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Riga A, Profico A, Mori T, Frittitta R, Nava A, Mancini L, Dreossi D, Radovčić D, Rice H, Bondioli L, Marchi D. The Middle Pleistocene human metatarsal from Sedia del Diavolo (Rome, Italy). Sci Rep 2024; 14:6024. [PMID: 38472259 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-55045-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2023] [Accepted: 02/20/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
The peopling of Europe during the Middle Pleistocene is a debated topic among paleoanthropologists. Some authors suggest the coexistence of multiple human lineages in this period, while others propose a single evolving lineage from Homo heidelbergensis to Homo neanderthalensis. The recent reassessment of the stratigraphy at the Sedia del Diavolo (SdD) site (Latium, Italy), now dated to the beginning of marine isotope stage (MIS) 8, calls for a revision of the human fossils from the site. In this paper, we present the morphometric, biomechanical and palaeopathological study of the second right metatarsal SdD2, to both re-evaluate its taxonomical affinities and possibly determine the levels of physical activity experienced by the individual during lifetime. Results demonstrate the persistence of archaic features in SdD2 suggesting new insights into the technology and hunting strategies adopted by Homo between MIS 9 and MIS 8.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alessandro Riga
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | | | - Tommaso Mori
- Department of Biology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy
| | | | - Alessia Nava
- Department of Odontostomatological and Maxillofacial Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Lucia Mancini
- ZAG-Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute, Ljubliana, Slovenia
| | - Diego Dreossi
- Elettra-Sincrotrone Trieste S.C.P.A., Basovizza, Trieste, Italy
| | - Davorka Radovčić
- Department of Geology and Paleontology, Croatian Natural History Museum, Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Hannah Rice
- Department of Physical Performance, Norwegian School of Sport Sciences, Oslo, Norway
| | - Luca Bondioli
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Service of Bioarchaeology, Museum of Civilizations, Rome, Italy
| | - Damiano Marchi
- Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
- Centre for the Exploration of Deep Human Journey, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
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2
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Milks A, Lehmann J, Leder D, Sietz M, Koddenberg T, Böhner U, Wachtendorf V, Terberger T. A double-pointed wooden throwing stick from Schöningen, Germany: Results and new insights from a multianalytical study. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0287719. [PMID: 37467169 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0287719] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/31/2022] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The site of Schöningen (Germany), dated to ca. 300,000 years ago, yielded the earliest large-scale record of humanly-made wooden tools. These include wooden spears and shorter double-pointed sticks, discovered in association with herbivores that were hunted and butchered along a lakeshore. Wooden tools have not been systematically analysed to the same standard as other Palaeolithic technologies, such as lithic or bone tools. Our multianalytical study includes micro-CT scanning, 3-dimensional microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, supporting a systematic technological and taphonomic analysis, thus setting a new standard for wooden tool analysis. In illustrating the biography of one of Schöningen's double-pointed sticks, we demonstrate new human behaviours for this time period, including sophisticated woodworking techniques. The hominins selected a spruce branch which they then debarked and shaped into an aerodynamic and ergonomic tool. They likely seasoned the wood to avoid cracking and warping. After a long period of use, it was probably lost while hunting, and was then rapidly buried in mud. Taphonomic alterations include damage from trampling, fungal attack, root damage and compression. Through our detailed analysis we show that Middle Pleistocene humans had a rich awareness of raw material properties, and possessed sophisticated woodworking skills. Alongside new detailed morphometrics of the object, an ethnographic review supports a primary function as a throwing stick for hunting, indicating potential hunting strategies and social contexts including for communal hunts involving children. The Schöningen throwing sticks may have been used to strategically disadvantage larger ungulates, potentially from distances of up to 30 metres. They also demonstrate that the hominins were technologically capable of capturing smaller fast prey and avian fauna, a behaviour evidenced at contemporaneous Middle Pleistocene archaeological sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annemieke Milks
- Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
| | - Jens Lehmann
- Department of Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage), Hannover, Germany
| | - Dirk Leder
- Department of Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage), Hannover, Germany
| | - Michael Sietz
- Archaeological Conservation Department, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage), Hannover, Germany
| | - Tim Koddenberg
- Wood Biology and Wood Products, Faculty of Forest Sciences and Forest Ecology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Utz Böhner
- Inventory and Heritage Atlas, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage), Hannover, Germany
| | | | - Thomas Terberger
- Department of Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology, Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege (Lower Saxony State Office for Cultural Heritage), Hannover, Germany
- Department of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany
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Kot M, Berto C, Krajcarz MT, Moskal-Del Hoyo M, Gryczewska N, Szymanek M, Marciszak A, Stefaniak K, Zarzecka-Szubińska K, Lipecki G, Wertz K, Madeyska T. Frontiers of the Lower Palaeolithic expansion in Europe: Tunel Wielki Cave (Poland). Sci Rep 2022; 12:16355. [PMID: 36175468 PMCID: PMC9523034 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-20582-0] [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: 05/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/15/2022] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Peopling of Central Europe by Middle Pleistocene hominids is highly debatable, mainly due to the relatively harsh climatic and environmental conditions that require cultural and anatomical adjustments. At least several archaeological sites certify human occupation in the region dated back to MIS 13-11, but they represent open-air settlements. Based on the new fieldwork conducted in Tunel Wielki Cave, we can date the human occupation traces in the cave to MIS 14-12. Bipolar-on-anvil knapping technique prevails in the lithic assemblage, made exclusively in flint. The obtained results have given ground for studying the frontiers of human oikumene and the required cultural adaptive abilities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Małgorzata Kot
- Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927, Warsaw, Poland.
| | - Claudio Berto
- Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Maciej T Krajcarz
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Natalia Gryczewska
- Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Krakowskie Przedmieście 26/28, 00-927, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Marcin Szymanek
- Faculty of Geology, University of Warsaw, Żwirki i Wigury 93, 02-089, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Adrian Marciszak
- Department of Palaeozoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Stefaniak
- Department of Palaeozoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Katarzyna Zarzecka-Szubińska
- Department of Palaeozoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Wrocław, Sienkiewicza 21, 50-335, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Grzegorz Lipecki
- Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sławkowska 17, 31-016, Kraków, Poland
| | - Krzysztof Wertz
- Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Sławkowska 17, 31-016, Kraków, Poland
| | - Teresa Madeyska
- Institute of Geological Sciences, Polish Academy of Sciences, Twarda 51/55, 00-818, Warsaw, Poland
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Middle Pleistocene fire use: The first signal of widespread cultural diffusion in human evolution. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2021; 118:2101108118. [PMID: 34301807 PMCID: PMC8346817 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2101108118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Control of fire is one of the most important technological innovations within the evolution of humankind. The archaeological signal of fire use becomes very visible from around 400,000 y ago onward. Interestingly, this occurs at a geologically similar time over major parts of the Old World, in Africa, as well as in western Eurasia, and in different subpopulations of the wider hominin metapopulation. We interpret this spatiotemporal pattern as the result of cultural diffusion, and as representing the earliest clear-cut case of widespread cultural change resulting from diffusion in human evolution. This fire-use pattern is followed slightly later by a similar spatiotemporal distribution of Levallois technology, at the beginning of the African Middle Stone Age and the western Eurasian Middle Paleolithic. These archaeological data, as well as studies of ancient genomes, lead us to hypothesize that at the latest by 400,000 y ago, hominin subpopulations encountered one another often enough and were sufficiently tolerant toward one another to transmit ideas and techniques over large regions within relatively short time periods. Furthermore, it is likely that the large-scale social networks necessary to transmit complicated skills were also in place. Most importantly, this suggests a form of cultural behavior significantly more similar to that of extant Homo sapiens than to our great ape relatives.
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Moncel MH, García-Medrano P, Despriée J, Arnaud J, Voinchet P, Bahain JJ. Tracking behavioral persistence and innovations during the Middle Pleistocene in Western Europe. Shift in occupations between 700 and 450 ka at la Noira site (Centre, France). J Hum Evol 2021; 156:103009. [PMID: 34049270 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/04/2020] [Revised: 03/30/2021] [Accepted: 04/06/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Some areas in Western Europe indicate hiatuses in human occupations, which cannot be systematically attributed to taphonomic factors and poor site preservation. The site of la Noira in the center of France records two occupation phases with a significant time gap. The older one is dated to around 700 ka (stratum a) with an Acheulean assemblage, among the earliest in Western Europe, and the upper phase of the sequence (stratum c) is dated to ca. 450 ka. Humans left the area at around 670 ka, at the beginning of the marine isotope stage (MIS) 16 glacial stage, when cold conditions became too severe. No sites between 650 and 450 ka have yet been discovered in the center region despite systematic surveys over the past three decades. The archaeological evidence indicates that populations returned to the area, at the end of MIS 12 or the beginning of the long interglacial MIS 11. Here, we use technological behaviors common to the two levels of la Noira-strata a and c to evaluate their differences. Compared to other key European sequences, this site can be used to address the evolution of the behavioral strategies in Europe between MIS 17 and 11. We formulate two hypotheses concerning the human settlement of this area: (1) local behavioral evolution over time of populations occasionally occupying the region when the climate was favorable or (2) dispersal and arrival of new populations from other areas. The results focus on (1) changes in land-use patterns with the extension of the territory used by hominins in the upper level, (2) the introduction of new core technologies, including some evidence of early Levallois debitage, and (3) more intensive shaping of bifaces and bifacial tools. Results attest that the la Noira archaeological assemblages record similar regional behavioral evolution as observed at a larger scale in Europe.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marie-Hélène Moncel
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France.
| | - Paula García-Medrano
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France; Dept. Britain, Europe and Prehistory, British Museum, Frank House, 56 Orsman Road, N1 5QJ, London, UK; Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana I Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Zona Educacional 4, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain; Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Departament D'Història I Història de L'Art, Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain
| | - Jackie Despriée
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Julie Arnaud
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France; Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Università Degli Studi di Ferrara, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
| | - Pierre Voinchet
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Jacques Bahain
- UMR 7194 HNHP, MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, Département Homme et Environnement, Muséum National D'Histoire Naturelle, IPH 1 Rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France
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Rodríguez J, Willmes C, Mateos A. Shivering in the Pleistocene. Human adaptations to cold exposure in Western Europe from MIS 14 to MIS 11. J Hum Evol 2021; 153:102966. [PMID: 33711721 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Revised: 02/01/2021] [Accepted: 02/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
During the mid-Middle Pleistocene MIS 14 to MIS 11, humans spread through Western Europe from the Mediterranean peninsulas to the sub-Arctic region, and they did so not only during the warm periods but also during the glacial stages. In doing so, they were exposed to harsh environmental conditions, including low or extremely low temperatures. Here we review the distribution of archeological assemblages in Western Europe from MIS 14 to MIS 11 and obtain estimates of the climatic conditions at those localities. Estimates of the mean annual temperature, mean winter and summer temperatures, and the lowest temperature of the coldest month for each locality were obtained from the Oscillayers database. Our results show that hominins endured cold exposure not only during the glacial stages but also during the interglacials, with winter temperatures below 0 °C at many localities. The efficacy of the main physiological and behavioral adaptations that might have been used by the Middle Pleistocene hominins to cope with low temperatures is evaluated using a simple heat-loss model. Our results suggest that physiological and anatomical adaptations alone, such as increasing basal metabolic rate and subcutaneous adipose tissue, were not enough to tolerate the low winter temperatures of Western Europe, even during the MIS 13 and MIS 11 interglacials. In contrast, the use of a simple fur bed cover appears to have been an extremely effective response to low temperatures. We suggest that advanced fire production and control technology were not necessary for the colonization of northern Europe during MIS 14 and MIS 12. We propose that Middle Pleistocene European populations were able to endure the low temperatures of those glacial stages combining anatomical and physiological adaptations with behavioral responses, such as the use of shelter and simple fur clothes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesús Rodríguez
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain
| | - Christian Willmes
- Institute of Geography, University of Cologne, 50923, Cologne, Germany
| | - Ana Mateos
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain.
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A detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of Schöningen 13II-4 'Spear Horizon' faunal remains. J Hum Evol 2021; 152:102947. [PMID: 33529840 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102947] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
The Middle Pleistocene Schöningen 13II-4 'Spear Horizon' (Germany) is a key site for the study of human evolution, most notably for the discovery of Paleolithic wooden weaponry and evidence for developed hunting strategies. On the other hand, the 'Spear Horizon' offers an excellent opportunity to approach hominin spatial behavior, thanks to the richness of the archeological assemblage, its exceptional preservation, and the vast expanse of the excavated surface. Analyzing how space was used is essential for understanding hominin behavior at this unique open-air site and, from a wider perspective, for approaching how humans adapted to interglacial environments. In this article, we present an exhaustive spatial study of the complete Schöningen 13II-4 'Spear Horizon' faunal assemblage and its archeological context, combining zooarcheology and spatial analysis through the extensive application of geographic information systems. Our results indicate the existence of different activity areas related to changes in the position of the shoreline due to fluctuations of water table levels of the Schöningen paleolake. These activity areas were likely used on a seasonal basis, whereas the spatial patterning observed in the distribution of faunal remains suggests a diversity of behavioral strategies in terms of intensity and/or duration of occupations. This study refines previous interpretations of the site and reconstructs human behavioral adaptations and the occupational changing lakeland environment during the Middle Pleistocene in Europe.
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Agam A, Azuri I, Pinkas I, Gopher A, Natalio F. Estimating temperatures of heated Lower Palaeolithic flint artefacts. Nat Hum Behav 2020; 5:221-228. [PMID: 33020589 DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-00955-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/19/2020] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Production of stone artefacts using pyro-technology is known from the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic of Europe and the Levant, and the Middle Stone Age in Africa. However, determination of temperatures to which flint artefacts were exposed is impeded by the chemical and structural variability of flint. Here we combine Raman spectroscopy and machine learning to build temperature-estimation models to infer the degree of pyro-technological control effected by inhabitants of the late Lower Palaeolithic (Acheulo-Yabrudian) site of Qesem Cave, Israel. Temperature estimation shows that blades were heated at lower median temperatures (259 °C) compared to flakes (413 °C), whereas heat-induced structural flint damage (for example, pot-lids and microcracks) appears at 447 °C. These results are consistent with a differential behaviour for selective tool production that can be viewed as part of a plethora of innovative and adaptive behaviours of Levantine hominins >300,000 years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aviad Agam
- Kimmel Centre for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Ido Azuri
- Bioinformatics Unit, Department of Life Sciences Core Facilities, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Iddo Pinkas
- Department of Chemical Research Support, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel
| | - Avi Gopher
- Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Filipe Natalio
- Kimmel Centre for Archaeological Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. .,Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
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Larbey C, Mentzer SM, Ligouis B, Wurz S, Jones MK. Cooked starchy food in hearths ca. 120 kya and 65 kya (MIS 5e and MIS 4) from Klasies River Cave, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2019; 131:210-227. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.03.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2018] [Revised: 03/13/2019] [Accepted: 03/14/2019] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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Goldfield AE, Booton R, Marston JM. Modeling the role of fire and cooking in the competitive exclusion of Neanderthals. J Hum Evol 2018; 124:91-104. [PMID: 30177445 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2017] [Revised: 07/14/2018] [Accepted: 07/16/2018] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The Neanderthal body was more robust and energetically costly than the bodies of anatomically modern humans (AMH). Different metabolic budgets between competing populations of Neanderthals and AMH may have been a factor in the varied ranges of behavior and timelines for Neanderthal extinction that we see in the Paleolithic archaeological record. This paper uses an adaptation of the Lotka-Volterra model to determine whether metabolic differences alone could have accounted for Neanderthal extinction. In addition, we use a modeling approach to investigate Neanderthal fire use, evidence for which is much debated and is variable throughout different climatic phases of the Middle Paleolithic. The increased caloric yield from a cooked versus a raw diet may have played an important role in population competition between Neanderthals and AMH. We arrive at two key conclusions. First, given differences in metabolic budget between Neanderthals and AMH and their dependence on similar or overlapping food resources, Neanderthal extinction is likely inevitable over the long term. Second, the rate of Neanderthal extinction increases as the frequency of AMH fire use increases. Results highlight the importance of understanding the variable behaviors at play on a regional scale in order to understand global Neanderthal extinction. We also emphasize the importance of understanding the role of fire use in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna E Goldfield
- Department of Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115 USA.
| | - Ross Booton
- Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield, South Yorkshire S10 2TN, United Kingdom
| | - John M Marston
- Department of Archaeology, Boston University, 675 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA, 02115 USA
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Danchin A. Bacteria in the ageing gut: did the taming of fire promote a long human lifespan? Environ Microbiol 2018; 20:1966-1987. [PMID: 29727052 DOI: 10.1111/1462-2920.14255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Unique among animals as they evolved towards Homo sapiens, hominins progressively cooked their food on a routine basis. Cooked products are characterized by singular chemical compounds, derived from the pervasive Maillard reaction. This same reaction is omnipresent in normal metabolism involving carbonyls and amines, and its products accumulate with age. The gut microbiota acts as a first line of defence against the toxicity of cooked Maillard compounds, that also selectively shape the microbial flora, letting specific metabolites to reach the blood stream. Positive selection of metabolic functions allowed the body of hominins who tamed fire to use and dispose of these age-related compounds. I propose here that, as a hopeful accidental consequence, this resulted in extending human lifespan far beyond that of our great ape cousins. The limited data exploring the role of taming fire on the human genetic setup and on its microbiota is discussed in relation with ageing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Danchin
- Integromics, Institute of Cardiometabolism and Nutrition, Hôpital de la Pitié-Salpêtrière, 47 Boulevard de l'Hôpital, Paris, 75013, France.,School of Biomedical Sciences, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, Hong Kong University, 21 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong
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12
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Sorensen AC, Scherjon F. fiReproxies: A computational model providing insight into heat-affected archaeological lithic assemblages. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0196777. [PMID: 29768454 PMCID: PMC5955532 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196777] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2017] [Accepted: 04/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Evidence for fire use becomes increasingly sparse the further back in time one looks. This is especially true for Palaeolithic assemblages. Primary evidence of fire use in the form of hearth features tends to give way to clusters or sparse scatters of more durable heated stone fragments. In the absence of intact fireplaces, these thermally altered lithic remains have been used as a proxy for discerning relative degrees of fire use between archaeological layers and deposits. While previous experimental studies have demonstrated the physical effects of heat on stony artefacts, the mechanisms influencing the proportion of fire proxy evidence within archaeological layers remain understudied. This fundamental study is the first to apply a computer-based model (fiReproxies) in an attempt to simulate and quantify the complex interplay of factors that ultimately determine when and in what proportions lithic artefacts are heated by (anthropogenic) fires. As an illustrative example, we apply our model to two hypothetical archaeological layers that reflect glacial and interglacial conditions during the late Middle Palaeolithic within a generic simulated cave site to demonstrate how different environmental, behavioural and depositional factors like site surface area, sedimentation rate, occupation frequency, and fire size and intensity can, independently or together, significantly influence the visibility of archaeological fire signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew C. Sorensen
- Human Origins Group, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
- * E-mail:
| | - Fulco Scherjon
- Human Origins Group, Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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13
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Wooden tools and fire technology in the early Neanderthal site of Poggetti Vecchi (Italy). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2018; 115:2054-2059. [PMID: 29432163 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1716068115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 82] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Excavations for the construction of thermal pools at Poggetti Vecchi (Grosseto, Tuscany, central Italy) exposed a series of wooden tools in an open-air stratified site referable to late Middle Pleistocene. The wooden artifacts were uncovered, together with stone tools and fossil bones, largely belonging to the straight-tusked elephant Paleoloxodon antiquus The site is radiometrically dated to around 171,000 y B.P., and hence correlated with the early marine isotope stage 6 [Benvenuti M, et al. (2017) Quat Res 88:327-344]. The sticks, all fragmentary, are made from boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) and were over 1 m long, rounded at one end and pointed at the other. They have been partially charred, possibly to lessen the labor of scraping boxwood, using a technique so far not documented at the time. The wooden artifacts have the size and features of multipurpose tools known as "digging sticks," which are quite commonly used by foragers. This discovery from Poggetti Vecchi provides evidence of the processing and use of wood by early Neanderthals, showing their ability to use fire in tool making from very tough wood.
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Whitau R, Vannieuwenhuyse D, Dotte-Sarout E, Balme J, O’Connor S. Home Is Where the Hearth Is: Anthracological and Microstratigraphic Analyses of Pleistocene and Holocene Combustion Features, Riwi Cave (Kimberley, Western Australia). JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL METHOD AND THEORY 2017; 25:739-776. [PMID: 30100699 PMCID: PMC6061027 DOI: 10.1007/s10816-017-9354-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
The manipulation of fire is a technological act. The identification of the archaeological signatures of the controlled use of fire has important implications not only for the estimations of the origins and functions of the first fireplaces but also for our understanding of prehistoric technological development and resource use. At Riwi (Kimberley region, Western Australia), excavations over two field seasons have revealed a discontinuous occupation sequence over the past 45 ka, showing numerous, different combustion features interspersed within the deposit. Anthracological and micromorphological investigations at Riwi Cave indicate that the combustion features at the site can be categorised into three types: flat combustion features (type A), dug combustion features (type B) and thick accumulations of mixed combustion residues (type C). These provide evidence for two kinds of combustion practice: (i) fires lit directly on the ground and most likely not re-used and (ii) ground ovens, the latter appearing some 10,000 years after the first evidence for occupation of the site. A comparison of the wood species identified within these combustion features with those from equivalent scattered context levels, enables an exploration of the potential factors influencing wood selection and fire use through time at the site. A detailed understanding of the relationship between wood charcoal remains and archaeological context yields significant information on changes to environmental context and site occupation patterns over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rose Whitau
- Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Dorcas Vannieuwenhuyse
- Archaeology M257, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009 Australia
| | - Emilie Dotte-Sarout
- Archaeology M257, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009 Australia
- School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Jane Balme
- Archaeology M257, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009 Australia
| | - Sue O’Connor
- Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture History and Language, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
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Gowlett JAJ. The discovery of fire by humans: a long and convoluted process. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2017; 371:rstb.2015.0164. [PMID: 27216521 PMCID: PMC4874402 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2015.0164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 01/18/2016] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Numbers of animal species react to the natural phenomenon of fire, but only humans have learnt to control it and to make it at will. Natural fires caused overwhelmingly by lightning are highly evident on many landscapes. Birds such as hawks, and some other predators, are alert to opportunities to catch animals including invertebrates disturbed by such fires and similar benefits are likely to underlie the first human involvements with fires. Early hominins would undoubtedly have been aware of such fires, as are savanna chimpanzees in the present. Rather than as an event, the discovery of fire use may be seen as a set of processes happening over the long term. Eventually, fire became embedded in human behaviour, so that it is involved in almost all advanced technologies. Fire has also influenced human biology, assisting in providing the high-quality diet which has fuelled the increase in brain size through the Pleistocene. Direct evidence of early fire in archaeology remains rare, but from 1.5 Ma onward surprising numbers of sites preserve some evidence of burnt material. By the Middle Pleistocene, recognizable hearths demonstrate a social and economic focus on many sites. The evidence of archaeological sites has to be evaluated against postulates of biological models such as the ‘cooking hypothesis' or the ‘social brain’, and questions of social cooperation and the origins of language. Although much remains to be worked out, it is plain that fire control has had a major impact in the course of human evolution. This article is part of the themed issue ‘The interaction of fire and mankind’.
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Affiliation(s)
- J A J Gowlett
- Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, School of Histories, Language and Cultures, University of Liverpool, 12-14 Abercromby Square, Liverpool L69 7WZ, UK
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17
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Sandgathe DM. Identifying and Describing Pattern and Process in the Evolution of Hominin Use of Fire. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1086/691459] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Goldberg P, Miller CE, Mentzer SM. Recognizing Fire in the Paleolithic Archaeological Record. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1086/692729] [Citation(s) in RCA: 45] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Aldeias V. Experimental Approaches to Archaeological Fire Features and Their Behavioral Relevance. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1086/691210] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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21
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White R, Mensan R, Clark AE, Tartar E, Marquer L, Bourrillon R, Goldberg P, Chiotti L, Cretin C, Rendu W, Pike-Tay A, Ranlett S. Technologies for the Control of Heat and Light in the Vézère Valley Aurignacian. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1086/692708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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22
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23
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MacDonald K. The use of fire and human distribution. Temperature (Austin) 2017; 4:153-165. [PMID: 28680931 DOI: 10.1080/23328940.2017.1284637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2016] [Revised: 01/16/2017] [Accepted: 01/16/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans today live in a wide range of environments from the iciest to the hottest, thanks to diverse cultural solutions that buffer temperature extremes. The prehistory of this relationship between human distribution, cultural solutions and temperature conditions may help us to understand the evolution of human biological adaptations to cold temperature. Fire has long been seen as an important factor in human evolution and range expansion, particularly into temperate latitudes. Nevertheless, the earliest evidence for hominin presence in Eurasia, and middle latitudes in northern Europe, substantially predates convincing evidence for fire use in these regions. This review outlines the current state of knowledge of the chronology of hominin dispersal into temperate latitudes, from the earliest occupants to our own species, and the archeological evidence for fire use. Given continuing disagreement about this chronology and limitations to the archeological evidence, new, complementary approaches are worthwhile and would benefit from information from studies of current human temperature regulation.
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25
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Pereira P, Rein G, Martin D. Past and Present Post-Fire Environments. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2016; 573:1275-1277. [PMID: 27369092 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.05.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2016] [Accepted: 05/06/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Paulo Pereira
- Environmental Management Centre, Mykolas Romeris University, Ateities g. 20, 08303 Vilnius, Lithuania
| | - Guillermo Rein
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK
| | - Deborah Martin
- U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine Street (E127), Boulder, CO 80303-1066, United States
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26
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Hosfield R. Walking in a Winter Wonderland? Strategies for Early and Middle Pleistocene Survival in Midlatitude Europe. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2016. [DOI: 10.1086/688579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Méndez C, de Porras ME, Maldonado A, Reyes O, Nuevo Delaunay A, García JL. Human Effects in Holocene Fire Dynamics of Central Western Patagonia (~44° S, Chile). Front Ecol Evol 2016. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2016.00100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
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Conard NJ, Serangeli J, Böhner U, Starkovich BM, Miller CE, Urban B, Van Kolfschoten T. Excavations at Schöningen and paradigm shifts in human evolution. J Hum Evol 2015; 89:1-17. [PMID: 26653207 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2015] [Accepted: 10/05/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The exceptional preservation at Schöningen together with a mixture of perseverance, hard work, and sheer luck led to the recovery of unique finds in an exceptional context. The 1995 discovery of numerous wooden artifacts, most notably at least 10 carefully made spears together with the skeletons of at least 20 to 25 butchered horses, brought the debate about hunting versus scavenging among late archaic hominins and analogous arguments about the purportedly primitive behavior of Homo heidelbergensis and Neanderthals to an end. Work under H. Thieme's lead from 1992 to 2008 and results from the current team since 2008 demonstrate that late H. heidelbergensis or early Neanderthals used sophisticated artifacts made from floral and faunal materials, in addition to lithic artifacts more typically recovered at Lower Paleolithic sites. The finds from the famous Horse Butchery Site and two dozen other archaeological horizons from the edges of the open-cast mine at Schöningen provide many new insights into the technology and behavioral patterns of hominins about 300 ka BP during MIS 9 on the Northern European Plain. An analysis of the finds from Schöningen and their contexts shows that the inhabitants of the site were skilled hunters at the top of the food chain and exhibited a high level of planning depth. These hominins had command of effective means of communication about the here and now, and the past and the future, that allowed them to repeatedly execute well-coordinated and successful group activities that likely culminated in a division of labor and social and economic patterns radically different from those of all non-human primates. The unique preservation and high quality excavations have led to a major paradigm shift or "Schöningen Effect" that changed our views of human evolution during the late Lower Paleolithic. In this respect, we can view the behaviors documented at Schöningen as a plausible baseline for the behavioral sophistication of archaic hominins of the late Middle Pleistocene and subsequent periods.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas J Conard
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Jordi Serangeli
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Utz Böhner
- Niedersächsisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege, Scharnhorststraße 1, 30175 Hannover, Germany
| | - Britt M Starkovich
- Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; School of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA
| | - Christopher E Miller
- Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Brigitte Urban
- Institute of Ecology, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany
| | - Thijs Van Kolfschoten
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands
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Serangeli J, Böhner U, Van Kolfschoten T, Conard NJ. Overview and new results from large-scale excavations in Schöningen. J Hum Evol 2015; 89:27-45. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.09.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2015] [Revised: 09/04/2015] [Accepted: 09/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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30
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Starkovich BM, Conard NJ. Bone taphonomy of the Schöningen “Spear Horizon South” and its implications for site formation and hominin meat provisioning. J Hum Evol 2015; 89:154-71. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2014] [Revised: 06/03/2015] [Accepted: 09/22/2015] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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31
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Characterizing the Lower Paleolithic bone industry from Schöningen 12 II: A multi-proxy study. J Hum Evol 2015; 89:264-86. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2015] [Revised: 10/05/2015] [Accepted: 10/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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32
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Stahlschmidt MC, Miller CE, Ligouis B, Goldberg P, Berna F, Urban B, Conard NJ. The depositional environments of Schöningen 13 II-4 and their archaeological implications. J Hum Evol 2015; 89:71-91. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2013] [Revised: 08/10/2014] [Accepted: 07/12/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
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33
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Urban B, Bigga G. Environmental reconstruction and biostratigraphy of late Middle Pleistocene lakeshore deposits at Schöningen. J Hum Evol 2015; 89:57-70. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.10.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2015] [Revised: 09/02/2015] [Accepted: 10/03/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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34
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Bigga G, Schoch WH, Urban B. Paleoenvironment and possibilities of plant exploitation in the Middle Pleistocene of Schöningen (Germany). Insights from botanical macro-remains and pollen. J Hum Evol 2015; 89:92-104. [PMID: 26596728 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2014] [Revised: 07/25/2014] [Accepted: 10/11/2015] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Plant use is an elusive issue in Paleolithic archaeology. Due to poor organic preservation in many sites, botanical material is not always present. The sediments in Schöningen, however, contain abundant botanical macro-remains like wood, fruits, seeds, and other parts of plants which offer the opportunity to reconstruct the local vegetation. Combined with palynological results, it is possible to reveal the full potential of this environment to hominins. Ethnobotanical studies of hunter-gatherer societies living in similar environments illustrate the importance of plants for subsistence purposes. The identified taxa from the archaeological horizons at Schöningen include a broad spectrum of potentially exploitable species that could be sources of food, raw material, and firewood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gerlinde Bigga
- Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoecology, University of Tübingen, Rümelinstr. 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Werner H Schoch
- Laboratory for Quaternary Wood Research, Langnau a.A., Switzerland
| | - Brigitte Urban
- Institute of Ecology, LEUPHANA University Lüneburg, Germany
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