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Kappelman J, Todd LC, Davis CA, Cerling TE, Feseha M, Getahun A, Johnsen R, Kay M, Kocurek GA, Nachman BA, Negash A, Negash T, O'Brien K, Pante M, Ren M, Smith EI, Tabor NJ, Tewabe D, Wang H, Yang D, Yirga S, Crowell JW, Fanuka MF, Habtie T, Hirniak JN, Klehm C, Loewen ND, Melaku S, Melton SM, Myers TS, Millonig S, Plummer MC, Riordan KJ, Rosenau NA, Skinner A, Thompson AK, Trombetta LM, Witzel A, Assefa E, Bodansky M, Desta AA, Campisano CJ, Dalmas D, Elliott C, Endalamaw M, Ford NJ, Foster F, Getachew T, Haney YL, Ingram BH, Jackson J, Marean CW, Mattox S, de la Cruz Medina K, Mulubrhan G, Porter K, Roberts A, Santillan P, Sollenberger A, Sponholtz J, Valdes J, Wyman L, Yadeta M, Yanny S. Adaptive foraging behaviours in the Horn of Africa during Toba supereruption. Nature 2024; 628:365-372. [PMID: 38509364 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07208-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2021] [Accepted: 02/19/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024]
Abstract
Although modern humans left Africa multiple times over 100,000 years ago, those broadly ancestral to non-Africans dispersed less than 100,000 years ago1. Most models hold that these events occurred through green corridors created during humid periods because arid intervals constrained population movements2. Here we report an archaeological site-Shinfa-Metema 1, in the lowlands of northwest Ethiopia, with Youngest Toba Tuff cryptotephra dated to around 74,000 years ago-that provides early and rare evidence of intensive riverine-based foraging aided by the likely adoption of the bow and arrow. The diet included a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic animals. Stable oxygen isotopes from fossil mammal teeth and ostrich eggshell show that the site was occupied during a period of high seasonal aridity. The unusual abundance of fish suggests that capture occurred in the ever smaller and shallower waterholes of a seasonal river during a long dry season, revealing flexible adaptations to challenging climatic conditions during the Middle Stone Age. Adaptive foraging along dry-season waterholes would have transformed seasonal rivers into 'blue highway' corridors, potentially facilitating an out-of-Africa dispersal and suggesting that the event was not restricted to times of humid climates. The behavioural flexibility required to survive seasonally arid conditions in general, and the apparent short-term effects of the Toba supereruption in particular were probably key to the most recent dispersal and subsequent worldwide expansion of modern humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Kappelman
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA.
| | - Lawrence C Todd
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | | | - Thure E Cerling
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Mulugeta Feseha
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Abebe Getahun
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Department of Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Racheal Johnsen
- Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Marvin Kay
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR, USA
| | - Gary A Kocurek
- Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Brett A Nachman
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Agazi Negash
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Tewabe Negash
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Kaedan O'Brien
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Natural History Museum of Utah, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Michael Pante
- Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Minghua Ren
- Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Eugene I Smith
- Department of Geoscience, University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV, USA
| | - Neil J Tabor
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Dereje Tewabe
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Bahir Dar Fisheries and Other Aquatic Life Research Centre, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
| | - Hong Wang
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
| | - Deming Yang
- Department of Geology and Geophysics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
| | - Solomon Yirga
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- Department of Zoological Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Jordan W Crowell
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Matthew F Fanuka
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Teshager Habtie
- Department of History and Heritage Management, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia
| | - Jayde N Hirniak
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Carla Klehm
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | | | | | - Sierra M Melton
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Timothy S Myers
- Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Sarah Millonig
- Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Megan C Plummer
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Keenan J Riordan
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Nicholas A Rosenau
- Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Anne Skinner
- Chemistry Department, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, USA
| | - Abraham K Thompson
- Department of Anthropology and Geography, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, USA
| | - Lindsey M Trombetta
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Adrienne Witzel
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Ephrem Assefa
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Maria Bodansky
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Ayenachew A Desta
- Department of Geology, School of Earth Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
| | - Christopher J Campisano
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Daniel Dalmas
- Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA
- Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | - Connor Elliott
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Metasebia Endalamaw
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Ethiopian Heritage Authority, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Nicholas J Ford
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Frederick Foster
- Department of Anthropology, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
| | - Tomas Getachew
- Ethiopian Heritage Authority, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Laboratoire Paléontologie Évolution Paléoécosystèmes Paléoprimatologie, Université de Poitiers, Poitiers, France
| | - Yibai Li Haney
- Chemistry Department, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, USA
| | - Brittney H Ingram
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Jonayah Jackson
- Chemistry Department, Williams College, Williamstown, MA, USA
| | - Curtis W Marean
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
- African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, Gqeberha, South Africa
| | - Sissi Mattox
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Karla de la Cruz Medina
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Gebretsadkan Mulubrhan
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
| | - Keri Porter
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Alexis Roberts
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Perla Santillan
- Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Alaric Sollenberger
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Julia Sponholtz
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Jessica Valdes
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Lani Wyman
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| | - Meklit Yadeta
- Paleoanthropology and Paleoenvironment Program, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Huffington Department of Earth Sciences, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Sierra Yanny
- National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Program, Department of Anthropology, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
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