a new study from the Nihewan basin of China has revealed that hominins who possessed advanced knapping abilities occupied East Asia as early as 1.1 million years ago (Ma), which is 0.3 Ma earlier than the date associated with the first handaxes found in East Asia. The study was conducted by a joint team led by Prof. PEI Shuwen from the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (CSIC) and Prof. Ignacio de