1
|
O'Brien MJ, Valverde S, Duran-Nebreda S, Vidiella B, Bentley RA. Punctuated equilibrium at 50: Anything there for evolutionary anthropology? Yes; definitely. Evol Anthropol 2024; 33:e22009. [PMID: 37961949 DOI: 10.1002/evan.22009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/04/2023] [Revised: 09/05/2023] [Accepted: 10/02/2023] [Indexed: 11/15/2023]
Abstract
The theory of punctuated equilibrium (PE) was developed a little over 50 years ago to explain long-term, large-scale appearance and disappearance of species in the fossil record. A theory designed specifically for that purpose cannot be expected, out of the box, to be directly applicable to biocultural evolution, but in revised form, PE offers a promising approach to incorporating not only a wealth of recent empirical research on genetic, linguistic, and technological evolution but also large databases that document human biological and cultural diversity across time and space. Here we isolate the fundamental components of PE and propose which pieces, when reassembled or renamed, can be highly useful in evolutionary anthropology, especially as humanity faces abrupt ecological challenges on an increasingly larger scale.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael J O'Brien
- Department of History, Geography, and Philosophy and Department of Life Sciences, Texas A&M University, San Antonio, Texas, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, USA
| | - Sergi Valverde
- Evolution of Networks Lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
- European Centre for Living Technology (ECLT), Venezia, Italy
| | - Salva Duran-Nebreda
- Evolution of Networks Lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Blai Vidiella
- Evolution of Networks Lab, Institute of Evolutionary Biology (UPF-CSIC), Barcelona, Spain
| | - R Alexander Bentley
- Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
d'Errico F, van Niekerk KL, Geis L, Henshilwood CS. New Blombos Cave evidence supports a multistep evolutionary scenario for the culturalization of the human body. J Hum Evol 2023; 184:103438. [PMID: 37742522 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103438] [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: 12/22/2022] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/03/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
The emergence of technologies to culturally modify the appearance of the human body is a debated issue, with earliest evidence consisting of perforated marine shells dated between 140 and 60 ka at archaeological sites from Africa and western Asia. In this study, we submit unpublished marine and estuarine gastropods from Blombos Cave Middle Stone Age layers to taxonomic, taphonomic, technological, and use-wear analyses. We show that unperforated and naturally perforated eye-catching shells belonging to the species Semicassis zeylanica, Conus tinianus, and another Conus species, possibly Conus algoensis, were brought to the cave between 100 and 73 ka. At ca. 70 ka, a previously unrecorded marine gastropod, belonging to the species Tritia ovulata, was perforated by pecking and was worn as an ornamental object, isolated or in association with numerous intentionally perforated shells of the species Nassarius kraussianus. Fluctuations in sea level and consequent variations in the site-to-shoreline distances and landscape modifications during the Middle Stone Age have affected the availability of marine shells involved in symbolic practices. During the M3 and M2 Lower phases, with a sea level 50 m lower, the site was approximately 3.5 km away from the coast. In the later M2 Upper and M1 phases, with a sea level at -60 m, the distance increased to about 5.7 km. By the end of the M1 phase, when the site was abandoned, Blombos Cave was situated 18-30 km from the shoreline. We use the new Blombos evidence and a review of the latest findings from Africa and Eurasia to propose a testable ten-step evolutionary scenario for the culturalization of the human body with roots in the deep past.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Francesco d'Errico
- Univ. Bordeaux, UMR CNRS 5199, Bâtiment B2, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, F-33615, Pessac Cedex, France; SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
| | - Karen Loise van Niekerk
- SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Lila Geis
- Univ. Bordeaux, UMR CNRS 5199, Bâtiment B2, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, F-33615, Pessac Cedex, France
| | - Christopher Stuart Henshilwood
- SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Private Bag 3, Wits, 2050, South Africa
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Amiez C, Verstraete C, Sallet J, Hadj-Bouziane F, Ben Hamed S, Meguerditchian A, Procyk E, Wilson CRE, Petrides M, Sherwood CC, Hopkins WD. The relevance of the unique anatomy of the human prefrontal operculum to the emergence of speech. Commun Biol 2023; 6:693. [PMID: 37407769 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-023-05066-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Identifying the evolutionary origins of human speech remains a topic of intense scientific interest. Here we describe a unique feature of adult human neuroanatomy compared to chimpanzees and other primates that may provide an explanation of changes that occurred to enable the capacity for speech. That feature is the Prefrontal extent of the Frontal Operculum (PFOp) region, which is located in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, adjacent and ventromedial to the classical Broca's area. We also show that, in chimpanzees, individuals with the most human-like PFOp, particularly in the left hemisphere, have greater oro-facial and vocal motor control abilities. This critical discovery, when combined with recent paleontological evidence, suggests that the PFOp is a recently evolved feature of human cortical structure (perhaps limited to the genus Homo) that emerged in response to increasing selection for cognitive and motor functions evident in modern speech abilities.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Céline Amiez
- Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, U1208, Bron, France.
| | - Charles Verstraete
- Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, U1208, Bron, France
- Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière, Sorbonne Université, Inserm, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - Jérôme Sallet
- Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, U1208, Bron, France
- Wellcome Integrative Neuroimaging Centre, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3SR, UK
| | - Fadila Hadj-Bouziane
- Integrative Multisensory Perception Action & Cognition Team (ImpAct), INSERM U1028, CNRS UMR5292, Lyon Neuroscience Research Center (CRNL), Lyon, France
- University of Lyon 1, Lyon, France
| | - Suliann Ben Hamed
- Institut des Sciences Cognitives Marc Jeannerod, UMR5229, CNRS-Université Claude Bernard Lyon I, Bron, France
| | - Adrien Meguerditchian
- Laboratoire de Psychologie Cognitive, UMR7290, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, 13331, Marseille, France
- Station de Primatologie CNRS, UAR846, 13790, Rousset, France
- Institut Language, Communication and the Brain (ILCB), Aix-Marseille Université, 13604, Aix-en-Provence, France
| | - Emmanuel Procyk
- Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, U1208, Bron, France
| | - Charles R E Wilson
- Univ Lyon, Université Lyon 1, Inserm, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, U1208, Bron, France
| | - Michael Petrides
- Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery and Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
| | - Chet C Sherwood
- Department of Anthropology and Center for the Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - William D Hopkins
- Department of Comparative Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Bastrop, Texas, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Marquet JC, Freiesleben TH, Thomsen KJ, Murray AS, Calligaro M, Macaire JJ, Robert E, Lorblanchet M, Aubry T, Bayle G, Bréhéret JG, Camus H, Chareille P, Egels Y, Guillaud É, Guérin G, Gautret P, Liard M, O'Farrell M, Peyrouse JB, Thamó-Bozsó E, Verdin P, Wojtczak D, Oberlin C, Jaubert J. The earliest unambiguous Neanderthal engravings on cave walls: La Roche-Cotard, Loire Valley, France. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0286568. [PMID: 37343032 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0286568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/19/2023] [Indexed: 06/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Here we report on Neanderthal engravings on a cave wall at La Roche-Cotard (LRC) in central France, made more than 57±3 thousand years ago. Following human occupation, the cave was completely sealed by cold-period sediments, which prevented access until its discovery in the 19th century and first excavation in the early 20th century. The timing of the closure of the cave is based on 50 optically stimulated luminescence ages derived from sediment collected inside and from around the cave. The anthropogenic origin of the spatially-structured, non-figurative marks found within the cave is confirmed using taphonomic, traceological and experimental evidence. Cave closure occurred significantly before the regional arrival of H. sapiens, and all artefacts from within the cave are typical Mousterian lithics; in Western Europe these are uniquely attributed to H. neanderthalensis. We conclude that the LRC engravings are unambiguous examples of Neanderthal abstract design.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jean-Claude Marquet
- Unité mixte de recherche 7324, CItés, TERritoires, Environnement et Sociétés, Laboratoire Archéologie et Territoires, Université de Tours, Tours, France
- Equipe d'accueil 6293, GéoHydrosytèmes COntinentaux, Faculté des sciences et techniques, Université de Tours, Tours, France
| | | | | | - Andrew Sean Murray
- Department Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Roskilde, Denmark
- Nordic Laboratory for Luminescence Dating, Department of Geoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Morgane Calligaro
- Unité mixte de recherche Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique, Musée de l'Homme, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France
| | - Jean-Jacques Macaire
- Equipe d'accueil 6293, GéoHydrosytèmes COntinentaux, Faculté des sciences et techniques, Université de Tours, Tours, France
| | - Eric Robert
- Unité mixte de recherche Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique, Musée de l'Homme, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris, France
| | | | - Thierry Aubry
- Côa Parque, Fundação para a Salvaguarda e Valorização do Vale do Côa, Vila Nova de Foz Côa, Portugal
- Centro de Arqueologia Universidade de Lisboa, Facultade de Letras, Lisboa, Portugal
| | - Grégory Bayle
- Unité mixte de recherche 7324, CItés, TERritoires, Environnement et Sociétés, Laboratoire Archéologie et Territoires, Université de Tours, Tours, France
- Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives, Pantin, France
| | - Jean-Gabriel Bréhéret
- Equipe d'accueil 6293, GéoHydrosytèmes COntinentaux, Faculté des sciences et techniques, Université de Tours, Tours, France
| | - Hubert Camus
- PROTEE association, Villeneuve-les Maguelone, France
| | - Pascal Chareille
- Equipe d'accueil 6298, Centre Tourangeau d'Histoire et d'étude des Sources, Faculté des Arts et Sciences Humaines, Tours, France
| | - Yves Egels
- Ecole Nationale des Sciences Géographiques, Institut Géographique National, Marne la Vallée, France
| | - Émilie Guillaud
- Unité mixte de recherche 7209, Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements, Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique, Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
| | - Guillaume Guérin
- Unité mixte de recherche 6118, Géosciences Rennes, Université de Rennes, Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique, Rennes, France
| | - Pascale Gautret
- Unité mixte de recherche 7327, Institut des Sciences de la terre, Université d'Orléans, Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, Orléans, France
| | - Morgane Liard
- Laboratoire de Géographie Physique et Environnementale, Université Clermont-Auvergne, Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives, Clermont-Ferrand, France
| | - Magen O'Farrell
- Unité mixte de recherche 5199, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie, Université de Bordeaux, GPR Hman Past, Pessac, France
| | - Jean-Baptiste Peyrouse
- Unité mixte de recherche 7041, équipe Archéologies Environnementales, Archéologie et Sciences de l'Antiquité, Nanterre, France
| | | | - Pascal Verdin
- Unité mixte de recherche 7264, Gestion des REssources Naturelles, Environnements et Sociétés, Cultures et Environnements: Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-Age, Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique, Nice, France
- Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives, Nîmes, France
| | - Dorota Wojtczak
- Integrative Prehistory and Archaeological Science, University of Basel, Basel, Suisse
| | - Christine Oberlin
- Centre de Datation par le RadioCarbone, Unité mixte de recherche 5138 Archéologie et Archéométrie, Villeurbanne, France Centre national de la Recherche Scientifique, Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Université Lumière Lyon 2, Villeurbanne, France
| | - Jacques Jaubert
- Unité mixte de recherche 5199, De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture, Environnement et Anthropologie, Université de Bordeaux, GPR Hman Past, Pessac, France
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Rigaud S, Rybin EP, Khatsenovich AM, Queffelec A, Paine CH, Gunchinsuren B, Talamo S, Marchenko DV, Bolorbat T, Odsuren D, Gillam JC, Izuho M, Fedorchenko AY, Odgerel D, Shelepaev R, Hublin JJ, Zwyns N. Symbolic innovation at the onset of the Upper Paleolithic in Eurasia shown by the personal ornaments from Tolbor-21 (Mongolia). Sci Rep 2023; 13:9545. [PMID: 37308668 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-36140-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2023] [Accepted: 05/30/2023] [Indexed: 06/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Figurative depictions in art first occur ca. 50,000 years ago in Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. Considered by most as an advanced form of symbolic behavior, they are restricted to our species. Here, we report a piece of ornament interpreted as a phallus-like representation. It was found in a 42,000 ca.-year-old Upper Paleolithic archaeological layer at the open-air archaeological site of Tolbor-21, in Mongolia. Mineralogical, microscopic, and rugosimetric analyses points toward the allochthonous origin of the pendant and a complex functional history. Three-dimensional phallic pendants are unknown in the Paleolithic record, and this discovery predates the earliest known sexed anthropomorphic representation. It attests that hunter-gatherer communities used sex anatomical attributes as symbols at a very early stage of their dispersal in the region. The pendant was produced during a period that overlaps with age estimates for early introgression events between Homo sapiens and Denisovans, and in a region where such encounters are plausible.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Solange Rigaud
- CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, UMR5199 PACEA Bâtiment B2 Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, 33615, Pessac, France.
| | - Evgeny P Rybin
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 17 Lavrentiev Ave., Novosibirsk, Russia, 630090.
| | - Arina M Khatsenovich
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 17 Lavrentiev Ave., Novosibirsk, Russia, 630090
| | - Alain Queffelec
- CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, UMR5199 PACEA Bâtiment B2 Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, 33615, Pessac, France
| | - Clea H Paine
- Archaeology Institute, University of the Highlands and Islands, Kirkwall, UK
| | - Byambaa Gunchinsuren
- Institute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Peace Avenue, Ulaanbaatar, 13330, Mongolia
| | - Sahra Talamo
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Chemistry "G. Ciamician", University of Bologna, Via Selmi, 2, 40126, Bologna, Italy
| | - Daria V Marchenko
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 17 Lavrentiev Ave., Novosibirsk, Russia, 630090
| | - Tsedendorj Bolorbat
- Institute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Peace Avenue, Ulaanbaatar, 13330, Mongolia
| | - Davaakhuu Odsuren
- Institute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, Peace Avenue, Ulaanbaatar, 13330, Mongolia
| | | | - Masami Izuho
- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0397, Japan
| | - Alexander Yu Fedorchenko
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, 17 Lavrentiev Ave., Novosibirsk, Russia, 630090
| | | | - Roman Shelepaev
- V.S. Sobolev's Institute of Geology and Mineralogy, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Science, Ak. Koptyug Avenue 3, Novosibirsk, Russia, 630090
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, Collège de France, 75005, Paris, France
| | - Nicolas Zwyns
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Anthropology, University of California-Davis, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Weber GW. Quantum Leaps in Human Biocultural Evolution and the Relationship to Cranial Capacity. Life (Basel) 2023; 13:life13041030. [PMID: 37109559 PMCID: PMC10145355 DOI: 10.3390/life13041030] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2023] [Accepted: 04/13/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023] Open
Abstract
The evolution of the genus Homo can only be understood by considering both of the inheritance systems that interact to shape human nature: biology and culture. While growing intellectual abilities are a key factor of human evolution, they are rarely contrasted with cultural progress. Cranial capacity data of 193 hominin fossils from the last seven million years and artefacts of increasing number and complexity in the archaeological record are used to demonstrate the concordant progression of brain-size increase and cultural development, starting approximately two million years ago. Our biocultural evolution shows a number of quantum leaps along the time axis applying to both domains. At first, humans left the canonical evolutionary pathway, which pertains to all other organisms, by enhancing their fitness using sophisticated tools and fire; secondly, they turned into a symbolic species; and finally, humanity now faces a new challenge: "intentional evolution". Chronologically, these quantum leaps correspond to cranial capacity data used here as a proxy for cognitive performance. This contribution tries to demonstrate this parallel development and argues for a simple and generalized model of human biocultural evolution. An extrapolation of the model into the future shows that humans, as biological entities, will not necessarily persist.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gerhard W Weber
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
- Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences (HEAS), University of Vienna, 1030 Vienna, Austria
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Langley MC, Suddendorf T. Archaeological evidence for thinking about possibilities in hominin evolution. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210350. [PMID: 36314159 PMCID: PMC9620754 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0350] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2022] [Indexed: 09/27/2023] Open
Abstract
The emergence of the ability to think about future possibilities must have played an influential role in human evolution, driving a range of foresightful behaviours, including preparation, communication and technological innovation. Here we review the archeological evidence for such behavioural indicators of foresight. We find the earliest signs of hominins retaining tools and transporting materials for repeated future use emerging from around 1.8 Ma. From about 0.5 Ma onwards, there are indications of technical and social changes reflecting advances in foresight. And in a third period, starting from around 140 000 years ago, hominins appear to have increasingly relied on material culture to shape the future and to exchange their ideas about possibilities. Visible signs of storytelling, even about entirely fictional scenarios, appear over the last 50 000 years. Although the current evidence suggests that there were distinct transitions in the evolution of our capacity to think about the future, we warn that issues of taphonomy and archaeological sampling are likely to skew our picture of human cognitive evolution. This article is part of the theme issue 'Thinking about possibilities: mechanisms, ontogeny, functions and phylogeny'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michelle C. Langley
- Australian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith University, Brisbane, 4111 Queensland, Australia
- Archaeology, School of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Brisbane, 4111 Queensland, Australia
| | - Thomas Suddendorf
- School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, 4072 Queensland, Australia
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Deschamps M, Martín-Lerma I, Linares-Matás G, Zilhão J. Organization of residential space, site function variability, and seasonality of activities among MIS 5 Iberian Neandertals. Sci Rep 2022; 12:20221. [PMID: 36418334 PMCID: PMC9684422 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24430-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Accepted: 11/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Whether ethnoarcheological models of hunter-gatherer mobility, landscape use, and structuration of the inhabited space are relevant to the archeology of Neandertals and the Middle Paleolithic remains controversial. The thin lenses of hearth-associated stone tools and faunal remains excavated in sub-complex AS5 of Cueva Antón (Murcia, Spain) significantly advance these debates. Dated to 77.8-85.1 ka, these living floors are interstratified in river-accumulated sands and were buried shortly after abandonment by low-energy inundation events, with minimal disturbance and negligible palimpsest formation. Stone tools were made and ergonomically modified to fit tasks; their spatial distributions and use-wear reveal hearth-focused activities and a division of the inhabited space into resting and working areas. Site function varied with season of the year: units III-i/j1 and III-i/j2-3 record winter visits focused on filleting and hide processing, while woodworking predominated in unit III-b/d, which subsumes visits to the site over the course of at least one winter, one spring, and one summer. These snapshots of Neandertal behavior match expectations derived from the ethnographic and Upper Paleolithic records for the lifeways of hunter-gatherers inhabiting temperate regions with a markedly seasonal climate.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marianne Deschamps
- grid.9983.b0000 0001 2181 4263UNIARQ, Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisbon, Portugal ,UMR 5608-TRACES, Maison de la recherche, 5 allées Antonio Machado, 31058 Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - Ignacio Martín-Lerma
- grid.10586.3a0000 0001 2287 8496Área de Prehistoria, Facultad de Letras, Universidad de Murcia, Calle Santo Cristo, 1, 30001 Murcia, Spain
| | - Gonzalo Linares-Matás
- grid.4991.50000 0004 1936 8948St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford, St. Margaret’s Road, Oxford, OX2 6LE UK ,grid.5335.00000000121885934Present Address: Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge, St Andrew’s Street, Cambridge, CB2 3AP UK
| | - João Zilhão
- grid.9983.b0000 0001 2181 4263UNIARQ, Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisbon, Portugal ,grid.425902.80000 0000 9601 989XICREA, Passeig de Lluís Companys, 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain ,grid.5841.80000 0004 1937 0247Department of History and Archaeology, University of Barcelona, Carrer de Montalegre, 6-8, 08001 Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Abstract
Paleoproteomics, the study of ancient proteins, is a rapidly growing field at the intersection of molecular biology, paleontology, archaeology, paleoecology, and history. Paleoproteomics research leverages the longevity and diversity of proteins to explore fundamental questions about the past. While its origins predate the characterization of DNA, it was only with the advent of soft ionization mass spectrometry that the study of ancient proteins became truly feasible. Technological gains over the past 20 years have allowed increasing opportunities to better understand preservation, degradation, and recovery of the rich bioarchive of ancient proteins found in the archaeological and paleontological records. Growing from a handful of studies in the 1990s on individual highly abundant ancient proteins, paleoproteomics today is an expanding field with diverse applications ranging from the taxonomic identification of highly fragmented bones and shells and the phylogenetic resolution of extinct species to the exploration of past cuisines from dental calculus and pottery food crusts and the characterization of past diseases. More broadly, these studies have opened new doors in understanding past human-animal interactions, the reconstruction of past environments and environmental changes, the expansion of the hominin fossil record through large scale screening of nondiagnostic bone fragments, and the phylogenetic resolution of the vertebrate fossil record. Even with these advances, much of the ancient proteomic record still remains unexplored. Here we provide an overview of the history of the field, a summary of the major methods and applications currently in use, and a critical evaluation of current challenges. We conclude by looking to the future, for which innovative solutions and emerging technology will play an important role in enabling us to access the still unexplored "dark" proteome, allowing for a fuller understanding of the role ancient proteins can play in the interpretation of the past.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Christina Warinner
- Department
of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Kristine Korzow Richter
- Department
of Anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
| | - Matthew J. Collins
- Department
of Archaeology, Cambridge University, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, United Kingdom
- Section
for Evolutionary Genomics, Globe Institute,
University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen 1350, Denmark
| |
Collapse
|
10
|
Pop CM, Wilson L, Browne CL. Evaluating landscape knowledge and lithic resource selection at the French Middle Paleolithic site of the Bau de l'Aubesier. J Hum Evol 2022; 166:103152. [PMID: 35338861 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2022.103152] [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: 02/16/2021] [Revised: 01/05/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2022] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Abstract
We report on the application of a novel approach to exploring the degree of landscape knowledge, wayfinding abilities, and the nature of decision-making processes reflected in the utilization of stone resources in the French Middle Paleolithic. Specifically, we use data from the site of the Bau de l'Aubesier to explore the reasons why a majority of the 350 raw material sources cataloged in the surrounding region appear not to have been utilized, including several located near the site and yielding high-quality lithic materials. To this end, we focus on the spatial relationships between sources as an explanatory variable, operationalized in terms of minimum travel times. Using geographic information system software and a generalized linear model of resource selection derived from the Bau assemblages, we compute source utilization probabilities from the perspective of hominins located off-site. We do so under three optimization scenarios, factoring in the intrinsic characteristics (e.g., quality) and time required to reach each source on the way to the Bau. More generally, we find that in slightly more than 50% of cases, seemingly viable sources may have been ignored simply because the minimum cost path leading back to the Bau passes through or requires only minimal deviations to reach, higher quality options. More generally, we found that throughout the entire region, a cost/benefit analysis of competing sources favors those from source areas known to have been utilized. Virtually all the available information on lithic procurement at the Bau is consistent with a model of landscape utilization premised on detailed knowledge of a very large area, an ability to accurately estimate travel times between locations, and a pragmatic strategy of stone resource exploitation based on minimizing costs (travel and search times) and maximizing utility.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Cornel Marian Pop
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany; Department of Anthropology and Sociology, Columbia College, 438 Terminal Avenue, Vancouver, B.C., V6A 0C1, Canada.
| | - Lucy Wilson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Brunswick, 100 Tucker Park Road, Saint John, N.B., E2L 4L5, Canada
| | - Constance L Browne
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of New Brunswick, 100 Tucker Park Road, Saint John, N.B., E2L 4L5, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Valentova JV, Mafra AL, Varella MAC. Enhancing the Evolutionary Science of Self-Presentation Modification. ARCHIVES OF SEXUAL BEHAVIOR 2022; 51:79-84. [PMID: 33738591 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-021-01975-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2021] [Revised: 02/27/2021] [Accepted: 03/01/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Jaroslava Varella Valentova
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo, Avenida Professor Mello de Morais, 1721 - Butantã, São Paulo, SP, 05508-030, Brazil.
| | - Anthonieta Looman Mafra
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo, Avenida Professor Mello de Morais, 1721 - Butantã, São Paulo, SP, 05508-030, Brazil
| | - Marco Antonio Correa Varella
- Department of Experimental Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of São Paulo, Avenida Professor Mello de Morais, 1721 - Butantã, São Paulo, SP, 05508-030, Brazil
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Reconstructing Neanderthal diet: The case for carbohydrates. J Hum Evol 2021; 162:103105. [PMID: 34923240 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103105] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2021] [Revised: 10/19/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Evidence for plants rarely survives on Paleolithic sites, while animal bones and biomolecular analyses suggest animal produce was important to hominin populations, leading to the perspective that Neanderthals had a very-high-protein diet. But although individual and short-term survival is possible on a relatively low-carbohydrate diet, populations are unlikely to have thrived and reproduced without plants and the carbohydrates they provide. Today, nutritional guidelines recommend that around half the diet should be carbohydrate, while low intake is considered to compromise physical performance and successful reproduction. This is likely to have been the same for Paleolithic populations, highlighting an anomaly in that the basic physiological recommendations do not match the extensive archaeological evidence. Neanderthals had large, energy-expensive brains and led physically active lifestyles, suggesting that for optimal health they would have required high amounts of carbohydrates. To address this anomaly, we begin by outlining the essential role of carbohydrates in the human reproduction cycle and the brain and the effects on physical performance. We then evaluate the evidence for resource availability and the archaeological evidence for Neanderthal diet and investigate three ways that the anomaly between the archaeological evidence and the hypothetical dietary requirements might be explained. First, Neanderthals may have had an as yet unidentified genetic adaptation to an alternative physiological method to spare blood glucose and glycogen reserves for essential purposes. Second, they may have existed on a less-than-optimum diet and survived rather than thrived. Third, the methods used in dietary reconstruction could mask a complex combination of dietary plant and animal proportions. We end by proposing that analyses of Paleolithic diet and subsistence strategies need to be grounded in the minimum recommendations throughout the life course and that this provides a context for interpretation of the archaeological evidence from the behavioral and environmental perspectives.
Collapse
|
13
|
Conde-Valverde M, Martínez I, Quam RM, Rosa M, Velez AD, Lorenzo C, Jarabo P, Bermúdez de Castro JM, Carbonell E, Arsuaga JL. Neanderthals and Homo sapiens had similar auditory and speech capacities. Nat Ecol Evol 2021; 5:609-615. [PMID: 33649543 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-021-01391-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
The study of audition in fossil hominins is of great interest given its relationship with intraspecific vocal communication. While the auditory capacities have been studied in early hominins and in the Middle Pleistocene Sima de los Huesos hominins, less is known about the hearing abilities of the Neanderthals. Here, we provide a detailed approach to their auditory capacities. Relying on computerized tomography scans and a comprehensive model from the field of auditory bioengineering, we have established sound power transmission through the outer and middle ear and calculated the occupied bandwidth in Neanderthals. The occupied bandwidth is directly related to the efficiency of the vocal communication system of a species. Our results show that the occupied bandwidth of Neanderthals was greater than the Sima de los Huesos hominins and similar to extant humans, implying that Neanderthals evolved the auditory capacities to support a vocal communication system as efficient as modern human speech.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mercedes Conde-Valverde
- Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain.
| | - Ignacio Martínez
- Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain.,Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Rolf M Quam
- Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain.,Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain.,Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, NY, USA.,Division of Anthropology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY, USA
| | - Manuel Rosa
- Cátedra de Otoacústica Evolutiva y Paleoantropología (HM Hospitales-Universidad de Alcalá), Departamento de Ciencias de la Vida, Universidad de Alcalá, Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Teoría de la Señal y Comunicaciones, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - Alex D Velez
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, NY, USA
| | - Carlos Lorenzo
- Àrea de Prehistòria, Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.,Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Pilar Jarabo
- Departamento de Teoría de la Señal y Comunicaciones, Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad de Alcalá, Alcalá de Henares, Spain
| | - José María Bermúdez de Castro
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain.,Anthropology Department, University College London, London, UK
| | - Eudald Carbonell
- Àrea de Prehistòria, Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.,Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Tarragona, Spain.,Departamento de Historia, Geografía y Comunicación, Universidad de Burgos, Burgos, Spain
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto (UCM-ISCIII) de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Geodinámica, Estratigrafía y Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
SAITO A. ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE ARTISTIC MIND: FROM EVOLUTIONARY AND DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVES. PSYCHOLOGIA 2021. [DOI: 10.2117/psysoc.2021-b018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
|
15
|
Shimelmitz R, Groman-Yaroslavski I, Weinstein-Evron M, Rosenberg D. A Middle Pleistocene abrading tool from Tabun Cave, Israel: A search for the roots of abrading technology in human evolution. J Hum Evol 2020; 150:102909. [PMID: 33276308 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2020] [Revised: 10/27/2020] [Accepted: 10/27/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
During the reanalysis of the finds from Jelinek's and Ronen's excavations at Tabun Cave, Israel, we encountered a cobble bearing traces of mechanical alterations similar to those recorded on grinding tools. However, the artifact derives from the early layers of the Acheulo-Yabrudian complex of the late Lower Paleolithic (ca. 350 ka), a time with no evidence for grinding or abrasion. Accordingly, we sought to determine whether the traces on the artifact can be attributed to purposeful human action. We conducted a detailed use-wear analysis of the cobble and implemented an experimental program, gaining positive results for the hypothesis of purposeful human practice. We argue that the significance and novelty of early abrading technology is that it marks a new mode of raw material manipulation-one that is categorically different from other modes of tool use observed among earlier hominins or other primates and animals. Throughout the Early Pleistocene, use of stone tools was associated with vertical motions (battering, pounding, striking) or with the application of a thin or narrow working edge, leveled at cutting or scraping. Conversely, abrading consists in applying a wide working surface in a continuous sequence of horizontal motions, geared to modify or reduce the surfaces of a targeted material. The emergence of this technology joins additional behavioral changes recently identified and attributed to the Middle Pleistocene, illustrating the growing and diversifying capabilities of early hominins to harness technology to shape their environment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ron Shimelmitz
- Laboratory of Prehistoric Research, The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel.
| | - Iris Groman-Yaroslavski
- The Use-Wear Analysis Laboratory, The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
| | - Mina Weinstein-Evron
- Laboratory of Prehistoric Research, The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 199 Aba Khoushy Ave., Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498838, Israel
| | - Danny Rosenberg
- Laboratory for Ground Stone Tools Research, The Zinman Institute of Archaeology, University of Haifa, 199 Abba Khousy Ave. Mount Carmel, Haifa, 3498898, Israel
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Inada H, Hosoya T, Okazaki Y, Arakawa Y, Takaishi T, Hashimoto H. Drastic enhancement of mechanical strength and thermostability of bright yellowish-red hematite/alumina composites having a unique disk-like structure via silica coating. Ann Ital Chir 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2020.05.064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
|
17
|
Velliky EC, Schmidt P, Bellot-Gurlet L, Wolf S, Conard NJ. Early anthropogenic use of hematite on Aurignacian ivory personal ornaments from Hohle Fels and Vogelherd caves, Germany. J Hum Evol 2020; 150:102900. [PMID: 33260040 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102900] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/06/2020] [Revised: 10/13/2020] [Accepted: 10/13/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
The Aurignacian (ca. 43-35 ka) of southwestern Germany is well known for yielding some of the oldest artifacts related to symbolic behaviors, including examples of figurative art, musical instruments, and personal ornaments. Another aspect of these behaviors is the presence of numerous pieces of iron oxide (ocher); however, these are comparatively understudied, likely owing to the lack of painted artifacts from this region and time period. Several Aurignacian-aged carved ivory personal ornaments from the sites of Hohle Fels and Vogelherd contain traces of what appear to be red ocher residues. We analyzed these beads using a combination of macroanalytical and microanalytical methods, including scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy. We found that the residue is composed of the iron oxide mineral hematite (Fe2O3). Further analyses on associated archaeological sediments by X-ray diffraction revealed the absence of hematite and other iron oxide mineral phases, suggesting that the hematite residues were intentionally applied to the ivory personal ornaments by human agents. These findings have important implications as they represent evidence for the direct application of ocher on portable symbolic objects by early Homo sapiens in Europe. Furthermore, our results reveal shared behavioral practices from two key Aurignacian sites maintained over several millennia and illuminate aspects of pigment use and symbolic practices during a pivotal time in the cultural evolution of humans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth C Velliky
- SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), Faculty of Humanities, University of Bergen, Øysteinsgate 3, Postboks 7805, 5020, Bergen, Norway; Archaeology/Centre for Rock-Art Research and Management, M257, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Education, School of Social Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia; Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany.
| | - Patrick Schmidt
- Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany; Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Geosciences, Applied Mineralogy, Wilhelmstraße 56, 72074, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Ludovic Bellot-Gurlet
- Sorbonne Université, CNRS, "de La Molécule Aux Nano-objets: Réactivité, Interactions et Spectroscopies", MONARIS, UMR 8233, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252, Paris Cedex 5, France
| | - Sibylle Wolf
- Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen, Germany
| | - Nicholas J Conard
- Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany; Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
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.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Breyl
- Germanistik, Komparatistik, Nordistik, Deutsch als Fremdsprache, Ludwig-Maximilians-University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Sakalauskaite J, Marin F, Pergolizzi B, Demarchi B. Shell palaeoproteomics: First application of peptide mass fingerprinting for the rapid identification of mollusc shells in archaeology. J Proteomics 2020; 227:103920. [PMID: 32712371 DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2020.103920] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/02/2020] [Revised: 07/12/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Molluscs were one of the most widely-used natural resources in the past, and their shells are abundant among archaeological findings. However, our knowledge of the variety of shells that were circulating in prehistoric times (and thus their socio-economic and cultural value) is scarce due to the difficulty of achieving taxonomic determination of fragmented and/or worked remains. This study aims to obtain molecular barcodes based on peptide mass fingerprints (PMFs) of intracrystalline proteins, in order to obtain shell identification. Palaeoproteomic applications on shells are challenging, due to low concentration of molluscan proteins and an incomplete understanding of their sequences. We explore different approaches for protein extraction from small-size samples (<20 mg), followed by MALDI-TOF-MS analysis. The SP3 (single-pot, solid-phase) sample preparation method was found to be the most successful in retrieving the intracrystalline protein fraction from seven molluscan shell taxa, which belong to different phylogenetic groups, possess distinct microstructures and are relevant for archaeology. Furthermore, all the shells analysed, including a 7000-year-old specimen of the freshwater bivalve Pseudunio, yielded good-quality distinctive spectra, demonstrating that PMFs can be used for shell taxon determination. Our work suggests good potential for large-scale screening of archaeological molluscan remains. SIGNIFICANCE: We characterise for the first time the peptide mass fingerprints of the intracrystalline shell protein fraction isolated from different molluscan taxa. We demonstrate that these proteins yield distinctive PMFs, even for shells that are phylogenetically related and/or that display similar microstructures. Furthermore, we extend the range of sample preparation approaches for "shellomics" by testing the SP3 method, which proved to be well-suited to shell protein extraction from small-size and protein-poor samples. This work thus lays the foundations for future large-scale applications for the identification of mollusc shells and other invertebrate remains from the archaeological and palaeontological records.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jorune Sakalauskaite
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin, Italy; Biogéosciences, UMR CNRS 6282, University of Burgundy-Franche-Comté, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France.
| | - Frédéric Marin
- Biogéosciences, UMR CNRS 6282, University of Burgundy-Franche-Comté, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France
| | - Barbara Pergolizzi
- Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Turin, AOU S. Luigi, 10043 Orbassano, TO, Italy
| | - Beatrice Demarchi
- Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin, Via Accademia Albertina 13, 10123 Turin, Italy.
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
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.
Collapse
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
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Hardy BL, Moncel MH, Kerfant C, Lebon M, Bellot-Gurlet L, Mélard N. Direct evidence of Neanderthal fibre technology and its cognitive and behavioral implications. Sci Rep 2020; 10:4889. [PMID: 32273518 PMCID: PMC7145842 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-61839-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2019] [Accepted: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Neanderthals are often considered as less technologically advanced than modern humans. However, we typically only find faunal remains or stone tools at Paleolithic sites. Perishable materials, comprising the vast majority of material culture items, are typically missing. Individual twisted fibres on stone tools from the Abri du Maras led to the hypothesis of Neanderthal string production in the past, but conclusive evidence was lacking. Here we show direct evidence of fibre technology in the form of a 3-ply cord fragment made from inner bark fibres on a stone tool recovered in situ from the same site. Twisted fibres provide the basis for clothing, rope, bags, nets, mats, boats, etc. which, once discovered, would have become an indispensable part of daily life. Understanding and use of twisted fibres implies the use of complex multi-component technology as well as a mathematical understanding of pairs, sets, and numbers. Added to recent evidence of birch bark tar, art, and shell beads, the idea that Neanderthals were cognitively inferior to modern humans is becoming increasingly untenable.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- B L Hardy
- Department of Anthropology, Kenyon College, Gambier, Ohio, USA.
| | - M-H Moncel
- Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique (HNHP), UMR 7194, Dept. Homme et Environnement du Muséum national d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, UPVD, Institut de Paleontologie Humaine-Musée de l'Homme, 75013, Paris, France
| | - C Kerfant
- Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Av. Catalunya 35, 43002, Tarragona, Spain.,IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, Zona Educacional 4 Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007, Tarragona, Spain
| | - M Lebon
- Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique (HNHP), UMR 7194, Dept. Homme et Environnement du Muséum national d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, UPVD, Institut de Paleontologie Humaine-Musée de l'Homme, 75013, Paris, France
| | - L Bellot-Gurlet
- 5 Sorbonne Université, CNRS, De la Molécule aux Nano-objets: Réactivité, Interactions et Spectroscopies (MONARIS), UMR 8233, 75005, Paris, France
| | - N Mélard
- Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France, C2MRF, Palais du Louvre, Paris, France
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Zilhão J, Angelucci DE, Igreja MA, Arnold LJ, Badal E, Callapez P, Cardoso JL, d'Errico F, Daura J, Demuro M, Deschamps M, Dupont C, Gabriel S, Hoffmann DL, Legoinha P, Matias H, Monge Soares AM, Nabais M, Portela P, Queffelec A, Rodrigues F, Souto P. Last Interglacial Iberian Neandertals as fisher-hunter-gatherers. Science 2020; 367:367/6485/eaaz7943. [PMID: 32217702 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaz7943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2019] [Accepted: 02/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
Marine food-reliant subsistence systems such as those in the African Middle Stone Age (MSA) were not thought to exist in Europe until the much later Mesolithic. Whether this apparent lag reflects taphonomic biases or behavioral distinctions between archaic and modern humans remains much debated. Figueira Brava cave, in the Arrábida range (Portugal), provides an exceptionally well preserved record of Neandertal coastal resource exploitation on a comparable scale to the MSA and dated to ~86 to 106 thousand years ago. The breadth of the subsistence base-pine nuts, marine invertebrates, fish, marine birds and mammals, tortoises, waterfowl, and hoofed game-exceeds that of regional early Holocene sites. Fisher-hunter-gatherer economies are not the preserve of anatomically modern people; by the Last Interglacial, they were in place across the Old World in the appropriate settings.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- J Zilhão
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain. .,Universitat de Barcelona, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, c/Montalegre 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - D E Angelucci
- Università degli Studi di Trento, Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia, via Tommaso Gar 14, 38122 Trento, Italy
| | - M Araújo Igreja
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Laboratório de Arqueociências (LARC), Direcção Geral do Património Cultural, Calçada do Mirante à Ajuda 10A, 1300-418 Lisboa, Portugal.,Environmental Archaeology Group, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (ENVARCH, CIBIO/InBIO), University of Oporto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
| | - L J Arnold
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - E Badal
- Universitat de València, Departament de Prehistòria, Arqueologia i Història Antiga, Av. Blasco Ibañez 28, 46010 València, Spain
| | - P Callapez
- Departamento de Ciências da Terra (CITEUC), Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra, Rua Sílvio Lima, 3030-790 Coimbra, Portugal
| | - J L Cardoso
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Universidade Aberta, Rua da Escola Politécnica 147, 1269-001 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - F d'Errico
- CNRS (UMR 5199-PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Bât. B18, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615 Pessac Cedex, France.,SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), Sydnesplassen 12/13, 4 Etage, Postboks 7805, 5020 University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - J Daura
- Universitat de Barcelona, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Facultat de Geografia i Història, c/Montalegre 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - M Demuro
- Environment Institute and Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS), Department of Earth Sciences, School of Physical Sciences, University of Adelaide, North Terrace Campus, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia
| | - M Deschamps
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 5608-TRACES, Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès, Maison de la Recherche, 5 allées Antonio Machado, 31058 Toulouse cedex 9, France
| | - C Dupont
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, UMR 6566-CReAAH, Laboratoire Archéosciences, Bât. 24-25, Université de Rennes 1-Campus de Beaulieu, 35042 Rennes Cedex, France
| | - S Gabriel
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Laboratório de Arqueociências (LARC), Direcção Geral do Património Cultural, Calçada do Mirante à Ajuda 10A, 1300-418 Lisboa, Portugal.,Environmental Archaeology Group, Research Center in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources (ENVARCH, CIBIO/InBIO), University of Oporto, Rua Padre Armando Quintas 7, 4485-661 Vairão, Portugal
| | - D L Hoffmann
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.,Geoscience Center, Isotope Geology Division, University of Göttingen, Goldschmidtstrasse 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - P Legoinha
- Geobiotec, Departamento de Ciências da Terra, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2829-516 Caparica, Portugal
| | - H Matias
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - A M Monge Soares
- Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada Nacional 10, 2695-066 Bobadela, Portugal
| | - M Nabais
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal.,Institute of Archaeology, University College London, 31-34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY, UK
| | - P Portela
- Centro de Ciências e Tecnologias Nucleares (C2TN), Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Estrada Nacional 10, 2695-066 Bobadela, Portugal
| | - A Queffelec
- CNRS (UMR 5199-PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Bât. B18, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, CS 50023, 33615 Pessac Cedex, France
| | - F Rodrigues
- Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras de Lisboa, Universidade de Lisboa, Alameda da Universidade, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - P Souto
- Sociedade Torrejana de Espeleologia e Arqueologia, Quinta da Lezíria, 2350-510, Torres Novas, Portugal
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Hashimoto H, Kiyohara J, Isozaki A, Arakawa Y, Fujii T, Takada J, Inada H, Takaishi T, Asoh H. Bright Yellowish-Red Pigment Based on Hematite/Alumina Composites with a Unique Porous Disk-like Structure. ACS OMEGA 2020; 5:4330-4337. [PMID: 32149263 PMCID: PMC7057711 DOI: 10.1021/acsomega.9b04297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2019] [Accepted: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Inspired by a bacteriogenic, iron-based oxide material and a traditional Japanese red pigment, a bright yellowish-red pigment was prepared by heating an Al-containing iron oxyhydroxide precursor. The obtained red pigment had a unique porous disk-like structure, comprising Al-substituted hematite particles and crystalline alumina nanoparticles. Although these disk-like structures loosely gathered to form an aggregate in powder, they can be easily dispersed into a single, disk-like structure by simple ultrasonic irradiation. The powder exhibited a bright yellowish-red color and high thermostability, making it attractive as a coloring material for various industrial products needing a bright-red color, high weather resistance, and durability. Quantitative color measurements revealed extremely high L*, a*, and b* values that are much greater than those of commercially available hematite. The thermostability test showed that even after exposure to high temperatures, the pigment retained the red color, indicating its high thermostability. The unique microstructure should be strongly related to the bright yellowish-red color and the high thermostability of the developed red pigment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hideki Hashimoto
- Department
of Applied Chemistry, School of Advanced Engineering, Kogakuin University, 2665-1 Nakano, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0015, Japan
| | - Jun Kiyohara
- Department
of Applied Chemistry, School of Advanced Engineering, Kogakuin University, 2665-1 Nakano, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0015, Japan
| | - Arisa Isozaki
- Department
of Applied Chemistry, School of Advanced Engineering, Kogakuin University, 2665-1 Nakano, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0015, Japan
| | - Yuya Arakawa
- Kyoto
Municipal Institute of Industrial Technology and Culture, 91 Chudojiawatacho Kyoto, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8815, Japan
| | - Tatsuo Fujii
- Graduate
School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushimanaka, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Jun Takada
- Graduate
School of Natural Science and Technology, Okayama University, 3-1-1 Tsushimanaka, Kita-ku, Okayama 700-8530, Japan
| | - Hirofumi Inada
- Kyoto
Municipal Institute of Industrial Technology and Culture, 91 Chudojiawatacho Kyoto, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8815, Japan
| | - Taigo Takaishi
- Kyoto
Municipal Institute of Industrial Technology and Culture, 91 Chudojiawatacho Kyoto, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8815, Japan
| | - Hidetaka Asoh
- Department
of Applied Chemistry, School of Advanced Engineering, Kogakuin University, 2665-1 Nakano, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0015, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Krueger KL, Willman JC, Matthews GJ, Hublin JJ, Pérez-Pérez A. Anterior tooth-use behaviors among early modern humans and Neandertals. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0224573. [PMID: 31774826 PMCID: PMC6880970 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0224573] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2019] [Accepted: 11/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Early modern humans (EMH) are often touted as behaviorally advanced to Neandertals, with more sophisticated technologies, expanded resource exploitation, and more complex clothing production. However, recent analyses have indicated that Neandertals were more nuanced in their behavioral adaptations, with the production of the Châtelperronian technocomplex, the processing and cooking of plant foods, and differences in behavioral adaptations according to habitat. This study adds to this debate by addressing the behavioral strategies of EMH (n = 30) within the context of non-dietary anterior tooth-use behaviors to glean possible differences between them and their Neandertal (n = 45) counterparts. High-resolution casts of permanent anterior teeth were used to collect microwear textures of fossil and comparative bioarchaeological samples using a Sensofar white-light confocal profiler with a 100x objective lens. Labial surfaces were scanned, totaling a work envelope of 204 x 276 μm for each individual. The microwear textures were examined for post-mortem damage and uploaded to SSFA software packages for surface characterization. Statistical analyses were performed to examine differences in central tendencies and distributions of anisotropy and textural fill volume variables among the EMH sample itself by habitat, location, and time interval, and between the EMH and Neandertal samples by habitat and location. Descriptive statistics for the EMH sample were compared to seven bioarchaeological samples (n = 156) that utilized different tooth-use behaviors to better elucidate specific activities that may have been performed by EMH. Results show no significant differences between the means within the EMH sample by habitat, location, or time interval. Furthermore, there are no significant differences found here between EMH and Neandertals. Comparisons to the bioarchaeological samples suggest both fossil groups participated in clamping and grasping activities. These results indicate that EMH and Neandertals were similar in their non-dietary anterior tooth-use behaviors and provide additional evidence for overlapping behavioral strategies employed by these two hominins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kristin L. Krueger
- Department of Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - John C. Willman
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Tarragona, Spain
- Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain
| | - Gregory J. Matthews
- Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alejandro Pérez-Pérez
- Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
MacDonald BL, Stalla D, He X, Rahemtulla F, Emerson D, Dube PA, Maschmann MR, Klesner CE, White TA. Hunter-Gatherers Harvested and Heated Microbial Biogenic Iron Oxides to Produce Rock Art Pigment. Sci Rep 2019; 9:17070. [PMID: 31745164 PMCID: PMC6864057 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-53564-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2019] [Accepted: 11/04/2019] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Red mineral pigment use is recognized as a fundamental component of a series of traits associated with human evolutionary development, social interaction, and behavioral complexity. Iron-enriched mineral deposits have been collected and prepared as pigment for use in rock art, personal adornment, and mortuary practices for millennia, yet little is known about early developments in mineral processing techniques in North America. Microanalysis of rock art pigments from the North American Pacific Northwest reveals a sophisticated use of iron oxide produced by the biomineralizing bacterium Leptothrix ochracea; a keystone species of chemolithotroph recognized in recent advances in the development of thermostable, colorfast biomaterial pigments. Here we show evidence for human engagement with this bacterium, including nanostructural and magnetic properties evident of thermal enhancement, indicating that controlled use of pyrotechnology was a key feature of how biogenic iron oxides were prepared into paint. Our results demonstrate that hunter-gatherers in this area of study prepared pigments by harvesting aquatic microbial iron mats dominated by iron-oxidizing bacteria, which were subsequently heated in large open hearths at a controlled range of 750 °C to 850 °C. This technical gesture was performed to enhance color properties, and increase colorfastness and resistance to degradation. This skilled production of highly thermostable and long-lasting rock art paint represents a specialized technological innovation. Our results contribute to a growing body of knowledge on historical-ecological resource use practices in the Pacific Northwest during the Late Holocene. Figshare link to figures: https://figshare.com/s/9392a0081632c20e9484.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Brandi Lee MacDonald
- Archaeometry Laboratory, University of Missouri Research Reactor, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA.
| | - David Stalla
- Electron Microscopy Core, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
| | - Xiaoqing He
- Electron Microscopy Core, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA.,Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
| | - Farid Rahemtulla
- Department of Anthropology, University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, V2N4Z9, Canada
| | - David Emerson
- Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences, East Boothbay, ME, 04544, USA
| | - Paul A Dube
- Brockhouse Institute for Materials Research, McMaster University, Hamilton, L8S4M1, Canada
| | - Matthew R Maschmann
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
| | - Catherine E Klesner
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 87521, USA
| | - Tommi A White
- Electron Microscopy Core, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA.,Biochemistry, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA
| |
Collapse
|
26
|
Rodríguez-Hidalgo A, Morales JI, Cebrià A, Courtenay LA, Fernández-Marchena JL, García-Argudo G, Marín J, Saladié P, Soto M, Tejero JM, Fullola JM. The Châtelperronian Neanderthals of Cova Foradada (Calafell, Spain) used imperial eagle phalanges for symbolic purposes. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2019; 5:eaax1984. [PMID: 31701003 PMCID: PMC6824858 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aax1984] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2019] [Accepted: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
Evidence for the symbolic behavior of Neanderthals in the use of personal ornaments is relatively scarce. Among the few ornaments documented, eagle talons, which were presumably used as pendants, are the most frequently recorded. This phenomenon appears concentrated in a specific area of southern Europe during a span of 80 thousand years. Here, we present the analysis of one eagle pedal phalange recovered from the Châtelperronian layer of Foradada Cave (Spain). Our research broadens the known geographical and temporal range of this symbolic behavior, providing the first documentation of its use among the Iberian populations, as well as of its oldest use in the peninsula. The recurrent appearance of large raptor talons throughout the Middle Paleolithic time frame, including their presence among the last Neanderthal populations, raises the question of the survival of some cultural elements of the Middle Paleolithic into the transitional Middle to Upper Paleolithic assemblages and beyond.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - J. I. Morales
- SERP, Departament d’Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - A. Cebrià
- SERP, Departament d’Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - L. A. Courtenay
- Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Tarragona, Spain
- Department of Cartographic and Land Engineering, Higher Polytechnic School of Avila, University of Salamanca, Ávila, Spain
| | | | - G. García-Argudo
- SERP, Departament d’Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - J. Marín
- Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, Institut de Paléontologie Humaine, UMR-7194, Paris, France
| | - P. Saladié
- Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Tarragona, Spain
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Tarragona, Spain
- Unit Associated to CSIC, Departamento de Paleobiología, Museo Nacional d Ciencias Naturales, Madrid, Spain
| | - M. Soto
- Department of Anthropology and Archeology, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada
| | - J.-M. Tejero
- SERP, Departament d’Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique de France (CNRS), UMR-7041, ArScAn équipe Ethnologie préhistorique, Nanterre, France
| | - J.-M. Fullola
- SERP, Departament d’Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
27
|
Tar adhesives, Neandertals, and the tyranny of the discontinuous mind. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116:21966-21968. [PMID: 31636221 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1916116116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
|
28
|
Pitarch Martí A, d’Errico F, Turq A, Lebraud E, Discamps E, Gravina B. Provenance, modification and use of manganese-rich rocks at Le Moustier (Dordogne, France). PLoS One 2019; 14:e0218568. [PMID: 31314755 PMCID: PMC6636720 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0218568] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2019] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023] Open
Abstract
The use of colouring materials by Neanderthals has attracted a great deal of attention in recent years. Here we present a taphonomic, technological, chemical-mineralogical and functional analysis of fifty-four manganese rich lumps recovered during past and on-going excavations at the lower rockshelter of Le Moustier (Dordogne, France). We compare compositional data for archaeological specimens with the same information for twelve potential geological sources. Morphometric analysis shows that material from Peyrony’s excavations before the First World War provides a highly biased picture of the importance of these materials for Mousterian groups. These early excavations almost exclusively recovered large modified pieces, while Mn-rich lumps from the on-going excavations predominantly consist of small pieces, only half of which bear traces of modification. We estimate that at least 168 pieces were not recovered during early work at the site. Neanderthals developed a dedicated technology for processing Mn-rich fragments, which involved a variety of tools and motions. Processing techniques were adapted to the size and density of the raw material, and evidence exists for the successive or alternating use of different techniques. Morphological, textural and chemical differences between geological and archaeological samples suggest that Neanderthals did not collect Mn-rich lumps at the outcrops we sampled. The association and variability in Mn, Ni, As, Ba content, compared to that observed at the sampled outcrops, suggests that either the Le Moustier lumps come from a unique source with a broad variation in composition, associating Mn, Ni, As, Ba, or that they were collected at different sources, characterized either by Mn-Ni-As or Mn-Ba. In the latter case, changes in raw material composition across the stratigraphy support the idea that Neanderthal populations bearing different stone tool technologies collected Mn fragments from different outcrops. Our results favour a use of these materials for multiple utilitarian and symbolic purposes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Africa Pitarch Martí
- UMR 5199 CNRS, De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
- Seminari d'Estudis i Recerques Prehistòriques (SERP), Facultat de Geografia i Història, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Montalegre, Barcelona, Spain
- * E-mail:
| | - Francesco d’Errico
- UMR 5199 CNRS, De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
- SSF Centre for Early Sapiens Behavior (SapienCe), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - Alain Turq
- UMR 5199 CNRS, De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
- Musée de Préhistoire, Sauveterre-la-Lémance, Lot-et-Garonne, France
| | - Eric Lebraud
- UMR 5026 CNRS, Institut de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Bordeaux (ICMCB), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - Emmanuel Discamps
- UMR 5608 CNRS, Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Espaces, les Cultures et les Sociétés (TRACES), Université Toulouse Jean Jaurès Maison de la Recherche, Toulouse, France
| | - Brad Gravina
- UMR 5199 CNRS, De la Préhistoire à l’Actuel: Culture, Environnement, et Anthropologie (PACEA), Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| |
Collapse
|
29
|
Kuhlwilm M, Boeckx C. A catalog of single nucleotide changes distinguishing modern humans from archaic hominins. Sci Rep 2019; 9:8463. [PMID: 31186485 PMCID: PMC6560109 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-44877-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2019] [Accepted: 05/24/2019] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Throughout the past decade, studying ancient genomes has provided unique insights into human prehistory, and differences between modern humans and other branches like Neanderthals can enrich our understanding of the molecular basis of unique modern human traits. Modern human variation and the interactions between different hominin lineages are now well studied, making it reasonable to go beyond fixed genetic changes and explore changes that are observed at high frequency in present-day humans. Here, we identify 571 genes with non-synonymous changes at high frequency. We suggest that molecular mechanisms in cell division and networks affecting cellular features of neurons were prominently modified by these changes. Complex phenotypes in brain growth trajectory and cognitive traits are likely influenced by these networks and other non-coding changes presented here. We propose that at least some of these changes contributed to uniquely human traits, and should be prioritized for experimental validation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Martin Kuhlwilm
- Institut de Biologia Evolutiva, (CSIC-Universitat Pompeu Fabra), PRBB, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Cedric Boeckx
- ICREA, Barcelona, Spain.
- University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
- UB Institute of Complex Systems, Barcelona, Spain.
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Affiliation(s)
- David G Pearce
- Rock Art Research Institute, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
| | - Adelphine Bonneau
- Rock Art Research Institute, School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.,Archaeology Laboratories, Archaeometry Research Group and CELAT, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Hoffmann DL, Standish CD, Pike AWG, García-Diez M, Pettitt PB, Angelucci DE, Villaverde V, Zapata J, Milton JA, Alcolea-González J, Cantalejo-Duarte P, Collado H, de Balbín R, Lorblanchet M, Ramos-Muñoz J, Weniger GC, Zilhão J. Dates for Neanderthal art and symbolic behaviour are reliable. Nat Ecol Evol 2019; 2:1044-1045. [PMID: 29942018 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-018-0598-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Dirk L Hoffmann
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
| | | | - Alistair W G Pike
- Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
| | - Marcos García-Diez
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Isabel I, Burgos, Spain
| | - Paul B Pettitt
- Department of Archaeology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Diego E Angelucci
- Dipartimento di Lettere e Filosofia, Università degli Studi di Trento, Trento, Italy
| | - Valentín Villaverde
- Departament de Prehistòria i d'Arqueologia, Universitat de València, València, Spain
| | - Josefina Zapata
- Área de Antropología Física, Facultad de Biología, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - James A Milton
- Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, Southampton, UK
| | | | | | - Hipolito Collado
- Quaternary-Prehistory Research Group, I-PAT Research Group, D.G. Bibliotecas, Museos y Patrimonio Cultural, Junta de Extremadura, Spain
| | | | | | - José Ramos-Muñoz
- Departamento de Historia, Geografía y Filosofia, Universidad de Cádiz, Cádiz, Spain
| | - Gerd-Christian Weniger
- Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann, Germany.,Institute of Prehistory, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - João Zilhão
- Departament d'Història i Arqueologia (SERP), University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain. .,Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain. .,Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras, Lisbon, Portugal.
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
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.
Collapse
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.
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Cortés-Sánchez M, Riquelme-Cantal JA, Simón-Vallejo MD, Parrilla Giráldez R, Odriozola CP, Calle Román L, Carrión JS, Monge Gómez G, Rodríguez Vidal J, Moyano Campos JJ, Rico Delgado F, Nieto Julián JE, Antón García D, Martínez-Aguirre MA, Jiménez Barredo F, Cantero-Chinchilla FN. Pre-Solutrean rock art in southernmost Europe: Evidence from Las Ventanas Cave (Andalusia, Spain). PLoS One 2018; 13:e0204651. [PMID: 30332432 PMCID: PMC6192576 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204651] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2018] [Accepted: 09/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
The south of Iberia conserves an important group of Palaeolithic rock art sites. The graphisms have been mostly attributed to the Solutrean and Magdalenian periods, while the possibility that older remains exist has provoked extensive debate. This circumstance has been linked to both the cited periods, until recently, due to the transition from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic in the extreme southwest of Europe as well as the non-existence of some of the early periods of Palaeolithic art documented in northern Iberia. This study presents the results of interdisciplinary research conducted in Las Ventanas Cave. These results enabled us to identify a new Palaeolithic rock art site. The technical, stylistic and temporal traits point to certain similarities with the range of exterior deep engravings in Cantabrian Palaeolithic rock art. Ventanas appears to corroborate the age attributed to those kinds of graphic expression and points to the early arrival of the Upper Palaeolithic in the south of Iberia. Importantly, the results provide information on the pre-Solutrean date attributed to trilinear hind figures. These findings challenge the supposed Neanderthal survival idea at one of the main late Middle Palaeolithic southern Iberian sites (Carigüela) and, due to the parallels between them and an engraving attributed to this period in Gibraltar, it raises the possibility of interaction between modern humans and Neanderthals in the extreme southwest of Europe.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Miguel Cortés-Sánchez
- Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.,HUM-949, Tellus, Prehistoria y Arqueología en el sur de Iberia, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.,ICArEHB-Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour - FCHS da Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | | | - María Dolores Simón-Vallejo
- Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.,HUM-949, Tellus, Prehistoria y Arqueología en el sur de Iberia, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.,ICArEHB-Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behaviour - FCHS da Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - Rubén Parrilla Giráldez
- HUM-949, Tellus, Prehistoria y Arqueología en el sur de Iberia, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.,Servicio de Microanálisis, Centro de Investigación y Tecnología de la Universidad de Sevilla (CITIUS), University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Carlos P Odriozola
- Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain.,HUM-949, Tellus, Prehistoria y Arqueología en el sur de Iberia, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Lydia Calle Román
- HUM-949, Tellus, Prehistoria y Arqueología en el sur de Iberia, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | - José S Carrión
- Departamento de Biología Vegetal, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain
| | - Guadalupe Monge Gómez
- RNM349 Group, Mineralogía y Geoquímica Ambiental y de la Salud, Departamento de Cristalografía, Mineralogía y Química Agrícola, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | | | - Juan José Moyano Campos
- Departamento de Expresión Gráfica e Ingeniería en la Edificación, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Fernando Rico Delgado
- Departamento de Expresión Gráfica e Ingeniería en la Edificación, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Juan Enrique Nieto Julián
- Departamento de Expresión Gráfica e Ingeniería en la Edificación, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | - Daniel Antón García
- Departamento de Expresión Gráfica e Ingeniería en la Edificación, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | - M Aránzazu Martínez-Aguirre
- Departamento de Física Aplicada, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería Agronómica, University of Sevilla, Sevilla, Spain
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
34
|
First data of Neandertal bird and carnivore exploitation in the Cantabrian Region (Axlor; Barandiaran excavations; Dima, Biscay, Northern Iberian Peninsula). Sci Rep 2018; 8:10551. [PMID: 30002396 PMCID: PMC6043621 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-28377-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/14/2018] [Accepted: 06/18/2018] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Neandertals were top predators who basically relied on middle- to large-sized ungulates for dietary purposes, but there is growing evidence that supports their consumption of plants, leporids, tortoises, marine resources, carnivores and birds. The Iberian Peninsula has provided the most abundant record of bird exploitation for meat in Europe, starting in the Middle Pleistocene. However, the bird and carnivore exploitation record was hitherto limited to the Mediterranean area of the Iberian Peninsula. Here we present the first evidence of bird and carnivore exploitation by Neandertals in the Cantabrian region. We have found cut-marks in two golden eagles, one raven, one wolf and one lynx remain from the Mousterian levels of Axlor. The obtaining of meat was likely the primary purpose of the cut-marks on the golden eagle and lynx remains. Corvids, raptors, felids and canids in Axlor could have likely acted as commensals of the Neandertals, scavenging upon the carcasses left behind by these hunter-gatherers. This could have brought them closer to Neandertal groups who could have preyed upon them. These new results provide additional information on their dietary scope and indicate a more complex interaction between Neandertals and their environment.
Collapse
|
35
|
From Neandertals to modern humans: New data on the Uluzzian. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0196786. [PMID: 29742147 PMCID: PMC5942857 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0196786] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2017] [Accepted: 04/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Having thrived in Eurasia for 350,000 years Neandertals disappeared from the record around 40,000-37,000 years ago, after modern humans entered Europe. It was a complex process of population interactions that included cultural exchanges and admixture between Neandertals and dispersing groups of modern humans. In Europe Neandertals are always associated with the Mousterian while the Aurignacian is associated with modern humans only. The onset of the Aurignacian is preceded by "transitional" industries which show some similarities with the Mousterian but also contain modern tool forms. Information on these industries is often incomplete or disputed and this is true of the Uluzzian. We present the results of taphonomic, typological and technological analyses of two Uluzzian sites, Grotta La Fabbrica (Tuscany) and the newly discovered site of Colle Rotondo (Latium). Comparisons with Castelcivita and Grotta del Cavallo show that the Uluzzian is a coherent cultural unit lasting about five millennia, replaced by the Protoaurignacian before the eruption of the Campanian Ignimbrite. The lack of skeletal remains at our two sites and the controversy surrounding the stratigraphic position of modern human teeth at Cavallo makes it difficult to reach agreement about authorship of the Uluzzian, for which alternative hypotheses have been proposed. Pending the discovery of DNA or further human remains, these hypotheses can only be evaluated by archaeological arguments, i.e. evidence of continuities and discontinuities between the Uluzzian and the preceding and succeeding culture units in Italy. However, in the context of "transitional" industries with disputed dates for the arrival of modern humans in Europe, and considering the case of the Châtelperronian, an Upper Paleolithic industry made by Neandertals, typo-technology used as an indicator of hominin authorship has limited predictive value. We corroborate previous suggestions that the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition occurred as steps of rapid changes and geographically uneven rates of spread.
Collapse
|
36
|
Hoffmann DL, Standish CD, García-Diez M, Pettitt PB, Milton JA, Zilhão J, Alcolea-González JJ, Cantalejo-Duarte P, Collado H, de Balbín R, Lorblanchet M, Ramos-Muñoz J, Weniger GC, Pike AWG. U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art. Science 2018; 359:912-915. [PMID: 29472483 DOI: 10.1126/science.aap7778] [Citation(s) in RCA: 282] [Impact Index Per Article: 47.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2017] [Accepted: 12/01/2017] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The extent and nature of symbolic behavior among Neandertals are obscure. Although evidence for Neandertal body ornamentation has been proposed, all cave painting has been attributed to modern humans. Here we present dating results for three sites in Spain that show that cave art emerged in Iberia substantially earlier than previously thought. Uranium-thorium (U-Th) dates on carbonate crusts overlying paintings provide minimum ages for a red linear motif in La Pasiega (Cantabria), a hand stencil in Maltravieso (Extremadura), and red-painted speleothems in Ardales (Andalucía). Collectively, these results show that cave art in Iberia is older than 64.8 thousand years (ka). This cave art is the earliest dated so far and predates, by at least 20 ka, the arrival of modern humans in Europe, which implies Neandertal authorship.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- D L Hoffmann
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - C D Standish
- Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Avenue Campus, Highfield Road, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK
| | - M García-Diez
- Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Isabel I, Calle de Fernán González 76, 09003 Burgos, Spain
| | - P B Pettitt
- Department of Archaeology, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK
| | - J A Milton
- Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton Waterfront Campus, National Oceanography Centre Southampton, European Way, Southampton SO14 3ZH, UK
| | - J Zilhão
- University of Barcelona, Departament d'Història i Arqueologia (SERP), Carrer de Montalegre 6, 08001 Barcelona, Spain.,Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats (ICREA), Passeig Lluís Companys 23, 08010 Barcelona, Spain.,Centro de Arqueologia da Universidade de Lisboa (UNIARQ), Faculdade de Letras, Campo Grande, 1600-214 Lisboa, Portugal
| | - J J Alcolea-González
- Prehistory Section, University of Alcalá de Henares, Calle Colegios 2, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
| | - P Cantalejo-Duarte
- Centro de la Prehistoria/Cueva de Ardales, Avenida de Málaga, no. 1, 29550 Ardales (Málaga), Spain
| | - H Collado
- Quaternary-Prehistory Research Group, I-PAT Research Group, D. G. Bibliotecas, Museos y Patrimonio Cultural, Junta de Extremadura, Spain
| | - R de Balbín
- Prehistory Section, University of Alcalá de Henares, Calle Colegios 2, 28801 Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain
| | | | - J Ramos-Muñoz
- Departamento de Historia, Geografía y Filosofía, Universidad de Cádiz, Avenida Gómez Ulla s/n, Cádiz, Spain
| | - G-Ch Weniger
- Neanderthal Museum, Talstraße 300, 40822 Mettmann, Germany.,Institute of Prehistory, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - A W G Pike
- Department of Archaeology, University of Southampton, Avenue Campus, Highfield Road, Southampton SO17 1BF, UK.
| |
Collapse
|