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Briatico G, Bocherens H, Geraads D, Melis RT, Mussi M. The Pleistocene high-elevation environments between 2.02 and 0.6 Ma at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash Valley, Ethiopia) based upon stable isotope analysis. Sci Rep 2024; 14:6619. [PMID: 38503829 PMCID: PMC10950861 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56768-x] [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: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Pleistocene environments are among the most studied issues in paleoecology and human evolution research in eastern Africa. Many data have been recorded from archaeological sites located at low and medium elevations (≤ 1500 m), whereas few contexts are known at 2000 m and above. Here, we present a substantial isotopic study from Melka Kunture, a complex of prehistoric sites located at 2000-2200 m above sea level in the central Ethiopian highlands. We analyzed the stable carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of 308 faunal tooth enamel samples from sites dated between 2.02 and 0.6 Ma to investigate the animal diets and habitats. The carbon isotopic results indicate that the analyzed taxa had C4-dominated and mixed C3-C4 diets with no significant diachronic changes in feeding behavior with time. This is consistent with faunal and phytolith analyses, which suggested environments characterized by open grasslands (with both C3 and C4 grasses), patches of bushes and thickets, and aquatic vegetation. However, palynological data previously documented mountain forests, woodlands, and high-elevation grasslands. Additionally, the carbon isotopic comparison with other eastern African localities shows that differences in elevation did not influence animal feeding strategies and habitat partitioning, even though plant species vary according to altitudinal gradients. In contrast, the oxygen isotopic comparison suggests significant differences consistent with the altitude effect. Our approach allows us to detect diverse aspects of animal behavior, habitat, and vegetation that should be considered when reconstructing past environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Briatico
- Dipartimento Di Scienze Dell'Antichità, Sapienza Università Di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany.
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia.
| | - Hervé Bocherens
- Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Sigwartstrasse 10, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Denis Geraads
- CR2P, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, CP 38, 8 Rue Buffon, 75231, Paris cedex 05, France
| | - Rita T Melis
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia
- Dipartimento Di Scienze Chimiche E Geologiche, Università Di Cagliari, 09042, Cittadella Di Monserrato, Italy
- CNR-IGAG, Piazzale Aldo Moro 7, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Margherita Mussi
- Dipartimento Di Scienze Dell'Antichità, Sapienza Università Di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia
- ISMEO, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 244, 00186, Rome, Italy
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Aramendi J, Mabulla A, Baquedano E, Domínguez-Rodrigo M. Biomechanical and taxonomic diversity in the Early Pleistocene in East Africa: Structural analysis of a recently discovered femur shaft from Olduvai Gorge (bed I). J Hum Evol 2024; 186:103469. [PMID: 38071888 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2023] [Revised: 11/14/2023] [Accepted: 11/14/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023]
Abstract
Recent Plio-Pleistocene hominin findings have revealed the complexity of human evolutionary history and the difficulties involved in its interpretation. Moreover, the study of hominin long bone remains is particularly problematic, since it commonly depends on the analysis of fragmentary skeletal elements that in many cases are merely represented by small diaphyseal portions and appear in an isolated fashion in the fossil record. Nevertheless, the study of the postcranial skeleton is particularly important to ascertain locomotor patterns. Here we report on the discovery of a robust hominin femoral fragment (OH 84) at the site of Amin Mturi Korongo dated to 1.84 Ma (Olduvai Bed I). External anatomy and internal bone structure of OH 84 were analyzed and compared with previously published data for modern humans and chimpanzees, as well as for Australopithecus, Paranthropus and Homo specimens ranging from the Late Pliocene to Late Pleistocene. Biomechanical analyses based on transverse cross-sections and the comparison of OH 84 with another robust Olduvai specimen (OH 80) suggest that OH 84 might be tentatively allocated to Paranthropus boisei. More importantly, the identification of a unique combination of traits in OH 84 could indicate both terrestrial bipedalism and an arboreal component in the locomotor repertoire of this individual. If interpreted correctly, OH 84 could thus add to the already mounting evidence of substantial locomotor diversity among Early Pleistocene hominins. Likewise, our results also highlight the difficulties in accurately interpreting the link between form and function in the human fossil record based on fragmentary remains, and ultimately in distinguishing between coeval hominin groups due to the heterogeneous pattern of inter- and intraspecific morphological variability detected among fossil femora.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Aramendi
- McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, CB2 1TN, UK.
| | - Audax Mabulla
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, University of Dar Es Salaam, P.O. Box 35050, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
| | - Enrique Baquedano
- Archaeological and Paleontological Museum of the Community of Madrid, Plaza de Las Bernardas s/n, 28801, Alcalá de Henares, Spain; Institute of Evolution in Africa (IDEA), University of Alcalá and Archaeological and Paleontological Museum of the Community of Madrid, C/Covarrubias 36, 28010, Madrid, Spain
| | - Manuel Domínguez-Rodrigo
- Institute of Evolution in Africa (IDEA), University of Alcalá and Archaeological and Paleontological Museum of the Community of Madrid, C/Covarrubias 36, 28010, Madrid, Spain; University of Alcalá, Department of History and Philosophy, Area of Prehistory, C/Colegios 2, 28801, Alcalá de Henares, Spain; Rice University, Department of Anthropology, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX, 77005 1827, USA
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