Scientists have confirmed that the ancient Dragon Man skull, first unearthed in Harbin, China, nearly a century ago, belongs to the mysterious human group known as the Denisovans.
The announcement, supported by DNA and protein analysis, marks the first time researchers have definitively linked a complete human-like skull to the Denisovans, a discovery that reshapes our understanding of human evolution in Asia.
The Dragon Man skull—large, heavy, and unlike any other known fossil—was originally found in 1933 by a laborer who hid it in a well. It remained there for decades until the man’s family recovered it in 2018 and handed it over to scientists.
With its broad nose, thick brow, and massive cranium, the fossil stood out as one of the most unusual ever found. In 2021, researchers proposed that it represented a new species, Homo longi.
But a new pair of studies published June 18 in Science and Cell offer compelling evidence that the Dragon Man skull is, in fact, the first Denisovan cranium ever identified.
Using advanced techniques, researchers examined hardened plaque from the skull’s teeth and proteins from a bone in the inner ear.
Though DNA could not be extracted directly from the bone, scientists managed to recover mitochondrial DNA—passed from mother to child—which revealed a clear genetic link to a group of Denisovans who lived in Siberia more than 100,000 years ago.
This connection stretches the known Denisovan range far beyond earlier expectations. While previous knowledge of Denisovans came from fragments and genetic traces found mainly in caves in Siberia and Tibet, the Dragon Man skull offers the first nearly complete physical profile of the group.
Its confirmation as Denisovan provides a reference point for classifying other unidentified remains.
The research team also compared the skull’s protein structure—called the proteome—with samples from Neanderthals, modern humans, and other primates. The results showed a strong match to early Denisovans, reinforcing the genetic findings.
“We now have the first comprehensive morphological blueprint for Denisovan populations,” the study authors wrote in Science, noting that the Harbin cranium now serves as a key marker for the species.
Despite the breakthrough, some debate remains over how to classify the fossil. Chris Stringer, a paleoanthropologist at the Natural History Museum in London, who previously studied the Harbin skull but was not involved in the new research, said the evidence makes it “increasingly likely” that the fossil is the most complete Denisovan ever found.
He added that Homo longi could still be a suitable name, though further discoveries are needed to confirm it as a distinct species.
The identification of the Dragon Man skull as Denisovan also challenges long-standing ideas about human evolution during the Middle Pleistocene, a period from around 789,000 to 126,000 years ago.
At that time, Eurasia was home to early humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans—groups that often interbred, making it difficult to trace clear evolutionary lines.
Until now, Denisovans had remained largely mysterious, known mostly through DNA and a few bone fragments. The Dragon Man skull changes that narrative, giving scientists a clearer view into a long-lost chapter of human history.
