1
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Smedley RK, Fenn K, Stanistreet IG, Stollhofen H, Njau JK, Schick K, Toth N. Age-depth model for uppermost Ndutu Beds constrains Middle Stone Age technology and climate-induced paleoenvironmental changes at Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania). J Hum Evol 2024; 186:103465. [PMID: 38064862 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103465] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2023] [Revised: 09/28/2023] [Accepted: 10/18/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
Olduvai Gorge in northern Tanzania is part of a globally important archeological and paleoanthropological World Heritage Site location critical to our understanding of modern human evolution. The Ndutu Beds in the upper part of the geological sequence at Olduvai Gorge represent the oldest unit to yield modern Homo sapiens skeletal material and Middle Stone Age technology. However, the timing of the deposition of the Ndutu Beds is poorly constrained at present, which limits our understanding of the paleoenvironments critical for contextualizing H. sapiens and related technologies in the Olduvai Basin. Using a suite of 15 luminescence ages of sedimentary core samples, combined with Bayesian statistics, this study provides a new higher-resolution age-depth model for the deposition of the uppermost Upper Ndutu and Naisiuiu Beds cored by the Olduvai Gorge Coring Project. The luminescence and modeled ages are presented as ±1 σ uncertainties. The Ndutu Beds intersected by the Olduvai Gorge Coring Project cores are dated to between 117.1 ± 17.9 and 45.3 ± 4.2 ka (between 125.9 ± 26.5 and 45.8 ± 8.2 ka modeled ages), while a probable overlying layer of Naisiusiu Beds dates to 23.7 ± 10.9 to 12.1 ± 1.7 ka (25.7 ± 18.9 ka and 12.0 ± 3.4 ka modeled age). Time-averaged accretion rates are derived during this time: (1) initially low rates (<5 cm ka-1) from the bottom of the core at 117.1 ± 17.9 ka up to 95.3 ± 11.1 ka (125.9 ± 26.5 to 95.5 ± 23.3 ka modeled ages); (2) the middle section spanning between 95.3 ± 11.1 and 62.7 ± 5.7 ka (95.5 ± 23.3 to 61.9 ± 10.4 ka modeled ages) with mean rates above 15 cm ka-1; and (3) the last 62.7 ± 5.7 ka (61.9 ± 10.4 ka modeled age) where the accretion rate reduces to below 5 cm ka-1. This reduction can be explained by the evolution of the gorge system that was likely driven by subsidence of the Olbalbal depression and changes in climate, particularly precipitation and resulting lake and base level changes. Older Upper Ndutu and Lower Ndutu Beds are contained within proto-gorges within the modern gorge system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rachel K Smedley
- Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZT, UK.
| | - Kaja Fenn
- Department of Geography and Planning, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZT, UK
| | - Ian G Stanistreet
- Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZT, UK; The Stone Age Institute, 1392 W. Dittemore Rd, Gosport, Indiana, 47433, USA
| | - Harald Stollhofen
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander-University (FAU) Erlangen-Nürnberg, 91504, Germany
| | - Jackson K Njau
- The Stone Age Institute, 1392 W. Dittemore Rd, Gosport, Indiana, 47433, USA; Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47408, USA
| | - Kathy Schick
- The Stone Age Institute, 1392 W. Dittemore Rd, Gosport, Indiana, 47433, USA
| | - Nicholas Toth
- The Stone Age Institute, 1392 W. Dittemore Rd, Gosport, Indiana, 47433, USA
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2
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Athreya S, Hopkins A. Conceptual issues in hominin taxonomy: Homo heidelbergensis and an ethnobiological reframing of species. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2021; 175 Suppl 72:4-26. [PMID: 34117636 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.24330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2021] [Revised: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Efforts to name and classify Middle Pleistocene Homo, often referred to as "Homo heidelbergensis" are hampered by confusing patterns of morphology but also by conflicting paleoanthropological ideologies that are embedded in approaches to hominin taxonomy, nomenclature, and the species concept. We deconstruct these issues to show how the field's search for a "real" species relies on strict adherence to pre-Darwinian essentialist naming rules in a post-typological world. We then examine Middle Pleistocene Homo through the framework of ethnobiology, which examines on how Indigenous societies perceive, classify, and name biological organisms. This research reminds us that across human societies, taxonomies function to (1) identify and classify organisms based on consensus pattern recognition and (2) construct a stable nomenclature for effective storage, retrieval and communication of information. Naming Middle Pleistocene Homo as a "real" species cannot be verified with the current data; and separating regional groups into distinct evolutionary lineages creates taxa that are not defined by readily perceptible or universally salient differences. Based on ethnobiological studies of this kind of patterning, referring to these hominins above the level of the species according to their generic category with modifiers (e.g., "European Middle Pleistocene Homo") is consistent with observed human capabilities for cognitive differentiation, is both necessary and sufficient given the current data, and will allow for the most clear communication across ideologies going forward.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheela Athreya
- Liberal Arts Program, Texas A&M University-Qatar, Doha, Qatar.,Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
| | - Allison Hopkins
- Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA
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3
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Kissel M, Fuentes A. The ripples of modernity: How we can extend paleoanthropology with the extended evolutionary synthesis. Evol Anthropol 2021; 30:84-98. [PMID: 33547734 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21883] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2019] [Revised: 09/05/2020] [Accepted: 01/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Contemporary understandings of paleoanthropological data illustrate that the search for a line defining, or a specific point designating, "modern human" is problematic. Here we lend support to the argument for the need to look for patterns in the paleoanthropological record that indicate how multiple evolutionary processes intersected to form the human niche, a concept critical to assessing the development and processes involved in the emergence of a contemporary human phenotype. We suggest that incorporating key elements of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) into our endeavors offers a better and more integrative toolkit for modeling and assessing the evolution of the genus Homo. To illustrate our points, we highlight how aspects of the genetic exchanges, morphology, and material culture of the later Pleistocene complicate the concept of "modern" human behavior and suggest that multiple evolutionary patterns, processes, and pathways intersected to form the human niche.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marc Kissel
- Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, USA
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4
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Bosman AM, Reyes-Centeno H, Harvati K. A virtual assessment of the suprainiac depressions on the Eyasi I (Tanzania) and Aduma ADU-VP-1/3 (Ethiopia) Pleistocene hominin crania. J Hum Evol 2020; 145:102815. [PMID: 32580077 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102815] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2019] [Revised: 04/19/2020] [Accepted: 04/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
Despite a steady increase in our understanding of the phenotypic variation of Pleistocene Homo, debate continues over phylogenetically informative features. One such trait is the suprainiac fossa, a depression on the occipital bone above inion that is commonly considered an autapomorphy of the Neanderthal lineage. Challenging this convention, depressions in the suprainiac region have also been described for two Pleistocene hominin crania from sub-Saharan Africa: Eyasi I (Tanzania) and ADU-VP-1/3 (Ethiopia). Here, we use a combined quantitative and qualitative approach, using μCT imaging, to investigate the occipital depressions on these specimens. The results show that neither the external nor the internal morphologies of these depressions bear any resemblance to the Neanderthal condition. A principal component analysis based on multiple thickness measurements along the occipital squama demonstrates that the relative thickness values for the internal structures in Eyasi I and ADU-VP-1/3 are within the range of Homo sapiens. Thus, our results support the autapomorphic status of the Neanderthal suprainiac fossa and highlight the need to use nuanced approaches and multiple lines of evidence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abel Marinus Bosman
- DFG Center for Advanced Studies: 'Words, Bones, Genes, Tools: Tracking Linguistic, Cultural, and Biological Trajectories of the Human Past', Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Rümelinstraße 23, D-72070, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
| | - Hugo Reyes-Centeno
- DFG Center for Advanced Studies: 'Words, Bones, Genes, Tools: Tracking Linguistic, Cultural, and Biological Trajectories of the Human Past', Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Rümelinstraße 23, D-72070, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany; Department of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, 40506, USA; William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, 40504, USA
| | - Katerina Harvati
- DFG Center for Advanced Studies: 'Words, Bones, Genes, Tools: Tracking Linguistic, Cultural, and Biological Trajectories of the Human Past', Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Rümelinstraße 23, D-72070, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany; Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Rümelinstraße 23, D-72070, Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
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5
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Grün R, Pike A, McDermott F, Eggins S, Mortimer G, Aubert M, Kinsley L, Joannes-Boyau R, Rumsey M, Denys C, Brink J, Clark T, Stringer C. Dating the skull from Broken Hill, Zambia, and its position in human evolution. Nature 2020; 580:372-375. [PMID: 32296179 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2165-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2019] [Accepted: 01/30/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
The cranium from Broken Hill (Kabwe) was recovered from cave deposits in 1921, during metal ore mining in what is now Zambia1. It is one of the best-preserved skulls of a fossil hominin, and was initially designated as the type specimen of Homo rhodesiensis, but recently it has often been included in the taxon Homo heidelbergensis2-4. However, the original site has since been completely quarried away, and-although the cranium is often estimated to be around 500 thousand years old5-7-its unsystematic recovery impedes its accurate dating and placement in human evolution. Here we carried out analyses directly on the skull and found a best age estimate of 299 ± 25 thousand years (mean ± 2σ). The result suggests that later Middle Pleistocene Africa contained multiple contemporaneous hominin lineages (that is, Homo sapiens8,9, H. heidelbergensis/H. rhodesiensis and Homo naledi10,11), similar to Eurasia, where Homo neanderthalensis, the Denisovans, Homo floresiensis, Homo luzonensis and perhaps also Homo heidelbergensis and Homo erectus12 were found contemporaneously. The age estimate also raises further questions about the mode of evolution of H. sapiens in Africa and whether H. heidelbergensis/H. rhodesiensis was a direct ancestor of our species13,14.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rainer Grün
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia. .,Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
| | - Alistair Pike
- Faculty of Humanities, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | - Frank McDermott
- UCD School of Earth Sciences, University College Dublin,, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Stephen Eggins
- Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Graham Mortimer
- Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Maxime Aubert
- Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.,Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution & Griffith Centre for Social and Cultural Research, Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - Lesley Kinsley
- Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Renaud Joannes-Boyau
- Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.,Geoscience, Southern Cross University, Lismore, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Michael Rumsey
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Christiane Denys
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité (ISYEB), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, EPHE, Université des Antilles, Paris, France
| | - James Brink
- Florisbad Quaternary Research, National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa.,Centre for Environmental Management, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa
| | - Tara Clark
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia.,School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia.,School of Earth, Atmospheric & Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Chris Stringer
- CHER, Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK.
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6
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A dispersal of Homo sapiens from southern to eastern Africa immediately preceded the out-of-Africa migration. Sci Rep 2019; 9:4728. [PMID: 30894612 PMCID: PMC6426877 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41176-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2018] [Accepted: 02/19/2019] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Africa was the birth-place of Homo sapiens and has the earliest evidence for symbolic behaviour and complex technologies. The best-attested early flowering of these distinctive features was in a glacial refuge zone on the southern coast 100–70 ka, with fewer indications in eastern Africa until after 70 ka. Yet it was eastern Africa, not the south, that witnessed the first major demographic expansion, ~70–60 ka, which led to the peopling of the rest of the world. One possible explanation is that important cultural traits were transmitted from south to east at this time. Here we identify a mitochondrial signal of such a dispersal soon after ~70 ka – the only time in the last 200,000 years that humid climate conditions encompassed southern and tropical Africa. This dispersal immediately preceded the out-of-Africa expansions, potentially providing the trigger for these expansions by transmitting significant cultural elements from the southern African refuge.
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7
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Ekshtain R, Tryon CA. Lithic raw material acquisition and use by early Homo sapiens at Skhul, Israel. J Hum Evol 2019; 127:149-170. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2018] [Revised: 09/25/2018] [Accepted: 10/08/2018] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
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8
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Beaudet A, Du A, Wood B. Evolution of the modern human brain. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2019; 250:219-250. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2019.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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9
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Mandibular ramus shape variation and ontogeny in Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis. J Hum Evol 2018; 121:55-71. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.03.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2016] [Revised: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 03/27/2018] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
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10
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Groucutt HS, Grün R, Zalmout IAS, Drake NA, Armitage SJ, Candy I, Clark-Wilson R, Louys J, Breeze PS, Duval M, Buck LT, Kivell TL, Pomeroy E, Stephens NB, Stock JT, Stewart M, Price GJ, Kinsley L, Sung WW, Alsharekh A, Al-Omari A, Zahir M, Memesh AM, Abdulshakoor AJ, Al-Masari AM, Bahameem AA, Al Murayyi KMS, Zahrani B, Scerri ELM, Petraglia MD. Homo sapiens in Arabia by 85,000 years ago. Nat Ecol Evol 2018; 2:800-809. [PMID: 29632352 PMCID: PMC5935238 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0518-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2017] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Understanding the timing and character of the expansion of Homo sapiens out of Africa is critical for inferring the colonization and admixture processes that underpin global population history. It has been argued that dispersal out of Africa had an early phase, particularly ~130-90 thousand years ago (ka), that reached only the East Mediterranean Levant, and a later phase, ~60-50 ka, that extended across the diverse environments of Eurasia to Sahul. However, recent findings from East Asia and Sahul challenge this model. Here we show that H. sapiens was in the Arabian Peninsula before 85 ka. We describe the Al Wusta-1 (AW-1) intermediate phalanx from the site of Al Wusta in the Nefud desert, Saudi Arabia. AW-1 is the oldest directly dated fossil of our species outside Africa and the Levant. The palaeoenvironmental context of Al Wusta demonstrates that H. sapiens using Middle Palaeolithic stone tools dispersed into Arabia during a phase of increased precipitation driven by orbital forcing, in association with a primarily African fauna. A Bayesian model incorporating independent chronometric age estimates indicates a chronology for Al Wusta of ~95-86 ka, which we correlate with a humid episode in the later part of Marine Isotope Stage 5 known from various regional records. Al Wusta shows that early dispersals were more spatially and temporally extensive than previously thought. Early H. sapiens dispersals out of Africa were not limited to winter rainfall-fed Levantine Mediterranean woodlands immediately adjacent to Africa, but extended deep into the semi-arid grasslands of Arabia, facilitated by periods of enhanced monsoonal rainfall.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huw S Groucutt
- School of Archaeology, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
| | - Rainer Grün
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia
- Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Iyad A S Zalmout
- Saudi Geological Survey, Sedimentary Rocks and Palaeontology Department, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Nick A Drake
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
- Department of Geography, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Simon J Armitage
- Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK
- SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Ian Candy
- Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, London, UK
| | | | - Julien Louys
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia
| | - Paul S Breeze
- Department of Geography, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Mathieu Duval
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution (ARCHE), Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia
- Geochronology, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain
| | - Laura T Buck
- PAVE Research Group, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Tracy L Kivell
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Emma Pomeroy
- PAVE Research Group, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- School of Natural Sciences and Psychology, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, UK
| | - Nicholas B Stephens
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jay T Stock
- PAVE Research Group, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
| | - Mathew Stewart
- Palaeontology, Geobiology and Earth Archives Research Centre, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Science, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Gilbert J Price
- School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland, Australia
| | - Leslie Kinsley
- Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Wing Wai Sung
- Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | | | - Abdulaziz Al-Omari
- Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Muhammad Zahir
- Department of Archaeology, Hazara University, Mansehra, Pakistan
| | - Abdullah M Memesh
- Saudi Geological Survey, Sedimentary Rocks and Palaeontology Department, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ammar J Abdulshakoor
- Saudi Geological Survey, Sedimentary Rocks and Palaeontology Department, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Abdu M Al-Masari
- Saudi Geological Survey, Sedimentary Rocks and Palaeontology Department, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ahmed A Bahameem
- Saudi Geological Survey, Sedimentary Rocks and Palaeontology Department, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | | | - Badr Zahrani
- Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
| | - Eleanor L M Scerri
- School of Archaeology, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Michael D Petraglia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
- Human Origins Program, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, USA.
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11
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Bae CJ, Douka K, Petraglia MD. Human Colonization of Asia in the Late Pleistocene. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1086/694420] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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12
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Stringer C. The origin and evolution of Homo sapiens. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2017; 371:rstb.2015.0237. [PMID: 27298468 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 133] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/29/2016] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
If we restrict the use of Homo sapiens in the fossil record to specimens which share a significant number of derived features in the skeleton with extant H. sapiens, the origin of our species would be placed in the African late middle Pleistocene, based on fossils such as Omo Kibish 1, Herto 1 and 2, and the Levantine material from Skhul and Qafzeh. However, genetic data suggest that we and our sister species Homo neanderthalensis shared a last common ancestor in the middle Pleistocene approximately 400-700 ka, which is at least 200 000 years earlier than the species origin indicated from the fossils already mentioned. Thus, it is likely that the African fossil record will document early members of the sapiens lineage showing only some of the derived features of late members of the lineage. On that basis, I argue that human fossils such as those from Jebel Irhoud, Florisbad, Eliye Springs and Omo Kibish 2 do represent early members of the species, but variation across the African later middle Pleistocene/early Middle Stone Age fossils shows that there was not a simple linear progression towards later sapiens morphology, and there was chronological overlap between different 'archaic' and 'modern' morphs. Even in the late Pleistocene within and outside Africa, we find H. sapiens specimens which are clearly outside the range of Holocene members of the species, showing the complexity of recent human evolution. The impact on species recognition of late Pleistocene gene flow between the lineages of modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans is also discussed, and finally, I reconsider the nature of the middle Pleistocene ancestor of these lineages, based on recent morphological and genetic data.This article is part of the themed issue 'Major transitions in human evolution'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Stringer
- Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, UK
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13
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Reiner WB, Masao F, Sholts SB, Songita AV, Stanistreet I, Stollhofen H, Taylor RE, Hlusko LJ. OH 83: A new early modern human fossil cranium from the Ndutu beds of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2017; 164:533-545. [PMID: 28786473 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23292] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2016] [Revised: 05/02/2017] [Accepted: 07/23/2017] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Herein we introduce a newly recovered partial calvaria, OH 83, from the upper Ndutu Beds of Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania. We present the geological context of its discovery and a comparative analysis of its morphology, placing OH 83 within the context of our current understanding of the origins and evolution of Homo sapiens. MATERIALS AND METHODS We comparatively assessed the morphology of OH 83 using quantitative and qualitative data from penecontemporaneous fossils and the W.W. Howells modern human craniometric dataset. RESULTS OH 83 is geologically dated to ca. 60-32 ka. Its morphology is indicative of an early modern human, falling at the low end of the range of variation for post-orbital cranial breadth, the high end of the range for bifrontal breadth, and near average in frontal length. DISCUSSION There have been numerous attempts to use cranial anatomy to define the species Homo sapiens and identify it in the fossil record. These efforts have not met wide agreement by the scientific community due, in part, to the mosaic patterns of cranial variation represented by the fossils. The variable, mosaic pattern of trait expression in the crania of Middle and Late Pleistocene fossils implies that morphological modernity did not occur at once. However, OH 83 demonstrates that by ca. 60-32 ka modern humans in Africa included individuals that are at the fairly small and gracile range of modern human cranial variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Whitney B Reiner
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, MC 3140, Berkeley, California, 94720
| | - Fidelis Masao
- University of Dar es Salaam, Dar es Salaam, TZ, 35091.,Conservation Olduvai Project, Dar es Salaam, TZ, 35091
| | - Sabrina B Sholts
- Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 20560
| | | | - Ian Stanistreet
- University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3GP, UK.,The Stone Age Institute, Bloomington, Indiana, 47407
| | - Harald Stollhofen
- GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, 91054, Germany
| | - R E Taylor
- University of California Riverside, Riverside, California, 92521
| | - Leslea J Hlusko
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California Berkeley, MC 3140, Berkeley, California, 94720
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Hammond AS, Royer DF, Fleagle JG. The Omo-Kibish I pelvis. J Hum Evol 2017; 108:199-219. [PMID: 28552208 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.04.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2017] [Revised: 04/13/2017] [Accepted: 04/15/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Omo-Kibish I (Omo I) from southern Ethiopia is the oldest anatomically modern Homo sapiens skeleton currently known (196 ± 5 ka). A partial hipbone (os coxae) of Omo I was recovered more than 30 years after the first portion of the skeleton was recovered, a find which is significant because human pelves can be informative about an individual's sex, age-at-death, body size, obstetrics and parturition, and trunk morphology. Recent human pelves are distinct from earlier Pleistocene Homo spp. pelves because they are mediolaterally narrower in bispinous breadth, have more vertically oriented ilia, lack a well-developed iliac pillar, and have distinct pubic morphology. The pelvis of Omo I provides an opportunity to test whether the earliest modern humans had the pelvic morphology characteristic of modern humans today and to shed light onto the paleobiology of the earliest humans. Here, we formally describe the preservation and morphology of the Omo I hipbone, and quantitatively and qualitatively compare the hipbone to recent humans and relevant fossil Homo. The Omo I hipbone is modern human in appearance, displaying a moderate iliac tubercle (suggesting a reduced iliac pillar) and an ilium that is not as laterally flaring as earlier Homo. Among those examined in this study, the Omo I ischium is most similar in shape to (but substantially larger than) that of recent Sudanese people. Omo I has features that suggest this skeleton belonged to a female. The stature estimates in this study were derived from multiple bones from the upper and lower part of the body, and suggest that there may be differences in the upper and lower limb proportions of the earliest modern humans compared to recent humans. The large size and robusticity of the Omo I pelvis is in agreement with other studies that have found that modern human reduction in postcranial robusticity occurred later in our evolutionary history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley S Hammond
- Center for Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20052, USA.
| | - Danielle F Royer
- Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, 80204, USA
| | - John G Fleagle
- Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, 11794, USA
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15
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Berger LR, Hawks J, Dirks PHGM, Elliott M, Roberts EM. Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa. eLife 2017; 6:e24234. [PMID: 28483041 PMCID: PMC5423770 DOI: 10.7554/elife.24234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 04/19/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
New discoveries and dating of fossil remains from the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, have strong implications for our understanding of Pleistocene human evolution in Africa. Direct dating of Homo naledi fossils from the Dinaledi Chamber (Berger et al., 2015) shows that they were deposited between about 236 ka and 335 ka (Dirks et al., 2017), placing H. naledi in the later Middle Pleistocene. Hawks and colleagues (Hawks et al., 2017) report the discovery of a second chamber within the Rising Star system (Dirks et al., 2015) that contains H. naledi remains. Previously, only large-brained modern humans or their close relatives had been demonstrated to exist at this late time in Africa, but the fossil evidence for any hominins in subequatorial Africa was very sparse. It is now evident that a diversity of hominin lineages existed in this region, with some divergent lineages contributing DNA to living humans and at least H. naledi representing a survivor from the earliest stages of diversification within Homo. The existence of a diverse array of hominins in subequatorial comports with our present knowledge of diversity across other savanna-adapted species, as well as with palaeoclimate and paleoenvironmental data. H. naledi casts the fossil and archaeological records into a new light, as we cannot exclude that this lineage was responsible for the production of Acheulean or Middle Stone Age tool industries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee R Berger
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - John Hawks
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States
| | - Paul HGM Dirks
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Geosciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
| | - Marina Elliott
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Eric M Roberts
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Geosciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
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16
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Grine FE, Wurz S, Marean CW. The Middle Stone Age human fossil record from Klasies River Main Site. J Hum Evol 2017; 103:53-78. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2016] [Revised: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 12/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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17
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Climatic variability, plasticity, and dispersal: A case study from Lake Tana, Ethiopia. J Hum Evol 2016; 87:32-47. [PMID: 26472274 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/14/2014] [Revised: 03/06/2015] [Accepted: 07/12/2015] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
The numerous dispersal events that have occurred during the prehistory of hominin lineages are the subject of longstanding and increasingly active debate in evolutionary anthropology. As well as research into the dating and geographic extent of such dispersals, there is an increasing focus on the factors that may have been responsible for dispersal. The growing body of detailed regional palaeoclimatic data is invaluable in demonstrating the often close relationship between changes in prehistoric environments and the movements of hominin populations. The scenarios constructed from such data are often overly simplistic, however, concentrating on the dynamics of cyclical contraction and expansion during severe and ameliorated conditions respectively. This contribution proposes a two-stage hypothesis of hominin dispersal in which populations (1) accumulate high levels of climatic tolerance during highly variable climatic phases, and (2) express such heightened tolerance via dispersal in subsequent low-variability phases. Likely dispersal phases are thus proposed to occur during stable climatic phases that immediately follow phases of high climatic variability. Employing high resolution palaeoclimatic data from Lake Tana, Ethiopia, the hypothesis is examined in relation to the early dispersal of Homo sapiens out of East Africa and into the Levant. A dispersal phase is identified in the Lake Tana record between c. 112,550 and c. 96,975 years ago, a date bracket that accords well with the dating evidence for H. sapiens occupation at the sites of Qafzeh and Skhul. Results are discussed in relation to the complex pattern of H. sapiens dispersal out of East Africa, with particular attention paid to the implications of recent genetic chronologies for the origin of non-African modern humans.
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18
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Grine FE. The Late Quaternary Hominins of Africa: The Skeletal Evidence from MIS 6-2. AFRICA FROM MIS 6-2 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-7520-5_17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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19
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Curnoe D, Ji X, Taçon PSC, Yaozheng G. Possible Signatures of Hominin Hybridization from the Early Holocene of Southwest China. Sci Rep 2015. [PMID: 26202835 PMCID: PMC5378881 DOI: 10.1038/srep12408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
We have previously described hominin remains with numerous archaic traits from two localities (Maludong and Longlin Cave) in Southwest China dating to the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. If correct, this finding has important implications for understanding the late phases of human evolution. Alternative interpretations have suggested these fossils instead fit within the normal range of variation for early modern humans in East Asia. Here we test this proposition, consider the role of size-shape scaling, and more broadly assess the affinities of the Longlin 1 (LL1) cranium by comparing it to modern human and archaic hominin crania. The shape of LL1 is found to be highly unusual, but on balance shows strongest affinities to early modern humans, lacking obvious similarities to early East Asians specifically. We conclude that a scenario of hybridization with archaic hominins best explains the highly unusual morphology of LL1, possibly even occurring as late as the early Holocene.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren Curnoe
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Xueping Ji
- Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Kunming, Yunnan, China
| | - Paul S C Taçon
- Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit, School of Humanities, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia
| | - Ge Yaozheng
- Baise Nationalities Museum, Baise, Guangxi, China
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20
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Harvati K, Bauer CC, Grine FE, Benazzi S, Ackermann RR, van Niekerk KL, Henshilwood CS. A human deciduous molar from the Middle Stone Age (Howiesons Poort) of Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2015; 82:190-6. [PMID: 25883050 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2014] [Revised: 03/07/2015] [Accepted: 03/10/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Katerina Harvati
- Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 23, Tübingen 72070, Germany.
| | - Catherine C Bauer
- Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 23, Tübingen 72070, Germany
| | - Frederick E Grine
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, 11794-4364 New York, USA; Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, 11794-4364 New York, USA
| | - Stefano Benazzi
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121 Ravenna, Italy; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Karen L van Niekerk
- Institute for Archaeology, History, Culture and Religious Studies, University of Bergen, Øysteinsgate 3, N-5007 Bergen, Norway; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Christopher S Henshilwood
- Institute for Archaeology, History, Culture and Religious Studies, University of Bergen, Øysteinsgate 3, N-5007 Bergen, Norway; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa
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21
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Skinner MM, Stephens NB, Tsegai ZJ, Foote AC, Nguyen NH, Gross T, Pahr DH, Hublin JJ, Kivell TL. Human evolution. Human-like hand use in Australopithecus africanus. Science 2015; 347:395-9. [PMID: 25613885 DOI: 10.1126/science.1261735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The distinctly human ability for forceful precision and power "squeeze" gripping is linked to two key evolutionary transitions in hand use: a reduction in arboreal climbing and the manufacture and use of tools. However, it is unclear when these locomotory and manipulative transitions occurred. Here we show that Australopithecus africanus (~3 to 2 million years ago) and several Pleistocene hominins, traditionally considered not to have engaged in habitual tool manufacture, have a human-like trabecular bone pattern in the metacarpals consistent with forceful opposition of the thumb and fingers typically adopted during tool use. These results support archaeological evidence for stone tool use in australopiths and provide morphological evidence that Pliocene hominins achieved human-like hand postures much earlier and more frequently than previously considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew M Skinner
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NR, UK. Department of Anthropology, University College London, London WC1H 0BW, UK. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig Germany. Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa.
| | - Nicholas B Stephens
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig Germany
| | - Zewdi J Tsegai
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig Germany
| | - Alexandra C Foote
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London WC1H 0BW, UK
| | - N Huynh Nguyen
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig Germany
| | - Thomas Gross
- Institute of Lightweight Design and Structural Biomechanics, Vienna University of Technology, Gusshausstrasse 27-29, 1040 Wien, Vienna, Austria
| | - Dieter H Pahr
- Institute of Lightweight Design and Structural Biomechanics, Vienna University of Technology, Gusshausstrasse 27-29, 1040 Wien, Vienna, Austria
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig Germany
| | - Tracy L Kivell
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury CT2 7NR, UK. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig Germany. Evolutionary Studies Institute and Centre for Excellence in PalaeoSciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits 2050, South Africa.
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22
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Rito T, Richards MB, Fernandes V, Alshamali F, Cerny V, Pereira L, Soares P. The first modern human dispersals across Africa. PLoS One 2013; 8:e80031. [PMID: 24236171 PMCID: PMC3827445 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0080031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2013] [Accepted: 09/26/2013] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence of more refined chronologies for climate change and archaeology in prehistoric Africa, and for the evolution of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), now make it feasible to test more sophisticated models of early modern human dispersals suggested by mtDNA distributions. Here we have generated 42 novel whole-mtDNA genomes belonging to haplogroup L0, the most divergent clade in the maternal line of descent, and analysed them alongside the growing database of African lineages belonging to L0's sister clade, L1'6. We propose that the last common ancestor of modern human mtDNAs (carried by "mitochondrial Eve") possibly arose in central Africa ~180 ka, at a time of low population size. By ~130 ka two distinct groups of anatomically modern humans co-existed in Africa: broadly, the ancestors of many modern-day Khoe and San populations in the south and a second central/eastern African group that includes the ancestors of most extant worldwide populations. Early modern human dispersals correlate with climate changes, particularly the tropical African "megadroughts" of MIS 5 (marine isotope stage 5, 135-75 ka) which paradoxically may have facilitated expansions in central and eastern Africa, ultimately triggering the dispersal out of Africa of people carrying haplogroup L3 ~60 ka. Two south to east migrations are discernible within haplogroup LO. One, between 120 and 75 ka, represents the first unambiguous long-range modern human dispersal detected by mtDNA and might have allowed the dispersal of several markers of modernity. A second one, within the last 20 ka signalled by L0d, may have been responsible for the spread of southern click-consonant languages to eastern Africa, contrary to the view that these eastern examples constitute relicts of an ancient, much wider distribution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teresa Rito
- IPATIMUP (Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto), Porto, Portugal
| | - Martin B. Richards
- School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, QueensGate, Huddersfield, United Kingdom
| | - Verónica Fernandes
- IPATIMUP (Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto), Porto, Portugal
- Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom
| | - Farida Alshamali
- Dubai Police GHQ - General Department of Forensic Sciences & Criminology, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
| | - Viktor Cerny
- Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
- Institute for Advanced Study, Paris, France
| | - Luísa Pereira
- IPATIMUP (Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto), Porto, Portugal
- Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
| | - Pedro Soares
- IPATIMUP (Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular da Universidade do Porto), Porto, Portugal
- * E-mail:
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23
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Douka K, Bergman CA, Hedges REM, Wesselingh FP, Higham TFG. Chronology of Ksar Akil (Lebanon) and implications for the colonization of Europe by anatomically modern humans. PLoS One 2013; 8:e72931. [PMID: 24039825 PMCID: PMC3770606 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0072931] [Citation(s) in RCA: 79] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2013] [Accepted: 07/15/2013] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The Out-of-Africa model holds that anatomically modern humans (AMH) evolved and dispersed from Africa into Asia, and later Europe. Palaeoanthropological evidence from the Near East assumes great importance, but AMH remains from the region are extremely scarce. ‘Egbert’, a now-lost AMH fossil from the key site of Ksar Akil (Lebanon) and ‘Ethelruda’, a recently re-discovered fragmentary maxilla from the same site, are two rare examples where human fossils are directly linked with early Upper Palaeolithic archaeological assemblages. Here we radiocarbon date the contexts from which Egbert and Ethelruda were recovered, as well as the levels above and below the findspots. In the absence of well-preserved organic materials, we primarily used marine shell beads, often regarded as indicative of behavioural modernity. Bayesian modelling allows for the construction of a chronostratigraphic framework for Ksar Akil, which supports several conclusions. The model-generated age estimates place Egbert between 40.8–39.2 ka cal BP (68.2% prob.) and Ethelruda between 42.4–41.7 ka cal BP (68.2% prob.). This indicates that Egbert is of an age comparable to that of the oldest directly-dated European AMH (Peştera cu Oase). Ethelruda is older, but on current estimates not older than the modern human teeth from Cavallo in Italy. The dating of the so-called “transitional” or Initial Upper Palaeolithic layers of the site may indicate that the passage from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic at Ksar Akil, and possibly in the wider northern Levant, occurred later than previously estimated, casting some doubts on the assumed singular role of the region as a locus for human dispersals into Europe. Finally, tentative interpretations of the fossil's taxonomy, combined with the chronometric dating of Ethelruda's context, provides evidence that the transitional/IUP industries of Europe and the Levant, or at least some of them, may be the result of early modern human migration(s).
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Affiliation(s)
- Katerina Douka
- Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | | | - Robert E. M. Hedges
- Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | | | - Thomas F. G. Higham
- Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
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24
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Grine FE. Observations on Middle Stone Age human teeth from Klasies River Main Site, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2012; 63:750-8. [PMID: 23044372 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2012] [Revised: 08/10/2012] [Accepted: 08/15/2012] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The human fossils, artefacts and faunal remains from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits of Klasies River Main Site have featured prominently in discussions of the evolution of modern human morphology and the emergence of human behavioral modernity. Nearly 40 human fossils were uncovered by John Wymer's (1967-1968) excavations, and subsequent work by Hilary Deacon (1984-1995) has produced an additional dozen specimens. Many of the latter have been described, but most of the dental remains have been afforded only cursory mention and provisional identification. These specimens are documented here, and questions of individual association among some of the fossils from Wymer's excavations are also addressed. Three teeth provide the first indisputable evidence for juvenile individuals in the deposit. The proportion of juvenile to adult remains in the MSA levels at Klasies is notably lower than in other penecontemporaneous South African coastal MSA sites such as Die Kelders Cave 1 and Blombos Cave, where the proportion of juveniles is seemingly in closer keeping with coastal, geographically proximate Later Stone Age sites such as Oakhurst Shelter and Matjes River Cave. The sizes of most of the recently identified human teeth from Klasies seem to affirm at least one arguable aspect of morphometric modernity in the MSA at this site in the form of a tendency for tooth size reduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederick E Grine
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA.
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25
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Brown FH, McDougall I, Fleagle JG. Correlation of the KHS Tuff of the Kibish Formation to volcanic ash layers at other sites, and the age of early Homo sapiens (Omo I and Omo II). J Hum Evol 2012; 63:577-85. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 100] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2011] [Revised: 03/31/2012] [Accepted: 05/16/2012] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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26
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Scally A, Durbin R. Revising the human mutation rate: implications for understanding human evolution. Nat Rev Genet 2012; 13:745-53. [PMID: 22965354 DOI: 10.1038/nrg3295] [Citation(s) in RCA: 308] [Impact Index Per Article: 25.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
It is now possible to make direct measurements of the mutation rate in modern humans using next-generation sequencing. These measurements reveal a value that is approximately half of that previously derived from fossil calibration, and this has implications for our understanding of demographic events in human evolution and other aspects of population genetics. Here, we discuss the implications of a lower-than-expected mutation rate in relation to the timescale of human evolution.
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27
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Aubert M, Pike AWG, Stringer C, Bartsiokas A, Kinsley L, Eggins S, Day M, Grün R. Confirmation of a late middle Pleistocene age for the Omo Kibish 1 cranium by direct uranium-series dating. J Hum Evol 2012; 63:704-10. [PMID: 22959819 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2012] [Revised: 07/12/2012] [Accepted: 07/14/2012] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
Abstract
While it is generally accepted that modern humans evolved in Africa, the specific physical evidence for that origin remains disputed. The modern-looking Omo 1 skeleton, discovered in the Kibish region of Ethiopia in 1967, was controversially dated at ~130 ka (thousands of years ago) by U-series dating on associated Mollusca, and it was not until 2005 that Ar-Ar dating on associated feldspar crystals in pumice clasts provided evidence for an even older age of ~195 ka. However, questions continue to be raised about the age and stratigraphic position of this crucial fossil specimen. Here we present direct U-series determinations on the Omo 1 cranium. In spite of significant methodological complications, which are discussed in detail, the results indicate that the human remains do not belong to a later intrusive burial and are the earliest representative of anatomically modern humans. Given the more archaic morphology shown by the apparently contemporaneous Omo 2 calvaria, we suggest that direct U-series dating is applied to this fossil as well, to confirm its age in relation to Omo 1.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maxime Aubert
- Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia.
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28
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Curnoe D, Xueping J, Herries AIR, Kanning B, Taçon PSC, Zhende B, Fink D, Yunsheng Z, Hellstrom J, Yun L, Cassis G, Bing S, Wroe S, Shi H, Parr WCH, Shengmin H, Rogers N. Human remains from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition of southwest China suggest a complex evolutionary history for East Asians. PLoS One 2012; 7:e31918. [PMID: 22431968 PMCID: PMC3303470 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031918] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2011] [Accepted: 01/20/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Later Pleistocene human evolution in East Asia remains poorly understood owing to a scarcity of well described, reliably classified and accurately dated fossils. Southwest China has been identified from genetic research as a hotspot of human diversity, containing ancient mtDNA and Y-DNA lineages, and has yielded a number of human remains thought to derive from Pleistocene deposits. We have prepared, reconstructed, described and dated a new partial skull from a consolidated sediment block collected in 1979 from the site of Longlin Cave (Guangxi Province). We also undertook new excavations at Maludong (Yunnan Province) to clarify the stratigraphy and dating of a large sample of mostly undescribed human remains from the site. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS We undertook a detailed comparison of cranial, including a virtual endocast for the Maludong calotte, mandibular and dental remains from these two localities. Both samples probably derive from the same population, exhibiting an unusual mixture of modern human traits, characters probably plesiomorphic for later Homo, and some unusual features. We dated charcoal with AMS radiocarbon dating and speleothem with the Uranium-series technique and the results show both samples to be from the Pleistocene-Holocene transition: ∼14.3-11.5 ka. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE Our analysis suggests two plausible explanations for the morphology sampled at Longlin Cave and Maludong. First, it may represent a late-surviving archaic population, perhaps paralleling the situation seen in North Africa as indicated by remains from Dar-es-Soltane and Temara, and maybe also in southern China at Zhirendong. Alternatively, East Asia may have been colonised during multiple waves during the Pleistocene, with the Longlin-Maludong morphology possibly reflecting deep population substructure in Africa prior to modern humans dispersing into Eurasia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darren Curnoe
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
- * E-mail: (DC); (JX)
| | - Ji Xueping
- Yunnan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, Kunming, Yunnan, China
- Archeology Research Center, Yunnan University, Kunming, Yunnan, China
- * E-mail: (DC); (JX)
| | - Andy I. R. Herries
- Archaeomagnetism Laboratory, Archaeology Program, School of Historical and European Studies, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Bai Kanning
- Honghe Prefectural Institute of Cultural Relics, Mengzi, Yunnan, China
| | - Paul S. C. Taçon
- Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit, School of Humanities, Gold Coast Campus, Griffith University, Southport, Queensland, Australia
| | - Bao Zhende
- Mengzi Institute of Cultural Relics, Mengzi, Yunnan, China
| | - David Fink
- Institute for Environmental Research, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Sydney, Australia
| | - Zhu Yunsheng
- Honghe Prefectural Institute of Cultural Relics, Mengzi, Yunnan, China
| | - John Hellstrom
- School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
| | - Luo Yun
- Mengzi Institute of Cultural Relics, Mengzi, Yunnan, China
| | - Gerasimos Cassis
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Su Bing
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology and Kunming Primate Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - Stephen Wroe
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Hong Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology and Kunming Primate Research Centre, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China
| | - William C. H. Parr
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | | | - Natalie Rogers
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
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Houghton K, Thackeray J. Morphometric comparisons between crania of Late PleistoceneHomo sapiensfrom Border Cave (BC 1), Tuinplaas (TP 1) and modern southern African populations. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2011. [DOI: 10.1080/0035919x.2011.626808] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
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Herries AIR. A chronological perspective on the acheulian and its transition to the middle stone age in southern Africa: the question of the fauresmith. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY 2011; 2011:961401. [PMID: 21785711 PMCID: PMC3139141 DOI: 10.4061/2011/961401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2010] [Revised: 01/25/2011] [Accepted: 03/27/2011] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
An understanding of the age of the Acheulian and the transition to the Middle Stone Age in southern Africa has been hampered by a lack of reliable dates for key sequences in the region. A number of researchers have hypothesised that the Acheulian first occurred simultaneously in southern and eastern Africa at around 1.7-1.6 Ma. A chronological evaluation of the southern African sites suggests that there is currently little firm evidence for the Acheulian occurring before 1.4 Ma in southern Africa. Many researchers have also suggested the occurrence of a transitional industry, the Fauresmith, covering the transition from the Early to Middle Stone Age, but again, the Fauresmith has been poorly defined, documented, and dated. Despite the occurrence of large cutting tools in these Fauresmith assemblages, they appear to include all the technological components characteristic of the MSA. New data from stratified Fauresmith bearing sites in southern Africa suggest this transitional industry maybe as old as 511-435 ka and should represent the beginning of the MSA as a broad entity rather than the terminal phase of the Acheulian. The MSA in this form is a technology associated with archaic H. sapiens and early modern humans in Africa with a trend of greater complexity through time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andy I R Herries
- Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory, School of Historical and European Studies, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia
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Endicott P, Ho SY, Stringer C. Using genetic evidence to evaluate four palaeoanthropological hypotheses for the timing of Neanderthal and modern human origins. J Hum Evol 2010; 59:87-95. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.04.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 131] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2009] [Revised: 03/14/2010] [Accepted: 04/07/2010] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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Royer DF, Lockwood CA, Scott JE, Grine FE. Size variation in early human mandibles and molars from Klasies River, South Africa: Comparison with other middle and late Pleistocene assemblages and with modern humans. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2009; 140:312-23. [DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
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Endicott P, Ho SY, Metspalu M, Stringer C. Evaluating the mitochondrial timescale of human evolution. Trends Ecol Evol 2009; 24:515-21. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2009.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2008] [Revised: 03/27/2009] [Accepted: 04/01/2009] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
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Adler DS, Bar-Yosef O, Belfer-Cohen A, Tushabramishvili N, Boaretto E, Mercier N, Valladas H, Rink W. Dating the demise: Neandertal extinction and the establishment of modern humans in the southern Caucasus. J Hum Evol 2008; 55:817-33. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 68] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2007] [Revised: 06/19/2008] [Accepted: 11/25/2007] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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