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Vidal-Cordasco M, Terlato G, Ocio D, Marín-Arroyo AB. Neanderthal coexistence with Homo sapiens in Europe was affected by herbivore carrying capacity. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2023; 9:eadi4099. [PMID: 37738342 PMCID: PMC10516502 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi4099] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/24/2023] [Accepted: 08/15/2023] [Indexed: 09/24/2023]
Abstract
It has been proposed that climate change and the arrival of modern humans in Europe affected the disappearance of Neanderthals due to their impact on trophic resources; however, it has remained challenging to quantify the effect of these factors. By using Bayesian age models to derive the chronology of the European Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition, followed by a dynamic vegetation model that provides the Net Primary Productivity, and a macroecological model to compute herbivore abundance, we show that in continental regions where the ecosystem productivity was low or unstable, Neanderthals disappeared before or just after the arrival of Homo sapiens. In contrast, regions with high and stable productivity witnessed a prolonged coexistence between both species. The temporal overlap between Neanderthals and H. sapiens is significantly correlated with the carrying capacity of small- and medium-sized herbivores. These results suggest that herbivore abundance released the trophic pressure of the secondary consumers guild, which affected the coexistence likelihood between both human species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marco Vidal-Cordasco
- Grupo I+D+i EvoAdapta (Evolución Humana y Adaptaciones durante la Prehistoria), Dpto. Ciencias Históricas, Universidad de Cantabria, Avd, Los Castros 44, 39005 Santander, Spain
| | - Gabriele Terlato
- Grupo I+D+i EvoAdapta (Evolución Humana y Adaptaciones durante la Prehistoria), Dpto. Ciencias Históricas, Universidad de Cantabria, Avd, Los Castros 44, 39005 Santander, Spain
| | - David Ocio
- Mott MacDonald Ltd., 22 Station Road, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ana B. Marín-Arroyo
- Grupo I+D+i EvoAdapta (Evolución Humana y Adaptaciones durante la Prehistoria), Dpto. Ciencias Históricas, Universidad de Cantabria, Avd, Los Castros 44, 39005 Santander, Spain
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Klein K, Weniger GC, Ludwig P, Stepanek C, Zhang X, Wegener C, Shao Y. Assessing climatic impact on transition from Neanderthal to anatomically modern human population on Iberian Peninsula: a macroscopic perspective. Sci Bull (Beijing) 2023; 68:1176-1186. [PMID: 37202264 DOI: 10.1016/j.scib.2023.04.025] [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: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2023] [Accepted: 03/22/2023] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
The Iberian Peninsula is of particular interest for the research on the Neanderthal (NEA) to anatomically modern human (AMH) population transition. The AMHs arrived in Iberia last from Eastern Europe and thus any possible contacts between the two populations occurred here later than elsewhere. The transition process took place in the earlier part of the Marine Isotope Stage 3 (∼60-27 cal ka BP) as repeated and profound climate changes challenged the population stability. To investigate how climate change and population interactions influenced the transition, we combine climate data with archaeological-site data to reconstruct the Human Existence Potential, a measure of the probability of human existence, for both the NEA and AMH populations in the Greenland Interstadial 11-10 (GI11-10) and Stadial 10-9/Heinrich event 4 (GS10-9/HE4) times. It is found that during GS10-9/HE4, large parts of the peninsula became unsuitable for NEA human existence and the NEA settlement areas contracted to isolated coastal hot spots. As a consequence, the NEA networks became highly unstable, triggering the final collapse of the population. The AMHs arrived in Iberia in GI10 but were confined to patches in the northern most strip of the peninsula. They were soon facing the much colder climate of GS10-9/HE4, which prevented their further expansion or even caused a contraction of their settlement areas. Thus, due to the constellation of climate change and the dispersal of the two populations into different regions of the peninsula, it is unlikely that the NEAs and AMHs coexisted in extensive areas and the AMHs had a significant influence on the demography of the NEAs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Konstantin Klein
- Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne, Cologne 50923, Germany
| | | | - Patrick Ludwig
- Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe 76131, Germany
| | - Christian Stepanek
- Paleoclimate Dynamics, Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven 27570, Germany
| | - Xu Zhang
- Alpine Paleoecology and Human Adaption Group, State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Christian Wegener
- Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne, Cologne 50923, Germany
| | - Yaping Shao
- Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne, Cologne 50923, Germany.
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3
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An emerging consensus in palaeoanthropology: demography was the main factor responsible for the disappearance of Neanderthals. Sci Rep 2021; 11:4925. [PMID: 33649483 PMCID: PMC7921565 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-84410-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/16/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023] Open
Abstract
The causes of Neanderthal disappearance about 40,000 years ago remain highly contested. Over a dozen serious hypotheses are currently endorsed to explain this enigmatic event. Given the relatively large number of contending explanations and the relatively large number of participants in the debate, it is unclear how strongly each contender is supported by the research community. What does the community actually believe about the demise of Neanderthals? To address this question, we conducted a survey among practicing palaeo-anthropologists (total number of respondents = 216). It appears that received wisdom is that demography was the principal cause of the demise of Neanderthals. In contrast, there is no received wisdom about the role that environmental factors and competition with modern humans played in the extinction process; the research community is deeply divided about these issues. Finally, we tested the hypothesis that palaeo-anthropologists' stand in the debate co-varies with their socio-political views and attitudes. We found no evidence for such a correlation.
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Breyl M. Triangulating Neanderthal cognition: A tale of not seeing the forest for the trees. WILEY INTERDISCIPLINARY REVIEWS. COGNITIVE SCIENCE 2020; 12:e1545. [PMID: 32918796 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.1545] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2020] [Revised: 08/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The inference of Neanderthal cognition, including their cultural and linguistic capabilities, has persisted as a fiercely debated research topic for decades. This lack of consensus is substantially based on inherent uncertainties in reconstructing prehistory out of indirect evidence as well as other methodological limitations. Further factors include systemic difficulties within interdisciplinary discourse, data artifacts, historic research biases, and the sheer scope of the relevant research. Given the degrees of freedom in interpretation ensuing from these complications, any attempt to find approximate answers to the yet unsettled pertinent discourse may not rest on single studies, but instead a careful and comprehensive interdisciplinary synthesis of findings. Triangulating Neanderthals' cognition by considering the plethora of data, diverse perspectives and aforementioned complexities present within the literature constitutes the currently most reliable pathway to tentative conclusions. While some uncertainties remain, such an approach paints the picture of an extensive shared humanity between anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals. This article is categorized under: Cognitive Biology > Evolutionary Roots of Cognition Linguistics > Evolution of Language.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Breyl
- Germanistik, Komparatistik, Nordistik, Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany
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Peeters S, Zwart H. Neanderthals as familiar strangers and the human spark: How the 'golden years' of Neanderthal research reopen the question of human uniqueness. HISTORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF THE LIFE SCIENCES 2020; 42:33. [PMID: 32696095 PMCID: PMC7374475 DOI: 10.1007/s40656-020-00327-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2019] [Accepted: 07/09/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
During the past decades, our image of Homo neanderthalensis has changed dramatically. Initially, Neanderthals were seen as primitive brutes. Increasingly, however, Neanderthals are regarded as basically human. New discoveries and technologies have led to an avalanche of data, and as a result of that it becomes increasingly difficult to pinpoint what the difference between modern humans and Neanderthals really is. And yet, the persistent quest for a minimal difference which separates them from us is still noticeable in Neanderthal research. Neanderthal discourse is a vantage point from which the logic of 'us' versus 'other' is critically reconsidered. Studying contemporary academic literature and science autobiographies from an oblique perspective, focusing not on Neanderthals as objects, but on the dynamics of interaction between Neanderthal researchers and their finds, basic convictions at work in this type of research are retrieved. What is at issue is not the actual distinction between modern humans and Neanderthals (which is continuously being redefined), but rather the dualistic construction of human and nonhuman. Neanderthal understanding is affected by the desire to safeguard human uniqueness. The overall trend is to identify the human mark or spark, which defines us as favoured 'winners'. The paradoxes emerging in contemporary Neanderthal discourse are symptomatic of the fact that a dualistic style of thinking is no longer tenable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan Peeters
- Institute for Science in Society (ISiS), Radboud University Nijmegen, Huygens building - Heyendaalseweg 135, 6525 AJ, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
- Erasmus School of Philosophy (ESPhil), Erasmus University Rotterdam, Bayle building - Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Hub Zwart
- Erasmus School of Philosophy (ESPhil), Erasmus University Rotterdam, Bayle building - Burgemeester Oudlaan 50, 3062 PA, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
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Deforestation and world population sustainability: a quantitative analysis. Sci Rep 2020; 10:7631. [PMID: 32376879 PMCID: PMC7203172 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-63657-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2019] [Accepted: 04/02/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In this paper we afford a quantitative analysis of the sustainability of current world population growth in relation to the parallel deforestation process adopting a statistical point of view. We consider a simplified model based on a stochastic growth process driven by a continuous time random walk, which depicts the technological evolution of human kind, in conjunction with a deterministic generalised logistic model for humans-forest interaction and we evaluate the probability of avoiding the self-destruction of our civilisation. Based on the current resource consumption rates and best estimate of technological rate growth our study shows that we have very low probability, less than 10% in most optimistic estimate, to survive without facing a catastrophic collapse.
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Arntzen JW. An amphibian species pushed out of Britain by a moving hybrid zone. Mol Ecol 2019; 28:5145-5154. [PMID: 31643124 PMCID: PMC6900066 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15285] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2019] [Revised: 10/17/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Classical theory states that hybrid zones will be stable in troughs of low population density where dispersal is hampered. Yet, evidence for moving hybrid zones is mounting. One possible reason that moving zones have been underappreciated is that they may drive themselves into oblivion and with just the superseding species remaining, morphological and genetic signals of past species replacement may be difficult to appreciate. Using genetic data (32 diagnostic single nucleotide polymorphisms) from a clinal hybrid zone of the common toad (Bufo bufo) and the spined toad (Bufo spinosus) in France for comparison, alleles of the latter species were documented in common toads in the south of Great Britain, at frequencies in excess of 10%. Because long distance dispersal across the Channel is unlikely, the conclusion reached was that the continental toad hybrid zone which previously extended into Britain, moved southwards and extirpated B. spinosus. Species distribution models for the mid-Holocene and the present support that climate has locally changed in favour of B. bufo. The system bears resemblance with the demise of Homo neanderthalensis and the rise of Homo sapiens and provides an example that some paleoanthropologists demanded in support of a hominin "leaky replacement" scenario. The toad example is informative just because surviving pure B. spinosus and an extant slowly moving interspecific hybrid zone are available for comparison.
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Inbreeding, Allee effects and stochasticity might be sufficient to account for Neanderthal extinction. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0225117. [PMID: 31774843 PMCID: PMC6880983 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0225117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2019] [Accepted: 10/29/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The replacement of Neanderthals by Anatomically Modern Humans has typically been attributed to environmental pressure or a superiority of modern humans with respect to competition for resources. Here we present two independent models that suggest that no such heatedly debated factors might be needed to account for the demise of Neanderthals. Starting from the observation that Neanderthal populations already were small before the arrival of modern humans, the models implement three factors that conservation biology identifies as critical for a small population's persistence, namely inbreeding, Allee effects and stochasticity. Our results indicate that the disappearance of Neanderthals might have resided in the smallness of their population(s) alone: even if they had been identical to modern humans in their cognitive, social and cultural traits, and even in the absence of inter-specific competition, Neanderthals faced a considerable risk of extinction. Furthermore, we suggest that if modern humans contributed to the demise of Neanderthals, that contribution might have had nothing to do with resource competition, but rather with how the incoming populations geographically restructured the resident populations, in a way that reinforced Allee effects, and the effects of inbreeding and stochasticity.
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Disease transmission and introgression can explain the long-lasting contact zone of modern humans and Neanderthals. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5003. [PMID: 31676766 PMCID: PMC6825168 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-12862-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2019] [Accepted: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Neanderthals and modern humans both occupied the Levant for tens of thousands of years prior to the spread of modern humans into the rest of Eurasia and their replacement of the Neanderthals. That the inter-species boundary remained geographically localized for so long is a puzzle, particularly in light of the rapidity of its subsequent movement. Here, we propose that infectious-disease dynamics can explain the localization and persistence of the inter-species boundary. We further propose, and support with dynamical-systems models, that introgression-based transmission of alleles related to the immune system would have gradually diminished this barrier to pervasive inter-species interaction, leading to the eventual release of the inter-species boundary from its geographic localization. Asymmetries between the species in the characteristics of their associated ‘pathogen packages’ could have generated feedback that allowed modern humans to overcome disease burden earlier than Neanderthals, giving them an advantage in their subsequent spread into Eurasia. Modern humans and Neanderthals coexisted in the Levant for tens of thousands of years before modern humans spread and replaced Neanderthals. Here, Greenbaum et al. develop a model showing that transmission of disease and genes can explain the maintenance and then collapse of this contact zone.
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Shultz DR, Montrey M, Shultz TR. Comparing fitness and drift explanations of Neanderthal replacement. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 286:20190907. [PMID: 31185865 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2019.0907] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
There is a general consensus among archaeologists that replacement of Neanderthals by anatomically modern humans in Europe occurred around 40-35 ka. However, the causal mechanism for this replacement continues to be debated. Proposed models have featured either fitness advantages in favour of anatomically modern humans or invoked neutral drift under various preconditions. Searching for specific fitness advantages in the archaeological record has proven difficult, as these may be obscured, absent or subject to interpretation. To bridge this gap, we rigorously compare the system-level properties of fitness- and drift-based explanations of Neanderthal replacement. Our stochastic simulations and analytical predictions show that, although both fitness and drift can produce replacement, they present important differences in (i) required initial conditions, (ii) reliability, (iii) time to replacement, and (iv) path to replacement (population histories). These results present useful opportunities for comparison with archaeological and genetic data. We find greater agreement between the available empirical evidence and the system-level properties of replacement by differential fitness, rather than by neutral drift.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel R Shultz
- 1 Department of Anthropology, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec , Canada.,2 Department of History, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec , Canada
| | - Marcel Montrey
- 3 Department of Psychology, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec , Canada
| | - Thomas R Shultz
- 3 Department of Psychology, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec , Canada.,4 School of Computer Science, McGill University , Montreal, Quebec , Canada
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11
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Abstract
Hominin evolution is characterized by progressive regional differentiation, as well as migration waves, leading to anatomically modern humans that are assumed to have emerged in Africa and spread over the whole world. Why or whether Africa was the source region of modern humans and what caused their spread remains subject of ongoing debate. We present a spatially explicit, stochastic numerical model that includes ongoing mutations, demic diffusion, assortative mating and migration waves. Diffusion and assortative mating alone result in a structured population with relatively homogeneous regions bound by sharp clines. The addition of migration waves results in a power-law distribution of wave areas: for every large wave, many more small waves are expected to occur. This suggests that one or more out-of-Africa migrations would probably have been accompanied by numerous smaller migration waves across the world. The migration waves are considered "spontaneous", as the current model excludes environmental or other extrinsic factors. Large waves preferentially emanate from the central areas of large, compact inhabited areas. During the Pleistocene, Africa was the largest such area most of the time, making Africa the statistically most likely origin of anatomically modern humans, without a need to invoke additional environmental or ecological drivers.
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12
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Ríos L, Kivell TL, Lalueza-Fox C, Estalrrich A, García-Tabernero A, Huguet R, Quintino Y, de la Rasilla M, Rosas A. Skeletal Anomalies in The Neandertal Family of El Sidrón (Spain) Support A Role of Inbreeding in Neandertal Extinction. Sci Rep 2019; 9:1697. [PMID: 30737446 PMCID: PMC6368597 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-38571-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2018] [Accepted: 12/31/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Neandertals disappeared from the fossil record around 40,000 bp, after a demographic history of small and isolated groups with high but variable levels of inbreeding, and episodes of interbreeding with other Paleolithic hominins. It is reasonable to expect that high levels of endogamy could be expressed in the skeleton of at least some Neandertal groups. Genetic studies indicate that the 13 individuals from the site of El Sidrón, Spain, dated around 49,000 bp, constituted a closely related kin group, making these Neandertals an appropriate case study for the observation of skeletal signs of inbreeding. We present the complete study of the 1674 identified skeletal specimens from El Sidrón. Altogether, 17 congenital anomalies were observed (narrowing of the internal nasal fossa, retained deciduous canine, clefts of the first cervical vertebra, unilateral hypoplasia of the second cervical vertebra, clefting of the twelfth thoracic vertebra, diminutive thoracic or lumbar rib, os centrale carpi and bipartite scaphoid, tripartite patella, left foot anomaly and cuboid-navicular coalition), with at least four individuals presenting congenital conditions (clefts of the first cervical vertebra). At 49,000 years ago, the Neandertals from El Sidrón, with genetic and skeletal evidence of inbreeding, could be representative of the beginning of the demographic collapse of this hominin phenotype.
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Affiliation(s)
- L Ríos
- Department of Physical Anthropology, Aranzadi Zientzia Elkartea, Zorroagagaina 11, 20014, Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Spain.
| | - T L Kivell
- Skeletal Biology Research Centre, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Marlowe Building, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany
| | - C Lalueza-Fox
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), Carrer Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003, Barcelona, Spain
| | - A Estalrrich
- Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria IIIPC (Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Gobierno de Cantabria), Avda. de los Castros 52, 39005, Santander, Cantabria, Spain
| | - A García-Tabernero
- Paleoanthropology Group, Department of Paleobiology. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain
| | - R Huguet
- IPHES, Institut Catala de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain.,Area de Prehistoria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avda. Catalunya 35, 43002, Tarragona, Spain.,Unidad asociada al CSIC, Departamento de Paleobiología, Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Calle José Gutierrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain
| | - Y Quintino
- Laboratorio de Evolución Humana, Dpto. de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, Edificio I+D+i, Plaza Misael Bañuelos s/n, 09001, Burgos, Spain
| | - M de la Rasilla
- Área de Prehistoria Departamento de Historia, Universidad de Oviedo, Calle Teniente Alfonso Martínez s/n, 33011, Oviedo, Spain
| | - A Rosas
- Paleoanthropology Group, Department of Paleobiology. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales (MNCN-CSIC), José Gutiérrez Abascal 2, 28006, Madrid, Spain.
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13
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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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