Chinese archaeologists have confirmed traces of ancient human activities at an altitude of 4,000 meters in China's Qinghai-Tibet plateau, dating to more than 10,000 years ago.

Scientists from Qinghai Normal University and Qinghai Archaeological Research Institute in China found prehistoric ash layer in Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Qinghai in 2013. They confirmed on Monday that the discovery was indeed evidence that ancient humans lived and hunted there.

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Crude equipment such as stone tools were also unearthed on the site, implying that ancient humans lived, hunted, and made tools in the harsh environment.

According to Hou Guangliang of the Qinghai Normal University, the recent findings is of great significance to researching how early humans were able to cope with extreme environments. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has an average altitude of more than 4,000 meters, has low oxygen levels, low temperatures (with winter temperatures dropping to as low as minus 40 degrees Celsius), strong winds, and intense ultraviolet lights.  

In related news, while Africa has been dubbed as the cradle of human evolution, a recent discovery has found that humans may have evolved in Asia. Paleontologists found three teeth in an ancient limestone cave in the district of Bijie in China's Guizhou Province. These fragments are believed to be between 112,000 years and 178,000 years old, which is apparently 75,000 years earlier than the first modern human fossil (Homo sapien) unearthed in Africa.

A paper about the discovery of the species dubbed as Homo altaiensis, or Denisovian, was published in the Chinese science journal Acta Anthropologica Sinica early this year.  

Tagshuman activities, prehistoric humans, Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, ancient humans