
Luo Feng also examined the tooth fossils. Each one had a hole in it? Slowly, he began to understand as well.
“So, you figured it out too, Little Luo?” Wu Yingxiong asked.
“Yes, our ancestors were truly remarkable!” Luo Feng exclaimed excitedly.
Su Meiji, curious, asked, “So, there are holes in the teeth? What exactly did you both discover?”
Even though Meiji was very intelligent, she was still quite clueless when faced with a scientist and a prodigious young man. She stared at the two of them, very intrigued.
Luo Feng wanted to tell her the answer with a kiss, but obviously, that would not be appropriate given the number of people present.
“Come on! Just tell us already!”
“It’s so frustrating!”
“Is Old Luo going to keep us in suspense again?”
“Tell us, what does it all mean?” Su Meiji prodded Luo Feng’s arm and asked.
“Hahaha, it’s simple. These skull fossils we’ve been uncovering were only craniums, right? My initial thought was that it’s because skulls are more likely to leave fossils!”
“But now I think that these Homo Erectus skulls and teeth with holes must have been trophies for Homo sapiens!”
“Those ancient creatures were not killed by Homo Erectus, but by Homo sapiens.”
After all, it was well known that ancient Homo sapiens liked to make holes in teeth and bones to use them as decorations….
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