According to the Xinhua agency, the group was called Mengzi Ren (MZR), its bones date from the late Pleistocene period and were found along with fossils of animals such as the red deer, the macaque and the black bear.

“The MZR was identified as an inhabitant of southern East Asia with genetic continuity with current populations,” the publication said.

The physical anthropological investigation carried out on one of the human skeletons revealed that it was a young woman 155 centimeters tall, weighing 46 kilograms, and was dedicated to hunting and gathering.

The study also found that the MZRs had deep genetic ties to early Native Americans.

pgh/llp/rgh/ymr