Baishiya Karst Cave () is a high-altitude
paleoanthropological site and a
Tibetan Buddhist
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
sanctuary located on the northeastern edge of the
Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the Ti ...
in
Xiahe County
Xiahe (; ) is a county in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu province, the People's Republic of China, bordering Qinghai province to the west. It is home to the famed Labrang Tibetan Buddhist monastery, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhis ...
,
Gansu
Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province.
The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...
, China. This
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
cave is the site of the discovery of the earliest hominin fossil found on the Tibetan Plateau, the
Xiahe mandible
The Xiahe mandible (, ) is a hominin fossil jaw (mandible) discovered in Baishiya Karst Cave, located on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in Xiahe County, Gansu, China. By the use of palaeoproteomic analysis, it is the first confirme ...
. The mandible, by way of
palaeoproteomic analysis, is the first confirmed discovery of a
Denisovan
The Denisovans or Denisova hominins ) are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic. Denisovans are known from few physical remains and consequently, most of what is known ...
fossil outside of
Denisova Cave
Denisova Cave (russian: Денисова пещера, lit= the cave of Denis, translit= Denísova peshchéra; alt, Аю-Таш, lit= Bear Rock, translit= Ayu Tash) is a cave in the Bashelaksky Range of the Altai mountains, Siberia, Russia. The ...
. This fossil discovery shows that
archaic hominins were present in a high-altitude, low-oxygen environment by around 160,000 years ago.
Geography
Baishiya Karst Cave is located in
Ganjia (),
Xiahe County
Xiahe (; ) is a county in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu province, the People's Republic of China, bordering Qinghai province to the west. It is home to the famed Labrang Tibetan Buddhist monastery, one of the largest Tibetan Buddhis ...
,
Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture
Gānnán Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture (; ) is an autonomous prefecture in southern Gansu Province, China, bordering Linxia to the north, Dingxi to the northeast, Longnan to the east and Aba (Sichuan province) to the south . It includes Xiahe a ...
, Gansu, China, on the northeastern edge of the
Tibetan Plateau
The Tibetan Plateau (, also known as the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau or the Qing–Zang Plateau () or as the Himalayan Plateau in India, is a vast elevated plateau located at the intersection of Central, South and East Asia covering most of the Ti ...
. It lies on the southern side of Dalijiashan Mountain, at the foot of a white cliff. The cave is situated in the Ganjia Basin, at the mouth of the Jiangla River, a tributary of the Yangqu River. The cave is over in length. Within from the entrance, the cave's winter daytime temperature is normally , suitable for habitation in the harsh winters of the Tibetan Plateau.
Religion
Baishiya Karst Cave is a
Tibetan Buddhist
Tibetan Buddhism (also referred to as Indo-Tibetan Buddhism, Lamaism, Lamaistic Buddhism, Himalayan Buddhism, and Northern Buddhism) is the form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet and Bhutan, where it is the dominant religion. It is also in majo ...
sanctuary lying north of Trakkar Gompa ("Baishiya Temple," Báishíyá Sì, 白石崖寺). Said to be a former abode of
Padmasambhava
Padmasambhava ("Born from a Lotus"), also known as Guru Rinpoche (Precious Guru) and the Lotus from Oḍḍiyāna, was a tantric Buddhist Vajra master from India who may have taught Vajrayana in Tibet (circa 8th – 9th centuries)... According ...
and the
bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva ( ; sa, 𑀩𑁄𑀥𑀺𑀲𑀢𑁆𑀢𑁆𑀯 (Brahmī), translit=bodhisattva, label=Sanskrit) or bodhisatva is a person who is on the path towards bodhi ('awakening') or Buddhahood.
In the Early Buddhist schools ...
Tara, it is a popular location for monks to fast and meditate. It is also a pilgrimage site for Tibetan Buddhists and a tourist attraction. In 1982, the
10th Panchen Lama paid homage to the site. According to legend, the cave is more than long and goes all the way to
Xunhua County in
Qinghai
Qinghai (; alternately romanized as Tsinghai, Ch'inghai), also known as Kokonor, is a landlocked province in the northwest of the People's Republic of China. It is the fourth largest province of China by area and has the third smallest po ...
province.
Fossils
In 1980, a
Tibetan
Tibetan may mean:
* of, from, or related to Tibet
* Tibetan people, an ethnic group
* Tibetan language:
** Classical Tibetan, the classical language used also as a contemporary written standard
** Standard Tibetan, the most widely used spoken dial ...
monk
A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...
who was meditating in the cave discovered the
Xiahe mandible
The Xiahe mandible (, ) is a hominin fossil jaw (mandible) discovered in Baishiya Karst Cave, located on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in Xiahe County, Gansu, China. By the use of palaeoproteomic analysis, it is the first confirme ...
. He passed the fossil to , the sixth
tulku
A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is a reincarnate custodian of a specific lineage of teachings in Tibetan Buddhism who is given empowerments and trained from a young age by students of his or her predecessor.
High-profile examples ...
, who donated it to
Lanzhou University
Lanzhou University () is a major research university in Lanzhou, Gansu, China. Founded in 1909, it is one of the key universities under China's Ministry of Education (Double First Class University Plan, former Project 985 and Project 211). It ...
. The mandible was so unusual that researchers did not know how to classify it. Scientists
Chen Fahu and
Zhang Dongju
Zhang Dongju () is a Chinese archeologist and an associate professor at the College of Earth and Environmental Sciences of Lanzhou University. Zhang's research determined that the Xiahe mandible found in the Baishiya Karst Cave on the Tibetan Pl ...
began studying the site in 2010, while collaboration with the
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
The Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (german: Max-Planck-Institut für evolutionäre Anthropologie, shortened to MPI EVA) is a research institute based in Leipzig, Germany, that was founded in 1997. It is part of the Max Plan ...
began in 2016. The first
archaeological survey
In archaeology, survey or field survey is a type of field research by which archaeologists (often landscape archaeologists) search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organization of past human c ...
at the site was performed in 2016, while the first
systematic excavation did not take place until 2018. Several
lithic artefacts and animal bones with cut marks were discovered at the entrance to the cave.
In 2020 Denisovan DNA plus stone artefacts and animal bones were recovered from the Buddhist holy cave on the Tibetam Plateau by scientists from the
University of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong (UOW) is an Australian public research university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney. As of 2023, the university had an enrolment of more than 33, ...
, Australia including Professor Bo Li. Denisovan DNA was recovered from four layers in the cave dated between 45.000 and 100,000 years ago. A fragment of jawbone had been found in the cave in 2019. Aboriginal Australians have about 5% of Denisovan DNA.
The Xiahe mandible consists of the right half of a partial mandible with two attached
molars. A
calcareous
Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines.
In zoology
''Calcareous'' is used as an adje ...
crust on the mandible was found to be about 165,000 years old by
uranium-thorium dating. Material was drilled out of the teeth and six different collagen proteins were analyzed by
mass spectrometry
Mass spectrometry (MS) is an analytical technique that is used to measure the mass-to-charge ratio of ions. The results are presented as a ''mass spectrum'', a plot of intensity as a function of the mass-to-charge ratio. Mass spectrometry is use ...
. This showed that the Xiahe specimen belonged to a population that was closely related to the Denisovan specimens from
Denisova Cave
Denisova Cave (russian: Денисова пещера, lit= the cave of Denis, translit= Denísova peshchéra; alt, Аю-Таш, lit= Bear Rock, translit= Ayu Tash) is a cave in the Bashelaksky Range of the Altai mountains, Siberia, Russia. The ...
. This is the first time that an ancient hominin was successfully identified using only
protein analysis
Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins. Proteins are vital parts of living organisms, with many functions such as the formation of structural fibers of muscle tissue, enzymatic digestion of food, or synthesis and replication of DNA. In ...
. It is the most complete known Denisovan fossil.
''Discover'', ''
Science News
''Science News (SN)'' is an American bi-weekly magazine devoted to articles about new scientific and technical developments, typically gleaned from recent scientific and technical journals.
History
''Science News'' has been published since 1 ...
'' and
''Nova'' all named the discovery in their lists of Top Science Stories of 2019.
References
Citations
Bibliography
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{{Prehistoric caves
Caves of Gansu
High-altitude archaeology
Paleolithic sites in China
Tibetan Plateau
Xiahe County
Paleontology in Gansu
Tibetan Buddhist places
Tourist attractions in Gansu