The transition from the Middle Paleolithic (MP) to the Upper Paleolithic (UP), circa 40kya, is viewed as a major turning point in human evolution, in terms of the material culture, demography, and ...geographical expansion of modern humans. However, attempts to identify an origin of this so-called ‘revolution’ in the form of a particular stone-tool techno-complex, representing cultural modernity, which spread across the human range, have failed. Instead, the archaeological record of this period comprises multiple ‘transitional techno-complexes’, some associated with modern humans and others with Neanderthals. The cultures that these techno-complexes represent are characterized by precursors of the material cultures of the UP, often alongside features that suggest local cultural continuity. The broadly simultaneous appearance of these transitional cultures, despite a lack of a clear common origin, is puzzling. We suggest that these local ‘revolutions’ had a common underlying driver, which explains the simultaneous appearance of transitional techno-complexes, but that this driver did not determine the particular form of each local revolution. We propose that the driver of the transition to the UP was an increase in inter-population connectivity, both within- and between-species, which allowed local cultures to rapidly evolve and to attain greater complexity than ever before. We suggest that this change was driven by the interaction between modern humans and Neanderthals. In this article we outline processes that are likely to have influenced inter-population connectivity, bringing together evolutionary and ecological perspectives alongside insights from the field of cultural evolution.
•The transition from the middle to upper Paleolithic is characterized by multiple transitional techno-complexes.•Many transitional techno-complexes seem independent of one another, and display local geographic continuity.•The coordinated appearance 50-40kya of independent transitional techno-complexes is puzzling, and suggests a common driver.•We suggest the driver was inter-population connectivity increase among moderns and Neanderthals, within and between species.•We propose dynamics in demography, natural selection, and cultural evolution that could have increased connectivity.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
This study provides a detailed reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental conditions that prevailed during one of the periods of modern human migration out of Africa and their occupation of the Eastern ...Mediterranean-Levant during the Late Middle Paleolithic-Early Upper Paleolithic. Tracing the past vegetation and climate within the Eastern Mediterranean-Levant region is largely based on a south-eastern Mediterranean marine pollen record covering the last 90 kyr (core MD-9509). The various palynomorphs were linked to distinct vegetation zones that were correlated to the two climate systems affecting the study area: the low-latitude monsoon system and the North Atlantic-Mediterranean climate system. The bioprovince palynological markers show that during the period between ∼56 and 44 ka, which covers the early part of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3), there was an increase in transportation of pollen from Nilotic origin and a rise in dinoflagellate cyst ratios. These changes coincided with maximum insolation values at 65°N, which led to an enhancement in Nile River discharge into the Eastern Mediterranean following the intensification of the African monsoonal system. At the same time, the rise in Mediterranean arboreal pollen values (broadleaved, coniferous and deciduous temperate trees) is most likely driven by increased precipitation related to the intensification of the North Atlantic-Mediterranean climate system. The ∼56–44 ka wet event coincides with Dansgaard-Oeschger interstadials 14 and 12 and with a warming phase in the Levant, as evidenced by the melting of permafrost along the higher elevations of Mount Hermon. We suggest that African modern humans were able to cross the harsher arid areas due to the intensification of the monsoonal system during the first part of MIS 3, and inhabit the Eastern Mediterranean-Levant region where climatic conditions were favorable (wetter and warmer), even in the currently semiarid/steppe regions.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Denisova Cave in the Siberian Altai (Russia) is a key site for understanding the complex relationships between hominin groups that inhabited Eurasia in the Middle and Late Pleistocene epoch. DNA ...sequenced from human remains found at this site has revealed the presence of a hitherto unknown hominin group, the Denisovans
, and high-coverage genomes from both Neanderthal and Denisovan fossils provide evidence for admixture between these two populations
. Determining the age of these fossils is important if we are to understand the nature of hominin interaction, and aspects of their cultural and subsistence adaptations. Here we present 50 radiocarbon determinations from the late Middle and Upper Palaeolithic layers of the site. We also report three direct dates for hominin fragments and obtain a mitochondrial DNA sequence for one of them. We apply a Bayesian age modelling approach that combines chronometric (radiocarbon, uranium series and optical ages), stratigraphic and genetic data to calculate probabilistically the age of the human fossils at the site. Our modelled estimate for the age of the oldest Denisovan fossil suggests that this group was present at the site as early as 195,000 years ago (at 95.4% probability). All Neanderthal fossils-as well as Denisova 11, the daughter of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan
-date to between 80,000 and 140,000 years ago. The youngest Denisovan dates to 52,000-76,000 years ago. Direct radiocarbon dating of Upper Palaeolithic tooth pendants and bone points yielded the earliest evidence for the production of these artefacts in northern Eurasia, between 43,000 and 49,000 calibrated years before present (taken as AD 1950). On the basis of current archaeological evidence, it may be assumed that these artefacts are associated with the Denisovan population. It is not currently possible to determine whether anatomically modern humans were involved in their production, as modern-human fossil and genetic evidence of such antiquity has not yet been identified in the Altai region.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
The behavioral dynamics underlying the expansion of Homo sapiens into Europe remains a crucial topic in human evolution. Owing to poor bone preservation, past studies have strongly focused on the ...Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) stone tool record. Recent excavations and extensive radiocarbon dating at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria) pushed back the arrival of IUP H. sapiens into Europe to ca. 45,000 years ago. This site has exceptional bone preservation, and we present the study of 7431 faunal remains from across two IUP layers (I and J) and one Middle Paleolithic layer (K). We identified a shift in site use and occupation intensity through time, marked by increased find density and human modifications in Layer I. Alongside a decrease in carnivore presence and seasonality data demonstrating human presence in all seasons, this indicates a more frequent or prolonged occupation of the site by IUP groups. Contrarily, the dietary focus across the IUP and Middle Paleolithic layers is similar, centered on the exploitation of species from a range of habitats including Bos/Bison, Cervidae, Equidae, and Caprinae. While body parts of large herbivores were selectively transported into the site, the bear remains suggest that these animals died in the cave itself. A distinct aspect of the IUP occupation is an increase in carnivore remains with human modifications, including these cave bears but also smaller taxa (e.g., Canis lupus, Vulpes vulpes). This can be correlated with their exploitation for pendants, and potentially for skins and furs. At a broader scale, we identified similarities in subsistence behavior across IUP sites in Europe and western Asia. It appears that the first IUP occupations were less intense with find densities and human modifications increasing in succeeding IUP layers. Moreover, the exploitation of small game appears to be limited across IUP sites, while carnivore exploitation seems a recurrent strategy.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Previous dating of the Vi-207 and Vi-208 Neanderthal remains from Vindija Cave (Croatia) led to the suggestion that Neanderthals survived there as recently as 28,000–29,000 B.P. Subsequent dating ...yielded older dates, interpreted as ages of at least ∼32,500 B.P. We have redated these same specimens using an approach based on the extraction of the amino acid hydroxyproline, using preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (Prep-HPLC). This method is more efficient in eliminating modern contamination in the bone collagen. The revised dates are older than 40,000 B.P., suggesting the Vindija Neanderthals did not live more recently than others across Europe, and probably predate the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Eastern Europe. We applied zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) to find additional hominin remains. We identified one bone that is Neanderthal, based on its mitochondrial DNA, and dated it directly to 46,200 ± 1,500 B.P. We also attempted to date six early Upper Paleolithic bone points from stratigraphic units G₁, Fd/d+G₁ and Fd/d, Fd. One bone artifact gave a date of 29,500 ± 400 B.P., while the remainder yielded no collagen. We additionally dated animal bone samples from units G₁ and G₁–G₃. These dates suggest a co-occurrence of early Upper Paleolithic osseous artifacts, particularly split-based points, alongside the remains of Neanderthals is a result of postdepositional mixing, rather than an association between the two groups, although more work is required to show this definitively.
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BFBNIB, NMLJ, NUK, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
In Central and East Asia, the Upper Paleolithic dates as early as 45 ka cal BP, but until recently, there was little reliable information concerning human occupation during the following period, ...between 45 and 40 ka cal BP. Here we present results of the excavation of the site of Tolbor-21, in the Selenga drainage system, Northern Mongolia. We focus on Tolbor-21 Archeological Horizon 4 (AH4), an archeological assemblage that documents human occupations that fall stratigraphically and chronologically between the Initial and the Early Upper Paleolithic. We report on the spatial distribution of the finds, the zooarcheological and the lithic data to determine which of the observations reflect post-depositional processes, and which are informative of human behavior. Our initial results presented here show evidence of reworking and preservation bias on a succession of occupations, the exploitation of medium/large herbivores, and a potential structured use of space. At the regional level, our results suggest that improving the resolution of data collection may identify previously undocumented episodes of human occupation. At a broader scale, the Tolbor-21 AH4 assemblage brings new perspectives on the development of the Early Upper Paleolithic in Central and Northeast Asia.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The oldest unequivocal evidence of mammoth hunting in prehistoric Central Europe has been found in the Gravettian archaeological site Kraków Spadzista (Poland). The site contains thousands of lithic ...artifacts and the remains of >100 woolly mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius), with radiocarbon dates clustering ∼25–24 ka uncal BP. A fragment of a flint shouldered point is embedded in a mammoth rib, and more than 50% of the site's flint shouldered points and backed blades bear diagnostic traces of hafting and impact damage from use as spear tips. Additional support for mammoth killing is the mortality profile of 112 mammoths from the site: some age groups may have been depleted due to recurring heavy hunting by humans during periods of environmental stress. The evidence for intensive human hunting could portend a development thousands of years later, at the end of the Pleistocene, when climate-caused habitat changes were more extreme, and, in combination with opportunistic human hunting, may have led to woolly mammoth extinction.
•Kraków Spadzista contains the oldest direct evidence for mammoth-hunting in Central Europe.•Evidence includes used flint points and a point fragment embedded in a mammoth rib.•Certain age classes of the site's 112 mammoths had been depleted several times.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
ABSTRACT
Neanderthals faced great environmental and climatic instability during the Pleistocene, which may have influenced their lithic technology, subsistence patterns, mobility, behaviour and ...survival. Modern research assessing the effect of climate and environment on the Middle Palaeolithic and transition to the Upper Palaeolithic has often turned to southern Europe, specifically peninsular southern Europe (Iberia, Italy and the Balkans). These are regions typically regarded as refugia during periods of unfavourable climatic conditions, inspiring hundreds of palaeoenvironmental studies at Neanderthal sites and hypotheses on late Neanderthal survival in locations with relative ameliorated conditions. Here, we present the topic of the special issue focusing on peninsular southern Europe refugia during the Middle Palaeolithic covering the three main peninsulas. Its 16 contributions discuss relevant data on peninsular southern Europe as possible refugia during periods of unfavourable climate during the Middle Palaeolithic and transition to Upper Palaeolithic.
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FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Climate change since the Last Glacial Maximum has caused both plant communities and human behaviour to adapt. Humans relied heavily on wood as fuel to sustain their daily subsistence. Thanks to ...efficient fuel management, they were able to persist in a challenging environment. Cova del Parco (Iberian Pre-Pyrenees) was inhabited as a settlement in different periods of the Late Pleistocene (16.4–12.7 cal kyr BP). The site has one of the most comprehensive assemblages of Magdalenian hearths, allowing several specialized and daily activity areas to be reconstructed. This study aims to provide new anthracological data regarding the transformation of the forests in the Iberian Pre-Pyrenees, as well as showing how humans adapted their behaviour as regards fuel management and the use of space around the hearths. Furthermore, we present a spatial distribution analysis of the woody taxa from Magdalenian occupations that were identified during the anthracological study. A total of 1993 charcoal fragments from Cova del Parco were identified at a taxonomic level. The anthracological results revealed the presence of 11 woody taxa, with the pine-juniper phase as a characteristic transformation of pre-forest formations in the cold climates of certain locations in the southwestern Mediterranean region. The results of our spatial analysis found that pinewood was the preferred fuel in the cave chamber, whereas juniper was most abundant in the rock shelter. However, the latest occupations revealed a shift in fuel use, with juniper becoming the primary fuel in the cave chamber. This change in behaviour is indicative of the changing needs of humans and their ability to adapt to new surroundings. It implies that strategies are contingent on context and dynamic, responding to changes in the environment. Overall, this study suggests that humans adapted to the changing environment by changing their fuel management strategies.
•Specific activity areas around hearths were evidenced at Cova del Parco•Montane pine and juniper were used for different combustion purposes•Gradual vegetation change from deglaciation to the early Holocene was detected•Montane pine decreased and juniper increased during the Holocene transition.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Across Europe the period 45–40 ka (thousands of years ago) is associated with several technological changes, including the emergence of the Châtelperronian technocomplex in France and northern Spain. ...The Châtelperronian, stratigraphically located between the Mousterian and Aurignacian, is characterized by Upper Palaeolithic features, such as volumetric blade reduction, curved backed blades, end-scrapers, bladelets, bone tools and ornaments. Concurrently, repeated, though debated, associations with Neanderthal remains and Mousterian elements suggest a local technological development. Following recent critiques and cumulating technological studies, this paper provides data-driven contextualisations of the Châtelperronian and late Mousterian archaeological records and a primary comparative assessment of a major linking element, backed knives, to re-assess the origin of the Châtelperronian.
The results demonstrate the challenging nature of the 50–35 ka record, with many interpretive problems caused by poorly recorded excavations, resulting in only 25 well-contextualised assemblages from the claimed 143 Châtelperronian find spots. These 25 assemblages facilitate more detailed chronostratigraphic and typo-technological assessments and show that the Châtelperronian has a homogenous set of technologies and tools. A similar evaluation of the late Mousterian indicates a wide-ranging late Neanderthal skill set, commonly including laminar blank production and backing. Further, conceptual similarities were noted both in blank selection and edge modification between Mousterian and Châtelperronian backed knives, alongside their near-absence in other, contemporaneous technocomplexes.
A Europe-wide contextualisation shows that while the current coarse-grained record still allows for several potential scenarios, the data throughout this paper point towards a most parsimonious model of a Châtelperronian made by Neanderthals, with roots in the late Middle Palaeolithic technological skill set. However, this change seems triggered by early arrivals of modern humans either indirectly, through stimulus diffusion, or directly, after ca. 42 ka. Fully testing this model requires an ongoing focus on site formation and assemblage integrity, alongside in-depth analyses of recently excavated assemblages and existing collections.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
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