Archaeologists in China’s Yunnan province unearthed stone tools crafted in a style associated with Neanderthals that hasn’t previously been found in East Asia, study says.

Archaeologists in China have found stone technology previously thought to have been used by Neanderthals in Europe, challenging our understanding of human evolution in East Asia. The Quina method of making stone tools had previously been found in Europe but never in East Asia.

Tools were once thought to have arisen out of Africa and Europe, then spread eastward. New findings challenge that assumption.