Graphics shows the excavated paleplithic tools and animal fossils from the oldest layer of soil from 2.1 to 2.12 million years ago. Ancient tools discovered in Lantian County, northwest China's Shaanxi Province by a research team consisting of Chinese and British archaeologists suggest that there may have been a hominin presence outside Africa earlier than previously thought, according to a study published Wednesday in Nature. In eleven different layers of fossil soils, 80 stone artefacts were found, among which the oldest can be dated to 2.12 million years ago, which are 270,000 years older than the 1.85-million-year-old skeletal remains and stone tools from Dmanisi, Georgia, which were previously the earliest evidence of humanity outside Africa. (Xinhua)