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Richard M, Del Val M, Fewlass H, Sinet-Mathiot V, Lanos P, Pons-Branchu E, Puaud S, Hublin JJ, Moncel MH. Multi-method dating reveals 200 ka of Middle Palaeolithic occupation at Maras rock shelter, Rhône Valley, France. Sci Rep 2024; 14:20474. [PMID: 39227658 PMCID: PMC11372155 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-69380-w] [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: 05/13/2024] [Accepted: 08/05/2024] [Indexed: 09/05/2024] Open
Abstract
The emergence of the Middle Palaeolithic, and its variability over time and space are key questions in the field of prehistoric archaeology. Many sites have been documented in the south-eastern margins of the Massif central and the middle Rhône valley, a migration path that connects Northern Europe with the Mediterranean. Well-dated, long stratigraphic sequences are essential to understand Neanderthals dynamics and demise, and potential interactions with Homo sapiens in the area, such as the one displayed at the Maras rock shelter ("Abri du Maras"). The site is characterised by exceptional preservation of archaeological remains, including bones dated using radiocarbon (14C) and teeth using electron spin resonance combined with uranium series (ESR/U-series). Optically stimulated luminescence was used to date the sedimentary deposits. By combining the new ages with previous ones using Bayesian modelling, we are able to clarify the occupation time over a period spanning 200,000 years. Between ca. 250 and 40 ka, the site has been used as a long-term residence by Neanderthals, specifically during three interglacial periods: first during marine isotopic stage (MIS) 7, between 247 ± 34 and 223 ± 33 ka, and then recurrently during MIS 5 (between 127 ± 17 and 90 ± 9 ka) and MIS 3 (up to 39,280 cal BP).
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Affiliation(s)
- Maïlys Richard
- Archéosciences Bordeaux, UMR 6034 CNRS-Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Pessac, France.
- Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre la Evolución Humana, Burgos, Spain.
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Miren Del Val
- Centro Nacional de Investigación Sobre la Evolución Humana, Burgos, Spain
| | - Helen Fewlass
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Virginie Sinet-Mathiot
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, PACEA, UMR 5199, Pessac, France
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Bordeaux INP, CBMN, UMR 5248 and Bordeaux Proteome Platform, Bordeaux, France
| | - Philippe Lanos
- Archéosciences Bordeaux, UMR 6034 CNRS-Université Bordeaux Montaigne, Pessac, France
- Géosciences Rennes, UMR 6118 CNRS - Université de Rennes, Rennes, France
| | - Edwige Pons-Branchu
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE/IPSL UMR CEA/CNRS/UVSQ - Université Paris Saclay), Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Simon Puaud
- Centre de Recherche en Archéologie, Archéosciences, Histoire (UMR 6566 CReAAH), Rennes, France
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Leipzig, Germany
- Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, CIRB, Collège de France, Université PSL, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Marie-Hélène Moncel
- Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique, UMR 7194 CNRS-Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
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Morita M, Nishikawa Y, Tokumasu Y. Human musical capacity and products should have been induced by the hominin-specific combination of several biosocial features: A three-phase scheme on socio-ecological, cognitive, and cultural evolution. Evol Anthropol 2024; 33:e22031. [PMID: 38757853 DOI: 10.1002/evan.22031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2024] [Revised: 04/14/2024] [Accepted: 04/26/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Various selection pressures have shaped human uniqueness, for instance, music. When and why did musical universality and diversity emerge? Our hypothesis is that "music" initially originated from manipulative calls with limited musical elements. Thereafter, vocalizations became more complex and flexible along with a greater degree of social learning. Finally, constructed musical instruments and the language faculty resulted in diverse and context-specific music. Music precursors correspond to vocal communication among nonhuman primates, songbirds, and cetaceans. To place this scenario in hominin history, a three-phase scheme for music evolution is presented herein. We emphasize (1) the evolution of sociality and life history in australopithecines, (2) the evolution of cognitive and learning abilities in early/middle Homo, and (3) cultural evolution, primarily in Homo sapiens. Human musical capacity and products should be due to the hominin-specific combination of several biosocial features, including bipedalism, stable pair bonding, alloparenting, expanded brain size, and sexual selection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masahito Morita
- Evolutionary Anthropology Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Health Sciences of Mind and Body, University of Human Arts and Sciences, Saitama, Japan
| | - Yuri Nishikawa
- Evolutionary Anthropology Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
- Department of Molecular Life Science, Tokai University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan
| | - Yudai Tokumasu
- Evolutionary Anthropology Lab, Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
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3
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Parow-Souchon H, Belfer-Cohen A. The use of carinated items in the Levantine Aurignacian-Insights from layer D, Hayonim Cave, W. Galilee, Israel. PLoS One 2024; 19:e0301102. [PMID: 39046975 PMCID: PMC11268594 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0301102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024] Open
Abstract
A longstanding debate concerns the function of carinated elements in both, the Levantine, and European Aurignacian. The present study aims to contribute to this topic with the evaluation of the carinated assemblage from layer D in Hayonim Cave, Western Galilee, Israel, one of the type sites of the Levantine Aurignacian. An operational chain reconstruction with an attribute analysis is paired with a typological approach to the preparation and maintenance products based on artefacts defined as West European Aurignacian. The results of this study are investigated with multivariate statistics offering a methodological contribution. The data is subjected to a transformation into a distance matrix using the Gower distance and tested with the adonis-algorithm for significance. The results clearly indicate that the carinated items in Hayonim Cave did fully or partially function as cores. They are accompanied by diagnostic preparation- and- maintenance products known from the literature e.g. Thèmes bladelets. The statistical analysis indicates only a minor correlation with stratigraphy yet supports the techno-typological criteria applied for defining artefact categories (cores, debitage, tools), as well as the proposed differentiation of carinated 'core' types. The non-carinated cores in Hayonim Cave are characterised by a high variability in typology and reduction concepts. A curious similarity to the Levallois-concept is observed on some of the flake cores. It is therefore suggested that the frequent recycling of Middle Palaeolithic artefacts in the Levantine Aurignacian might have given the Aurignacian flint-knappers the opportunity to study the Levallois concept and apply an approximation of it in their own core reduction strategies. The notion that Palaeolithic flint-knappers actively observed former technological systems through the discarded artefacts directly opens up a new trajectory for the understanding of lithic reduction concept permanence. The conceptual diversification and variability in Hayonim Cave D indicate a highly dynamic period in the Levantine Upper Palaeolithic which increased the adaptive potential and promoted a rapid cultural change.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hannah Parow-Souchon
- Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria
- William F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research, Jerusalem, Israel
- Department of Bible Studies, Archaeology and the Ancient Near East, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel
| | - Anna Belfer-Cohen
- Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
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Falcucci A, Arrighi S, Spagnolo V, Rossini M, Higgins OA, Muttillo B, Martini I, Crezzini J, Boschin F, Ronchitelli A, Moroni A. A pre-Campanian Ignimbrite techno-cultural shift in the Aurignacian sequence of Grotta di Castelcivita, southern Italy. Sci Rep 2024; 14:12783. [PMID: 38834616 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59896-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2024] [Accepted: 04/16/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
The Aurignacian is the first European technocomplex assigned to Homo sapiens recognized across a wide geographic extent. Although archaeologists have identified marked chrono-cultural shifts within the Aurignacian mostly by examining the techno-typological variations of stone and osseous tools, unraveling the underlying processes driving these changes remains a significant scientific challenge. Scholars have, for instance, hypothesized that the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) super-eruption and the climatic deterioration associated with the onset of Heinrich Event 4 had a substantial impact on European foraging groups. The technological shift from the Protoaurignacian to the Early Aurignacian is regarded as an archaeological manifestation of adaptation to changing environments. However, some of the most crucial regions and stratigraphic sequences for testing these scenarios have been overlooked. In this study, we delve into the high-resolution stratigraphic sequence of Grotta di Castelcivita in southern Italy. Here, the Uluzzian is followed by three Aurignacian layers, sealed by the eruptive units of the CI. Employing a comprehensive range of quantitative methods-encompassing attribute analysis, 3D model analysis, and geometric morphometrics-we demonstrate that the key technological feature commonly associated with the Early Aurignacian developed well before the deposition of the CI tephra. Our study provides thus the first direct evidence that the volcanic super-eruption played no role in this cultural process. Furthermore, we show that local paleo-environmental proxies do not correlate with the identified patterns of cultural continuity and discontinuity. Consequently, we propose alternative research paths to explore the role of demography and regional trajectories in the development of the Upper Paleolithic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Armando Falcucci
- Department of Geosciences, Prehistory and Archaeological Sciences Research Unit, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Simona Arrighi
- Dipartimento di Beni Culturali, Università di Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121, Ravenna, Italy
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, UR Preistoria e Antropologia, Università di Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Spagnolo
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, UR Preistoria e Antropologia, Università di Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Matteo Rossini
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, UR Preistoria e Antropologia, Università di Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Owen Alexander Higgins
- Dipartimento di Beni Culturali, Università di Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Brunella Muttillo
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, UR Preistoria e Antropologia, Università di Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Ivan Martini
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, Università di Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Jacopo Crezzini
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, UR Preistoria e Antropologia, Università di Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Francesco Boschin
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, UR Preistoria e Antropologia, Università di Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Annamaria Ronchitelli
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, UR Preistoria e Antropologia, Università di Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100, Siena, Italy
| | - Adriana Moroni
- Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche, della Terra e dell'Ambiente, UR Preistoria e Antropologia, Università di Siena, Via Laterina 8, 53100, Siena, Italy
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5
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Kopytin G, Ivanova M, Herrojo Ruiz M, Shestakova A. Evaluating the Influence of Musical and Monetary Rewards on Decision Making through Computational Modelling. Behav Sci (Basel) 2024; 14:124. [PMID: 38392477 PMCID: PMC10886002 DOI: 10.3390/bs14020124] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2023] [Revised: 01/25/2024] [Accepted: 02/02/2024] [Indexed: 02/24/2024] Open
Abstract
A central question in behavioural neuroscience is how different rewards modulate learning. While the role of monetary rewards is well-studied in decision-making research, the influence of abstract rewards like music remains poorly understood. This study investigated the dissociable effects of these two reward types on decision making. Forty participants completed two decision-making tasks, each characterised by probabilistic associations between stimuli and rewards, with probabilities changing over time to reflect environmental volatility. In each task, choices were reinforced either by monetary outcomes (win/lose) or by the endings of musical melodies (consonant/dissonant). We applied the Hierarchical Gaussian Filter, a validated hierarchical Bayesian framework, to model learning under these two conditions. Bayesian statistics provided evidence for similar learning patterns across both reward types, suggesting individuals' similar adaptability. However, within the musical task, individual preferences for consonance over dissonance explained some aspects of learning. Specifically, correlation analyses indicated that participants more tolerant of dissonance behaved more stochastically in their belief-to-response mappings and were less likely to choose the response associated with the current prediction for a consonant ending, driven by higher volatility estimates. By contrast, participants averse to dissonance showed increased tonic volatility, leading to larger updates in reward tendency beliefs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Grigory Kopytin
- Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, 101000 Moscow, Russia
| | - Marina Ivanova
- Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, 101000 Moscow, Russia
| | - Maria Herrojo Ruiz
- Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths University of London, London SE14 6NW, UK
| | - Anna Shestakova
- Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, HSE University, 101000 Moscow, Russia
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6
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Conard NJ, Rots V. Rope making in the Aurignacian of Central Europe more than 35,000 years ago. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2024; 10:eadh5217. [PMID: 38295167 PMCID: PMC10830101 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adh5217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024]
Abstract
Evidence for the manufacture and use of fiber technology such as rope and twine is rare in the Paleolithic, despite the widely held view that such artifacts were in regular use during the Pleistocene. On the basis of the discovery of a more than 35,000-year-old perforated baton made from mammoth ivory at Hohle Fels Cave in Ach Valley of southwestern Germany together with experimental studies, we are now able to demonstrate one way people of the early Upper Paleolithic manufactured rope. This work contributes to our understanding of the evolution of technology, cooperative work, and Paleolithic social organization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas J. Conard
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Schloss Hohentübingen, University of Tübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Schloss Hohentübingen, University of Tübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Veerle Rots
- F.R.S.-FNRS, TraceoLab, University of Liège, 4000 Liège, Belgium
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7
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Mylopotamitaki D, Weiss M, Fewlass H, Zavala EI, Rougier H, Sümer AP, Hajdinjak M, Smith GM, Ruebens K, Sinet-Mathiot V, Pederzani S, Essel E, Harking FS, Xia H, Hansen J, Kirchner A, Lauer T, Stahlschmidt M, Hein M, Talamo S, Wacker L, Meller H, Dietl H, Orschiedt J, Olsen JV, Zeberg H, Prüfer K, Krause J, Meyer M, Welker F, McPherron SP, Schüler T, Hublin JJ. Homo sapiens reached the higher latitudes of Europe by 45,000 years ago. Nature 2024; 626:341-346. [PMID: 38297117 PMCID: PMC10849966 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06923-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 11/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2024]
Abstract
The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Europe is associated with the regional disappearance of Neanderthals and the spread of Homo sapiens. Late Neanderthals persisted in western Europe several millennia after the occurrence of H. sapiens in eastern Europe1. Local hybridization between the two groups occurred2, but not on all occasions3. Archaeological evidence also indicates the presence of several technocomplexes during this transition, complicating our understanding and the association of behavioural adaptations with specific hominin groups4. One such technocomplex for which the makers are unknown is the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (LRJ), which has been described in northwestern and central Europe5-8. Here we present the morphological and proteomic taxonomic identification, mitochondrial DNA analysis and direct radiocarbon dating of human remains directly associated with an LRJ assemblage at the site Ilsenhöhle in Ranis (Germany). These human remains are among the earliest directly dated Upper Palaeolithic H. sapiens remains in Eurasia. We show that early H. sapiens associated with the LRJ were present in central and northwestern Europe long before the extinction of late Neanderthals in southwestern Europe. Our results strengthen the notion of a patchwork of distinct human populations and technocomplexes present in Europe during this transitional period.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorothea Mylopotamitaki
- Chair of Paleoanthropology, CIRB (UMR 7241-U1050), Collège de France, Paris, France
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Marcel Weiss
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Erlangen, Germany.
| | - Helen Fewlass
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Ancient Genomics Lab, Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
| | - Elena Irene Zavala
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Hélène Rougier
- Department of Anthropology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, CA, USA
| | - Arev Pelin Sümer
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mateja Hajdinjak
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Geoff M Smith
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK
| | - Karen Ruebens
- Chair of Paleoanthropology, CIRB (UMR 7241-U1050), Collège de France, Paris, France
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Virginie Sinet-Mathiot
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, PACEA, UMR 5199, Bordeaux, France
| | - Sarah Pederzani
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Archaeological Micromorphology and Biomarker Lab, University of La Laguna, San Cristóbal de La Laguna, Spain
| | - Elena Essel
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Florian S Harking
- Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Huan Xia
- College of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China
| | - Jakob Hansen
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Departament de Prehistòria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - André Kirchner
- Department of Soil Protection and Soil Survey, State Authority for Mining, Energy and Geology of Lower Saxony (LBEG), Hannover, Germany
| | - Tobias Lauer
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Terrestrial Sedimentology, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Mareike Stahlschmidt
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology and Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences (HEAS), University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Michael Hein
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University, Lüneburg, Germany
- Historical Anthropospheres Working Group, Leipzig Lab, Leipzig University, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sahra Talamo
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, Bologna University, Bologna, Italy
| | - Lukas Wacker
- Ion Beam Physics, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Harald Meller
- Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt - Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte, Halle, Germany
| | - Holger Dietl
- Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt - Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte, Halle, Germany
| | - Jörg Orschiedt
- Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt - Landesmuseum für Vorgeschichte, Halle, Germany
| | - Jesper V Olsen
- Center for Protein Research, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Hugo Zeberg
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Kay Prüfer
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Johannes Krause
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Matthias Meyer
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Frido Welker
- Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Tim Schüler
- Thuringian State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments and Archaeology, Weimar, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Chair of Paleoanthropology, CIRB (UMR 7241-U1050), Collège de France, Paris, France.
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
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Parfitt SA, Bello SM. Bone tools, carnivore chewing and heavy percussion: assessing conflicting interpretations of Lower and Upper Palaeolithic bone assemblages. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2024; 11:231163. [PMID: 38179084 PMCID: PMC10762443 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.231163] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/01/2023] [Indexed: 01/06/2024]
Abstract
The use of bone tools by early humans has provided valuable insights into their technology, behaviour and cognitive abilities. However, identifying minimally modified or unshaped Palaeolithic osseous tools can be challenging, particularly when they are mixed with bones altered by natural taphonomic processes. This has hampered the study of key technical innovations, such as the use of bones, antlers and teeth as hammers or pressure-flakers to work (knap) stone tools. Bones chewed by carnivores can resemble osseous knapping tools and have sometimes been mistaken for them. In this paper, we review recent advances in the study of osseous knapping tools with a focus on two Palaeolithic sites in the UK, the Acheulean Horse Butchery Site at Boxgrove and the Magdalenian site of Gough's Cave, where knapping tools were mis-attributed to carnivore chewing. These osseous knapping tools are investigated using microscopy, high-resolution imaging and comparisons with experimental knapping tools. This allows for new insights into human behaviour at these sites and opens fresh avenues for future research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon A. Parfitt
- Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31–34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK
- Centre of Human Evolution Research, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
| | - Silvia M. Bello
- Centre of Human Evolution Research, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
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9
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Jerotic K, Vuust P, Kringelbach ML. Psychedelia: The interplay of music and psychedelics. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2024; 1531:12-28. [PMID: 37983198 DOI: 10.1111/nyas.15082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2023]
Abstract
Music and psychedelics have been intertwined throughout the existence of Homo sapiens, from the early shamanic rituals of the Americas and Africa to the modern use of psychedelic-assisted therapy for a variety of mental health conditions. Across such settings, music has been highly prized for its ability to guide the psychedelic experience. Here, we examine the interplay between music and psychedelics, starting by describing their association with the brain's functional hierarchy that is relied upon for music perception and its psychedelic-induced manipulation, as well as an exploration of the limited research on their mechanistic neural overlap. We explore music's role in Western psychedelic therapy and the use of music in indigenous psychedelic rituals, with a specific focus on ayahuasca and the Santo Daime Church. Furthermore, we explore work relating to the evolution and onset of music and psychedelic use. Finally, we consider music's potential to lead to altered states of consciousness in the absence of psychedelics as well as the development of psychedelic music. Here, we provide an overview of several perspectives on the interaction between psychedelic use and music-a topic with growing interest given increasing excitement relating to the therapeutic efficacy of psychedelic interventions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarina Jerotic
- Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Peter Vuust
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Morten L Kringelbach
- Centre for Eudaimonia and Human Flourishing, Linacre College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Center for Music in the Brain, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University & The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus/Aalborg, Aarhus, Denmark
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10
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Benítez-Burraco A, Nikolsky A. The (Co)Evolution of Language and Music Under Human Self-Domestication. HUMAN NATURE (HAWTHORNE, N.Y.) 2023; 34:229-275. [PMID: 37097428 PMCID: PMC10354115 DOI: 10.1007/s12110-023-09447-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 03/27/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023]
Abstract
Together with language, music is perhaps the most distinctive behavioral trait of the human species. Different hypotheses have been proposed to explain why only humans perform music and how this ability might have evolved in our species. In this paper, we advance a new model of music evolution that builds on the self-domestication view of human evolution, according to which the human phenotype is, at least in part, the outcome of a process similar to domestication in other mammals, triggered by the reduction in reactive aggression responses to environmental changes. We specifically argue that self-domestication can account for some of the cognitive changes, and particularly for the behaviors conducive to the complexification of music through a cultural mechanism. We hypothesize four stages in the evolution of music under self-domestication forces: (1) collective protomusic; (2) private, timbre-oriented music; (3) small-group, pitch-oriented music; and (4) collective, tonally organized music. This line of development encompasses the worldwide diversity of music types and genres and parallels what has been hypothesized for languages. Overall, music diversity might have emerged in a gradual fashion under the effects of the enhanced cultural niche construction as shaped by the progressive decrease in reactive (i.e., impulsive, triggered by fear or anger) aggression and the increase in proactive (i.e., premeditated, goal-directed) aggression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonio Benítez-Burraco
- Department of Spanish Language, Linguistics and Literary Theory (Linguistics), Faculty of Philology, University of Seville, Seville, Spain.
- Departamento de Lengua Española, Facultad de Filología, Área de Lingüística General, Lingüística y Teoría de la Literatura, Universidad de Sevilla, C/ Palos de la Frontera s/n, Sevilla, 41007, España.
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11
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Weber GW. Quantum Leaps in Human Biocultural Evolution and the Relationship to Cranial Capacity. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:life13041030. [PMID: 37109559 PMCID: PMC10145355 DOI: 10.3390/life13041030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The evolution of the genus Homo can only be understood by considering both of the inheritance systems that interact to shape human nature: biology and culture. While growing intellectual abilities are a key factor of human evolution, they are rarely contrasted with cultural progress. Cranial capacity data of 193 hominin fossils from the last seven million years and artefacts of increasing number and complexity in the archaeological record are used to demonstrate the concordant progression of brain-size increase and cultural development, starting approximately two million years ago. Our biocultural evolution shows a number of quantum leaps along the time axis applying to both domains. At first, humans left the canonical evolutionary pathway, which pertains to all other organisms, by enhancing their fitness using sophisticated tools and fire; secondly, they turned into a symbolic species; and finally, humanity now faces a new challenge: "intentional evolution". Chronologically, these quantum leaps correspond to cranial capacity data used here as a proxy for cognitive performance. This contribution tries to demonstrate this parallel development and argues for a simple and generalized model of human biocultural evolution. An extrapolation of the model into the future shows that humans, as biological entities, will not necessarily persist.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerhard W Weber
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
- Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences (HEAS), University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
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12
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Marín-Arroyo AB, Terlato G, Vidal-Cordasco M, Peresani M. Subsistence of early anatomically modern humans in Europe as evidenced in the Protoaurignacian occupations of Fumane Cave, Italy. Sci Rep 2023; 13:3788. [PMID: 36882431 PMCID: PMC9992387 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-30059-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 03/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Documenting the subsistence strategies developed by early modern humans is relevant for understanding the success of their dispersal throughout Eurasia. Today, we know that there was not a single colonization event and that the process was progressive while coping with the MIS3 abrupt climatic oscillations. Modern humans expanded into the continent by adapting to different topographic situations and by exploiting resources in diverse ecological niches. The northern part of Italy is one of the first European regions where early modern humans are documented. Here, we present the subsistence regimen adopted by the Protoaurignacian groups in two different levels in Fumane Cave based on archaeozoological data. New radiocarbon dates confirm an overlap between Uluzzian and Protoaurignacian occupations, around 42 and 41,000 cal BP, and reveal that modern humans occupied the cave from GI10 to GS9, the last level coinciding with the Heinrich Event 4. The data indicate seasonal site occupations during late spring/summer and that prey exploitation was focused mostly on ibex and chamois, killed in nearby areas. The whole faunal assemblage suggests the presence of early modern humans in a cold environment with mostly open landscapes and patchy woodlands. The estimation of net primary productivity (NPP) in Fumane, compared with other contemporaneous Italian sites, reflects how the NPP fluctuations in the Prealpine area, where Fumane is located, affected the biotic resources in contrast to known Mediterranean sites. From a pan-European perspective, the spatiotemporal fluctuation of the NPP versus the subsistence strategies adopted by Protoaurignacian groups in the continent supports rapid Homo sapiens dispersal and resilience in a mosaic of environments that were affected by significant climate changes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ana B Marín-Arroyo
- Grupo de I+D+I EVOADAPTA (Evolución Humana y Adaptaciones durante la Prehistoria), Dpto. Ciencias Históricas, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. de Los Castros 44, 39005, Santander, Spain.
| | - Gabriele Terlato
- Grupo de I+D+I EVOADAPTA (Evolución Humana y Adaptaciones durante la Prehistoria), Dpto. Ciencias Históricas, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. de Los Castros 44, 39005, Santander, Spain.
| | - Marco Vidal-Cordasco
- Grupo de I+D+I EVOADAPTA (Evolución Humana y Adaptaciones durante la Prehistoria), Dpto. Ciencias Históricas, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. de Los Castros 44, 39005, Santander, Spain
| | - Marco Peresani
- Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Università di Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
- Istituto di Geologia Ambientale e Geoingegneria, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Milan, Italy
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13
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Langley MC, Suddendorf T. Archaeological evidence for thinking about possibilities in hominin evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210350. [PMID: 36314159 PMCID: PMC9620754 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 09/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of the ability to think about future possibilities must have played an influential role in human evolution, driving a range of foresightful behaviours, including preparation, communication and technological innovation. Here we review the archeological evidence for such behavioural indicators of foresight. We find the earliest signs of hominins retaining tools and transporting materials for repeated future use emerging from around 1.8 Ma. From about 0.5 Ma onwards, there are indications of technical and social changes reflecting advances in foresight. And in a third period, starting from around 140 000 years ago, hominins appear to have increasingly relied on material culture to shape the future and to exchange their ideas about possibilities. Visible signs of storytelling, even about entirely fictional scenarios, appear over the last 50 000 years. Although the current evidence suggests that there were distinct transitions in the evolution of our capacity to think about the future, we warn that issues of taphonomy and archaeological sampling are likely to skew our picture of human cognitive evolution. This article is part of the theme issue 'Thinking about possibilities: mechanisms, ontogeny, functions and phylogeny'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle C. Langley
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, 4111 Queensland, Australia
- Archaeology, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Brisbane, 4111 Queensland, Australia
| | - Thomas Suddendorf
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, 4072 Queensland, Australia
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Sirocko F, Albert J, Britzius S, Dreher F, Martínez-García A, Dosseto A, Burger J, Terberger T, Haug G. Thresholds for the presence of glacial megafauna in central Europe during the last 60,000 years. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20055. [PMID: 36414639 PMCID: PMC9681729 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-22464-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2022] [Accepted: 10/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Lake sediment records from Holzmaar and the infilled maar of Auel (Eifel, Germany) are used to reconstruct landscape changes and megafauna abundances. Our data document a forested landscape from 60,000 to 48,000 yr b2k and a stepwise vegetation change towards a glacial desert after 26,000 yr b2k. The Eifel landscape was continuously inhabited from 48,000 to 9000 yr b2k by large mammals, documented by the presence of spores of coprophilous fungi from Sordaria and Sporormiella fungi that grow on fecal remains of the megafauna. Megafauna reached higher numbers during cold stadial climates but was present also during the warmer interstadials. Highest abundance was at 56,500/48,500/38,500/33,000/27,000/21,000/16,200/14,000 yr b2k, i.e. under different climate regimes. Some of these dates were associated with clear human presence, which indicates that megafauna was not overkilled by humans. In contrast, human presence could quite likely have been stimulated by the abundant food supply. Megafauna presence decreased significantly when tree abundance increased during interstadials. The Megafauna disappeared finally at 11,400 yr b2k with the development of the early Holocene forest cover, which appears to be the most important threshold for megafauna presence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frank Sirocko
- grid.5802.f0000 0001 1941 7111Institute for Geoscience, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Johannes Albert
- grid.5802.f0000 0001 1941 7111Institute for Geoscience, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Sarah Britzius
- grid.5802.f0000 0001 1941 7111Institute for Geoscience, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany ,grid.419509.00000 0004 0491 8257Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
| | - Frank Dreher
- grid.5802.f0000 0001 1941 7111Institute for Geoscience, Johannes Gutenberg-University, Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Anthony Dosseto
- grid.1007.60000 0004 0486 528XWollongong Isotope Geochronology Laboratory, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Life Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW Australia
| | - Joachim Burger
- Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution (iomE), Palaeogenetics Group, Mainz, Germany
| | - Thomas Terberger
- grid.7450.60000 0001 2364 4210Göttingen, Seminar for Pre- and Protohistory, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Gerald Haug
- grid.419509.00000 0004 0491 8257Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
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Aurignacian dynamics in Southeastern Europe based on spatial analysis, sediment geochemistry, raw materials, lithic analysis, and use-wear from Românești-Dumbrăvița. Sci Rep 2022; 12:14152. [PMID: 35986053 PMCID: PMC9391429 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-15544-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/09/2022] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
The Aurignacian is one of the first cultural-technological traditions commonly associated with the expansion of Homo sapiens in Europe. Early Homo sapiens demographics across the continent are therefore typically inferred using the distribution of Aurignacian assemblages. Western Romania has been used as a tie-point to connect the well-researched lithic assemblages from the eastern Mediterranean and Western Europe through its early Homo sapiens fossils. However, Romania’s archeological record remains underexplored thereby hindering our ability to directly connect better understood regions through time and space. Here we report on excavations from the open-air Middle/Upper Paleolithic site of Românești-Dumbrăvița I in southwestern Romania. Three stratified Paleolithic assemblages were extensively excavated within a 1-m-thick eolian-deposited sequence. Spatial, geochemical, raw material, techno-typological, and use-wear analysis of the site reveal patterns of artifact configuration, resource exploitation, fire history, knapping objectives, and functionality. Taken together, Românești-Dumbrăvița I is the first well-contextualized archeological site in close spatiotemporal proximity to many early, well-preserved human fossils and in East-Central Europe.
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Vyshedskiy A. Language evolution is not limited to speech acquisition: a large study of language development in children with language deficits highlights the importance of the voluntary imagination component of language. RESEARCH IDEAS AND OUTCOMES 2022. [DOI: 10.3897/rio.8.e86401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Did the boy bite the cat or was it the other way around? When processing a sentence with several objects, one has to establish ‘who did what to whom’. When a sentence cannot be interpreted by recalling an image from memory, we rely on the special type of voluntary constructive imagination called Prefrontal synthesis (PFS). PFS is defined as the ability to juxtapose mental visuospatial objects at will. We hypothesised that PFS has fundamental importance for language acquisition. To test this hypothesis, we designed a PFS-targeting intervention and administered it to 6,454 children with language deficiencies (age 2 to 12 years). The results from the three-year-long study demonstrated that children who engaged with the PFS intervention showed 2.2-fold improvement in combinatorial language comprehension compared to children with similar initial evaluations. These findings suggest that language can be improved by training the PFS and exposes the importance of the visuospatial component of language. This manuscript reflects on the experimental findings from the point of view of human language evolution. When used as a proxy for evolutionary language acquisition, the study results suggest a dichotomy of language evolution, with its speech component and its visuospatial component developing in parallel. The study highlights the radical idea that evolutionary acquisition of language was driven primarily by improvements of voluntary imagination rather than by improvements in the speech apparatus.
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Weber GW, Lukeneder A, Harzhauser M, Mitteroecker P, Wurm L, Hollaus LM, Kainz S, Haack F, Antl-Weiser W, Kern A. The microstructure and the origin of the Venus from Willendorf. Sci Rep 2022; 12:2926. [PMID: 35228605 PMCID: PMC8885675 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-06799-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2021] [Accepted: 01/03/2022] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
The origin and key details of the making of the ~ 30,000 year old Venus from Willendorf remained a secret since its discovery for more than a hundred years. Based on new micro-computed tomography scans with a resolution of 11.5 µm, our analyses can explain the origin as well as the choice of material and particular surface features. It allowed the identification of internal structure properties and a chronological assignment of the Venus oolite to the Mesozoic. Sampling numerous oolite occurrences ranging ~ 2500 km from France to the Ukraine, we found a strikingly close match for grain size distribution near Lake Garda in the Southern Alps (Italy). This might indicate considerable mobility of Gravettian people and long-time transport of artefacts from South to North by modern human groups before the Last Glacial Maximum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerhard W Weber
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology & Core Facility for Micro-Computed Tomography, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria. .,Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences-HEAS, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Alexander Lukeneder
- Geological-Paleontological Department, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Mathias Harzhauser
- Geological-Paleontological Department, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Lisa Wurm
- Clinic of Small Animal Surgery and Reproduction, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
| | - Lisa-Maria Hollaus
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology & Core Facility for Micro-Computed Tomography, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria.,Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences-HEAS, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Sarah Kainz
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology & Core Facility for Micro-Computed Tomography, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030, Vienna, Austria.,Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences-HEAS, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Fabian Haack
- Württemberg State Museum Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany
| | | | - Anton Kern
- Department of Prehistory, Natural History Museum Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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18
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Borić D, Cristiani E, Hopkins R, Schwenninger J, Gerometta K, French CAI, Mutri G, Ćalić J, Dimitrijević V, Marín‐Arroyo AB, Jones JR, Stevens R, Masciana A, Uno K, Richter KK, Antonović D, Wehr K, Lane C, White D. Neanderthals on the Lower Danube: Middle Palaeolithic evidence in the Danube Gorges of the Balkans. JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE 2022; 37:142-180. [PMID: 35874300 PMCID: PMC9291232 DOI: 10.1002/jqs.3354] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/17/2021] [Revised: 06/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The article presents evidence about the Middle Palaeolithic and Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition interval in the karst area of the Danube Gorges in the Lower Danube Basin. We review the extant data and present new evidence from two recently investigated sites found on the Serbian side of the Danube River - Tabula Traiana and Dubočka-Kozja caves. The two sites have yielded layers dating to both the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and have been investigated by the application of modern standards of excavation and recovery along with a suite of state-of-the-art analytical procedures. The presentation focuses on micromorphological analyses of the caves' sediments, characterisation of cryptotephra, a suite of new radiometric dates (accelerator mass spectrometry and optically stimulated luminescence) as well as proteomics (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry) and stable isotope data in discerning patterns of human occupation of these locales over the long term.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dušan Borić
- The Italian Academy for Advanced Studies in AmericaColumbia UniversityNew YorkNYUSA
- Department of Environmental BiologySapienza University of RomeRomeItaly
| | - Emanuela Cristiani
- DANTE ‐ Diet and Ancient Technology Laboratory, Department of Oral and Maxillo‐facial SciencesSapienza University of RomeRomeItaly
| | - Rachel Hopkins
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of ArchaeologyUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Jean‐Luc Schwenninger
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of ArchaeologyUniversity of OxfordOxfordUK
| | - Katarina Gerometta
- Department of Archaeology, Faculty of PhilosophyJuraj Dobrila University of PulaPulaCroatia
| | | | | | - Jelena Ćalić
- Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić”Serbian Academy of Sciences and ArtsBelgradeSerbia
| | | | - Ana B. Marín‐Arroyo
- Department of ArchaeologyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
- EvoAdapta GroupUniversidad de CantabriaSantanderSpain
| | - Jennifer R. Jones
- School of Natural SciencesUniversity of Central LancashirePrestonLancashireUK
| | | | - Alana Masciana
- Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, PalisadesNYUSA
| | - Kevin Uno
- Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University, PalisadesNYUSA
| | | | | | | | - Christine Lane
- Department of GeographyUniversity of CambridgeCambridgeUK
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Rehfeldt RA, Tyndall I, Belisle J. Music as a Cultural Inheritance System: A Contextual-Behavioral Model of Symbolism, Meaning, and the Value of Music. BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL ISSUES 2021; 30:749-773. [PMID: 38624997 PMCID: PMC8641538 DOI: 10.1007/s42822-021-00084-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/14/2021] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Music is a pervasive cultural practice that has been present in ancient civilizations through to the present, yet its evolutionary significance has not been unequivocally determined. One position suggests that evolution favored music-related behaviors because such behaviors were linked to sexual selection and reproduction. A more recent perspective that is consistent with today's evolutionary science framework suggests that music is a cultural-level adaptation because of the survival advantages it affords members of a community. This article explores the selection mechanisms responsible for the retention and transmission of music-related behaviors. Music is proposed to be a complex symbolic inheritance system, or an advanced form of relational responding, that required cooperation to develop and further facilitated unity and affinity among groups of people. The aggregate product of this cooperation is then assigned meaning and selected by the contingencies of a particular sociocultural community. Music may thus occasion similar values-consistent behavior (i.e., within the values system of the community) across groups of people. Implications for the role of music in promoting the well-being of a culture are examined.
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20
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Talamo S, Urbanowski M, Picin A, Nowaczewska W, Vazzana A, Binkowski M, Cercatillo S, Diakowski M, Fewlass H, Marciszak A, Paleček D, Richards MP, Ryder CM, Sinet-Mathiot V, Smith GM, Socha P, Sponheimer M, Stefaniak K, Welker F, Winter H, Wiśniewski A, Żarski M, Benazzi S, Nadachowski A, Hublin JJ. A 41,500 year-old decorated ivory pendant from Stajnia Cave (Poland). Sci Rep 2021; 11:22078. [PMID: 34837003 PMCID: PMC8626500 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-01221-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Evidence of mobiliary art and body augmentation are associated with the cultural innovations introduced by Homo sapiens at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. Here, we report the discovery of the oldest known human-modified punctate ornament, a decorated ivory pendant from the Paleolithic layers at Stajnia Cave in Poland. We describe the features of this unique piece, as well as the stratigraphic context and the details of its chronometric dating. The Stajnia Cave plate is a personal 'jewellery' object that was created 41,500 calendar years ago (directly radiocarbon dated). It is the oldest known of its kind in Eurasia and it establishes a new starting date for a tradition directly connected to the spread of modern Homo sapiens in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sahra Talamo
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. .,Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy.
| | | | - Andrea Picin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Wioletta Nowaczewska
- Department of Human Biology, University of Wrocław, ul. Przybyszewskiego 63, 51-148, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Antonino Vazzana
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Marcin Binkowski
- X-Ray Microtomography Lab, Department of Biomedical Computer Systems, Institute of Computer Science, Faculty of Computer and Materials Science, University of Silesia, Będzińska 39, 41-200, Sosnowiec, Poland
| | - Silvia Cercatillo
- Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - Marcin Diakowski
- Department of Stone Age Archaeology, Institute of Archeology, University of Wrocław, Szewska 48, 50-139, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Helen Fewlass
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Adrian Marciszak
- Department of Paleozoology, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Dragana Paleček
- Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, University of Bologna, Via Selmi 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - Michael P Richards
- Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, V5A, 1S6, Canada
| | - Christina M Ryder
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA
| | - Virginie Sinet-Mathiot
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Geoff M Smith
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Paweł Socha
- Department of Paleozoology, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Matt Sponheimer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309, USA.,Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa
| | - Krzysztof Stefaniak
- Department of Paleozoology, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Frido Welker
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Evolutionary Genomics Section, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Hanna Winter
- Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute, Rakowiecka 4, 00-975, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Andrzej Wiśniewski
- Department of Stone Age Archaeology, Institute of Archeology, University of Wrocław, Szewska 48, 50-139, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Marcin Żarski
- Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute, Rakowiecka 4, 00-975, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Stefano Benazzi
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121, Ravenna, Italy
| | - Adam Nadachowski
- Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sławkowska 17, 016, Kraków, Poland
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Collège de France, 11 Place Marcellin Berthelot, 75005, Paris, France
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21
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Çep B, Schürch B, Münzel SC, Frick JA. Adaptive capacity and flexibility of the Neanderthals at Heidenschmiede (Swabian Jura) with regard to core reduction strategies. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0257041. [PMID: 34492092 PMCID: PMC8423277 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257041] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Accepted: 08/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The branched reduction system at the Heidenschmiede described here is hitherto exceptional for the Middle Paleolithic of the Swabian Jura. By means of refits and supporting objects, we are able to describe a superordinate reduction system that combines several individual reduction concepts, such as Levallois and blade production, within one volume. In the Middle Paleolithic of the Swabian Jura, blade technology has thus far played a rather minor role. On the one hand, it is possible to split a selected volume (nodule) into three parts, which are reduced separately according to individual concepts. On the other hand, it is also possible to reduce parts of a volume with one concept first and then with another. The hypothetical reduction system can be branched or linear, thus emphasizing the technological flexibility in core reduction, which requires a high degree of cognitive skills of three-dimensional imagination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Berrin Çep
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Institute of Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archeology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Benjamin Schürch
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Institute of Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archeology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Susanne C. Münzel
- Institute for Archaeological Science, Archaeozoology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Jens Axel Frick
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Institute of Prehistory, Early History and Medieval Archeology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
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A 51,000-year-old engraved bone reveals Neanderthals' capacity for symbolic behaviour. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 5:1273-1282. [PMID: 34226702 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01487-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2020] [Accepted: 05/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
While there is substantial evidence for art and symbolic behaviour in early Homo sapiens across Africa and Eurasia, similar evidence connected to Neanderthals is sparse and often contested in scientific debates. Each new discovery is thus crucial for our understanding of Neanderthals' cognitive capacity. Here we report on the discovery of an at least 51,000-year-old engraved giant deer phalanx found at the former cave entrance of Einhornhöhle, northern Germany. The find comes from an apparent Middle Palaeolithic context that is linked to Neanderthals. The engraved bone demonstrates that conceptual imagination, as a prerequisite to compose individual lines into a coherent design, was present in Neanderthals. Therefore, Neanderthal's awareness of symbolic meaning is very likely. Our findings show that Neanderthals were capable of creating symbolic expressions before H. sapiens arrived in Central Europe.
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Abstract
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to review recent hypotheses on the evolutionary origins of music in Homo sapiens, taking into account the most influential traditional hypotheses. To date, theories derived from evolution have focused primarily on the importance that music carries in solving detailed adaptive problems. The three most influential theoretical concepts have described the evolution of human music in terms of 1) sexual selection, 2) the formation of social bonds, or treated it 3) as a byproduct. According to recent proposals, traditional hypotheses are flawed or insufficient in fully explaining the complexity of music in Homo sapiens. This paper will critically discuss three traditional hypotheses of music evolution (music as an effect of sexual selection, a mechanism of social bonding, and a byproduct), as well as and two recent concepts of music evolution - music as a credible signal and Music and Social Bonding (MSB) hypothesis.
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Beccacece L, Abondio P, Cilli E, Restani D, Luiselli D. Human Genomics and the Biocultural Origin of Music. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:5397. [PMID: 34065521 PMCID: PMC8160972 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22105397] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2021] [Revised: 05/03/2021] [Accepted: 05/18/2021] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Music is an exclusive feature of humankind. It can be considered as a form of universal communication, only partly comparable to the vocalizations of songbirds. Many trends of research in this field try to address music origins, as well as the genetic bases of musicality. On one hand, several hypotheses have been made on the evolution of music and its role, but there is still debate, and comparative studies suggest a gradual evolution of some abilities underlying musicality in primates. On the other hand, genome-wide studies highlight several genes associated with musical aptitude, confirming a genetic basis for different musical skills which humans show. Moreover, some genes associated with musicality are involved also in singing and song learning in songbirds, suggesting a likely evolutionary convergence between humans and songbirds. This comprehensive review aims at presenting the concept of music as a sociocultural manifestation within the current debate about its biocultural origin and evolutionary function, in the context of the most recent discoveries related to the cross-species genetics of musical production and perception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Livia Beccacece
- Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy;
| | - Paolo Abondio
- Laboratory of Molecular Anthropology, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy;
| | - Elisabetta Cilli
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna—Ravenna Campus, 48121 Ravenna, Italy; (E.C.); (D.R.)
| | - Donatella Restani
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna—Ravenna Campus, 48121 Ravenna, Italy; (E.C.); (D.R.)
| | - Donata Luiselli
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna—Ravenna Campus, 48121 Ravenna, Italy; (E.C.); (D.R.)
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Herrera D, Matos L, Gargurevich R, Lira B, Valenzuela R. Context Matters: Teaching Styles and Basic Psychological Needs Predicting Flourishing and Perfectionism in University Music Students. Front Psychol 2021; 12:623312. [PMID: 33762999 PMCID: PMC7982823 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.623312] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2020] [Accepted: 02/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Professional musicians are expected to perform at a very high level of proficiency. Many times, this high standard is associated with perfectionism, which has been shown to prompt both adaptive and maladaptive motivational dynamics and outcomes among music students. The question about how perfectionism interplays with motivational dynamics in music students is still unanswered and research within this line is scarce, especially in Latin America. In the light of Self-Determination Theory (SDT), this cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between the perceptions of motivational context (teachers' motivating styles: autonomy supportive or controlling), basic psychological needs (satisfaction/frustration), perfectionism (adaptive/maladaptive), and flourishing in University music students from Lima, Peru (N = 149; mean age = 20.68, SD = 3.03; 71% men). We performed a path analysis testing a model in which motivational teaching styles predicted both, perfectionism and flourishing via need satisfaction and frustration. The model's fit indices were ideal [χ2 (7, N = 143) = 7.48, p = 0.300, CFI = 0.998, TLI = 0.992, RMSEA = 0.021, SRMR =0.040]. In this model, perceived autonomy supportive style predicted need satisfaction positively and need frustration negatively; perceived controlling teaching style did not predict need satisfaction nor frustration. In turn, need satisfaction positively predicted adaptive perfectionism (i.e., high standards) and flourishing; whereas, need frustration predicted maladaptive perfectionism (i.e., discrepancy). These results shed light on the relevance of perfectionism in the psychology of higher music education students. Lastly, we highlight the importance of autonomy support in fostering adaptive high standards and flourishing in music learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dora Herrera
- Department of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru
| | - Lennia Matos
- Department of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru
| | - Rafael Gargurevich
- Department of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru
| | - Benjamín Lira
- Department of Psychology, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru
| | - Rafael Valenzuela
- Department of Social Psychology and Quantitative Psychology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
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Velliky EC, Schmidt P, Bellot-Gurlet L, Wolf S, Conard NJ. Early anthropogenic use of hematite on Aurignacian ivory personal ornaments from Hohle Fels and Vogelherd caves, Germany. J Hum Evol 2020; 150:102900. [PMID: 33260040 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102900] [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: 07/06/2020] [Revised: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The Aurignacian (ca. 43-35 ka) of southwestern Germany is well known for yielding some of the oldest artifacts related to symbolic behaviors, including examples of figurative art, musical instruments, and personal ornaments. Another aspect of these behaviors is the presence of numerous pieces of iron oxide (ocher); however, these are comparatively understudied, likely owing to the lack of painted artifacts from this region and time period. Several Aurignacian-aged carved ivory personal ornaments from the sites of Hohle Fels and Vogelherd contain traces of what appear to be red ocher residues. We analyzed these beads using a combination of macroanalytical and microanalytical methods, including scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. We found that the residue is composed of the iron oxide mineral hematite (Fe2O3). Further analyses on associated archaeological sediments by X-ray diffraction revealed the absence of hematite and other iron oxide mineral phases, suggesting that the hematite residues were intentionally applied to the ivory personal ornaments by human agents. These findings have important implications as they represent evidence for the direct application of ocher on portable symbolic objects by early Homo sapiens in Europe. Furthermore, our results reveal shared behavioral practices from two key Aurignacian sites maintained over several millennia and illuminate aspects of pigment use and symbolic practices during a pivotal time in the cultural evolution of humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth C Velliky
- SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), Faculty of Humanities, University of Bergen, Øysteinsgate 3, Postboks 7805, 5020, Bergen, Norway; Archaeology/Centre for Rock-Art Research and Management, M257, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Education, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia; Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Patrick Schmidt
- Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany; Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Geosciences, Applied Mineralogy, Wilhelmstraße 56, 72074, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, "de La Molécule Aux Nano-objets: Réactivité, Interactions et Spectroscopies", MONARIS, UMR 8233, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252, Paris Cedex 5, France
| | - Sibylle Wolf
- Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nicholas J Conard
- Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen, Germany
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27
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Kitagawa K, Conard NJ. Split-based points from the Swabian Jura highlight Aurignacian regional signatures. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0239865. [PMID: 33170859 PMCID: PMC7654757 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239865] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2020] [Accepted: 09/14/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The systematic use of antlers and other osseous materials by modern humans marks a set of cultural and technological innovations in the early Upper Paleolithic, as is seen most clearly in the Aurignacian. Split-based points, which are one of the most common osseous tools, are present throughout most regions where the Aurignacian is documented. Using results from recent and ongoing excavations at Geißenklösterle, Hohle Fels and Vogelherd, we nearly tripled the sample of split-based points from 31 to 87 specimens, and thereby enhance our understanding of the technological economy surrounding the production of osseous tools. Aurignacian people of the Swabian Jura typically left spit-based points at sites that appear to be base camps rich with numerous examples of personal ornaments, figurative art, symbolic imagery, and musical instruments. The artifact assemblages from SW Germany highlight a production sequence that resembles that of SW France and Cantabria, except for the absence of tongued pieces. Our study documents the life histories of osseous tools and demonstrates templates for manufacture, use, recycling, and discard of these archetypal artifacts from the Aurignacian. The study also underlines the diversified repertoire of modern humans in cultural and technological realms highlighting their adaptive capabilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Keiko Kitagawa
- SFB 1070 ResourceCultures, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Nicholas J. Conard
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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28
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Dutkiewicz E, Russo G, Lee S, Bentz C. SignBase, a collection of geometric signs on mobile objects in the Paleolithic. Sci Data 2020; 7:364. [PMID: 33097734 PMCID: PMC7585433 DOI: 10.1038/s41597-020-00704-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2020] [Accepted: 09/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
In the Paleolithic, geometric signs are abundant. They appear in rock art as well as on mobile objects like artworks, tools, or personal ornaments. These signs are often interpreted as a reflection of symbolic thought and associated with the origin of cognitively modern behavior. SignBase is a project collecting the wealth of geometric signs on mobile objects in the European Upper Paleolithic, African Middle Stone Age (MSA), as well as selected sites from the Near East and South East Asia. Currently, more than 500 objects of the Aurignacian techno-complex (ca. 43,000 to 30,000 years BP) are registered in SignBase. They are linked to information about geographic and archaeological provenience, the type of object and material, size and preservation, and respective literature references. We identify around 30 different sign types found on these objects across Europe in the Aurignacian and illustrate how SignBase can be used to analyze geographical clusters. Ultimately, we aim to enable quantitative analyses of abstract graphical expression before the emergence of writing. Measurement(s) | Geometric Shape • geometric signs and motifs • symbol | Technology Type(s) | visual observation method • digital curation | Factor Type(s) | type of mobile object • Paleolithic period |
Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: 10.6084/m9.figshare.13033994
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Affiliation(s)
- Ewa Dutkiewicz
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. .,DFG Center for Advanced Studies "Words, Bones, Genes, Tools", University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. .,Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Germany.
| | - Gabriele Russo
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,DFG Center for Advanced Studies "Words, Bones, Genes, Tools", University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Saetbyul Lee
- Department of General Linguistics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.,DFG Center for Advanced Studies "Words, Bones, Genes, Tools", University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Christian Bentz
- Department of General Linguistics, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany. .,DFG Center for Advanced Studies "Words, Bones, Genes, Tools", University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
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29
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Baumann C, Bocherens H, Drucker DG, Conard NJ. Fox dietary ecology as a tracer of human impact on Pleistocene ecosystems. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0235692. [PMID: 32697783 PMCID: PMC7375521 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235692] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 06/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Nowadays, opportunistic small predators, such as foxes (Vulpes vulpes and Vulpes lagopus), are well known to be very adaptable to human modified ecosystems. However, the timing of the start of this phenomenon in terms of human impact on ecosystems and of the implications for foxes has hardly been studied. We hypothesize that foxes can be used as an indicator of past human impact on ecosystems, as a reflection of population densities and consequently to track back the influence of humans on the Pleistocene environment. To test this hypothesis, we used stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N) of bone collagen extracted from faunal remains from several archaeological sites located in the Swabian Jura (southwest Germany) and covering a time range over three important cultural periods, namely the Middle Palaeolithic (older than 42,000 years ago) attributed to Neanderthals, and the early Upper Palaeolithic periods Aurignacian and Gravettian (42,000 to 30,000 years ago) attributed to modern humans. We then ran Bayesian statistic systems (SIBER, mixSIAR) to reconstruct the trophic niches and diets of Pleistocene foxes. We observed that during the Middle Palaeolithic period, when Neanderthals sparsely populated the Swabian Jura, the niches occupied by foxes suggest a natural trophic behavior. In contrast, during the early Upper Palaeolithic periods, a new trophic fox niche appeared, characterized by a restricted diet on reindeer. This trophic niche could be due to the consumption of human subsidies related to a higher human population density and the resulting higher impact on the Pleistocene environment by modern humans compared to Neanderthals. Furthermore, our study suggests that, a synanthropic commensal behavior of foxes started already in the Aurignacian, around 42,000 years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Baumann
- Institute for Scientific Archaeology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Biogeology, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Hervé Bocherens
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Biogeology, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Dorothée G. Drucker
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nicholas J. Conard
- Institute for Scientific Archaeology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Department for Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Schloss Hohentübingen, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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30
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Welch GF, Biasutti M, MacRitchie J, McPherson GE, Himonides E. Editorial: The Impact of Music on Human Development and Well-Being. Front Psychol 2020; 11:1246. [PMID: 32625147 PMCID: PMC7315798 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Graham F Welch
- Department of Culture, Communication and Media, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Michele Biasutti
- Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education and Applied Psychology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Jennifer MacRitchie
- School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Western Sydney University, Penrith, NSW, Australia
| | - Gary E McPherson
- Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia
| | - Evangelos Himonides
- Department of Culture, Communication and Media, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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31
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White R, Bosinski G, Bourrillon R, Clottes J, Conkey MW, Rodriguez SC, Cortés-Sánchez M, de la Rasilla Vives M, Delluc B, Delluc G, Feruglio V, Floss H, Foucher P, Fritz C, Fuentes O, Garate D, González Gómez J, González-Morales MR, González-Pumariega Solis M, Groenen M, Jaubert J, Martinez-Aguirre MA, Alcaide MÁM, Moro Abadia O, Peredo RO, Paillet-Man-Estier E, Paillet P, Petrognani S, Pigeaud R, Pinçon G, Plassard F, López SR, Vilá OR, Robert E, Ruiz-Redondo A, Ruiz López JF, San Juan-Foucher C, Torti JLS, Sauvet G, Simón-Vallejo MD, Tosello G, Utrilla P, Vialou D, Willis MD. Still no archaeological evidence that Neanderthals created Iberian cave art. J Hum Evol 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102640] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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32
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Lloyd D. The Musical Structure of Time in the Brain: Repetition, Rhythm, and Harmony in fMRI During Rest and Passive Movie Viewing. Front Comput Neurosci 2020; 13:98. [PMID: 32038214 PMCID: PMC6985279 DOI: 10.3389/fncom.2019.00098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2018] [Accepted: 12/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Space generally overshadows time in the construction of theories in cognitive neuroscience. In this paper, we pivot from the spatial axes to the temporal, analyzing fMRI image series to reveal structures in time rather than space. To determine affinities among global brain patterns at different times, core concepts in network analysis (derived from graph theory) were applied temporally, as relations among brain images at every time point during an fMRI scanning epoch. To explore the temporal structures observed through this adaptation of network analysis, data from 180 subjects in the Human Connectome Project were examined, during two experimental conditions: passive movie viewing and rest. The temporal brain, like the spatial brain, exhibits a modular structure, where "modules" are intermittent (distributed in time). These temporal entities are here referred to as themes. Short sequences of themes - motifs - were studied in sequences from 4 to 11 s in length. Many motifs repeated at constant intervals, and are therefore rhythmic; rhythms, converted to frequencies, were often harmonic. We speculate that the structure and interaction of these global oscillations underwrites the capacity to experience and navigate a world which is both recognizably stable and noticeably changing at every moment - a temporal world. In its temporal structure, this brain-constituted world resembles music.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Lloyd
- Department of Philosophy and Program in Neuroscience, Trinity College, Hartford, CT, United States
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33
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Bataille G, Falcucci A, Tafelmaier Y, Conard NJ. Technological differences between Kostenki 17/II (Spitsynskaya industry, Central Russia) and the Protoaurignacian: Reply to Dinnis et al. (2019). J Hum Evol 2019; 146:102685. [PMID: 31669124 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102685] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2019] [Revised: 09/26/2019] [Accepted: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Guido Bataille
- Landesamt für Denkmalpflege im Regierungspräsidium Stuttgart (State Office for Cultural Heritage Baden-Wuerttemberg), Management UNESCO-Welterbe "Höhlen und Eiszeitkunst der Schwäbischen Alb" (Management UNESCO World Heritage "Caves and Ice Age Art in the Swabian Jura"), Kirchplatz 10, D-89143 Blaubeuren, Germany; Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, D-72070 Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Armando Falcucci
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, D-72070 Tübingen, Germany; DFG Center for Advanced Studies "Words, Bones, Genes, Tools", University of Tübingen, Rümelinstraße 23, D-72070 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Yvonne Tafelmaier
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, D-72070 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nicholas J Conard
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, D-72070 Tübingen, Germany; Tübingen-Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoecology, Schloss Hohentübingen, D-72070 Tübingen, Germany
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34
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Burunat E. Love is a physiological motivation (like hunger, thirst, sleep or sex). Med Hypotheses 2019; 129:109225. [PMID: 31371074 DOI: 10.1016/j.mehy.2019.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2018] [Revised: 04/17/2019] [Accepted: 05/12/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
Abstract
The multitude of terms associated with love has given rise to a false perception of love. In this paper, only maternal and romantic love are considered. Love is usually regarded as a feeling, motivation, addiction, passion, and, above all, an emotion. This confusion has consequences in the lives of human beings, leading not only to divorces, suicides, femicides but possibly also to a number of mental illnesses and suffering. Therefore, it is crucial to first clarify what is meant by emotion, motivation and love. This work aims to finally place love within the category of physiological motivations, such as hunger, thirst, sleep, or sex, on the basis that love is also essential for human survival, especially in childhood. Love is presented from an evolutionary perspective. Some other similarities between love and other physiological motivations are pointed out, such as its importance for appropriate human development, both its ontogeny and its permanence, and the long-lasting consequences of abuse and neglect. There are summarized reasons that account for this, such as the fact that physiological motivations are essential for survival and that love is an essential motivation for the survival of human offspring. Other reasons are that minimum changes in the quantity and quality of love alters development, that there can be a variety of neurophysiological and behavioural states within a motivation, and that motivations (also love) appear and change throughout development. Also, motivations and love sometimes may lead to an addictive behaviour. Finally, it is recognized that once physiological motivations (and love) appear, they become permanent. In a third section, some potential social, cultural, clinical and scientific consequences of the proposed consideration of love as a motivation are discussed. Accordingly, love's recognition as a motivation in the clinical field would imply a better understanding of its disorders and its inclusion in classifications manuals such as The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), or in the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). Considering love as a motivation rather than an emotion could also impact the results of scientific research (an example is included). A comprehensive understanding of these questions could potentially allow for a new therapeutic approach in the treatment of mental illness, while offering an all-inclusive evolutionary explanation of cultural phenomena such as the origin and diffusion of both language and art. Love should be understood as a physiological motivation, like hunger, sleep or sex, and not as an emotion as it is commonly considered.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enrique Burunat
- School of Health Sciences/School of Psychology, Department of Clinical Psychology, Psychobiology and Methodology, University of La Laguna, P.O. Box 456, 38200 Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain.
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Richard M, Falguères C, Valladas H, Ghaleb B, Pons-Branchu E, Mercier N, Richter D, Conard NJ. New electron spin resonance (ESR) ages from Geißenklösterle Cave: A chronological study of the Middle and early Upper Paleolithic layers. J Hum Evol 2019; 133:133-145. [PMID: 31358177 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.05.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2018] [Revised: 05/27/2019] [Accepted: 05/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
Geißenklösterle Cave (Germany) is one of the most important Paleolithic sites in Europe, as it is characterized by human occupation during the Middle and early Upper Paleolithic. Aurignacian layers prior to 37-38 ka cal BP feature both musical and figurative art objects that are linked to the early arrival in Europe of Homo sapiens. Middle Paleolithic layers yielded lithic artifacts attributed to Homo neanderthalensis. Since human occupation at the site is attributed to both Neanderthals and modern humans, chronology is essential to clarify the issues of Neanderthal disappearance, modern human expansion in Europe, and the origin of the Aurignacian in Western Europe. Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating was performed on fossil tooth enamel collected from the Middle Paleolithic layers, which are beyond the radiocarbon dating range, and from the nearly sterile 'transitional' geological horizon (GH) 17 and the lower Aurignacian deposits, to cross-check ESR ages with previous radiocarbon, thermoluminescence and ESR age results. The Middle Paleolithic layers were dated between 94 ± 10 ka (GH 21) and 55 ± 6 ka (GH 18) by ESR on tooth enamel. Mean ages for GH 17, at 46 ± 3 ka, and for the lower Aurignacian layers, at 37 ± 3 ka, are in agreement with previous dating results, thus supporting the reliability of ESR chronology for the base of the sequence where dating comparisons are not possible. These results suggest that Neanderthals occupied the site from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 to the second half of MIS 3 and confirm the antiquity of early Aurignacian deposits. The presence of an almost sterile layer that separates Middle and Upper Paleolithic occupations could be related to the abandonment of the site by Neanderthals, possibly during Heinrich Stadial 5 (ca. 49-47 ka), thus before the arrival of H. sapiens in the area around 42 ka cal BP. These dates for the Middle Paleolithic of the Swabian Jura represent an important contribution to the prehistory of the region, where nearly all of the excavations were conducted decades ago and prior to the development of reliable radiometric dating beyond the range of radiocarbon.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maïlys Richard
- Institut de Recherche sur les ArchéoMATériaux-Centre de Recherche en Physique Appliquée à l'Archéologie, Université Bordeaux-Montaigne, UMR 5060, Maison de l'Archéologie, 33607, Pessac, France; Département « Homme et Environnement », Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR 7194, 1 rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France.
| | - Christophe Falguères
- Département « Homme et Environnement », Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR 7194, 1 rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Hélène Valladas
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, UMR 8212, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, Cedex, France
| | - Bassam Ghaleb
- GEOTOP, Université du Québec à Montréal, CP 8888, succ. Centre-Ville, Montreal, Canada
| | - Edwige Pons-Branchu
- Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, LSCE/IPSL, UMR 8212, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Université Paris-Saclay, 91198, Gif-sur-Yvette, Cedex, France
| | - Norbert Mercier
- Institut de Recherche sur les ArchéoMATériaux-Centre de Recherche en Physique Appliquée à l'Archéologie, Université Bordeaux-Montaigne, UMR 5060, Maison de l'Archéologie, 33607, Pessac, France
| | - Daniel Richter
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Nicholas J Conard
- Tübingen/Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, University of Tübingen, Sigwartstraβe 10, 72074, Tübingen, Germany; Abteilung Ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie, Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
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Rhodes SE, Starkovich BM, Conard NJ. Did climate determine Late Pleistocene settlement dynamics in the Ach Valley, SW Germany? PLoS One 2019; 14:e0215172. [PMID: 31048924 PMCID: PMC6497257 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2018] [Accepted: 03/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The loss of Neanderthal groups across Western and Central Europe during Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 3 has held the attention of archaeologists for decades. The role that climatic change, genetic interbreeding, and interspecies competition played in the extinction of Neanderthal groups is still debated. Hohle Fels is one of several important Middle and Upper Paleolithic sites from the Ach Valley in southwestern Germany which documents the presence of Neanderthals and modern humans in the region. Chronological and stratigraphic records indicate that these two groups occupied the site with little to no overlap or interaction. This provides the opportunity to examine the behavioural variability of Swabian Neanderthal populations without the complication of cross-cultural influence. In this study we contribute a terrestrial paleoenvironmental record derived from the small mammal material from Hohle Fels Cave to the ever-growing archaeological record of this period. By reconstructing the climate and landscape of the Ach Valley during this time we can identify the effect that the OIS 3 environment had on the presence of Neanderthals in the region. Based on indicator taxa and the habitat weighing method, the small mammal record, which includes rodents, insectivores, and bats, from Hohle Fels shows that the earliest Neanderthal occupation took place on a landscape characterized by substantial woodland and forest, rivers and ponds, as well as moist meadows and grasslands. A gradual increase in cold tundra and arctic environments is clear towards the end of the Middle Paleolithic, extending to the end of the early Aurignacian which may correlate with the onset of the Heinrich 4 event (~42,000 kya). Our taphonomic analysis indicates the material was accumulated primarily by opportunistic predators such as the great grey owl, snowy owl, and European eagle owl, and therefore reflects the diversity of landscapes present around the site in the past. Importantly, at the time Neanderthals abandoned the Ach Valley we find no indication for dramatic climatic deterioration. Rather, we find evidence of a gradual cooling of the Swabian landscape which may have pushed Neanderthal groups out of the Ach Valley prior to the arrival of modern human Aurignacian groups.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sara E. Rhodes
- Institut für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail:
| | - Britt M. Starkovich
- Institut für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nicholas J. Conard
- Institut für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Abteilung Ältere Urgeschichte und Quartärökologie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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37
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Stable isotopes reveal patterns of diet and mobility in the last Neandertals and first modern humans in Europe. Sci Rep 2019; 9:4433. [PMID: 30872714 PMCID: PMC6418202 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41033-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2018] [Accepted: 02/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Correlating cultural, technological and ecological aspects of both Upper Pleistocene modern humans (UPMHs) and Neandertals provides a useful approach for achieving robust predictions about what makes us human. Here we present ecological information for a period of special relevance in human evolution, the time of replacement of Neandertals by modern humans during the Late Pleistocene in Europe. Using the stable isotopic approach, we shed light on aspects of diet and mobility of the late Neandertals and UPMHs from the cave sites of the Troisième caverne of Goyet and Spy in Belgium. We demonstrate that their diet was essentially similar, relying on the same terrestrial herbivores, whereas mobility strategies indicate considerable differences between Neandertal groups, as well as in comparison to UPMHs. Our results indicate that UPMHs exploited their environment to a greater extent than Neandertals and support the hypothesis that UPMHs had a substantial impact not only on the population dynamics of large mammals but also on the whole structure of the ecosystem since their initial arrival in Europe.
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38
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Dinnis R, Bessudnov A, Reynolds N, Devièse T, Pate A, Sablin M, Sinitsyn A, Higham T. New data for the Early Upper Paleolithic of Kostenki (Russia). J Hum Evol 2019; 127:21-40. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2018] [Revised: 11/27/2018] [Accepted: 11/28/2018] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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Cortés-Sánchez M, Jiménez-Espejo FJ, Simón-Vallejo MD, Stringer C, Lozano Francisco MC, García-Alix A, Vera Peláez JL, Odriozola CP, Riquelme-Cantal JA, Parrilla Giráldez R, Maestro González A, Ohkouchi N, Morales-Muñiz A. An early Aurignacian arrival in southwestern Europe. Nat Ecol Evol 2019; 3:207-212. [PMID: 30664696 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0753-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2018] [Accepted: 11/15/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Westernmost Europe constitutes a key location in determining the timing of the replacement of Neanderthals by anatomically modern humans (AMHs). In this study, the replacement of late Mousterian industries by Aurignacian ones at the site of Bajondillo Cave (Málaga, southern Spain) is reported. On the basis of Bayesian analyses, a total of 26 radiocarbon dates, including 17 new ones, show that replacement at Bajondillo took place in the millennia centring on ~45-43 calibrated thousand years before the present (cal ka BP)-well before the onset of Heinrich event 4 (~40.2-38.3 cal ka BP). These dates indicate that the arrival of AMHs at the southernmost tip of Iberia was essentially synchronous with that recorded in other regions of Europe, and significantly increases the areal expansion reached by early AMHs at that time. In agreement with human dispersal scenarios on other continents, such rapid expansion points to coastal corridors as favoured routes for early AMH. The new radiocarbon dates align Iberian chronologies with AMH dispersal patterns in Eurasia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Cortés-Sánchez
- Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain.,HUM-949 Research Group, Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Francisco J Jiménez-Espejo
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Japan. .,Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-UGR, Armilla, Spain.
| | - María D Simón-Vallejo
- Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain.,HUM-949 Research Group, Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Chris Stringer
- Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - María Carmen Lozano Francisco
- HUM-949 Research Group, Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Antonio García-Alix
- Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-UGR, Armilla, Spain.,Departamento de Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
| | - José L Vera Peláez
- HUM-949 Research Group, Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - Carlos P Odriozola
- Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain.,HUM-949 Research Group, Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | - José A Riquelme-Cantal
- Departamento de Geografía y Ciencias del Territorio, Universidad de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain
| | - Rubén Parrilla Giráldez
- HUM-949 Research Group, Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain
| | | | - Naohiko Ohkouchi
- Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, Yokosuka, Japan
| | - Arturo Morales-Muñiz
- Laboratorio de Arqueozooarqueología, Departamento de Biología, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
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40
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Abstract
Figurative cave paintings from the Indonesian island of Sulawesi date to at least 35,000 years ago (ka) and hand-stencil art from the same region has a minimum date of 40 ka1. Here we show that similar rock art was created during essentially the same time period on the adjacent island of Borneo. Uranium-series analysis of calcium carbonate deposits that overlie a large reddish-orange figurative painting of an animal at Lubang Jeriji Saléh-a limestone cave in East Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo-yielded a minimum date of 40 ka, which to our knowledge is currently the oldest date for figurative artwork from anywhere in the world. In addition, two reddish-orange-coloured hand stencils from the same site each yielded a minimum uranium-series date of 37.2 ka, and a third hand stencil of the same hue has a maximum date of 51.8 ka. We also obtained uranium-series determinations for cave art motifs from Lubang Jeriji Saléh and three other East Kalimantan karst caves, which enable us to constrain the chronology of a distinct younger phase of Pleistocene rock art production in this region. Dark-purple hand stencils, some of which are decorated with intricate motifs, date to about 21-20 ka and a rare Pleistocene depiction of a human figure-also coloured dark purple-has a minimum date of 13.6 ka. Our findings show that cave painting appeared in eastern Borneo between 52 and 40 ka and that a new style of parietal art arose during the Last Glacial Maximum. It is now evident that a major Palaeolithic cave art province existed in the eastern extremity of continental Eurasia and in adjacent Wallacea from at least 40 ka until the Last Glacial Maximum, which has implications for understanding how early rock art traditions emerged, developed and spread in Pleistocene Southeast Asia and further afield.
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41
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Staubwasser M, Drăgușin V, Onac BP, Assonov S, Ersek V, Hoffmann DL, Veres D. Impact of climate change on the transition of Neanderthals to modern humans in Europe. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:9116-9121. [PMID: 30150388 PMCID: PMC6140518 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1808647115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Two speleothem stable isotope records from East-Central Europe demonstrate that Greenland Stadial 12 (GS12) and GS10-at 44.3-43.3 and 40.8-40.2 ka-were prominent intervals of cold and arid conditions. GS12, GS11, and GS10 are coeval with a regional pattern of culturally (near-)sterile layers within Europe's diachronous archeologic transition from Neanderthals to modern human Aurignacian. Sterile layers coeval with GS12 precede the Aurignacian throughout the middle and upper Danube region. In some records from the northern Iberian Peninsula, such layers are coeval with GS11 and separate the Châtelperronian from the Aurignacian. Sterile layers preceding the Aurignacian in the remaining Châtelperronian domain are coeval with GS10 and the previously reported 40.0- to 40.8-ka cal BP [calendar years before present (1950)] time range of Neanderthals' disappearance from most of Europe. This suggests that ecologic stress during stadial expansion of steppe landscape caused a diachronous pattern of depopulation of Neanderthals, which facilitated repopulation by modern humans who appear to have been better adapted to this environment. Consecutive depopulation-repopulation cycles during severe stadials of the middle pleniglacial may principally explain the repeated replacement of Europe's population and its genetic composition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Staubwasser
- Institute of Geologie and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany;
| | - Virgil Drăgușin
- Emil Racoviţă Institute of Speleology, Romanian Academy, 010986 Bucharest, Romania
| | - Bogdan P Onac
- School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620
- Emil Racoviţă Institute of Speleology, Romanian Academy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Sergey Assonov
- Institute of Geologie and Mineralogy, University of Cologne, 50674 Cologne, Germany
- Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Environmental Laboratories, Department of Nuclear Applications, International Atomic Energy Agency, 1400 Vienna, Austria
| | - Vasile Ersek
- Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 8ST, United Kingdom
| | - Dirk L Hoffmann
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Daniel Veres
- Emil Racoviţă Institute of Speleology, Romanian Academy, 400006 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
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Abstract
Over tens of thousands of years of human genetic and cultural evolution, many types and varieties of music and language have emerged; however, the fundamental components of each of these modes of communication seem to be common to all human cultures and social groups. In this brief review, rather than focusing on the development of different musical techniques and practices over time, the main issues addressed here concern: (i) when, and speculations as to why, modern Homo sapiens evolved musical behaviors, (ii) the evolutionary relationship between music and language, and (iii) why humans, perhaps unique among all living species, universally continue to possess two complementary but distinct communication streams. Did music exist before language, or vice versa, or was there a common precursor that in some way separated into two distinct yet still overlapping systems when cognitively modern H. sapiens evolved? A number of theories put forward to explain the origin and persistent universality of music are considered, but emphasis is given, supported by recent neuroimaging, physiological, and psychological findings, to the role that music can play in promoting trust, altruistic behavior, social bonding, and cooperation within groups of culturally compatible but not necessarily genetically related humans. It is argued that, early in our history, the unique socializing and harmonizing power of music acted as an essential counterweight to the new and evolving sense of self, to an emerging sense of individuality and mortality that was linked to the development of an advanced cognitive capacity and articulate language capability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alan R Harvey
- School of Human Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Perth, WA, Australia
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Blade and bladelet production at Hohle Fels Cave, AH IV in the Swabian Jura and its importance for characterizing the technological variability of the Aurignacian in Central Europe. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0194097. [PMID: 29630601 PMCID: PMC5891003 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194097] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2017] [Accepted: 02/23/2018] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Hohle Fels Cave in the Ach Valley of Southwestern Germany exhibits an Aurignacian sequence of 1 m thickness within geological horizons (GH) 6–8. The deposition of the layers took place during mild and cold phases between at least 42 ka (GI 10) and 36 ka calBP (GI 7). We present below a technological study of blade and bladelet production from AH IV (GH 7) at Hohle Fels. Our analyses show that blade manufacture is relatively constant, while bladelet production displays a high degree of variability in order to obtain different blanks. Knappers used a variety of burins as cores to produce fine bladelets. The results reveal a new variant of the Aurignacian in the Swabian Jura primarily characterized by the production of bladelets and microliths from burin-cores. The artefacts from the Swabian Aurignacian are technologically and functionally more diverse than earlier studies of the Geißenklösterle and Vogelherd sequences have suggested. The technological analyses presented here challenge the claim that the typo-chronological system from Southwestern Europe can be applied to the Central European Aurignacian. Instead, we emphasize the impact of technological and functional variables within the Aurignacian of the Swabian Jura.
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Central European Woolly Mammoth Population Dynamics: Insights from Late Pleistocene Mitochondrial Genomes. Sci Rep 2017; 7:17714. [PMID: 29255197 PMCID: PMC5735091 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-17723-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2017] [Accepted: 11/21/2017] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The population dynamics of the Pleistocene woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) has been the subject of intensive palaeogenetic research. Although a large number of mitochondrial genomes across Eurasia have been reconstructed, the available data remains geographically sparse and mostly focused on eastern Eurasia. Thus, population dynamics in other regions have not been extensively investigated. Here, we use a multi-method approach utilising proteomic, stable isotope and genetic techniques to identify and generate twenty woolly mammoth mitochondrial genomes, and associated dietary stable isotopic data, from highly fragmentary Late Pleistocene material from central Europe. We begin to address region-specific questions regarding central European woolly mammoth populations, highlighting parallels with a previous replacement event in eastern Eurasia ten thousand years earlier. A high number of shared derived mutations between woolly mammoth mitochondrial clades are identified, questioning previous phylogenetic analysis and thus emphasizing the need for nuclear DNA studies to explicate the increasingly complex genetic history of the woolly mammoth.
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45
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Falcucci A, Conard NJ, Peresani M. A critical assessment of the Protoaurignacian lithic technology at Fumane Cave and its implications for the definition of the earliest Aurignacian. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0189241. [PMID: 29216284 PMCID: PMC5720803 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189241] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2017] [Accepted: 11/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In the scenario of the spread of the anatomically modern humans (AMHs) into Europe, the techno-complex known as Protoaurignacian is defined by the production of blades and bladelets within a single and continuous stone knapping sequence from the same core as the result of its progressive reduction. However, the growing re-evaluation of some assemblages is revealing that bladelets are frequently obtained from independent reduction sequences, hence discouraging the direct application of the model developed in southwestern France. High-resolution regional signatures are thus needed to reconstruct a more accurate portrait of the AMH colonization dynamic. Northeastern Italy, with the key site of Fumane Cave, is one among the regions of Mediterranean Europe worthy of consideration for reconstructing this colonization process and its cultural dynamics. Within the framework of a critical discussion of the technological definition of the Protoaurignacian and its relationship with contemporaneous industries on a regional and supra-regional scale, we present the results of a detailed analysis of the lithic technology from units A2-A1 based on reduction sequence and attribute analyses. Results show that bladelets are the first goal of production and they do not originate from reduced blade cores but from a broad range of independent and simultaneous core reduction strategies. One implication is that the most commonly used technological trait that is said to define the Protoaurignacian has been over-emphasized and that the Protoaurignacian is technologically consistent across its geographical extent. Additional data based on carinated core technology imply that this techno-complex shares a common technological background with the Early Aurignacian and that no features are restricted to one of the two facies. Furthermore, the major difference between the Protoaurignacian and Early Aurignacian appears to be more typological in nature, with retouched bladelets being less common in the Early Aurignacian.
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Affiliation(s)
- Armando Falcucci
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- * E-mail: (AF); (MP)
| | - Nicholas J. Conard
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Tübingen-Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoecology, Schloss Hohentübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Marco Peresani
- Università di Ferrara, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Corso Ercole I d'Este, Ferrara, Italy
- * E-mail: (AF); (MP)
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47
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van der Schyff D, Schiavio A. Evolutionary Musicology Meets Embodied Cognition: Biocultural Coevolution and the Enactive Origins of Human Musicality. Front Neurosci 2017; 11:519. [PMID: 29033780 PMCID: PMC5626875 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2017] [Accepted: 09/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite evolutionary musicology's interdisciplinary nature, and the diverse methods it employs, the field has nevertheless tended to divide into two main positions. Some argue that music should be understood as a naturally selected adaptation, while others claim that music is a product of culture with little or no relevance for the survival of the species. We review these arguments, suggesting that while interesting and well-reasoned positions have been offered on both sides of the debate, the nature-or-culture (or adaptation vs. non-adaptation) assumptions that have traditionally driven the discussion have resulted in a problematic either/or dichotomy. We then consider an alternative "biocultural" proposal that appears to offer a way forward. As we discuss, this approach draws on a range of research in theoretical biology, archeology, neuroscience, embodied and ecological cognition, and dynamical systems theory (DST), positing a more integrated model that sees biological and cultural dimensions as aspects of the same evolving system. Following this, we outline the enactive approach to cognition, discussing the ways it aligns with the biocultural perspective. Put simply, the enactive approach posits a deep continuity between mind and life, where cognitive processes are explored in terms of how self-organizing living systems enact relationships with the environment that are relevant to their survival and well-being. It highlights the embodied and ecologically situated nature of living agents, as well as the active role they play in their own developmental processes. Importantly, the enactive approach sees cognitive and evolutionary processes as driven by a range of interacting factors, including the socio-cultural forms of activity that characterize the lives of more complex creatures such as ourselves. We offer some suggestions for how this approach might enhance and extend the biocultural model. To conclude we briefly consider the implications of this approach for practical areas such as music education.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dylan van der Schyff
- Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada
- Faculty of Music, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Andrea Schiavio
- Institute for Music Education, University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz, Austria
- Department of Music, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom
- Centre for Systematic Musicology, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
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Marin MM, Schober R, Gingras B, Leder H. Misattribution of musical arousal increases sexual attraction towards opposite-sex faces in females. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0183531. [PMID: 28892486 PMCID: PMC5593195 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0183531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2017] [Accepted: 08/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Several theories about the origins of music have emphasized its biological and social functions, including in courtship. Music may act as a courtship display due to its capacity to vary in complexity and emotional content. Support for music’s reproductive function comes from the recent finding that only women in the fertile phase of the reproductive cycle prefer composers of complex melodies to composers of simple ones as short-term sexual partners, which is also in line with the ovulatory shift hypothesis. However, the precise mechanisms by which music may influence sexual attraction are unknown, specifically how music may interact with visual attractiveness cues and affect perception and behaviour in both genders. Using a crossmodal priming paradigm, we examined whether listening to music influences ratings of facial attractiveness and dating desirability of opposite-sex faces. We also tested whether misattribution of arousal or pleasantness underlies these effects, and explored whether sex differences and menstrual cycle phase may be moderators. Our sample comprised 64 women in the fertile or infertile phase (no hormonal contraception use) and 32 men, carefully matched for mood, relationship status, and musical preferences. Musical primes (25 s) varied in arousal and pleasantness, and targets were photos of faces with neutral expressions (2 s). Group-wise analyses indicated that women, but not men, gave significantly higher ratings of facial attractiveness and dating desirability after having listened to music than in the silent control condition. High-arousing, complex music yielded the largest effects, suggesting that music may affect human courtship behaviour through induced arousal, which calls for further studies on the mechanisms by which music affects sexual attraction in real-life social contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Manuela M. Marin
- Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- * E-mail:
| | - Raphaela Schober
- Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Bruno Gingras
- Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck, Innrain, Innsbruck, Austria
| | - Helmut Leder
- Department of Basic Psychological Research and Research Methods, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
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Marín-Arroyo AB, Mihailović B. The Chronometric Dating and Subsistence of Late Neanderthals and Early Anatomically Modern Humans in the Central Balkans: Insights from Šalitrena Pećina (Mionica, Serbia). JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2017. [DOI: 10.1086/693054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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