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Into the Unknown: Microbial Communities in Caves, Their Role, and Potential Use. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10020222. [PMID: 35208677 PMCID: PMC8877592 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10020222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Revised: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/15/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Caves have been an item of amateur and professional exploration for many years. Research on the karst caves has revealed great diversity of bacteria, algae, and fungi living on stone walls and speleothems, in mud puddles or sediments. They have become the source of interest for various research groups including geologists, chemists, ecologists, or microbiologists. The adaptations of cave-dwelling organisms applied to their survival are complex and some of their properties show potential to be used in various areas of human life. Secondary metabolites produced by cave’s bacteria show strong antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, or anticancer properties. Furthermore, bacteria that can induce mineral precipitation could be used in the construction industry and for neutralization of radioisotopes. In this review we focus on bacteria and algae present in cave ecosystems, their role in shaping such specific environment, and their biotechnological and medical potential.
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Abstract
Shanidar Cave, Iraqi Kurdistan, is one of the most important Palaeolithic sites in Southwest Asia. This is due to the long sequence of hominin occupation of the cave and the discovery of multiple Neanderthal individuals from the original Solecki excavations (1951–1960) and recent excavations (2014 to present). Preliminary taphonomic analyses of the microvertebrate assemblage were undertaken to understand the factors affecting assemblage formation and accumulation, and this paper presents the first results of these analyses. All contexts display a high proportion of fragmentation, with a slight decrease in breakage towards the base of the sequence. Black staining and root etching were observed in a similar pattern, present in most contexts but with an increase in the lower levels. A significant proportion of the microvertebrate remains examined displayed light traces of digestion, indicating some contribution to the assemblage by predators. The results are consistent with wider palaeoecological records that indicate relatively warm, wet conditions at the base of the sequence and cooler, drier conditions at the top.
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Heydari-Guran S, Benazzi S, Talamo S, Ghasidian E, Hariri N, Oxilia G, Asiabani S, Azizi F, Naderi R, Safaierad R, Hublin JJ, Foley RA, Lahr MM. The discovery of an in situ Neanderthal remain in the Bawa Yawan Rockshelter, West-Central Zagros Mountains, Kermanshah. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0253708. [PMID: 34437543 PMCID: PMC8389444 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Neanderthal extinction has been a matter of debate for many years. New discoveries, better chronologies and genomic evidence have done much to clarify some of the issues. This evidence suggests that Neanderthals became extinct around 40,000–37,000 years before present (BP), after a period of coexistence with Homo sapiens of several millennia, involving biological and cultural interactions between the two groups. However, the bulk of this evidence relates to Western Eurasia, and recent work in Central Asia and Siberia has shown that there is considerable local variation. Southwestern Asia, despite having a number of significant Neanderthal remains, has not played a major part in the debate over extinction. Here we report a Neanderthal deciduous canine from the site of Bawa Yawan in the West-Central Zagros Mountains of Iran. The tooth is associated with Zagros Mousterian lithics, and its context is preliminary dated to between ~43,600 and ~41,500 years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saman Heydari-Guran
- Stiftung Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann, Germany
- Department of Prehistoric Archaeology University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- DiyarMehr Centre for Palaeolithic Research, Kermanshah, Iran
- * E-mail:
| | - Stefano Benazzi
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sahra Talamo
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Elham Ghasidian
- Stiftung Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann, Germany
- Department of Prehistoric Archaeology University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Nemat Hariri
- Department of Prehistoric Archaeology University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili University, Ardabil, Iran
| | - Gregorio Oxilia
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Samran Asiabani
- DiyarMehr Centre for Palaeolithic Research, Kermanshah, Iran
- Department of Architecture, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
| | - Faramarz Azizi
- DiyarMehr Centre for Palaeolithic Research, Kermanshah, Iran
| | - Rahmat Naderi
- DiyarMehr Centre for Palaeolithic Research, Kermanshah, Iran
| | - Reza Safaierad
- Department of Physical Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Collège de France, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, Paris, France
| | - Robert A. Foley
- Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Marta M. Lahr
- Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Pluridisciplinary evidence for burial for the La Ferrassie 8 Neandertal child. Sci Rep 2020; 10:21230. [PMID: 33299013 PMCID: PMC7725784 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77611-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
The origin of funerary practices has important implications for the emergence of so-called modern cognitive capacities and behaviour. We provide new multidisciplinary information on the archaeological context of the La Ferrassie 8 Neandertal skeleton (grand abri of La Ferrassie, Dordogne, France), including geochronological data -14C and OSL-, ZooMS and ancient DNA data, geological and stratigraphic information from the surrounding context, complete taphonomic study of the skeleton and associated remains, spatial information from the 1968-1973 excavations, and new (2014) fieldwork data. Our results show that a pit was dug in a sterile sediment layer and the corpse of a two-year-old child was laid there. A hominin bone from this context, identified through Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) and associated with Neandertal based on its mitochondrial DNA, yielded a direct 14C age of 41.7-40.8 ka cal BP (95%), younger than the 14C dates of the overlying archaeopaleontological layers and the OSL age of the surrounding sediment. This age makes the bone one of the most recent directly dated Neandertals. It is consistent with the age range for the Châtelperronian in the site and in this region and represents the third association of Neandertal taxa to Initial Upper Palaeolithic lithic technocomplex in Western Europe. A detailed multidisciplinary approach, as presented here, is essential to advance understanding of Neandertal behavior, including funerary practices.
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