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Kandel AW, Sommer C, Kanaeva Z, Bolus M, Bruch AA, Groth C, Haidle MN, Hertler C, Heß J, Malina M, Märker M, Hochschild V, Mosbrugger V, Schrenk F, Conard NJ. The ROCEEH Out of Africa Database (ROAD): A large-scale research database serves as an indispensable tool for human evolutionary studies. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0289513. [PMID: 37527270 PMCID: PMC10393170 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0289513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Large scale databases are critical for helping scientists decipher long-term patterns in human evolution. This paper describes the conception and development of such a research database and illustrates how big data can be harnessed to formulate new ideas about the past. The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans (ROCEEH) is a transdisciplinary research center whose aim is to study the origins of culture and the multifaceted aspects of human expansions across Africa and Eurasia over the last three million years. To support its research, the ROCEEH team developed an online tool named the ROCEEH Out of Africa Database (ROAD) and implemented its web-based applications. ROAD integrates geographical data as well as archaeological, paleoanthropological, paleontological and paleobotanical content within a robust chronological framework. In fact, a unique feature of ROAD is its ability to dynamically link scientific data both spatially and temporally, thereby allowing its reuse in ways that were not originally conceived. The data stem from published sources spanning the last 150 years, including those generated by the research team. Descriptions of these data rely on the development of a standardized vocabulary and profit from online explanations of each table and attribute. By synthesizing legacy data, ROAD facilitates the reuse of heritage data in novel ways. Database queries yield structured information in a variety of interoperable formats. By visualizing data on maps, users can explore this vast dataset and develop their own theories. By downloading data, users can conduct further quantitative analyses, for example with Geographic Information Systems, modeling programs and artificial intelligence. In this paper, we demonstrate the innovative nature of ROAD and show how it helps scientists studying human evolution to access datasets from different fields, thereby connecting the social and natural sciences. Because it permits the reuse of "old" data in new ways, ROAD is now an indispensable tool for researchers of human evolution and paleogeography.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew W Kandel
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Christian Sommer
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Zara Kanaeva
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Michael Bolus
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Tübingen, Germany
- Department of Geosciences, Working Group Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Angela A Bruch
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Claudia Groth
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Miriam N Haidle
- Department of Geosciences, Working Group Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Christine Hertler
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Julia Heß
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Maria Malina
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Michael Märker
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Working Group on "Soil Erosion and Feedbacks", Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), Müncheberg, Germany
| | - Volker Hochschild
- Institute of Geography, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Volker Mosbrugger
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Friedemann Schrenk
- The Role of Culture in Early Expansions of Humans, Senckenberg Forschungsinstitut, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities, Frankfurt/Main, Germany
| | - Nicholas J Conard
- Department of Geosciences, Working Group Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Scerri EML, Will M. The revolution that still isn't: The origins of behavioral complexity in Homo sapiens. J Hum Evol 2023; 179:103358. [PMID: 37058868 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2022] [Revised: 03/13/2023] [Accepted: 03/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/16/2023]
Abstract
The behavioral origins of Homo sapiens can be traced back to the first material culture produced by our species in Africa, the Middle Stone Age (MSA). Beyond this broad consensus, the origins, patterns, and causes of behavioral complexity in modern humans remain debated. Here, we consider whether recent findings continue to support popular scenarios of: (1) a modern human 'package,' (2) a gradual and 'pan-African' emergence of behavioral complexity, and (3) a direct connection to changes in the human brain. Our geographically structured review shows that decades of scientific research have continuously failed to find a discrete threshold for a complete 'modernity package' and that the concept is theoretically obsolete. Instead of a continent-wide, gradual accumulation of complex material culture, the record exhibits a predominantly asynchronous presence and duration of many innovations across different regions of Africa. The emerging pattern of behavioral complexity from the MSA conforms to an intricate mosaic characterized by spatially discrete, temporally variable, and historically contingent trajectories. This archaeological record bears no direct relation to a simplistic shift in the human brain but rather reflects similar cognitive capacities that are variably manifested. The interaction of multiple causal factors constitutes the most parsimonious explanation driving the variable expression of complex behaviors, with demographic processes such as population structure, size, and connectivity playing a key role. While much emphasis has been given to innovation and variability in the MSA record, long periods of stasis and a lack of cumulative developments argue further against a strictly gradualistic nature in the record. Instead, we are confronted with humanity's deep, variegated roots in Africa, and a dynamic metapopulation that took many millennia to reach the critical mass capable of producing the ratchet effect commonly used to define contemporary human culture. Finally, we note a weakening link between 'modern' human biology and behavior from around 300 ka ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleanor M L Scerri
- Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Geoanthropology, Kahlaische Str. 10, 07749, Jena, Germany; Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, Msida, MSD 2080, Malta; Department of Prehistory, University of Cologne, 50931, Cologne, Germany.
| | - Manuel Will
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, Burgsteige 11, 72070, Tübingen, Germany
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Way AM, de la Peña P, de la Peña E, Wadley L. Howiesons Poort backed artifacts provide evidence for social connectivity across southern Africa during the Final Pleistocene. Sci Rep 2022; 12:9227. [PMID: 35680943 PMCID: PMC9184481 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-12677-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/20/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Examining why human populations used specific technologies in the Final Pleistocene is critical to understanding our evolutionary path. A key Final Pleistocene techno-tradition is the Howiesons Poort, which is marked by an increase in behavioral complexity and technological innovation. Central to this techno-tradition is the production of backed artifacts-small, sharp blades likely used as insets in composite tools. Although backed artifacts were manufactured for thousands of years before the Howiesons Poort, this period is marked by a phenomenal increase in their production. In this paper we test both social and environmental hypotheses to explain this phenomenon. We correlate environmental data with changing frequencies of backed artifact production at Sibudu and assess morphological similarity across seven sites in southern Africa. We find that these artifacts are made to a similar template across different regions and that their increased production correlates with multiple paleo-environmental proxies. When compared to an Australian outgroup, the backed artifacts from the seven southern African sites cluster within the larger shape space described by the Australian group. This leads us to argue that the observed standardized across southern Africa is related to cultural similarities and marks a strengthening of long-distance social ties during the MIS4.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amy M Way
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa.
- Geoscience and Archaeology, Australian Museum Research Institute, Australian Museum, Sydney, NSW, 2010, Australia.
- Department of Archaeology, School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia.
| | - Paloma de la Peña
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3ER, UK
- Center of Exploration of the Deep Human Journey, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa
| | - Eduardo de la Peña
- Department of Plants & Crops, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, 9000, Ghent, Belgium
- Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea "La Mayora (IHSM-UMA-CSIC), Estación Experimental "La Mayora", Málaga, Spain
| | - Lyn Wadley
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, PO Wits, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa
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Ancient DNA and deep population structure in sub-Saharan African foragers. Nature 2022; 603:290-296. [PMID: 35197631 PMCID: PMC8907066 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04430-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2021] [Accepted: 01/14/2022] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Multiple lines of genetic and archaeological evidence suggest that there were major demographic changes in the terminal Late Pleistocene epoch and early Holocene epoch of sub-Saharan Africa1–4. Inferences about this period are challenging to make because demographic shifts in the past 5,000 years have obscured the structures of more ancient populations3,5. Here we present genome-wide ancient DNA data for six individuals from eastern and south-central Africa spanning the past approximately 18,000 years (doubling the time depth of sub-Saharan African ancient DNA), increase the data quality for 15 previously published ancient individuals and analyse these alongside data from 13 other published ancient individuals. The ancestry of the individuals in our study area can be modelled as a geographically structured mixture of three highly divergent source populations, probably reflecting Pleistocene interactions around 80–20 thousand years ago, including deeply diverged eastern and southern African lineages, plus a previously unappreciated ubiquitous distribution of ancestry that occurs in highest proportion today in central African rainforest hunter-gatherers. Once established, this structure remained highly stable, with limited long-range gene flow. These results provide a new line of genetic evidence in support of hypotheses that have emerged from archaeological analyses but remain contested, suggesting increasing regionalization at the end of the Pleistocene epoch. DNA analysis of 6 individuals from eastern and south-central Africa spanning the past approximately 18,000 years, and of 28 previously published ancient individuals, provides genetic evidence supporting hypotheses of increasing regionalization at the end of the Pleistocene.
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Shipton C, Blinkhorn J, Archer W, Kourampas N, Roberts P, Prendergast ME, Curtis R, Herries AIR, Ndiema E, Boivin N, Petraglia MD. The Middle to Later Stone Age transition at Panga ya Saidi, in the tropical coastal forest of eastern Africa. J Hum Evol 2021; 153:102954. [PMID: 33714916 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.102954] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2019] [Revised: 01/18/2021] [Accepted: 01/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
The Middle to Later Stone Age transition is a critical period of human behavioral change that has been variously argued to pertain to the emergence of modern cognition, substantial population growth, and major dispersals of Homo sapiens within and beyond Africa. However, there is little consensus about when the transition occurred, the geographic patterning of its emergence, or even how it is manifested in the stone tool technology that is used to define it. Here, we examine a long sequence of lithic technological change at the cave site of Panga ya Saidi, Kenya, that spans the Middle and Later Stone Age and includes human occupations in each of the last five Marine Isotope Stages. In addition to the stone artifact technology, Panga ya Saidi preserves osseous and shell artifacts, enabling broader considerations of the covariation between different spheres of material culture. Several environmental proxies contextualize the artifactual record of human behavior at Panga ya Saidi. We compare technological change between the Middle and Later Stone Age with on-site paleoenvironmental manifestations of wider climatic fluctuations in the Late Pleistocene. The principal distinguishing feature of Middle from Later Stone Age technology at Panga ya Saidi is the preference for fine-grained stone, coupled with the creation of small flakes (miniaturization). Our review of the Middle to Later Stone Age transition elsewhere in eastern Africa and across the continent suggests that this broader distinction between the two periods is in fact widespread. We suggest that the Later Stone Age represents new short use-life and multicomponent ways of using stone tools, in which edge sharpness was prioritized over durability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ceri Shipton
- Institute of Archaeology, Gordon Square, University College London, London, WC1H 0PY, UK; Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2000, Australia.
| | - James Blinkhorn
- Department of Geography, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, TW20 0EX, UK; Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Will Archer
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Pl. 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa; Department of Archaeology, National Museum, Bloemfontein, 9300, South Africa
| | - Nikolaos Kourampas
- Centre for Open Learning, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK; Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, UK
| | - Patrick Roberts
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany
| | - Mary E Prendergast
- Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Saint Louis University, Avenida del Valle 34, Madrid, Spain; Department of Anthropology, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Richard Curtis
- The Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, Australia
| | - Andy I R Herries
- The Australian Archaeomagnetism Laboratory, Department of Archaeology and History, La Trobe University, Melbourne Campus, Bundoora, 3086, Australia; Palaeo-Research Institute, University of Johannesburg, Auckland Park, Gauteng, South Africa
| | - Emmanuel Ndiema
- Department of Earth Sciences, National Museum of Kenya, Museum Hill Road, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Nicole Boivin
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany; Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 600 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, D.C., USA; School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia; Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Calgary, 620 2500, University Drive NW, Calgary, Canada
| | - Michael D Petraglia
- Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745, Jena, Germany; Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, 600 Maryland Ave SW, Washington, D.C., USA; School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, 4072, Australia
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Shennan S, Sear R. Archaeology, demography and life history theory together can help us explain past and present population patterns. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20190711. [PMID: 33250034 PMCID: PMC7741108 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0711] [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] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Population matters. Demographic patterns are both a cause and a consequence of human behaviour in other important domains, such as subsistence, cooperation, politics and culture. Demographers interested in contemporary and recent historical populations have rich data at their fingertips; the importance of demography means many interested parties have gathered demographic data, much of which is now readily available for all to explore. Those interested in the demography of the distant past are not so fortunate, given the lack of written records. Nevertheless, the emergence in recent years of a new interest in the demography of ancient populations has seen the development of a range of new methods for piecing together archaeological, skeletal and DNA evidence to reconstruct past population patterns. These efforts have found evidence in support of the view that the relatively low long-term population growth rates of prehistoric human populations, albeit ultimately conditioned by carrying capacities, may have been owing to 'boom-bust' cycles at the regional level; rapid population growth, followed by population decline. In fact, this archaeological research may have come to the same conclusion as some contemporary demographers: that demography can be remarkably hard to predict, at least in the short term. It also fits with evidence from biology that primates, and particularly humans, may be adapted to environmental variability, leading to associated demographic stochasticity. This evidence of the fluctuating nature of human demographic patterns may be of considerable significance in understanding our species' evolution, and of understanding what our species future demographic trajectories might be. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cross-disciplinary approaches to prehistoric demography'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Shennan
- Department of Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Rebecca Sear
- Department of Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK
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French JC, Riris P, Fernandéz-López de Pablo J, Lozano S, Silva F. A manifesto for palaeodemography in the twenty-first century. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 376:20190707. [PMID: 33250019 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0707] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer C French
- Department of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Philip Riris
- Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | | | | | - Fabio Silva
- Institute for the Modelling of Socio-Environmental Transitions, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
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