1
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Britton K, Jimenez EL, Le Corre M, Renou S, Rendu W, Richards MP, Hublin JJ, Soressi M. Multi-isotope analysis of bone collagen of Late Pleistocene ungulates reveals niche partitioning and behavioural plasticity of reindeer during MIS 3. Sci Rep 2023; 13:15722. [PMID: 37735582 PMCID: PMC10514192 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-42199-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2023] [Accepted: 09/06/2023] [Indexed: 09/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Here we present stable carbon, nitrogen and sulfur isotope ratios of collagen extracted from Rangifer, Equus and Bison bone (n = 128) from different stratigraphic levels at the chronologically well-constrained Middle and Upper Palaeolithic site of Les Cottés, France. Samples were taken from five phases of site use (US08, US06, US04 [upper and lower], and US02; ~ 45.8-35.3 ka cal BP) to explore the dietary and spatial palaeoecology of these ungulate species during MIS 3, and the contemporary climate. Temporal trends in δ15N values of all species broadly align with other climatic indicators at the site and the lowest values in US04 correspond to the Heinrich 4 cooling event, reflecting changes in the composition of soil/plant nitrogen at this time. Rangifer collagen is 13C-enriched compared to the other species throughout, consistent with lichen consumption. However, this isotopic niche partitioning between Rangifer and Equus/Bison is most extensive during US04, indicating plasticity in reindeer feeding behaviour, and potentially overall increased lichen biomass during this cooler/more arid phase. Rangifer δ34S values are consistently lower than Equus and Bison, which could be indicative of their more extensive spatial ranges incorporating greater inland areas. Equus and Bison demonstrate a significant decrease in δ34S values through time, which may be linked to contemporary climatic decline.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kate Britton
- Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF, UK.
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Elodie-Laure Jimenez
- Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF, UK
- Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 29 Vautier Street, 1000, Brussels, Belgium
| | - Mael Le Corre
- Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF, UK
| | - Sylvain Renou
- Hadès Archéologie, Agence Atlantique, 33100, Bordeaux, France
- PACEA, UMR 5199, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), 33400, Pessac, France
| | - William Rendu
- ZooSCAn (IRL 2013) CNRS - IAET SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia
- Institut Français des études sur l'Asie Centrale (IFEAC) - UAR 3140 (CNRS-MEAE), Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
| | - Michael P Richards
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC, V5A 1S6, Canada
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Collège de France, 11, Place Marcelin Berthelot, 74005, Paris, France
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, 2333CC, Leiden, The Netherlands
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2
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Essel E, Zavala EI, Schulz-Kornas E, Kozlikin MB, Fewlass H, Vernot B, Shunkov MV, Derevianko AP, Douka K, Barnes I, Soulier MC, Schmidt A, Szymanski M, Tsanova T, Sirakov N, Endarova E, McPherron SP, Hublin JJ, Kelso J, Pääbo S, Hajdinjak M, Soressi M, Meyer M. Ancient human DNA recovered from a Palaeolithic pendant. Nature 2023:10.1038/s41586-023-06035-2. [PMID: 37138083 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06035-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Artefacts made from stones, bones and teeth are fundamental to our understanding of human subsistence strategies, behaviour and culture in the Pleistocene. Although these resources are plentiful, it is impossible to associate artefacts to specific human individuals1 who can be morphologically or genetically characterized, unless they are found within burials, which are rare in this time period. Thus, our ability to discern the societal roles of Pleistocene individuals based on their biological sex or genetic ancestry is limited2-5. Here we report the development of a non-destructive method for the gradual release of DNA trapped in ancient bone and tooth artefacts. Application of the method to an Upper Palaeolithic deer tooth pendant from Denisova Cave, Russia, resulted in the recovery of ancient human and deer mitochondrial genomes, which allowed us to estimate the age of the pendant at approximately 19,000-25,000 years. Nuclear DNA analysis identifies the presumed maker or wearer of the pendant as a female individual with strong genetic affinities to a group of Ancient North Eurasian individuals who lived around the same time but were previously found only further east in Siberia. Our work redefines how cultural and genetic records can be linked in prehistoric archaeology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Essel
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Elena I Zavala
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Ellen Schulz-Kornas
- Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Maxim B Kozlikin
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Helen Fewlass
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Benjamin Vernot
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael V Shunkov
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Anatoly P Derevianko
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Katerina Douka
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences (HEAS) Research Network, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ian Barnes
- Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Marie-Cécile Soulier
- Maison de la Recherche, Université de Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, CNRS UMR 5608 TRACES, Toulouse, France
| | - Anna Schmidt
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Merlin Szymanski
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tsenka Tsanova
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician", Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Nikolay Sirakov
- National Institute of Archaeology with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | | | | | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, Collège de France, Paris, France
| | - Janet Kelso
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Svante Pääbo
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mateja Hajdinjak
- Ancient Genomics Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Matthias Meyer
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
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3
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Dekker J, Larson T, Tzvetkov J, Harvey VL, Dowle A, Hagan R, Genever P, Schrader S, Soressi M, Hendy J. Spatial analysis of the ancient proteome of archeological teeth using mass spectrometry imaging. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 2023; 37:e9486. [PMID: 36735645 DOI: 10.1002/rcm.9486] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2022] [Revised: 01/28/2023] [Accepted: 01/29/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Proteins extracted from archaeological bone and teeth are utilised for investigating the phylogeny of extinct and extant species, the biological sex and age of past individuals, as well as ancient health and physiology. However, variable preservation of proteins in archaeological materials represents a major challenge. METHODS To better understand the spatial distribution of ancient proteins preserved within teeth, we applied matrix assisted laser desorption/ionisation mass spectrometry imaging (MALDI-MSI) for the first time to bioarchaeological samples to visualise the intensity of proteins in archaeological teeth thin sections. We specifically explored the spatial distribution of four proteins (collagen type I, of which the chains alpha-1 and alpha-2, alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein, haemoglobin subunit alpha and myosin light polypeptide 6). RESULTS We successfully identified ancient proteins in archaeological teeth thin sections using mass spectrometry imaging. The data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD038114. However, we observed that peptides did not always follow our hypotheses for their spatial distribution, with distinct differences observed in the spatial distribution of several proteins, and occasionally between peptides of the same protein. CONCLUSIONS While it remains unclear what causes these differences in protein intensity distribution within teeth, as revealed by MALDI-MSI in this study, we have demonstrated that MALDI-MSI can be successfully applied to mineralised bioarchaeological tissues to detect ancient peptides. In future applications, this technique could be particularly fruitful not just for understanding the preservation of proteins in a range of archaeological materials, but making informed decisions on sampling strategies and the targeting of key proteins of archaeological and biological interest.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joannes Dekker
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK
- Section for GeoBiology, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Tony Larson
- Metabolomics & Proteomics Laboratory, Bioscience Technology Facility, Department of Biology, University of York, York, UK
| | | | - Virginia L Harvey
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Chester, Chester, UK
| | - Adam Dowle
- Metabolomics & Proteomics Laboratory, Bioscience Technology Facility, Department of Biology, University of York, York, UK
| | - Richard Hagan
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK
| | - Paul Genever
- Department of Biology, University of York, York, UK
| | - Sarah Schrader
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Jessica Hendy
- BioArCh, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK
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4
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Baca M, Popović D, Agadzhanyan AK, Baca K, Conard NJ, Fewlass H, Filek T, Golubiński M, Horáček I, Knul MV, Krajcarz M, Krokhaleva M, Lebreton L, Lemanik A, Maul LC, Nagel D, Noiret P, Primault J, Rekovets L, Rhodes SE, Royer A, Serdyuk NV, Soressi M, Stewart JR, Strukova T, Talamo S, Wilczyński J, Nadachowski A. Ancient DNA of narrow-headed vole reveal common features of the Late Pleistocene population dynamics in cold-adapted small mammals. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20222238. [PMID: 36787794 PMCID: PMC9928523 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2022.2238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The narrow-headed vole, collared lemming and common vole were the most abundant small mammal species across the Eurasian Late Pleistocene steppe-tundra environment. Previous ancient DNA studies of the collared lemming and common vole have revealed dynamic population histories shaped by climatic fluctuations. To investigate the extent to which species with similar adaptations share common evolutionary histories, we generated a dataset comprised the mitochondrial genomes of 139 ancient and 6 modern narrow-headed voles from several sites across Europe and northwestern Asia covering approximately the last 100 thousand years (kyr). We inferred Bayesian time-aware phylogenies using 11 radiocarbon-dated samples to calibrate the molecular clock. Divergence of the main mtDNA lineages across the three species occurred during marine isotope stages (MIS) 7 and MIS 5, suggesting a common response of species adapted to open habitat during interglacials. We identified several time-structured mtDNA lineages in European narrow-headed vole, suggesting lineage turnover. The timing of some of these turnovers was synchronous across the three species, allowing us to identify the main drivers of the Late Pleistocene dynamics of steppe- and cold-adapted species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mateusz Baca
- Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Danijela Popović
- Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | | | - Katarzyna Baca
- Centre of New Technologies, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Nicholas J Conard
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology and.,Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Helen Fewlass
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Thomas Filek
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | | | - Ivan Horáček
- Department of Zoology, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Monika V Knul
- Department of Archaeology, Anthropology and Geography, University of Winchester, Winchester, UK
| | - Magdalena Krajcarz
- Institute of Archaeology, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Toruń, Poland
| | - Maria Krokhaleva
- Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russia
| | - Loïc Lebreton
- Department of Human and Environment, (HNHP) UMR 7194MNHN-CNRS-UPVD, National Museum of Natural History, Paris, France.,Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution (IPHES-CERCA), Tarragona, Spain.,Department of History and Art History, Rovira i Virgili University, Tarragona, Spain
| | - Anna Lemanik
- Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow, Poland
| | - Lutz C Maul
- Senckenberg Research Station of Quaternary Palaeontology, Weimar, Germany
| | - Doris Nagel
- Department of Palaeontology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Pierre Noiret
- Research Group Prehistory, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
| | - Jérome Primault
- DRAC/SRA Poitou-Charentes, Ministry of Culture and Communications, Poitiers, France
| | - Leonid Rekovets
- Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Wrocław, Poland
| | - Sara E Rhodes
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and Evolution of Human Behavior, University of Algavre, Faro, Portugal
| | - Aurélien Royer
- Biogéosciences, UMR 6282 CNRS, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France
| | - Natalia V Serdyuk
- Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - John R Stewart
- Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, UK
| | - Tatiana Strukova
- Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology, Ural Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Yekaterinburg, Russia
| | - Sahra Talamo
- Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Jarosław Wilczyński
- Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow, Poland
| | - Adam Nadachowski
- Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals, Polish Academy of Sciences, Cracow, Poland
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5
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Djakovic I, Key A, Soressi M. Optimal linear estimation models predict 1400-2900 years of overlap between Homo sapiens and Neandertals prior to their disappearance from France and northern Spain. Sci Rep 2022; 12:15000. [PMID: 36229473 PMCID: PMC9561710 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-19162-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 08/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent fossil discoveries suggest that Neandertals and Homo sapiens may have co-existed in Europe for as long as 5 to 6000 years. Yet, evidence for their contemporaneity at any regional scale remains highly elusive. In France and northern Spain, a region which features some of the latest directly-dated Neandertals in Europe, Protoaurignacian assemblages attributed to Homo sapiens appear to ‘replace’ Neandertal-associated Châtelperronian assemblages. Using the earliest and latest known occurrences as starting points, Bayesian modelling has provided indication that these occupations may in fact have been partly contemporaneous. The reality, however, is that we are unlikely to ever identify the ‘first’ or ‘last’ appearance of a species or cultural tradition in the archaeological and fossil record. Here, we use optimal linear estimation modelling to estimate the first appearance date of Homo sapiens and the extinction date of Neandertals in France and northern Spain by statistically inferring these ‘missing’ portions of the Protoaurignacian and Châtelperronian archaeological records. Additionally, we estimate the extinction date of Neandertals in this region using a dataset of directly-dated Neandertal fossil remains. Our total dataset consists of sixty-six modernly produced radiocarbon determinations which we recalibrated using the newest calibration curve (IntCal20) to produce updated age ranges. The results suggest that the onset of the Homo sapiens occupation of this region likely preceded the extinction of Neandertals and the Châtelperronian by up to 1400–2900 years. This reaffirms the Bayesian-derived duration of co-existence between these groups during the initial Upper Palaeolithic of this region using a novel independent method, and indicates that our understanding of the timing of these occupations may not be suffering from substantial gaps in the record. Whether or not this co-existence featured some form of direct interaction, however, remains to be resolved.
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Affiliation(s)
- Igor Djakovic
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Alastair Key
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, UK
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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6
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Abstract
The recent elaboration and rapid expansion of aDNA, paleoproteomics, and related fields have propelled a profound "biomolecular turn" in archaeology and fundamentally changed the topology of archaeological knowledge production. Such a transformation of the archaeological research landscape is not without consequence for long-standing research practices in the field, such as lithic analysis. This special issue derives from the session Old Stones, New Eyes? organized by the authors at the UISPP World Congress in Paris in 2018, which aimed to explore the future of lithic studies. An underlying theme of our session was the felt need to respond to the increasing marginalization of lithic research in terms of its capacity to (1) contribute to the grand narratives of early human evolution and (2) better articulate the role and significance of lithic studies in interdisciplinary human origins research. In this editorial, we briefly outline some of the questions and challenges raised by the biomolecular turn and advocate for a more self-conscious and reflexive stance among lithic experts. We argue that lithic studies fulfill all necessary requirements to act as a basic science for human origins research and that its role and status depends less on technological advances, such as, e.g., improved computing facilities, novel analytical software, or automated shape capture technologies, than on continuous work on the conceptual and methodological foundations of inquiry. We finally draw attention to the unique capability of lithic studies to shed light on the human technological condition and illustrate this potential by introducing and briefly discussing the papers included in this issue.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shumon Tobias Hussain
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Moesgård Allé 20, 8270 Højbjerg, Denmark
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, The Netherlands
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7
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Archer W, Djakovic I, Brenet M, Bourguignon L, Presnyakova D, Schlager S, Soressi M, McPherron SP. Quantifying differences in hominin flaking technologies with 3D shape analysis. J Hum Evol 2020; 150:102912. [PMID: 33302003 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2019] [Revised: 11/04/2020] [Accepted: 11/06/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Genetic and climate-driven estimates of past population dynamics are increasingly influential in broader models of hominin migration and adaptation, yet the contribution of stone artifact variability remains more contentious. Scientists are increasingly recognizing the potential of unretouched stone flakes ('flakes') in exploring existing models of hominin behavioral evolution. This is because flakes (1) were produced by all stone tool manufacturing groups in the past, (2) are abundant from the inception of the archaeological record up into the ethnographic present, and (3) preserve under most conditions. The statistical tools of 3D geometric morphometrics capture detailed approximations of flake form that are challenging to document with conventional artifact analyses. We analyze a collection of 717 3D scans of experimentally produced flakes from 5 production strategies that were practiced by hominins through large parts of the Pleistocene and that scientists have drawn on also to make demographic arguments about past human behavior (n = 45 reduction sequences, n = 3 knappers naive toward the study objectives). First, as a proof of concept, we demonstrate that we can estimate the strategies used to produce these flakes at a high success rate even when flakes from early stages of core reduction are included. We frame the significance of this finding against archaeological classifications from several key Middle Paleolithic assemblages in France (n = 4 sites, n = 28 layers, n = 16,467 flakes). Second, we show that 3D geometric morphometrics captures subtle differences in these strategies that influence flake formation on a flake-by-flake basis and that reflect decisions made by knappers about platform selection, preparation, and core-surface management. We explore the broader potential of our model with a cross-validation approach, and we describe a means of assessing flake form on a continuum wherein variability among assemblages separated by large expanses of space and time can be meaningfully explored.
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Affiliation(s)
- Will Archer
- Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, National Museum, Bloemfontein, South Africa; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Geology, University of the Free State, P.O. Box 339, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa.
| | - Igor Djakovic
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, 2311 EZ, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Michel Brenet
- INRAP, Domaine de Campagne, 24260, Campagne, France; UMR 5199 PACEA, Université Bordeaux, Bâtiment B18, 33615, Talence, France
| | | | - Darya Presnyakova
- Department of Early Prehistory and Quaternary Ecology, University of Tübingen, Schloss Hohentübingen, 72070, Tübingen, Germany; Institute for the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, St-Petersburg, Russia
| | - Stefan Schlager
- Biological Anthropology, Faculty of Medicine, Albert-Ludwigs-University Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, 2311 EZ, Leiden, the Netherlands
| | - Shannon P McPherron
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
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8
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Martisius NL, Welker F, Dogandžić T, Grote MN, Rendu W, Sinet-Mathiot V, Wilcke A, McPherron SJP, Soressi M, Steele TE. Non-destructive ZooMS identification reveals strategic bone tool raw material selection by Neandertals. Sci Rep 2020; 10:7746. [PMID: 32385291 PMCID: PMC7210944 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-64358-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2019] [Accepted: 04/14/2020] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Five nearly identical fragments of specialized bone tools, interpreted as lissoirs (French for “smoothers”), have been found at two Middle Paleolithic sites in southwest France. The finds span three separate archaeological deposits, suggesting continuity in the behavior of late Neandertals. Using standard morphological assessments, we determined that the lissoirs were produced on ribs of medium-sized ungulates. However, since these bones are highly fragmented and anthropogenically modified, species determinations were challenging. Also, conservative curation policy recommends minimizing destructive sampling of rare, fragile, or small artifacts for molecular identification methods. To better understand raw material selection for these five lissoirs, we reassess their taxonomy using a non-destructive ZooMS methodology based on triboelectric capture of collagen. We sampled four storage containers and obtained identifiable MALDI-TOF MS collagen fingerprints, all indicative of the same taxonomic clade, which includes aurochs and bison (Bos sp. and Bison sp.). The fifth specimen, which was stored in a plastic bag, provided no useful MALDI-TOF MS spectra. We show that the choice of large bovid ribs in an archaeological layer dominated by reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) demonstrates strategic selection by these Neandertals. Furthermore, our results highlight the value of a promising technique for the non-destructive analysis of bone artifacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naomi L Martisius
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616-8522, USA.
| | - Frido Welker
- Evolutionary Genomics Section, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353, Copenhagen, Denmark.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tamara Dogandžić
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6398, USA
| | - Mark N Grote
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616-8522, USA
| | - William Rendu
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, MCC, Préhistoire à l'Actuel, Cultures, Environnement, Anthropologie, UMR5199, Université de Bordeaux, FR-33615, Pessac, France
| | - Virginie Sinet-Mathiot
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Arndt Wilcke
- Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Perlickstraße 1, D-04013, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Shannon J P McPherron
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Marie Soressi
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Leipzig, Germany.,Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Teresa E Steele
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, 95616-8522, USA.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103, Leipzig, Germany
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9
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Rendu W, Renou S, Soulier MC, Rigaud S, Roussel M, Soressi M. Subsistence strategy changes during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition reveals specific adaptations of Human Populations to their environment. Sci Rep 2019; 9:15817. [PMID: 31676799 PMCID: PMC6825241 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-50647-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2018] [Accepted: 06/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The transition from Middle to Upper Paleolithic is a major biological and cultural threshold in the construction of our common humanity. Technological and behavioral changes happened simultaneously to a major climatic cooling, which reached its acme with the Heinrich 4 event, forcing the human populations to develop new strategies for the exploitation of their environment. The recent fieldwork at Les Cottés (France) transitional site offers a good opportunity to document subsistence strategies for this period and to provide for the first time high-resolution insights on its evolution. We present the results of the complete zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of the transitional sequence, associated with a large regional synthesis of the subsistence strategy evolution during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic. We conclude that, while there is no major change in the hunting strategies, the butchery activities evolved in strict correlation with the development of range weapons. In addition, the demise of carnivore seems to be a consequence of the human pressure on the environment. Our study demonstrates how the faunal component of the environment became a structuring element of the human social organization, being at the base of future cultural evolutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- William Rendu
- PACEA, UMR 5199, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), F-33400, Pessac, France. .,Department of Anthropology, New York University, CSHO, New York, NY, 10003, USA.
| | - Sylvain Renou
- PACEA, UMR 5199, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), F-33400, Pessac, France
| | - Marie-Cécile Soulier
- TRACES, UMR 5608, CNRS, Université Toulouse Le Mirail, F-31058, Toulouse Cedex 9, France
| | - Solange Rigaud
- PACEA, UMR 5199, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication (MCC), F-33400, Pessac, France
| | - Morgan Roussel
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, 2333CC, Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, 2333CC, Leiden, Netherlands.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
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Abstract
Fire use appears to have been relatively common among Neandertals in the Middle Palaeolithic. However, the means by which Neandertals procured their fire—either through the collection of natural fire, or by producing it themselves using tools—is still a matter of debate. We present here the first direct artefactual evidence for regular, systematic fire production by Neandertals. From archaeological layers attributed to late Mousterian industries at multiple sites throughout France, primarily to the Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition (MTA) technoculture (ca. 50,000 years BP), we identify using microwear analysis dozens of late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tools that exhibit macroscopic and microscopic traces suggesting repeated percussion and/or forceful abrasion with a hard mineral material. Both the locations and nature of the polish and associated striations are comparable to those obtained experimentally by obliquely percussing fragments of pyrite (FeS2) against the flat/convex sides of a biface to make fire. The striations within these discrete use zones are always oriented roughly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the tool, allowing us to rule out taphonomic origins for these traces. We therefore suggest that the occasional use of bifaces as ‘strike-a-lights’ was a technocultural feature shared among the late Neandertals in France.
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Affiliation(s)
- A C Sorensen
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - E Claud
- INRAP, GSO, Bègles, France.,UMR 5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Pessac, France
| | - M Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
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Hajdinjak M, Fu Q, Hübner A, Petr M, Mafessoni F, Grote S, Skoglund P, Narasimham V, Rougier H, Crevecoeur I, Semal P, Soressi M, Talamo S, Hublin JJ, Gušić I, Kućan Ž, Rudan P, Golovanova LV, Doronichev VB, Posth C, Krause J, Korlević P, Nagel S, Nickel B, Slatkin M, Patterson N, Reich D, Prüfer K, Meyer M, Pääbo S, Kelso J. Reconstructing the genetic history of late Neanderthals. Nature 2018; 555:652-656. [PMID: 29562232 PMCID: PMC6485383 DOI: 10.1038/nature26151] [Citation(s) in RCA: 114] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2017] [Accepted: 01/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Although it is known that Neandertals contributed DNA to modern humans1,2, not much is known about the genetic diversity of Neandertals or the relationship between late Neandertal populations at the time when their last interactions with early modern humans occurred and before they eventually disappeared. Our ability to retrieve DNA from a larger number of Neandertal individuals has been limited by poor preservation of endogenous DNA3 and large amounts of microbial and present-day human DNA that contaminate Neandertal skeletal remains3–5. Here we use hypochlorite treatment6 of as little as 9 mg of bone or tooth powder to generate between 1- and 2.7-fold genomic coverage of five 39,000- to 47,000-year-old Neandertals (i.e. late Neandertals), thereby doubling the number of Neandertals for which genome sequences are available. Genetic similarity among late Neandertals is well predicted by their geographical location, and comparison to the genome of an older Neandertal from the Caucasus2,7 indicates that a population turnover is likely to have occurred, either in the Caucasus or throughout Europe, towards the end of Neandertal history. We find that the bulk of Neandertal gene flow into early modern humans originated from one or more source populations that diverged from the Neandertals studied here at least 70,000 years ago, but after they split from a previously sequenced Neandertal from Siberia2 ~150,000 years ago. Although four of these Neandertals post-date the putative arrival of early modern humans into Europe, we do not detect any recent gene flow from early modern humans in their ancestry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mateja Hajdinjak
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Qiaomei Fu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, IVPP, CAS, Beijing 100044, China.,CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing 100044, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Alexander Hübner
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Martin Petr
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Fabrizio Mafessoni
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Steffi Grote
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Pontus Skoglund
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Vagheesh Narasimham
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Hélène Rougier
- Department of Anthropology, California State University Northridge, Northridge, California 91330-8244, USA
| | | | - Patrick Semal
- Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, 1000 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands.,Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sahra Talamo
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Ivan Gušić
- Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Željko Kućan
- Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | - Pavao Rudan
- Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, HR-10000 Zagreb, Croatia
| | | | | | - Cosimo Posth
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany.,Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelin Strasse 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Johannes Krause
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, 07745 Jena, Germany.,Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Rümelin Strasse 23, 72070 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Petra Korlević
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sarah Nagel
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Birgit Nickel
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Montgomery Slatkin
- Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3140, USA
| | - Nick Patterson
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA
| | - David Reich
- Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA.,Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, USA.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
| | - Kay Prüfer
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Matthias Meyer
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Svante Pääbo
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Janet Kelso
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Slon V, Hopfe C, Weiß CL, Mafessoni F, de la Rasilla M, Lalueza-Fox C, Rosas A, Soressi M, Knul MV, Miller R, Stewart JR, Derevianko AP, Jacobs Z, Li B, Roberts RG, Shunkov MV, de Lumley H, Perrenoud C, Gušić I, Kućan Ž, Rudan P, Aximu-Petri A, Essel E, Nagel S, Nickel B, Schmidt A, Prüfer K, Kelso J, Burbano HA, Pääbo S, Meyer M. Neandertal and Denisovan DNA from Pleistocene sediments. Science 2017; 356:605-608. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aam9695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 215] [Impact Index Per Article: 30.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/12/2017] [Accepted: 04/07/2017] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
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Jacobs Z, Jankowski NR, Dibble HL, Goldberg P, McPherron SJP, Sandgathe D, Soressi M. The age of three Middle Palaeolithic sites: Single-grain optically stimulated luminescence chronologies for Pech de l'Azé I, II and IV in France. J Hum Evol 2016; 95:80-103. [PMID: 27260176 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.03.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/07/2014] [Revised: 03/27/2016] [Accepted: 03/29/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements were made on individual, sand-sized grains of quartz from Middle Palaeolithic deposits at three sites (Pech de l'Azé I, II and IV) located close to one another in the Dordogne region of southwest France. We were able to calculate OSL ages for 69 samples collected from these three sites. These ages reveal periods of occupation between about 180 and 50 thousand years ago. Our single-grain OSL chronologies largely support previous age estimates obtained by thermoluminescence dating of burnt flints at Pech IV, electron spin resonance dating of tooth enamel at Pech I, II and IV and radiocarbon dating of bone at Pech I and IV, but provide a more complete picture due to the ubiquitous presence of sand-sized quartz grains used in OSL dating. These complete chronologies for the three sites have allowed us to compare the single-grain ages for similar lithic assemblages among the three sites, to test the correlations among them previously proposed by Bordes in the 1970s, and to construct our own correlative chronological framework for the three sites. This shows that similar lithic assemblages occur at around the same time, and that where a lithic assemblage is unique to one or found at two of the Pech sites, there are no deposits of chronologically equivalent age at the other Pech site(s). We interpret this to mean that, at least for these Pech de l'Azé sites, the Mousterian variants show temporal ordering. Whether or not this conclusion applies to the wider region and beyond, the hypothesis that Mousterian industrial variation is temporally ordered cannot be refuted at this time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zenobia Jacobs
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia.
| | - Nathan R Jankowski
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia
| | - Harold L Dibble
- Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA; Institute for Human Origins, Arizona State University, USA; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Paul Goldberg
- Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW, 2522, Australia; Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Boston, USA
| | - Shannon J P McPherron
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Dennis Sandgathe
- Human Evolution Studies Program and Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada
| | - Marie Soressi
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany; Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, PO Box 9514, 2300, RA Leiden, The Netherlands
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Roussel M, Soressi M, Hublin JJ. The Châtelperronian conundrum: Blade and bladelet lithic technologies from Quinçay, France. J Hum Evol 2016; 95:13-32. [PMID: 27260172 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2014] [Revised: 01/01/2016] [Accepted: 02/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
The discovery of an almost complete Neanderthal skeleton in a Châtelperronian context at Saint-Césaire 35 years ago changed our perspective on the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic in western Europe. Since then, the Châtelperronian has generally been considered a "transitional" industry rather than an Upper or a Middle Paleolithic industry because of its chronological position, and the association of Neanderthal remains with blades, bone tools and personal ornaments. Several competing hypotheses have been proposed to explain the association between Neanderthals and these types of artefacts including post-depositional mixing, acculturation from anatomically modern human populations, or an independent technological evolution by local Neanderthal populations. Quinçay Cave is the only Châtelperronian site where personal ornaments have been found that does not contain an overlying Upper Paleolithic layer. This means that the post-depositional mixing of later elements into the Châtelperronian may not be used as an explanation for the presence of these materials. We report here on a detailed technological analysis of lithic artefacts from the three Châtelperronian layers at Quinçay Cave. We compare our results with the technology of Mousterian blade industries dating to OIS (oxygen isotope stage) 5, the Mousterian of Acheulian Tradition type B, and the Proto-Aurignacian. We show that the Châtelperronian is sufficiently divergent from the Middle Paleolithic to be classified as a fully Upper Paleolithic industry, with a focus on blade and bladelet production. We also show that the Quinçay Châtelperronian includes retouched bladelets that resemble those found in the Proto-Aurignacian, but were produced in a different manner. We argue that a technological convergence cannot account for these behaviors, since the specific type of retouched bladelet associated with the Châtelperronian was also regularly used by Proto-Aurignacian of neighboring regions. We suggest that the idea of retouched bladelets may have diffused from the northern Proto-Aurignacian to the Quinçay Châtelperronian and that the transmission of the morphology of this desired end-product without the transmission of its manufacturing process may point toward a low degree of social intimacy between these groups. We conclude that the apparent paradox of the Châtelperronian is the result of the complexity of interaction between Neanderthal and anatomically modern human groups in western Europe between 45,000 and 40,000 years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Roussel
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany; Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology, Human Origins Research Group, Van Steenis gebouw, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands; CNRS UMR 7041 ArScAn, AnTET, MAE, 21 allée de l'Université, 92023 Nanterre Cedex, France.
| | - M Soressi
- Leiden University, Faculty of Archaeology, Human Origins Research Group, Van Steenis gebouw, Einsteinweg 2, 2333 CC Leiden, The Netherlands; Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
| | - J-J Hublin
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Evolution, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
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Heyes PJ, Anastasakis K, de Jong W, van Hoesel A, Roebroeks W, Soressi M. Selection and Use of Manganese Dioxide by Neanderthals. Sci Rep 2016; 6:22159. [PMID: 26922901 PMCID: PMC4770591 DOI: 10.1038/srep22159] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2015] [Accepted: 02/03/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Several Mousterian sites in France have yielded large numbers of small black blocs. The usual interpretation is that these ‘manganese oxides’ were collected for their colouring properties and used in body decoration, potentially for symbolic expression. Neanderthals habitually used fire and if they needed black material for decoration, soot and charcoal were readily available, whereas obtaining manganese oxides would have incurred considerably higher costs. Compositional analyses lead us to infer that late Neanderthals at Pech-de-l’Azé I were deliberately selecting manganese dioxide. Combustion experiments and thermo-gravimetric measurements demonstrate that manganese dioxide reduces wood’s auto-ignition temperature and substantially increases the rate of char combustion, leading us to conclude that the most beneficial use for manganese dioxide was in fire-making. With archaeological evidence for fire places and the conversion of the manganese dioxide to powder, we argue that Neanderthals at Pech-de-l’Azé I used manganese dioxide in fire-making and produced fire on demand.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter J Heyes
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden The Netherlands
| | - Konstantinos Anastasakis
- 3mE Process and Energy, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 39, 2628CB, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Wiebren de Jong
- 3mE Process and Energy, Delft University of Technology, Leeghwaterstraat 39, 2628CB, Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Annelies van Hoesel
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden The Netherlands
| | - Wil Roebroeks
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden The Netherlands
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden The Netherlands
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van Doorn NL, Wilson J, Hollund H, Soressi M, Collins MJ. Site-specific deamidation of glutamine: a new marker of bone collagen deterioration. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 2012; 26:2319-2327. [PMID: 22956324 DOI: 10.1002/rcm.6351] [Citation(s) in RCA: 57] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
RATIONALE Non-enzymatic deamidation accumulates in aging tissues in vivo and has been proposed to be potentially useful as a molecular clock. The process continues post mortem, and here we explore the increase in levels of deamidation in archaeological collagen, as measured during Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) analysis. METHODS With the high sensitivity of current generation mass spectrometers, ZooMS provides a non-destructive and highly cost-effective method to characterise collagen peptides. Deamidation can be detected by mass spectrometry as a +0.984 Da mass shift; therefore, aside from its original purpose, peptide mass-fingerprinting for bone identification, ZooMS concurrently yields a 'thermal indicator' of the samples. RESULTS By analysis of conventional ZooMS spectra, we determined the deamidation rate for glutamine residues in 911 bone collagen samples from 50 sites, with ages varying from medieval to Palaeolithic. The degree of deamidation was compared to diagenetic parameters and nearby sequence properties. CONCLUSIONS The extent of deamidation was found to be influenced more by burial conditions and thermal age than, for example, chronological age, the extent of bioerosion or crystallinity. The method lends itself mostly to screening heterogenic deposits of bone to identify outliers.
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Niven L, Steele TE, Rendu W, Mallye JB, McPherron SP, Soressi M, Jaubert J, Hublin JJ. Neandertal mobility and large-game hunting: the exploitation of reindeer during the Quina Mousterian at Chez-Pinaud Jonzac (Charente-Maritime, France). J Hum Evol 2012; 63:624-35. [PMID: 22951376 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.07.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 99] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2012] [Revised: 07/10/2012] [Accepted: 07/11/2012] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Neandertals were effective hunters of large ungulates throughout their geographic and temporal ranges. Equipped with this knowledge, researchers in paleoanthropology continue to seek insight on the relationships between hunting and subsistence strategies with other components of the Neandertals' niche, such as mobility, site use, and lithic technology. The Quina Mousterian deposits from the rockshelter site of Chez Pinaud Jonzac (Charente-Maritime, France; hereafter Jonzac) offer an excellent opportunity to pursue these issues. This paper focuses on the extensive and well-preserved skeletal remains of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) recovered from recent excavations of the site, representing at least 18 individuals that were hunted by Neandertals during the fall through winter. Our zooarchaeological results indicate that all ages of reindeer were hunted but adult individuals predominate. No bias is evident in the comparable frequencies of males and females. These prey were butchered on-site, with abundant evidence of meat filleting and marrow exploitation. In the excavated sample, the absence of hearths and the almost complete lack of burned bones or stones suggest that Neandertals were not using fire to assist with processing the reindeer carcasses. The zooarchaeological results presented here indicate that reindeer were hunted during a restricted window of time when they were seasonally abundant in the local area near Jonzac. Taken together with the lithic industry based on bifacial elements, the evidence is consistent with a pattern of site use by highly mobile hunter-gatherers making frequent, short-term visits. Ongoing research at Jonzac and other Quina Mousterian localities will contribute to a better understanding of Neandertal behavior during cold climate phases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Niven
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
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Claud É, Soressi M, Jaubert J, Hublin JJ. Étude tracéologique de l’outillage moustérien de type Quina du bonebed de Chez-Pinaud à Jonzac (Charente-Maritime). Nouveaux éléments en faveur d’un site de boucherie et de traitement des peaux. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2012. [DOI: 10.3406/galip.2012.2492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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Soressi M. Variabilité technologique au Moustérien. Analyse comparée du débitage Levallois MTA A du Moustier (Dordogne, France)/Technological variability in the French Mousterian. Comparative analysis of a MTA type A assemblage of Levallois debitage at Le Moustier (Dordogne, France). ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 1999. [DOI: 10.3406/pal.1999.1173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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