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Heydari-Guran S, Benazzi S, Talamo S, Ghasidian E, Hariri N, Oxilia G, Asiabani S, Azizi F, Naderi R, Safaierad R, Hublin JJ, Foley RA, Lahr MM. The discovery of an in situ Neanderthal remain in the Bawa Yawan Rockshelter, West-Central Zagros Mountains, Kermanshah. PLoS One 2021; 16:e0253708. [PMID: 34437543 PMCID: PMC8389444 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253708] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 06/11/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Neanderthal extinction has been a matter of debate for many years. New discoveries, better chronologies and genomic evidence have done much to clarify some of the issues. This evidence suggests that Neanderthals became extinct around 40,000–37,000 years before present (BP), after a period of coexistence with Homo sapiens of several millennia, involving biological and cultural interactions between the two groups. However, the bulk of this evidence relates to Western Eurasia, and recent work in Central Asia and Siberia has shown that there is considerable local variation. Southwestern Asia, despite having a number of significant Neanderthal remains, has not played a major part in the debate over extinction. Here we report a Neanderthal deciduous canine from the site of Bawa Yawan in the West-Central Zagros Mountains of Iran. The tooth is associated with Zagros Mousterian lithics, and its context is preliminary dated to between ~43,600 and ~41,500 years ago.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saman Heydari-Guran
- Stiftung Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann, Germany
- Department of Prehistoric Archaeology University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- DiyarMehr Centre for Palaeolithic Research, Kermanshah, Iran
- * E-mail:
| | - Stefano Benazzi
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sahra Talamo
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Chemistry G. Ciamician, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Elham Ghasidian
- Stiftung Neanderthal Museum, Mettmann, Germany
- Department of Prehistoric Archaeology University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Nemat Hariri
- Department of Prehistoric Archaeology University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, University of Mohaghegh Ardabili University, Ardabil, Iran
| | - Gregorio Oxilia
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Samran Asiabani
- DiyarMehr Centre for Palaeolithic Research, Kermanshah, Iran
- Department of Architecture, Faculty of Art and Architecture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamedan, Iran
| | - Faramarz Azizi
- DiyarMehr Centre for Palaeolithic Research, Kermanshah, Iran
| | - Rahmat Naderi
- DiyarMehr Centre for Palaeolithic Research, Kermanshah, Iran
| | - Reza Safaierad
- Department of Physical Geography, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Collège de France, 11 Place Marcelin Berthelot, Paris, France
| | - Robert A. Foley
- Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
| | - Marta M. Lahr
- Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies, Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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