"Hualong Cave is a treasure house for the study of human evolution!" This is Liu Wu, a researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, when talking about the excavation of Hualong Cave site. The Hualong Cave site was discovered in 1988 and the first excavation was carried out in 2006. In 2015, a relatively complete human skull fossil was unearthed in Hualong Cave, confirming that it belonged to a 13-year-old female, known as the "Dongzhi Girl", making the Hualong Cave site an important base for human evolution research. Xu Xing, an academician of the CAS Member and director of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: "The Hualongdong people lived between 330000 and 270000 years ago, and have emerged the characteristics of Homo sapiens, that is, modern people. It can be said that the Hualongdong people are the earliest ancient people who have shown the most characteristics of Homo sapiens (modern people) in East Asia so far, and are transitioning from ancient to Homo sapiens." In 2024, 11 new ancient human fossils were discovered. The Hualongdong site is located in Pangwang Village, Yaodu Town, Dongzhi County, Chizhou City, Anhui Province, less than 1000 meters from the nearest villager's house. Back then, it was a villager who was preparing to build a sheep pen here and discovered the strange shaped bones. In 2024, the team led by Wu Xiujie, a researcher of the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the main host of the 2024 excavation, excavated four trucks of cement. These cement materials need to be soaked for 6 to 12 months before being repaired and studied, "said Wu Xiujie. Currently, there are some preliminary research results -11 ancient human fossils (including 1 well preserved foot metatarsal bone), more than 40 stone products, a large number of mammalian fossils, and 3 types of reptile fossils. We determine that this foot metatarsal is the third metatarsal, which is the first discovery in China and relatively rare internationally. This is of great significance for our study of the height and walking style of the Hualongdong people. We also excavated one human frontal bone, one mid femur, and eight human skull fragments Wu Xiujie said, "In addition to the previously excavated human skeletal fossils, we believe they belong to 20 individuals. This means that 300000 years ago, there lived a large family of at least 20 members in Hualong Cave." In addition, this year, many stone tools such as cutters, scrapers, flint, and fossils of many extinct animals, such as sabertooth elephants and ancient pandas, have been excavated. Wu Xiujie said, "61 extinct ancient animal fossils have been excavated in Hualong Cave, and many ancient animals did not survive in the Hualong Cave area, indicating that these animals were transported and processed from afar." This provides further evidence for the hypothesis of the origin of modern humans in multiple places. Where did modern humans come from? How did it evolve? Previous studies have suggested that modern humans originated in Africa - Homo sapiens who migrated out of Africa eliminated and replaced other ancient humans, gradually evolving into present-day humans. But an increasing number of studies believe that human evolution is not simply a "replacement" relationship, but a process of continuous fusion and gene interaction. This is the hypothesis of the multi origin of modern humans. The series of research results on the Hualong Cave site have added new evidence and provided key evidence for the study of human evolution. As early as 2021, a Sino foreign collaborative team led by Liu Wu and Wu Xiujie published a paper stating that the facial features of the "Dongzhi Girl" exhibit mosaic morphology, with most facial features located within the range of early modern humans and modern human variations, except for some orbital and zygomatic features that are similar to those of mid Pleistocene upright humans and ancient humans. Wu Xiujie said, "For example, the shallow orbital groove, depressed brow area, and deep lacrimal gland fossa are more similar to early modern humans and modern humans. Almost all nasal features are more like modern humans, and more importantly, the embryonic form of the chin, which is a signature feature of modern humans, has emerged." This discovery advances the transition time from ancient human forms to modern forms in East Asia to 300000 years ago, about 100000 years earlier than traditional understanding. Liu Wu said, "The transition of ancient human forms to modern forms in East Asia may have occurred 300000 years ago. This also gives us some new speculations about human evolution. The initial transition of human evolution to modern forms may have occurred in relatively isolated regions, while other parts of China were still occupied by more ancient human members." Further research further supports the hypothesis of multi origin. We found sagittal ridges on the skulls of the Hualongdong people, which means there is a slight uplift at the top of the skull. This feature is common on ancient human skulls found in East Asia, but very rare on ancient human skulls excavated outside of East Asia. Sagittal ridges are more common in modern East Asian populations, while they are relatively rare in other races, "said Wu Xiujie." Based on other studies of ancient humans, the origin of modern humans is a process of continuous fusion and gene exchange. "Research on the Hualongdong site will continue, and there are more mysteries waiting to be answered. Wu Xiujie said, "For example, we have discovered four more sites around us, and more fossil sites may be excavated in the future. For example, we excavated a human tooth fossil in 2006. Because it was found on the surface, it cannot be accurately dated based on geological factors. However, its teeth are thicker than other teeth and have the morphological characteristics of an earlier upright person. In short, there is still a lot of work to be done here