Aggiornamento 30/04/2021

Neanderthal ecology and the exploitation of cervids and bovids at the onset of MIS4: A study on De Nadale cave, Italy, di A. Livraghi, G. Fanfarillo, M. Dal Colle, M. Romandini, M. Peresani, "Quaternary International", Volume 586, 10 June 2021, Pages 24-41

North-eastern Italy was a familiar region for Neanderthal groups, as attested by over 20 Middle Palaeolithic multi-layered sites in caves, rockshelters and at the open, investigated during the last decades. Of this large record, evidence pointing for human frequentation during to the Marine Isotopic Stage 4 is documented at a very ephemeral level. Here we contribute to shed light on a so sparse context through the presentation of De Nadale Cave, a single-layered Quina Mousterian site located in the Berici Hills and dated to 70.2 + 1/-0.9 ka BP. (...)

What was on the menu? Mesolithic cooking and consumption practices in inland central Europe based on analysis of fireplaces, di M. Ptáková, P. Šída, L. Kovačiková, "Quaternary International", Volume 586, 10 June 2021, Pages 90-104

The northern Bohemian sandstone region brings an exceptionally rich record of Mesolithic settlement, particularly in the form of fireplaces as key structures to be studied when addressing cooking and consumption practices. A large number of different fireplace structures – including kettle-shaped pits and surface or sunken fireplaces, some lined with stones – can be interpreted in terms of performing roasting, boiling, steaming or smoking procedures. The organic remains directly associated with them reveal which resources were exploited and almost certainly consumed, although in many cases they seem to have been discarded into the fire after processing. (...)

The role of shellfish in human subsistence during the Mesolithic of Atlantic Europe: An approach from meat yield estimations, di A. García-Escárzaga, I. Gutiérrez-Zugasti, "Quaternary International", Volume 584, 20 May 2021, Pages 9-19

In spite of the increased number of investigations of the Mesolithic period in Atlantic Europe, including studies that have focused on reconstructing human diets, the information about the role of shellfish in human subsistence strategies is still very limited. In this study, an experimental programme to collect modern molluscs was carried out in northern Iberia over a three-year period in order to establish the meat yield of the four main species recovered from archaeological sites in this coastal area. The resulting dataset enabled accurate estimates of the meat yield from the shell remains recovered in the shell midden deposits of El Mazo cave (Asturias, N Spain). (...)

New paradigms in the exploitation of Mesolithic shell middens in Atlantic France: The example of Beg-er-Vil, Brittany, di C. Dupont, G. Marchand, "Quaternary International", Volume 584, 20 May 2021, Pages 59-71

The Atlantic coast of north-west France is one of the classic shell-midden regions of the European Mesolithic, made famous by the excavations of Téviec and Hoedic in the first half of the 20th century. At this time, there was a lack of interest in the food refuse component of shell middens. By the end of the 1990s new study methods and techniques had also contributed to a better description of the varied activities of these coastal populations. In Atlantic France, new excavations have demonstrated that shell middens are not a site type but rather one of a variety of stratigraphic units that make up the total settlement pattern. (...)

New evidence from Bouldnor Cliff for technological innovation in the Mesolithic, population dispersal and use of drowned landscapes, di G. Momber et alii, "Quaternary International", Volume 584, 20 May 2021, Pages 116-128

Investigation of underwater prehistoric sites during the twenty-first century has been gathering momentum. This has been a positive development for the discipline that has been strengthened by research into human occupation of the drowned lands around the British coastline, particularly the submerged forests of the Solent seaway on the south coast of England as well as the North Sea. Over the last two decades underwater investigations at the Mesolithic site of Bouldnor Cliff, off the isle of Wight has revealed advanced wood working technological capabilities, the presence of sedimentary DNA from einkorn and outstanding levels of organic preservation including string, worked timbers, and most recently, a wooden platform. (...)

Targeting the Mesolithic: Interdisciplinary approaches to archaeological prospection in the Brown Bank area, southern North Sea, di T. Missiaen et alii, "Quaternary International", Volume 584, 20 May 2021, Pages 141-151 - open access -

This paper describes some results of the research undertaken over the Brown Bank area during recent (2018/2019) geoarchaeological surveys in the North Sea which included seismic imaging, shallow (vibro)coring and dredging. It examines the benefits of simultaneous high-resolution (0.5 – 1 m) and ultra-high-resolution (10–20 cm) seismic survey techniques and a staged approach to resolving the submerged Holocene landscape in the highest possible detail for the purpose of targeted prospecting for archaeological material from the Mesolithic landscape of Doggerland. (...)

Lower Palaeolithic archaeology and submerged landscapes in Greece: The current state of the art, di P. Tsakanikou, N. Galanidou, D. Sakellariou, "Quaternary International", Volume 584, 20 May 2021, Pages 171-181

The Balkan Peninsula lies on a key geographical location between Africa and Eurasia. The southern part of the Balkan Peninsula, referred to as the Aegean region, was a passageway for faunal migrations throughout the Pleistocene. Recent advances in the Lower Palaeolithic archaeology of Greece and in the research of the submerged landscapes of the Aegean region prompt a reconsideration of the biogeographical role of this area in Middle Pleistocene hominin settlement and expansion. In this paper, we articulate and elaborate on a working hypothesis, namely that the Aegean region was not a barrier during the Middle Pleistocene but instead it offered attractive lands for occupation and viable pathways for dispersal. (...)

Magnetic properties of cave sediments at Gran Dolina site in Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain), di S. D'Arcangelo, F. Martín-Hernández, J. M. Parés, "Quaternary International", Volume 583, 10 May 2021, Pages 1-13

We report new rock magnetic results from a cave in the “Sierra de Atapuerca” (Burgos, North of Spain), that is one of the most important archaeological and palaeontological sites of Lower to Middle Pleistocene in Europe. Our samples are taken in cave sediments of Gran Dolina Cave. Rock magnetic analyses allowed us to determine changes in grain size, composition, and concentration in both cave-entrance and cave-interior sediments. Generally, the cave-entrance sediments are characterized by a high concentration of magnetic minerals while the cave-interior presents a more variable concentration. (...)

Neanderthal cranial remains from Baume Moula-Guercy (Soyons, Ardèche, France), di G. D. Richards, G. Guipert, R. S. Jabbour, A. R. Defleur, "American Journal of Physical Anthropology", Volume 175, Issue 1, May 2021, Pages 201-226

We provide the first comparative description of the Guercy 1 cranium and isolated cranial fragments from Baume Moula-Guercy and examine their affinities to European Preneanderthals, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens. he Moula-Guercy hominins derive from deposits chronostratigraphically and biostratigraphically dated to the Eemian Interglacial (MIS 5e). For comparisons we compiled a sample of European and Southwest Asian subadult-adult Middle-to-Late Pleistocene hominins (≈MIS 14–MIS 2; N = 184). (...)

Changes in Raw Material Selection and Use at 400,000 Years bp: A Novel, Symbolic Relationship between Humans and Their World. Discussing Technological, Social and Cognitive Arguments, di F. Romagnoli, "Cambridge Archaeological Journal", Volume 31, Issue 2, May 2021 - open access -

Approximately 400,000 years bp, novel technological behaviours appeared in the archaeological record, attested by evidence of the exploitation of previously unused resources and the production of new tools. I have reviewed such innovations, and I discuss them in the frame of the anthropological, palaeoneurological, genetic and behavioural changes that appeared in the Middle Pleistocene. I propose that at this chronology humans started to see the resources as ‘other-than-human’ sentient co-dwellers. The technological innovations expressed this novel cognitive complexity and the possible new things–things, human–things and environment–things relationships. Artefacts and technologies acquired multiple semiotic meanings that were strongly interconnected with the functional value. (...)

Memory Scrapers: Readymade Concepts and Techniques as Reflected in Collecting and Recycling Patinated Lower Palaeolithic Items at Qesem Cave, Israel, di B. Efrati, "Cambridge Archaeological Journal", Volume 31, Issue 2, May 2021 - open access -

This paper argues that certain early Palaeolithic artefacts can be viewed as reflecting Readymade concepts and techniques from the world of modern art. I will focus on presenting a theoretical framework for this claim as well as a case study from Late Lower Palaeolithic Qesem Cave, Israel (420,000–200,000 bp). The case study is based on the ‘double patina’ phenomenon (old tools that became patinated by exposure to the elements and were then shaped again). These items, characterized by outstanding colours and textures, were produced following Readymade concepts and techniques applied in the production of tools that are both functional and mnemonic. I suggest that these items acted as mnemonic memory tools that reconnected their users to ancestral (human and non-human) beings as well as to familiar experiences, events, and places. (...)

The Elephant in the Handaxe: Lower Palaeolithic Ontologies and Representations, di R. Barkai, "Cambridge Archaeological Journal", Volume 31, Issue 2, May 2021 - open access -

Indigenous hunter-gatherers view the world differently than do WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic) societies. They depend—as in prehistoric times—on intimate relationships with elements such as animals, plants and stones for their successful adaptation and prosperity. The desire to maintain the perceived world-order and ensure the continued availability of whatever is necessary for human existence and well-being thus compelled equal efforts to please these other-than-human counterparts. Relationships of consumption and appreciation characterized human nature as early as the Lower Palaeolithic; the archaeological record reflects such ontological and cosmological conceptions to some extent. Central to my argument are elephants and handaxes, the two pre-eminent Lower Palaeolithic hallmarks of the Old World. (...)

"Journal of Human Evolution", Volume 154, May 2021:

- Stable isotope evidence of human diet in Mediterranean context during the Last Glacial Maximum, di D. G. Drucker et alii

- A West African Middle Stone Age site dated to the beginning of MIS 5: Archaeology, chronology, and paleoenvironment of the Ravin Blanc I (eastern Senegal), di K. Douze et alii

- Complexity and sophistication of Early Middle Paleolithic flint tools revealed through use-wear analysis of tools from Misliya Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel, di I. Groman-Yaroslavski, Y. Zaidner, M. Weinstein-Evron

- Early ontogeny of humeral trabecular bone in Neandertals and recent modern humans, di T. Chevalier et alii

- Statistical inference of earlier origins for the first flaked stone technologies, di A. J. M. Key, D. L. Roberts, I. Jarić

- Assessing the status of the KNM-ER 42700 fossil using Homo erectus neurocranial development, di K. L. Baab, A. Nesbitt, J. J. Hublin, S. Neubauer

Nery Delgado, Pioneer of Archaeological Excavation Methods at the Casa da Moura Cave (Portugal) in 1879–1880, di J. L. Cardoso, N. Bicho, "European Journal of Archaeology", Volume 24 - Issue 2 - May 2021

Nery Delgado was a key figure in the development of archaeological methods applied to prehistoric sites in Portugal within European archaeology at the end of the nineteenth century. He was the first in Europe to use a grid in his 1879–1880 excavation at the Casa da Moura cave (Óbidos, Portugal). The grid divided the cave into twenty-eight sectors excavated independently and, in each, all archaeological and bioanthropological finds were documented and marked with labels recording depth and excavation units. (...)

Magnetostratigraphy and cosmogenic dating of Wonderwerk Cave: New constraints for the chronology of the South African Earlier Stone Age, di R. Shaar, A. Matmon, L. K. Horwitz, Y. Ebert, M. Chazan, "Quaternary Science Reviews", Volume 259, 1 May 2021, 106907

Cave sediments pose dating challenges due to complex depositional and post-depositional processes that operate during their transport and accumulation. Here, we confront these challenges and investigate the stratified sedimentary sequence from Wonderwerk Cave, which is a key site for the Earlier Stone Age (ESA) in Southern Africa. The precise ages of the Wonderwerk sediments are crucial for our understanding of the timing of critical events in hominin biological and cultural evolution in the region, and its correlation with the global paleontological and archaeological records. We report new constraints for the Wonderwerk ESA chronology based on magnetostratigraphy, with 178 samples passing our rigorous selection criteria, and fourteen cosmogenic burial ages. (...)

Dating the landscape evolution around the Chauvet-Pont d’Arc cave, di K. Genuite et alii, "Scientific Reports", volume 11, Article number: 8944 (2021), 26 aprile 2021 - open access -

The Chauvet cave (UNESCO World Heritage site, France) is located in the Ardèche Gorge, a unique physical and cultural landscape. Its setting within the gorge—overlooking a meander cutoff containing a natural arch called the Pont d’Arc—is also remarkable. Investigating possible associations between sites’ physical and cultural settings, chronologies of human occupation, and access conditions has become a major theme in archeological research. The present study aims to reconstruct the landscape of the Pont d'Arc meander cutoff during the Upper Paleolithic, when humans were present in the Chauvet Cave. We used uranium-series and electron spin resonance analyses to date the formation of the Pont d’Arc natural arch in the Combe d’Arc meander cutoff, near the Chauvet Cave. (...)

Modern human behavioral innovations from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) include the earliest indicators of full coastal adaptation evidenced by shell middens, yet many MSA middens remain poorly dated. We apply 230Th/U burial dating to ostrich eggshells (OES) from Ysterfontein 1 (YFT1, Western Cape, South Africa), a stratified MSA shell midden. 230Th/U burial ages of YFT1 OES are relatively precise (median ± 2.7%), consistent with other age constraints, and preserve stratigraphic principles. Bayesian age–depth modeling indicates YFT1 was deposited between 119.9 to 113.1 thousand years ago (ka) (95% CI of model ages), and the entire 3.8 m thick midden may have accumulated within ~2,300 y. (...)

- Human existence potential in Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum, di K. Klein et alii

- Paleoenvironments and human adaptations during the Last Glacial Maximum in the Iberian Peninsula: A review, di J. Cascalheira et alii

- Gravettian and Solutrean in the Basque Crossroads: Climate changes and human adaptations in the western Pyrenees, di A. Arrizabalaga, M. J. Iriarte-Chiapusso, N. Garcia-Ibaibarriaga

- Breaking bad? Discarding the solutrean norms: Chronology, evolution and geographical extent of the badegoulian phenomenon in Western Europe, di S. Ducasse, F. X. Chauvière, J. M. Pétillon

- The Salpetrian culture toward the end of the Solutrean around 23 ka cal BP in the Rhône Valley (France), di G. Boccaccio

- Hunter-gatherers across the great Adriatic-Po region during the Last Glacial Maximum: Environmental and cultural dynamics, di M. Peresani et alii

- Statistical and geographical modelling of Moravian (Czech Republic) Late Upper Palaeolithic occupation, di Z. Nerudová, P. Neruda, P. Hamrozi

- Gravettian backed points from Unit K11 of Dolní Věstonice II (South Moravia, Czech Republic), di M. Polanská

- The Upper and Final Gravettian in Western Slovakia and Moravia. Different approaches, new questions, di M. Polanská, B. Hromadová, S. Sázelová

- Cultural evolution and environmental change in Central Europe between 40 and 15 ka, di A. Maier et alii

- Break vs. continuity: Techno-cultural changes across the LGM in the Eastern Carpathians, di M. Anghelinu et alii

- South of Eastern Europe and Upper Paleolithic diversity around the Last Glacial Maximum, di Y. E. Demidenko

- The originality of the Byki sites among known LGM industries on the Russian Plain, di N. B. Akhmetgaleeva, N. D. Burova

DNA from cave dirt traces Neanderthal upheaval, di A. Gibbons, "Science", 16 Apr 2021: Vol. 372, Issue 6539, pp. 222-223

Estatuas cave in northern Spain was a hive of activity 105,000 years ago. Artifacts show its Neanderthal inhabitants hafted stone tools, butchered red deer, and may have made fires. They also shed, bled, and excreted subtler clues onto the cave floor: their own DNA. Researchers report this week that dirt from Estatuas has yielded the first nuclear DNA from an ancient human to be gleaned from sediments. Earlier studies reported shorter, more abundant human mitochondrial DNA from cave floors, but nuclear DNA, previously available only from bones and teeth, can be far more informative. (...)

DNA from cave dirt tells tale of how some Neanderthals disappeared, di A. Gibbons, "Science", 15 Apr. 2021

Estatuas cave in northern Spain was a hive of activity 105,000 years ago. Artifacts show its Neanderthal inhabitants hafted stone tools, butchered red deer, and may have made fires. They also shed, bled, and excreted subtler clues onto the cave floor: their own DNA. “You can imagine them sitting in the cave making tools, butchering animals. Maybe they cut themselves or their babies pooped,” says population geneticist Benjamin Vernot, a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), whose perspective may have been colored by his own baby’s cries during a Zoom call. “All that DNA accumulates in the dirt floors.” (...)

Oldest DNA from a Homo sapiens reveals surprisingly recent Neanderthal ancestry, di E. Callaway, "Nature", volume 592, issue 7854, 15 April 2021

Scientists have sequenced the oldest Homo sapiens DNA on record, showing that many of Europe’s first humans had Neanderthals in their family trees. Yet these individuals are not related to later Europeans, according to two genome studies of remains dating back more than 45,000 years from caves in Bulgaria and the Czech Republic. The research adds to growing evidence that modern humans mixed regularly with Neanderthals and other extinct relatives, says Viviane Slon, a palaeogeneticist at the University of Tel Aviv in Israel. “It’s different times, different places, and it happens again and again.” (...)

A revised, Last Interglacial chronology for the Middle Palaeolithic sequence of Gruta da Oliveira (Almonda karst system, Torres Novas, Portugal), di J. Zilhão, D. E. Angelucci, L. J. Arnold, M. Demuro, D. L. Hoffmann, A. W. G. Pike, "Quaternary Science Reviews", Volume 258, 15 April 2021, 106885 - open access -

Based on previous radiocarbon and U-series (Diffusion/Adsorption) dating of bone samples, the Middle Palaeolithic has been thought to persist at Gruta da Oliveira until ~37 thousand years (ka) ago. New U-series ages for stratigraphically constraining speleothems, coupled with new luminescence ages for sediment infill, show that the site’s ~6 m-thick archaeological stratigraphy dates entirely within a <30 ka interval spanning substages 5a-5b of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. Significant technological change is observed across the sequence, akin to that seen in the Upper Palaeolithic over similar timescales. Flake-cleavers and bifaces, normatively definitional of the Vasconian facies, are restricted to a short interval correlated with Greenland Stadial (GS) 22, 85.1–87.6 ka ago. (...)

New hominin remains and revised context from the earliest Homo erectus locality in East Turkana, Kenya, di A. S. Hammond et alii, "Nature Communications", volume 12, article number: 1939 (2021), 13 aprile 2021  - open access -

The KNM-ER 2598 occipital is among the oldest fossils attributed to Homo erectus but questions have been raised about whether it may derive from a younger horizon. Here we report on efforts to relocate the KNM-ER 2598 locality and investigate its paleontological and geological context. Although located in a different East Turkana collection area (Area 13) than initially reported, the locality is stratigraphically positioned below the KBS Tuff and the outcrops show no evidence of deflation of a younger unit, supporting an age of >1.855 Ma. Newly recovered faunal material consists primarily of C4 grazers, further confirmed by enamel isotope data. (...)

The primitive brain of early Homo, di M. S. Ponce de León et alii, "Science", 09 Apr 2021: Vol. 372, Issue 6538, pp. 165-171

The brains of modern humans differ from those of great apes in size, shape, and cortical organization, notably in frontal lobe areas involved in complex cognitive tasks, such as social cognition, tool use, and language. When these differences arose during human evolution is a question of ongoing debate. Here, we show that the brains of early Homo from Africa and Western Asia (Dmanisi) retained a primitive, great ape–like organization of the frontal lobe. (...)

Ex Africa semper aliquid novi, the ancient Roman Pliny the Elder once remarked — there is always something new from Africa. Writing in Nature, Wilkins et al. present an example of such news in their report of material excavated from a rock shelter in a northern inland region of South Africa. The objects they found suggest it is time to revise current thinking about the emergence of cultural innovations among early human populations. (...)

Innovative Homo sapiens behaviours 105,000 years ago in a wetter Kalahari, di J. Wilkins et alii, "Nature", volume 592, issue 7853, 8 April 2021, pages 248–252

The archaeological record of Africa provides the earliest evidence for the emergence of the complex symbolic and technological behaviours that characterize Homo sapiens. The coastal setting of many archaeological sites of the Late Pleistocene epoch, and the abundant shellfish remains recovered from them, has led to a dominant narrative in which modern human origins in southern Africa are intrinsically tied to the coast and marine resources and behavioural innovations in the interior lag behind. However, stratified Late Pleistocene sites with good preservation and robust chronologies are rare in the interior of southern Africa, and the coastal hypothesis therefore remains untested. Here we show that early human innovations that are similar to those dated to around 105 thousand years ago (ka) in coastal southern Africa existed at around the same time among humans who lived over 600 km inland. (...)

Initial Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe had recent Neanderthal ancestry, di M. Hajdinjak et alii, "Nature", volume 592, issue 7853, 8 April 2021, pages 253–257 - open access -

Modern humans appeared in Europe by at least 45,000 years ago, but the extent of their interactions with Neanderthals, who disappeared by about 40,000 years ago, and their relationship to the broader expansion of modern humans outside Africa are poorly understood. Here we present genome-wide data from three individuals dated to between 45,930 and 42,580 years ago from Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria. They are the earliest Late Pleistocene modern humans known to have been recovered in Europe so far, and were found in association with an Initial Upper Palaeolithic artefact assemblage. Unlike two previously studied individuals of similar ages from Romania and Siberia8 who did not contribute detectably to later populations, these individuals are more closely related to present-day and ancient populations in East Asia and the Americas than to later west Eurasian populations. (...)

Our earliest ancestors weren’t as brainy as we thought, fossil skulls suggest, di M. Price, "Science", 8 Apr. 2021

Pinpointing when our ancient ancestors evolved humanlike brains is a frustratingly difficult puzzle. Brains almost never fossilize, so researchers must scrutinize impressions in the skull left behind by the brain’s grooves, folds, and bulges. A new analysis of such imprints from five skulls suggests our genus, Homo, developed complex language and advanced toolmaking hundreds of thousands of years later than previously thought. Other researchers disagree with that interpretation, but say the study still sheds much-needed light on brain structures in our genus’ earliest days. The fossil skulls, discovered in the 1990s in Dmanisi, Georgia, are tentatively identified as the early human ancestral species, Homo erectus. (...)

Quantifying speciation times during human evolution is fundamental as it provides a timescale to test for the correlation between key evolutionary transitions and extrinsic factors such as climatic or environmental change. Here, we applied a total evidence dating approach to a hominin phylogeny to estimate divergence times under different topological hypotheses. The time-scaled phylogenies were subsequently used to perform ancestral state reconstructions of body mass and phylogenetic encephalization quotient (PEQ). (...)

Later Stone Age human hair from Vaalkrans Shelter, Cape Floristic Region of South Africa, reveals genetic affinity to Khoe groups, di A. Coutinho et alii, "American Journal of Physical Anthropology", Volume 174, Issue 4, April 2021, Pages 701-713 - open access -

Previous studies show that the indigenous people of the southern Cape of South Africa were dramatically impacted by the arrival of European colonists starting ~400 years ago and their descendants are today mixed with Europeans and Asians. To gain insight on the occupants of the Vaalkrans Shelter located at the southernmost tip of Africa, we investigated the genetic make-up of an individual who lived there about 200 years ago. We further contextualize the genetic ancestry of this individual among prehistoric and current groups. From a hair sample excavated at the shelter, which was indirectly dated to about 200 years old, we sequenced the genome (1.01 times coverage) of a Later Stone Age individual. We analyzed the Vaalkrans genome together with genetic data from 10 ancient (pre-colonial) individuals from southern Africa spanning the last 2000 years. (...)

Characterizing the lithic raw materials from Fuente del Trucho (Asque-Colungo, Huesca): New data about Palaeolithic human mobility in north-east Iberia, di M. Sánchez de la Torre, P. Utrilla, L. Montes, R. Domigo, F. X. Le Bourdonnec, B. Gratuze, "Archaeometry", Volume 63, Issue 2, April 2021, Pages 247-265

Fuente del Trucho cave (Asque-Colungo, Huesca, Spain) is located in the central Pre-Pyrenean range in north-east Iberia, in the Arpán ravine, a tributary of the Vero River. The mouth of the cave is 22 m wide and it is oriented to the south-east. The entrance gives access to a 24 m-deep hall. Palaeolithic paintings were discovered in the cave in 1978. The Fuente del Trucho art comprises two sectors: the external with some engraved motifs and the internal featuring more than 100 painted motifs distributed in 21 panels. Archaeological works have been undertaken since 1979, identifying several human occupations from the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. This paper presents results obtained after the analysis of lithic raw materials. (...)

The end of the Acheulo-Yabrudian and the Lower Paleolithic in the Levant: a view from the “transitional” Unit X of Tabun Cave, Israel, di R. Shimelmitz, S. L. Kuhn, M. Bisson, M. Weinstein-Evron, "Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences", Volume 13, issue 4, April 2021

Even after a century of research, the nature of the transition from the Lower-to-Middle Paleolithic in the Levant remains elusive. Responding to the sharp discontinuity in material culture, Jelinek argued that Unit X of Tabun Cave, Israel, can offer the bridgehead necessary to traverse the divide. His proposal was based on the unit’s stratigraphic position and on (2) the unique combination of traits it embodied. However, this interpretation of Unit X was later dismissed and the combination of features attributed to post-depositional mixture. In this paper, we revisit these arguments and analyze Layer J72S of Unit X. We address two major obstacles to our understanding of the Lower-to-Middle Paleolithic transition. The first is our poor understanding of the Acheulian facies of the Acheulo-Yabrudian and its implications for technological variation and settlement dynamics. (...)

Dragged, lagged, or undisturbed: reassessing the autochthony of the hominin-bearing assemblages at Gran Dolina (Atapuerca, Spain), di P. Saladié et alii, "Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences", Volume 13, issue 4, April 2021

The TD6 unit of the Gran Dolina contains an assemblage of the Early Pleistocene, interpreted firstly as a home base. More recently has been proposed a transported origin of the remains according to the sedimentology. Following this model, the remains should be dragged or lagged in a predictable pattern related to their weight, density, shape, and size. Conversely, the debris generated in an undisturbed residential camp should retain spatial relations of codependence caused by the depositional process, not related to inherent variables of materials. (...)

Evolution of Hominin Detoxification: Neanderthal and Modern Human Ah Receptor Respond Similarly to TCDD, di J. M. M. J. G. Aarts, G. M. Alink, H. J. Franssen, W. Roebroeks, "Molecular Biology and Evolution", Volume 38, Issue 4, April 2021, Pages 1292–1305 - open access -

In studies of hominin adaptations to fire use, the role of the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) in the evolution of detoxification has been highlighted, including statements that the modern human AHR confers a significantly better capacity to deal with toxic smoke components than the Neanderthal AHR. To evaluate this, we compared the AHR-controlled induction of cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) mRNA in HeLa human cervix epithelial adenocarcinoma cells transfected with an Altai-Neanderthal or a modern human reference AHR expression construct, and exposed to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD). We compared the complete AHR mRNA sequences including the untranslated regions (UTRs), maintaining the original codon usage. We observe no significant difference in CYP1A1 induction by TCDD between Neanderthal and modern human AHR, whereas a 150–1,000 times difference was previously reported in a study of the AHR coding region optimized for mammalian codon usage and expressed in rat cells. (...)

Subsistence practices in western Mediterranean Europe during the Final Gravettian. Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of faunal remains from level D of Arbreda Cave (Serinyà, NE Iberian Peninsula), di I. Rufí, L. Lloveras, J. Soler, N. Soler, "Journal of Quaternary Science", Volume 36, Issue 3, April 2021, Pages 467-487

During the Final Gravettian, the Reclau Caves (northeast Iberia) were intensively occupied by hunter-gatherer communities. The study of residential level D (c. 25.4–19.7 kyr bp) of Arbreda Cave offers a new view of subsistence strategies of communities which inhabited the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, a transition region between the steppe-tundra and the Iberian wooded steppe biomes, during Greenland Stadial 3. Presented here are the results of the zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis of ungulate and carnivore remains recovered from level D. The study confirms that the faunal assemblage of this level was mainly brought there by humans. The zooarchaeological analysis indicates selective hunting based on the exploitation of familial groups of horses and deer, while other ungulate taxa appear to be infrequent. (...)

New Pliocene hominin remains from the Leado Dido’a area of Woranso-Mille, Ethiopia, di S. M. Melillo, L. Gibert, B. Z. Saylor, A. Deino, M. Alene, T. M. Ryan, Y. Haile-Selassie, "Journal of Human Evolution", Volume 153, April 2021, 102956

Fossiliferous deposits at Woranso-Mille span the period when Australopithecus anamensis gave rise to Australopithecus afarensis (3.8–3.6 Ma) and encompass the core of the A. afarensis range (ca. 3.5–3.2 Ma). Within the latter period, fossils described to date include the intriguing but taxonomically unattributed Burtele foot, dentognathic fossils attributed to Australopithecus deyiremeda, and one specimen securely attributed to A. afarensis (the Nefuraytu mandible). These fossils suggest that at least one additional hominin lineage lived alongside A. afarensis in the Afar Depression. Here we describe a collection of hominin fossils from a new locality in the Leado Dido’a area of Woranso-Mille (LDD-VP-1). (...)

Trabecular organization of the proximal femur in Paranthropus robustus: Implications for the assessment of its hip joint loading conditions, di M. Cazenave, A. Oettlé, T. Rayne Pickering, J. L. Heaton, M. Nakatsukasa, J. F. Thackeray, J. Hoffman, R. Macchiarelli, "Journal of Human Evolution", Volume 153, April 2021, 102964

Reconstruction of the locomotor repertoire of the australopiths (Australopithecus and Paranthropus) has progressively integrated information from the mechanosensitive internal structure of the appendicular skeleton. Recent investigations showed that the arrangement of the trabecular network at the femoral head center is biomechanically compatible with the pattern of cortical bone distribution across the neck, both suggesting a full commitment to bipedalism in australopiths, but associated with a slightly altered gait kinematics compared to Homo involving more lateral deviation of the body center of mass over the stance limb. (...)

The Middle to Later Stone Age transition is a critical period of human behavioral change that has been variously argued to pertain to the emergence of modern cognition, substantial population growth, and major dispersals of Homo sapiens within and beyond Africa. However, there is little consensus about when the transition occurred, the geographic patterning of its emergence, or even how it is manifested in the stone tool technology that is used to define it. Here, we examine a long sequence of lithic technological change at the cave site of Panga ya Saidi, Kenya, that spans the Middle and Later Stone Age and includes human occupations in each of the last five Marine Isotope Stages. (...)

What kind of hominin first left Africa?, di G. Scardia, W. A. Neves, I. Tattersall, L. Blumrich, Volume 30, Issue 2, March/April 2021, Pages 122-127

Recent discoveries of stone tools from Jordan (2.5 Ma) and China (2.1 Ma) document hominin presence in Asia at the beginning of the Pleistocene, well before the conventional Dmanisi datum at 1.8 Ma. Although no fossil hominins documenting this earliest Out of Africa phase have been found, on chronological grounds a pre-Homo erectus hominin must be considered the most likely maker of those artifacts. If so, this sheds new light on at least two disputed subjects in paleoanthropology, namely the remarkable variation among the five Dmanisi skulls, and the ancestry of Homo floresiensis.

Hidden in plain sight: A microanalytical study of a Middle Stone Age ochre piece trapped inside a micromorphological block sample, di M. M. Haaland et alii, "Geoarchaeology", Volume 36, Issue 2, March/April 2021, Pages 283-313 - open access -

A complete Middle Stone Age ochre piece was unintentionally collected and fully preserved within a micromorphological block sample intended to characterise a 74±3 ka occupation horizon at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Previously recovered ochre pieces from the same stratigraphic context (Still Bay) have displayed intricate modification patterns with significant behavioural implications. Yet, in the case of the trapped ochre, a direct visual assessment of its surfaces was impossible due to its impregnated state. In this study, we demonstrate how we successfully reconstructed three-dimensionally and characterised the block-sampled ochre piece using high-resolution microcomputed tomography scanning coupled with a range of microanalytical techniques, including optical petrography, micro-Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, micro-X-ray fluorescence and micro-Raman spectroscopy. (...)

The oldest Homo erectus buried lithic horizon from the Eastern Saharan Africa. EDAR 7 - an Acheulean assemblage with Kombewa method from the Eastern Desert, Sudan, di M. Masojć et alii, 23 March 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248279 - open access -

Although essential for reconstructing hominin behaviour during the Early Palaeolithic, only a handful of Acheulean sites have been dated in the Eastern Sahara region. This is due to the scarcity of sites for this time period and the lack of datable material. However, recent excavations in the Atbara region (Sudan) have provided unique opportunities to analyse and date Acheulean stone tools. We report here on EDAR 7, part of a cluster of Acheulean and Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites that were recently discovered in the Eastern Desert Atbara River (EDAR) region, located in the Eastern Desert (Sudan) far from the Nile valley. At EDAR 7, a 3.5 metre sedimentary sequence was excavated, allowing an Acheulean assemblage to be investigated using a combination of sedimentology, stone tool studies and optically stimulated luminescence dating (OSL). The site has delivered a complete Acheulean knapping chaine opératoire, providing new information about the Saharan Acheulean. The EDAR 7 site is interpreted as a remnant of a campsite based on the co-occurrence of two reduction modes: one geared towards the production of Large Cutting Tools (LCTs), and the other based on the flaking of small debitage and production of flake tools (...)

Reevaluating the timing of Neanderthal disappearance in Northwest Europe, di T. Devièse et alii, "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences", 23 March 2021, vol. 118, no. 12, e2022466118

Elucidating when Neanderthal populations disappeared from Eurasia is a key question in paleoanthropology, and Belgium is one of the key regions for studying the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. Previous radiocarbon dating placed the Spy Neanderthals among the latest surviving Neanderthals in Northwest Europe with reported dates as young as 23,880 ± 240 B.P. (OxA-8912). Questions were raised, however, regarding the reliability of these dates. Soil contamination and carbon-based conservation products are known to cause problems during the radiocarbon dating of bulk collagen samples. Employing a compound-specific approach that is today the most efficient in removing contamination and ancient genomic analysis, we demonstrate here that previous dates produced on Neanderthal specimens from Spy were inaccurately young by up to 10,000 y due to the presence of unremoved contamination. (...)

Expedient behaviour and predetermination at the Ciota Ciara cave (north-western Italy) during Middle Palaeolithic, di S. Daffara, G. L. F. Berruti, M. Arzarello, "Quaternary International", Volume 577, 10 March 2021, Pages 71-92

The Ciota Ciara cave is a Middle Palaeolithic site located in Piedmont (north-western Italy) and it is the only one systematically investigated in the region. It opens at 670 m a.s.l. on the west side of Monte Fenera and its archaeological deposit has a stratigraphic sequence documenting several and repeated human frequentations. Four archaeological layers have been identified (103, 13, 14 and 15) and are characterized by lithic assemblages where vein quartz is the main exploited raw material. The upper level (13) was already subject to technological and functional studies, but the enlargement of the excavated area made necessary a completion of the technological data. (...)

How old are the oldest Homo sapiens in Far East Asia?, di J. J. Hublin, "Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences", 09 March 2021, vol. 118, no. 10, e2101173118

There is abundant genetic and paleontological evidence supporting the African origin of our species. At some point in its evolution, Homo sapiens spread out of Africa into Eurasia, replacing or partially absorbing local populations of other hominin forms. Ultimately, it colonized regions where no humans had ever lived before. Although extant humans display some physical variations resulting from adaptation to local conditions and isolation, they all share a recent African ancestry. How many times, when, and why this dispersal out of Africa occurred have been a matter of continuous debate in the field of paleoanthropology. In the past decade, research efforts have intensified in Far East Asia to elucidate the timing of the arrival of our species and have produced several notable publications. In PNAS, Sun et al. (1) question the dating of some of the foremost Chinese hominin sites that have been central to these discussions. They also raise important questions about the way the archeological and fossil records in this region can be interpreted. (...)

Neanderthals and Homo sapiens had similar auditory and speech capacities, di M. Conde-Valverde et alii, "Nature Ecology & Evolution", 01 March 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-021-01391-6

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. (...)

Neanderthal and early modern human stone tool culture co-existed for over 100,000 years, 1 March 2021

The Acheulean was estimated to have died out around 200,000 years ago but the new findings suggest it may have persisted for much longer, creating over 100,000 years of overlap with more advanced technologies produced by Neanderthals and early modern humans. The research team, led by Dr Alastair Key (Kent) alongside Dr David Roberts (Kent) and Dr Ivan Jaric (Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences), made the discovery whilst studying stone tool records from different regions across the world. Using statistical techniques new to archaeological science, the archaeologists and conservation experts were able to reconstruct the end of the Acheulean period and re-map the archaeological record. (...)

Late Neanderthal short-term and specialized occupations at the Abri du Maras (South-East France, level 4.1, MIS 3), di M. H. Moncel et alii, "Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences", volume 13, issue 3, march 2021 - open access -

Level 4.1 from the Abri du Maras (Ardèche, France) is chronologically attributed to the beginning of MIS 3 and is one example of late Neanderthal occupations in the southeast of France. Previous work on the faunal and lithic remains suggests that this level records short-term hunting episodes of reindeer associated with fragmented lithic reduction sequences. During fieldwork, the high density of the material did not allow identification of clear spatial patterning of these activities. In order to try to decipher the palimpsest of these short-term occupations, we combined contextual micro-stratigraphic analysis with interdisciplinary and methodological approaches to obtain high-resolution intra-site spatial data. The former was performed by studying microfacies variability of occupation layers at meso to microscales. (...)

Introduction to ‘Theoretical Pathways’: Thinking About Human Endeavour During the Middle Stone Age and Middle Palaeolithic, di A. Högberg, M. Lombard, "Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory", Volume 28, issue 1, March 2021, pages 1-10 - open access -

In this brief introduction, we present and contextualise ‘theoretical pathways’ elaborated in this special issue, in terms of understanding humanity from a deep-time perspective. The participating authors discuss a wide range of approaches related to thinking about human endeavour during the Middle Stone Age and Middle Palaeolithic ranging from the constraints of technological niches and Material Engagement Theory to aspects of palaeo-neurology, agent-based models of self-domestication and co-evolutionary model building. Together, the contributions demonstrate that current theoretical approaches that aim to explain deep-time human endeavour require multi-disciplinary approaches, and that for some researchers, the trend is to move away from the symbolic standard or models of sudden mutation. (...)

Constraining the Likely Technological Niches of Late Middle Pleistocene Hominins with Homo naledi as Case Study, di G. L. Dusseldorp, M. Lombard, "Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory", Volume 28, issue 1, March 2021, pages 11–52 - open access -

We develop a framework to differentiate the technological niches of co-existing hominin species by reviewing some theoretical biases influential in thinking about techno-behaviours of extinct hominins, such as a teleological bias in discussing technological evolution. We suggest that some stone-tool classification systems underestimate technological variability, while overestimating the complexity of the behaviours most commonly represented. To model the likely technological niches of extinct populations, we combine ecological principles (i.e. competitive exclusion) with physical anthropology and the archaeological record. We test the framework by applying it to the co-existence of Homo naledi and Homo sapiens during the late Middle Pleistocene in southern Africa. (...)

Theoretical and Methodological Approaches to Ecological Changes, Social Behaviour and Human Intergroup Tolerance 300,000 to 30,000 BP, di P. Spikins, J. C. French, S. John-Wood, C. Dytham, "Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory", Volume 28, issue 1, March 2021, pages 53–75 - open access -

Archaeological evidence suggests that important shifts were taking place in the character of human social behaviours 300,000 to 30,000 years ago. New artefact types appear and are disseminated with greater frequency. Transfers of both raw materials and finished artefacts take place over increasing distances, implying larger scales of regional mobility and more frequent and friendlier interactions between different communities. Whilst these changes occur during a period of increasing environmental variability, the relationship between ecological changes and transformations in social behaviours is elusive. Here, we explore a possible theoretical approach and methodology for understanding how ecological contexts can influence selection pressures acting on intergroup social behaviours. We focus on the relative advantages and disadvantages of intergroup tolerance in different ecological contexts using agent-based modelling (ABM). (...)

Evolving Human Brains: Paleoneurology and the Fate of Middle Pleistocene, di E. Bruner, "Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory", Volume 28, issue 1, March 2021, pages 76–94

In the evolutionary radiation of the human genus, we have observed changes in both brain size and proportions. Some of these morphological differences are thought to be associated with functional variations, in physiological or cognitive aspects, while some others are the secondary results of cortical or cranial structural constraints. Most archaic human species, like Homo erectus and H. heidelbergensis, display larger brains when compared with earlier hominids, but specializations in their cortical proportions, if there are any, are difficult to recognize. In contrast, after or during Middle Pleistocene, more derived species like H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis show changes in overall brain size but also in specific cerebral regions. Functions associated with body cognition, visuospatial integration, tool use, language, and social structure may be involved in these paleoneurological changes. (...)

What Stimulated Rapid, Cumulative Innovation After 100,000 Years Ago?, di L. Wadley, "Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory", Volume 28, issue 1, March 2021, pages 120–141

Imagination and innovation are likely stimulated through the intersection of brain power, motor skill and social need. Through time, escalating creativity may have influenced cognition and social interactions, creating a feedback situation that also implicated demography. Such reciprocal interactions between technology, cognition and society may have motivated the accumulation of innovations that are particularly visible in the archaeological record after 100,000 years ago (not as a revolution, but incrementally). Raw materials also played a role because they are not passive; intense interaction with objects reflexively stimulates human imagination and creativity. Archaeological evidence for material culture items that appear to embody imagination is present before the appearance of Homo sapiens. (...)

Four-Field Co-evolutionary Model for Human Cognition: Variation in the Middle Stone Age/Middle Palaeolithic, di M. Lombard, A. Högberg, "Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory", Volume 28, issue 1, March 2021, pages 142–177 - open access -

Here we explore variation and similarities in the two best-represented population groups who lived during the Middle Stone Age and Middle Palaeolithic—the Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. Building on approaches such as gene-culture co-evolution, we propose a four-field model to discuss relationships between human cognitive evolution, biology, technology, society, and ecology. We focus on the pre-50-ka phase, because we reason that later admixing between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in Eurasia may make it difficult to separate them in terms of cognition, or any of the other fields discussed in this paper. Using our model enabled us to highlight similarities in cognition between the two populations in terms of symbolic behaviour and social learning and to identify differences in aspects of technical and social cognition. (...)

Looking into Upper Paleolithic gear: The potential of an integrated techno-economic approach, di A. Tomasso, V. Rots, "Journal of Anthropological Archaeology", Volume 61, March 2021, 101240

Revealing the underlying structure of lithic assemblages is challenging. With the exception of rare favorable situations, most lithic assemblages are palimpsests that result from multiple and complex processes of accumulation. We argue that the combination of petrography, technology and use-wear in a detailed techno-economic approach permits unique insights into the structural components of an assemblage and allows the identification of different kinds of site-related gear. The site of La Péguière, located in Southeastern France and dated to ca. 20–21 ka cal. BP is most probably a palimpsest of multiple occupations with several taphonomic and stratigraphic issues, as is typical of most Upper Paleolithic sites. (...)

New excavations in the MNK Skull site, and the last appearance of the Oldowan and Homo habilis at Olduvai Gorge,Tanzania, di I. de la Torre et alii, "Journal of Anthropological Archaeology", Volume 61, March 2021, 101255

MNK Skull is one of the most significant archaeological sites in Olduvai Gorge, particularly due to the previous discovery of human fossils referred to in the paper where the Homo habilis taxon was originally defined. An important archaeological assemblage is contained in the same horizon as the hominin fossils, constituting the last evidence of both Homo habilis remains and handaxe-free tool kits in the Olduvai Gorge sequence. Our excavations at the site are the first to be conducted since the original work in the 1960s, and sought to refine the archaeological context wherein the Homo habilis remains were discovered. Chronostratigraphic results place the MNK Skull sequence in Middle Bed II prior to deposition of Tuff IIB. The assemblage was deposited near the shoreline, as Palaeolake Olduvai withdrew into the basinal depocentre, and fossils and stone tools were subjected to significant post-depositional processes. (...)

Small body size phenotypes among Middle and Later Stone Age Southern Africans, di M. E. Cameron, S. Pfeiffer, J. Stock, "Journal of Human Evolution", Volume 152, March 2021, 102943

Modern humans originated between 300 and 200 ka in structured populations throughout Africa, characterized by regional interaction and diversity. Acknowledgment of this complex Pleistocene population structure raises new questions about the emergence of phenotypic diversity. Holocene Southern African Later Stone Age (LSA) skeletons and descendant Khoe-San peoples have small adult body sizes that may reflect long-term adaptation to the Cape environment. Pleistocene Southern African adult body sizes are not well characterized, but some postcranial elements are available. The most numerous Pleistocene postcranial skeletal remains come from Klasies River Mouth on the Southern Cape coast of South Africa. We compare the morphology of these skeletal elements with globally sampled Holocene groups encompassing diverse adult body sizes and shapes (n = 287) to investigate whether there is evidence for phenotypic patterning. (...)

The morphology of the Late Pleistocene hominin remains from the site of La Cotte de St Brelade, Jersey (Channel Islands), di T. Compton et alii, "Journal of Human Evolution", Volume 152, March 2021, 102939

Thirteen permanent fully erupted teeth were excavated at the Paleolithic site of La Cotte de St Brelade in Jersey in 1910 and 1911. These were all found in the same location, on a ledge behind a hearth in a Mousterian occupation level. They were originally identified as being Neanderthal. A fragment of occipital bone was found in a separate locality in a later season. Recent dating of adjacent sediments gives a probable age of <48 ka. The purpose of this article is to provide an updated description of the morphology of this material and consider its likely taxonomic assignment from comparison with Neanderthal and Homo sapiens samples. One of the original teeth has been lost, and we identify one as nonhominin. (...)

A detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of Schöningen 13II-4 'Spear Horizon' faunal remains, di A. García-Moreno, J. M. Hutson, A. Villaluenga, E. Turner, S. Gaudzinski-Windheuser, "Journal of Human Evolution", Volume 152, March 2021, 102947

The Middle Pleistocene Schöningen 13II-4 ‘Spear Horizon’ (Germany) is a key site for the study of human evolution, most notably for the discovery of Paleolithic wooden weaponry and evidence for developed hunting strategies. On the other hand, the ‘Spear Horizon’ offers an excellent opportunity to approach hominin spatial behavior, thanks to the richness of the archeological assemblage, its exceptional preservation, and the vast expanse of the excavated surface. Analyzing how space was used is essential for understanding hominin behavior at this unique open-air site and, from a wider perspective, for approaching how humans adapted to interglacial environments. (...)

Mapping the walls: High-resolution cartography applied to the analysis of prehistoric cave art in the Grotte du Mammouth (Domme, Dordogne, France), di V. Le Fillâtre, E. Robert, S. Petrognani, E. Lesvignes, C. Cretin, X. Muth, "Journal of Archaeological Science", Volume 127, March 2021, 10533

The analysis of paintings and engravings on the walls of Upper Palaeolithic caves generally focuses on the images themselves, their technical or stylistic characteristics, graphical and spatial composition, and, to a lesser extent, radiometric dating. More recent studies of cave art have reinforced new interdisciplinary perspectives that address the archaeology, karstology and geomorphology of the site. (...)

Interpreting gaps: A geoarchaeological point of view on the Gravettian record of Ach and Lone valleys (Swabian Jura, SW Germany), di A. Barbieri, F. Bachofer, E. M. Schmaltz, C. Leven, N. J. Conard, C. E. Miller, "Journal of Archaeological Science", Volume 127, March 2021, 105335 - open access -

Unlike other Upper Paleolithic industries, Gravettian assemblages from the Swabian Jura are documented solely in the Ach Valley (35-30 Kcal BP). On the other hand, traces of contemporaneous occupations in the nearby Lone Valley are sparse. It is debated whether this gap is due to a phase of human depopulation, or taphonomic issues related with landscape changes. In this paper we present ERT, EC-logging and GPR data showing that in both Ach and Lone valleys sediments and archaeological materials eroded from caves and deposited above river incisions after 37-32 Kcal BP. We argued that the rate of cave erosion was higher after phases of downcutting, when hillside erosion was more intensive. (...)

Palaeoenvironmental considerations on the latest pleistocene and holocene micromammals from the grotta dei pipistrelli (hyblaean mountains, sicily, italy), di M. T. Spena, P. Agnelli, J. Di Maita, R. Grasso, L. Salari, "Alpine and Mediterranean Quaternary", 34 (2), 2021 - open access -

The Eulipotyphla and Rodentia remains from the Grotta dei Pipistrelli in Sicily (Italy), a key region for the historical reconstruction of the Quaternary climates and environments of the central Mediterranean basin, are described and discussed. Three 14C radiometric dating display that the fossil remains were accumulated during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and in the middle Holocene. Taphonomic observations show that the small mammal remains probably come from Asio otus pellets. Both the micromammal assemblages are oligotypical and similar to each other. However, the relative abundance of Apodemus sylvaticus suggest temperate-warm and humid climatic conditions, in both LGM and middle Holocene. The frequency variations in the recognized taxa indicate that the palaeoenvironment was slightly more wooded in the LGM than during the middle Holocene. (...)

Nubian Levallois technology associated with southernmost Neanderthals, di J. Blinkhorn et alii, "Scientific Reports", volume 11, article number: 2869 (2021) - open access -

Neanderthals occurred widely across north Eurasian landscapes, but between ~70 and 50 thousand years ago (ka) they expanded southwards into the Levant, which had previously been inhabited by Homo sapiens. Palaeoanthropological research in the first half of the twentieth century demonstrated alternate occupations of the Levant by Neanderthal and Homo sapiens populations, yet key early findings have largely been overlooked in later studies. Here, we present the results of new examinations of both the fossil and archaeological collections from Shukbah Cave, located in the Palestinian West Bank, presenting new quantitative analyses of a hominin lower first molar and associated stone tool assemblage. (...)

Ardipithecus hand provides evidence that humans and chimpanzees evolved from an ancestor with suspensory adaptations, di T. C. Prang et alii, "Science Advances", 24 Feb 2021: Vol. 7, no. 9, eabf2474 - open access -

The morphology and positional behavior of the last common ancestor of humans and chimpanzees are critical for understanding the evolution of bipedalism. Early 20th century anatomical research supported the view that humans evolved from a suspensory ancestor bearing some resemblance to apes. However, the hand of the 4.4-million-year-old hominin Ardipithecus ramidus purportedly provides evidence that the hominin hand was derived from a more generalized form. Here, we use morphometric and phylogenetic comparative methods to show that Ardipithecus retains suspensory adapted hand morphologies shared with chimpanzees and bonobos. We identify an evolutionary shift in hand morphology between Ardipithecus and Australopithecus that renews questions about the coevolution of hominin manipulative capabilities and obligate bipedalism initially proposed by Darwin. Overall, our results suggest that early hominins evolved from an ancestor with a varied positional repertoire including suspension and vertical climbing, directly affecting the viable range of hypotheses for the origin of our lineage. (...)

New finds in the palaeoanthropological and genomic records have changed our view of the origins of modern human ancestry. Here we review our current understanding of how the ancestry of modern humans around the globe can be traced into the deep past, and which ancestors it passes through during our journey back in time. We identify three key phases that are surrounded by major questions, and which will be at the frontiers of future research. The most recent phase comprises the worldwide expansion of modern humans between 40 and 60 thousand years ago (ka) and their last known contacts with archaic groups such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. (...)

The Wallacean archipelago between the Indian and Pacific Oceans is a critical biogeographic boundary for all kinds of animals, from butterflies to birds. Humans are no exception, and in this paper we offer a three stage model for how our genus overcame this boundary. We review how Lower Palaeolithic hominins were able to colonize the larger islands of western Wallacea through incidental seagoing, and subsistence on the megaherbivores that also made these crossings. However, Lower Palaeolithic hominins were not able to maintain geneflow between islands, nor cross into eastern Wallacea and beyond into Sahul. (...)

Revealing the “hidden” Pannonian and Central Balkan Mesolithic: new radiocarbon evidence from Serbia, di I. Živaljević et alii, "Quaternary International", Volume 574, 10 February 2021, Pages 52-67

With the exception of the well known Mesolithic sites in the Danube Gorges (or the Iron Gates), the wider areas of the Central Balkans and southern fringes of the Great Pannonian Plain still represent a terra incognita when it comes to the presence of Mesolithic communities. The absence of Mesolithic sites in the region was associated with environmental changes in the Early Holocene, presumed low human population densities, limited possibilities of detection, or the lack of adequate research. However, valuable insights into the obscure regional Mesolithic can be gained not only by new archaeological excavations, but also by revisiting and reanalysing of existing archaeological collections. (...)

Coastal curios? An analysis of ex situ beach finds for mapping new Palaeolithic sites at Happisburgh, UK, di R. Bynoe et alii, "Journal of Quaternary Science", Volume 36, Issue 2, February 2021, Pages 191-210 - open access -

Recent archaeological discoveries from exposures of the Cromer Forest-bed Formation at Happisburgh, UK, have radically changed interpretations of the nature and timing of early hominin occupation of northern latitudes, but this in situ archaeology is only one part of the picture. Surface finds of Pleistocene mammalian remains have been found along this coastline for centuries, with stone tools adding to this record over the past 7 years. The ex situ nature of these finds, however, means they are often seen as limited in the information they can provide. This work contributes to a growing body of research from a range of landscape and environmental contexts that seeks to demonstrate the value and importance of these ex situ assemblages. Here the focus is on Palaeolithic flint artefacts and Pleistocene mammalian remains recovered by a group of local collectors through systematic, GPS-recorded beach collection from 2013 to 2017, and their use in developing a methodology for working with ex situ Palaeolithic finds in coastal locations. (...)

- The DNH 7 skull of Australopithecus robustus from Drimolen (Main Quarry), South Africa, di Y. Rak, W. H. Kimbel, J. Moggi-Cecchi, C. A. Lockwood, C. Menter

- Chipping and wear patterns in extant primate and fossil hominin molars: ‘Functional’ cusps are associated with extensive wear but low levels of fracture, di I. Towle, C. Loch, J. D. Irish, A. Veneziano, T. Ito

- A revised AMS and tephra chronology for the Late Middle to Early Upper Paleolithic occupations of Ortvale Klde, Republic of Georgia, di V. L. Cullen et alii

- Virtual reconstruction of the Kebara 2 Neanderthal pelvis, di M. T. Adegboyega, P. A. Stamos, J. J. Hublin, T. D. Weaver

- The environments of Australopithecus anamensis at Allia Bay, Kenya: A multiproxy analysis of early Pliocene Bovidae, di L. Dumouchel, R. Bobe, J. G. Wynn, W. A. Barr

- Is ulna curvature in the StW 573 (‘Little Foot’) Australopithecus natural or pathological?, di I. Araiza, M. R. Meyer, S. A. Williams

- Isotopic calcium biogeochemistry of MIS 5 fossil vertebrate bones: application to the study of the dietary reconstruction of Regourdou 1 Neandertal fossil, di P. J. Dodat et alii

- New hominin teeth from Stajnia Cave, Poland, di W. Nowaczewska et alii

- Bayesian luminescence dating at Ghār-e Boof, Iran, provides a new chronology for Middle and Upper Paleolithic in the southern Zagros, di M. Heydari, G. Guérin, M. Zeidi, N. J. Conard

- Personal ornaments as markers of social behavior, technological development and cultural phenomena in the Siberian early upper Paleolithic, di L. Lbova

- The Shigir idol in the context of early art in Eurasia, di T. Terberger, M. Zhilin, S. Savchenko

- A new subject in the study of the Great Shigir Idol, di S. F. Koksharov

- Shigir idol: Origin of monumental sculpture and ideas about the ways of preservation of the representational tradition, di V. Bobrov

- The Bolvanskii Nos I shrine as a reflection of the position of wooden idols in the cultural tradition of the Polar Urals in an archaeological context, di M. Zheltova, M. Zheltov

- Stylized animal images in the bone inventory of Mesolithic Hunters-Fishers at Zamostje 2 (Volga-Oka region), di O. V. Lozovskaya

- Zigzag lines and other protective patterns in Palaeolithic and Mesolithic art, di P. Vang Petersen

- Human representations in the Late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic art of north-western Europe, di T. Płonka

- Mesolithic anthropomorphic sculptures from the Northern Europe, di T. Jonuks

- New data on the middle pleistocene small mammal fauna from the homo bearing site of Fontana Ranuccio (Anagni Basin, central Italy), di F. Bona, F. Strani

- The pre-modern human fossil record in Italy from the middle to the late Pleistocene: an updated reappraisal, di C. Buzi, F. Di Vincenzo, A. Profico, G. Manzi

- Lithic productions during the first half of the middle Pleistocene (MIS 19-12) in the italian peninsula: an overview, di B. Muttillo, G. Lembo, R: Gallotti

- Large mammals from the middle Pleistocene (MIS 11) site of Fotnignano 2 (Rome, central Italy), with an overview of "San Cosimato" assemblages, di A. Iannucci, B. Mecozzi, R. Sardella

Ecosystem engineering in the Quaternary of the West Coast of South Africa, di D. R. Braun et alii, "Evolutionary Anthropology", January/February 2021 - open access -

Despite advances in our understanding of the geographic and temporal scope of thePaleolithic record, we know remarkably little about the evolutionary and ecological con-sequences of changes in human behavior. Recent inquiries suggest that human evolu-tion reflects a long history of interconnections between the behavior of humans andtheir surrounding ecosystems (e.g., niche construction). Developing expectations toidentify such phenomena is remarkably difficult because it requires understanding themulti-generational impacts of changes in behavior. These long-term dynamics requireinsights into the emergent phenomena that alter selective pressures over longer timeperiods which are not possible to observe, and are also not intuitive based on observa-tions derived from ethnographic time scales. (...)

The ripples of modernity: How we can extendpaleo anthropology with the extended evolutionary synthesis, di M. Kissel, A. Fuentes, "Evolutionary Anthropology", January/February 2021 - open access -

Contemporary understandings of paleoanthropological data illustrate that the searchfor a line defining, or a specific point designating, “modern human” is problematic.Here we lend support to the argument for the need to look for patterns in the paleo-anthropological record that indicate how multiple evolutionary processes intersectedto form the human niche, a concept critical to assessing the development and pro-cesses involved in the emergence of a contemporary human phenotype. We suggestthat incorporating key elements of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) intoour endeavors offers a better and more integrative toolkit for modeling and assessingthe evolution of the genus Homo. (...)

- Les nodules sphériques de basalte de l’unité archéologique US2 du site de « Bois-de-Riquet », France: origine et caractérisation d’une sélection, di L. Bourguignon et alii

- Pre-Quaternary hominin settlements in Asia: Archaeology, bio-lithostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy evidences at Masol, Siwaliks, Northwestern India, di D. Cauche et alii

- Les sites acheuléens des grottes la Terrasse et du Coupe-Gorge, à Montmaurin, Haute Garonne, France, di D. Thiam

- Technological persistency following faunal stability during the Pleistocene: A model for reconstructing Paleolithic adaptation strategies based on mosaic evolution, di M. Finkel, R. Barkai

- L’assemblage lithique du site Acheuléen de Namib IV (Namib central, Namibie), di I. Mesfin, D. Pleurdeau, H. Forestier

- Dawn of a new day: The role of children in the assimilation of new technologies throughout the Lower Paleolithic, di E. Assaf

- Faune du site de Muhkai 2 (Russie), di M. V. Sablin, K. Yu. Iltsevich

- Acquisition et exploitation des ressources animales et lithiques sur le site Moustérien de Mirefleurs (Puy-de-Dôme), di J. F. Pasty, C. Beauval, C. Ballut

- Locals and Foreigners in the Levant during the Pleistocene, di O. Bar-Yosef

- Le « Moustérien » de Tipasa et de Ténès (littoral ouest algérois) dans la lecture climatique du second pléniglacaire, di M. Betrouni

- Contribution à l’étude du Middle Stone Age (MSA) d’Afrique Centrale. Étude typo-technologique des industries lithiques du site préhistorique de Mpila, Brazzaville, République du Congo, di N. Demayumba

- A new discovery of Neanderthal settlements in Turkey: Sürmecik open-air campsite in Western Anatolia, di H. Taşkıran, Y. Aydın, K. Özçelik, E. Erbil

A critical assessment of the potential and limitations of physicochemical analysis to advance knowledge on Levantine rock art, di D. Sanz, M. Vendrell, A. Chieli, "Quaternary International", Volume 572, 20 January 2021, Pages 24-40

This paper offers an updated review of the variety of physicochemical analysis applied so far to Levantine rock art (Spain) to characterize the composition of the pigments, as well as the substrate and/or the natural coating covering these particular prehistoric paintings. This paper is part of a broader special issue evaluating the real contribution of scientific approaches to rock art research, assessing how they have improved our understanding of this particular heritage and the new research questions they open. In this context, and with a focus on Levantine rock art, our aim is to explore: 1. The guiding principles behind the different sorts of analysis conducted and published so far; 2. (...)

Dating Iberian prehistoric rock art: Methods, sampling, data, limits and interpretations, di B. Ochoa, M. García-Diez, I. Domingo, A. Martins, "Quaternary International", Volume 572, 20 January 2021, Pages 88-105

Rock art dating has been one of the major challenges since its discovery and recognition. The methods have evolved through the last century, beginning with the study of superpositions and style until to the application of numeric methods since the 1990s. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and publish an up-to-date database of all of the numerical dates currently available for Iberian prehistoric rock art sites. For this purpose, the manuscript reviews all the methods applied so far to Iberian rock art discussing the limits, the sampling involved, and the problems affecting the results. (...)

Prehistoric charcoal drawings in the caves in the Slovak Republic, Central Europe: Successful radiocarbon dating by a micro-sample 14C AMS, di A. Šefčáková, V. A. Levchenko, "Quaternary International", Volume 572, 20 January 2021, Pages 120-130

In Central Europe, only a few caves with ancient drawings on the walls are known. During the past years, simple lines and sketches made of charcoal or smearing traces from torches are found mainly in less accessible locations in some caves of the Slovak Karst. Previous attempts to date these findings were unsuccessful since the painted layers were too thin to allow sampling and enable routine AMS dating. Now the application of the small mass radiocarbon accelerator mass-spectrometry (AMS) technique developed at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) made possible successful 14C determinations for a set of cave drawings and markings from the Slovak Karst. (...)

Aggiornamento 08/02/2021

In order to better understand the causes and geographic patterns of Neanderthal demise it is necessary to broaden the focus of existing Neanderthal studies to include new sites from understudied regions, particularly those containing multi-level fossil and lithic records, and to improve regional-scale Neanderthal extinction frameworks using multiple dating techniques. To this end, we present an interdisciplinary study of the stratigraphy, chronology, pollen, fauna, lithic technology and human remains of the last Neanderthal level (Level N4) of Prado Vargas – a cave in northern Iberia, whose geographic location and chronology are ideal for investigating possible socio-economic and climatic influences on Neanderthal decline. Level N4 has yielded a rich Late Mousterian palimpsest indicative of repeated seasonal occupations, as well as a deciduous Neanderthal tooth, confirming the presence of children at the site. (...)

Neanderthals' gut microbiota already included some beneficial micro-organisms that are also found in our own intestine. An international research group led by the University of Bologna achieved this result by extracting and analysing ancient DNA from 50,000-year-old faecal sediments sampled at the archaeological site of El Salt, near Alicante (Spain). Published in Communication Biology, their paper puts forward the hypothesis of the existence of ancestral components of human microbiota that have been living in the human gastrointestinal tract since before the separation between the Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals that occurred more than 700,000 years ago. "These results allow us to understand which components of the human gut microbiota are essential for our health, as they are integral elements of our biology also from an evolutionary point of view" explains Marco Candela, the professor of the Department of Pharmacy and Biotechnology of the University of Bologna, who coordinated the study. "Nowadays there is a progressive reduction of our microbiota diversity due to the context of our modern life: this research group's findings could guide us in devising diet- and lifestyle-tailored solutions to counteract this phenomenon". (...)

The Armenian highlands encompasses rugged and environmentally diverse landscapes and is characterized by a mosaic of distinct ecological niches and large temperature gradients. Strong seasonal fluctuations in resource availability along topographic gradients likely prompted Pleistocene hominin groups to adapt by adjusting their mobility strategies. However, the role that elevated landscapes played in hunter-gatherer settlement systems during the Late Pleistocene (Middle Palaeolithic [MP]) remains poorly understood. At 1640 m above sea level, the MP site of Kalavan 2 (Armenia) is ideally positioned for testing hypotheses involving elevation-dependent seasonal mobility and subsistence strategies. Renewed excavations at Kalavan 2 exposed three main occupation horizons and ten additional low densities lithic and faunal assemblages. The results provide a new chronological, stratigraphical, and paleoenvironmental framework for hominin behaviors between ca. 60 to 45 ka. The evidence presented suggests that the stratified occupations at Kalavan 2 locale were repeated ephemerally most likely related to hunting in a high-elevation within the mountainous steppe landscape. (...)

C’est entre 1910 et 1911, sur le site de La Cotte de St Brelade (île de jersey) que l’anthropologue Robert Ranulph Marett entame des fouilles. Son équipe met au jour des restes de faune (mammouth et renne principalement) ainsi que plus de 15 000 outils en silex. La preuve d’un habitat récurrent est apportée par la découverte de traces de foyers (silex chauffés) et surtout de dents d’hominidés. Au total, 13 dents sont attribuées par les chercheurs à Néandertal. En 1916, Robert R. Marett publie les résultats des fouilles (The Site, Fauna, and Industry of La Cotte de St. Brelade, Jersey 1916). Ponctuellement, en fonction de l’évolution des techniques, les artefacts de la grotte de la Cotte bénéficient par la suite de nouvelle études. En 1994, les silex chauffés sont datés par thermoluminescence à 238 000 ans pour les plus anciens. En 2013, les sédiments contenant les dents sont datés par la méthode OSL (luminescence stimulée optiquement) entre - 48 000 et -100 000 ans. (...)

Current models of early hominin biological and cultural evolution are shaped almost entirely by the data accumulated from the East African Rift System (EARS) over the last decades. In contrast, little is known about the archaeological record from the high-elevation regions on either side of the Rift. Melka Wakena is a newly discovered site-complex on the Southeastern Ethiopian Highlands (SEH) (>2300 m above mean sea level) just east of the central sector of the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER), where eight archaeological and two paleontological localities were discovered to date. Nine archaeological horizons from three localities were tested so far, all dated to the second half of the early Pleistocene (~1.6 to >0.7 Ma). All the lithic assemblages belong to the Acheulian technocomplex. (...)

The French Middle Gravettian represents an interesting case study for attempting to identify mechanisms behind the typo-technological variability observed in the archaeological record. Associated with the relatively cold and dry environments of GS.5.2 and 5.1, this phase of the Gravettian is characterized by two lithic typo-technical entities (faciès in French): the Noaillian (defined by the presence of Noailles burins) and the Rayssian (identified by the Raysse method of bladelet production).
The two faciès have partially overlapping geographic distributions, with the Rayssian having a more northern and restricted geographic extension than the Noaillian. Their chronological relationship, however, is still unclear, and interpretations of their dual presence at many sites within the region of overlap are not yet consensual. (...)

Exploring late Paleolithic and Mesolithic diet in the Eastern Alpine region of Italy through multiple proxies, di G. Oxilia et alii, "American Journal of Physical Anthropology", Volume 174, Issue 2, February 2021, Pages 232-253 - open access -

The analysis of prehistoric human dietary habits is key for understanding the effects of paleoenvironmental changes on the evolution of cultural and social human behaviors. In this study, we compare results from zooarchaeological, stable isotope and dental calculus analyses as well as lower second molar macrowear patterns to gain a broader understanding of the diet of three individuals who lived between the end of the Late Pleistocene and the Early Holocene (ca., 17–8 ky cal BP) in the Eastern Alpine region of Italy.
We analyze individuals buried at the sites of Riparo Tagliente (Verona), Riparo Villabruna, and Mondeval de Sora (Belluno). The three burials provide a unique dataset for diachronically exploring the influence of climatic changes on human subsistence strategies. (...)

This study characterizes patterns of cranial trauma prevalence in a large sample of Upper Paleolithic (UP) fossil specimens (40,000–10,000 BP).
Our sample comprised 234 individual crania (specimens), representing 1,285 cranial bones (skeletal elements), from 101 Eurasian UP sites. We used generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to assess trauma prevalence in relation to age‐at‐death, sex, anatomical distribution, and between pre‐ and post‐Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) samples, while accounting for skeletal preservation. (...)

Comparative morphometric analyses of the deciduous molars of Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa, di J. K. Brophy, J. Moggi-Cecchi, G. J. Matthews, S. E. Bailey, "American Journal of Physical Anthropology", Volume 174, Issue 2, February 2021, Pages 299-314

The purpose of this study is to help elucidate the taxonomic relationship between Homo naledi and other hominins.
Homo naledi deciduous maxillary and mandibular molars from the Dinaledi Chamber, South Africa were compared to those of Australopithecus africanus, Australopithecus afarensis, Paranthropus robustus, Paranthropus boisei, early Homo sp., Homo erectus, early Homo sapiens, Upper Paleolithic H. sapiens, recent southern African H. sapiens, and Neanderthals by means of morphometric analyses of crown outlines and relative cusp areas. The crown shapes were analyzed using elliptical Fourier analyses followed by principal component analyses (PCA). The absolute and relative cusp areas were obtained in ImageJ and compared using PCA and cluster analyses. (...)

Assessing complexity in hominid dental evolution: Fractal analysis of great ape and human molars, di H. Cano-Fernández, A. Gómez-Robles, "American Journal of Physical Anthropology", Volume 174, Issue 2, February 2021, Pages 352-362

Molar crenulation is defined as the accessory pattern of grooves that appears on the occlusal surface of many mammalian molars. Although frequently used in the characterization of species, this trait is often assessed qualitatively, which poses unavoidable subjective biases. The objective of this study is to quantitatively test the variability in the expression of molar crenulation in primates and its association with molar size and diet.
The variability in the expression of molar crenulation in hominids (human, chimpanzee, gorilla, and orangutan) was assessed with fractal analysis using photographs of first, second and third upper and lower molars. After this, representative values for 29 primate species were used to evaluate the correlation between molar complexity, molar size, and diet using a phylogenetic generalized least squares regression. (...)

In Paleolithic archaeology, there are two dichotomous perspectives on so-called splintered pieces, or pieces esquillées, in which, depending upon archaeological context and the availability and quality of lithic of raw material, such pieces are considered bipolar cores or tools for processing organic materials. Here, we discuss for the first time functionality, reduction models, and modes of using Upper Paleolithic pièces esquillées from two Central Asian regions: the Tian Shan Mountains of eastern Uzbekistan and the Yenisey Valley of Siberian Russia. By applying attributive, experimental, scar-pattern, and use-wear analyses, we determined that these artifacts derived from two widely separated regions are tools for processing hard organic materials, which were rotated often during use. Reconstructed reduction sequences indicate that the morphological appearance of the implements was affected by the working processes associated with contact between the hammer and the organic material being processed. (...)

The use of red iron-based earth pigments, or ochre, is a key component of early symbolic behaviours for anatomically modern humans and possibly Neanderthals. We present the first ochre provenance study in Central Europe showing long-term selection strategies by inhabitants of cave sites in south-western Germany during the Upper Palaeolithic (43–14.5 ka). Ochre artefacts from Hohle Fels, Geißenklösterle and Vogelherd, and local and extra-local sources, were investigated using neutron activation analysis (NAA), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show that local ochre sources were continuously and systematically accessed for c.29 500 years, with periodic events of long‐distance (about > 300 km) ochre acquisition during the Aurignacian (c.35–43 ka), suggesting higher mobility than previously suspected. The results reveal previously unknown long-term, complex spatio-temporal behavioural patterns during the earliest presence of Homo sapiens in Europe. (...)

As the earliest image of a human being and the oldest piece of figurative art, the female figurine of Hohle Fels remains a significant discovery for understanding the development of symbolic behaviour in Homo sapiens. Discovered in southwestern Germany in 2008, this mammoth-ivory sculpture was found in several fragments and has always been assumed to be complete, never owning a head. In place of a head, there is instead a small loop that would allow her to be threaded, possibly to be worn as a pendant. Several hypotheses have been put forward as to her original use context, ranging from representing a fertility goddess to a pornographic figure. Yet none of these theses have ever suggested that she once had a head. Here we explore whether the female figurine of Hohle Fels was designed as a two-part piece, with the head made of perishable material culture, possibly woven plant or animal fibres; or that the artefact is a broken and reworked figurine with the head simply never found. By exploring the possibility that this figurine did originally have a second part—a head—we investigate issues surrounding the role of women and children in the Swabian Aurignacian. (...)

The origin of iron-oxide materials found at Paleolithic and Neolithic sites in the Spanish Mediterranean region is a pivotal issue that has not yet been explored. The aim of this study is to investigate the exploitation of local ochre sources during the different archaeological phases identified at the site of Coves de Santa Maira (Valencian Region, Eastern Spain). A sampling strategy and a methodological approach were developed. Lumps of ochre and raw materials were sampled from the archaeological site and its surroundings. The archaeological materials studied are from the occupational phases dated to between 15 and 6 ka cal BP, whereas the raw materials sampled from the surroundings of the cave are red fine-grained and earthy-grained sedimentary materials and Late Triassic (Keuper) clays. (...)

The central Meseta is a high plateau located in the heart of the Iberian Peninsula. Abundant evidence of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic occupations of the region contrasts with scarce evidence of a human presence during the early Upper Palaeolithic. On this basis, it has been suggested that climatic downturns triggered the temporary abandonment, or near abandonment, of the central Meseta during the Last Glacial period. We conducted three archaeological surveys in Guadalajara province, located in the southern part of the region, in 2009, 2010, and 2017. (...)

Systematic tool production and use is one of humanity’s defining characteristics, possibly originating as early as >3 million years ago. Although heightened manual dexterity is considered to be intrinsically intertwined with tool use and manufacture, and critical for human evolution, its role in the emergence of early culture remains unclear. Most previous research on this question exclusively relied on direct morphological comparisons between early hominin and modern human skeletal elements, assuming that the degree of a species’ dexterity depends on its similarity with the modern human form. Here, we develop a new approach to investigate the efficiency of thumb opposition, a fundamental component of manual dexterity, in several species of fossil hominins. Our work for the first time takes into account soft tissue as well as bone anatomy, integrating virtual modeling of musculus opponens pollicis and its interaction with three-dimensional bone shape form. (...)

Chopping tools/choppers provide one of the earliest and most persistent examples of stone tools produced and used by early humans. These artifacts appeared for the first time ~2.5 million years ago in Africa and are characteristic of the Oldowan and Acheulean cultural complexes throughout the Old World. Chopping tools were manufactured and used by early humans for more than two million years regardless of differences in geography, climate, resource availability, or major transformations in human cultural and biological evolution. Despite their widespread distribution through time and space in Africa and Eurasia, little attention has been paid to the function of these items, while scholars still debate whether they are tools or cores. In this paper, we wish to draw attention to these prominent and ubiquitous early lithic artifacts through the investigation of 53 chopping tools retrieved from a specific context at Late Acheulean Revadim (Israel). We combined typo-technological and functional studies with a residue analysis aimed at shedding light on their functional role within the tool-kits of the inhabitants of the site. Here we show that most of the chopping tools were used to chop hard and medium materials, such as bone, most probably for marrow extraction. (...)

The prevalence of large game found in association with Middle Paleolithic tools has traditionally biased our ideas of Neanderthal subsistence practices. Studies document the exploitation of small mammals, birds, and plants by Neanderthals, whereas data on aquatic resources are still scarce and data on fish are almost non-existent. This article presents a review of fish remains from 11 Middle Palaeolithic fish bone assemblages from well contextualized sites in Belgium, France and Spain. It explores the nature of the evidence in order to determine whether Neanderthal fished and if so, whether fishing was a casual, opportunistic activity or a systematic practice. The first issue to address is whether archaeological fish remains at any given site represent human activity or not. Our study tests that assertion while enhancing our understanding of the diversity of food alternatives available to Neanderthals at any given site, and their ability to adapt to them. (...)

The African Middle Stone Age (MSA, typically considered to span ca. 300–30 thousand years ago [ka]), represents our species’ first and longest lasting cultural phase. Although the MSA to Later Stone Age (LSA) transition is known to have had a degree of spatial and temporal variability, recent studies have implied that in some regions, the MSA persisted well beyond 30 ka. Here we report two new sites in Senegal that date the end of the MSA to around 11 ka, the youngest yet documented MSA in Africa. This shows that this cultural phase persisted into the Holocene. These results highlight significant spatial and temporal cultural variability in the African Late Pleistocene, consistent with genomic and palaeoanthropological hypotheses that significant, long-standing inter-group cultural differences shaped the later stages of human evolution in Africa. (...)

Rapid environmental change is a catalyst for human evolution, driving dietary innovations, habitat diversification, and dispersal. However, there is a dearth of information to assess hominin adaptions to changing physiography during key evolutionary stages such as the early Pleistocene. Here we report a multiproxy dataset from Ewass Oldupa, in the Western Plio-Pleistocene rift basin of Olduvai Gorge (now Oldupai), Tanzania, to address this lacuna and offer an ecological perspective on human adaptability two million years ago. Oldupai’s earliest hominins sequentially inhabited the floodplains of sinuous channels, then river-influenced contexts, which now comprises the oldest palaeolake setting documented regionally. Early Oldowan tools reveal a homogenous technology to utilise diverse, rapidly changing environments that ranged from fern meadows to woodland mosaics, naturally burned landscapes, to lakeside woodland/palm groves as well as hyper-xeric steppes. Hominins periodically used emerging landscapes and disturbance biomes multiple times over 235,000 years, thus predating by more than 180,000 years the earliest known hominins and Oldowan industries from the Eastern side of the basin. (...)

Prehistoric ivory items from Siberia, 7 January 2021

The skill of ivory softening was used more than 12,000 years ago to make tools - or decorations - that still puzzle modern science. A dozen solid elongated ivory bars crafted from softened ivory, and several figurines made from spongy parts of large mammoth bones, and resembling various animals were found at the Afontova Gora-2 archeological site by river Yenisey in Krasnoyarsk (Russia). The finds were made in early 2000, but were re-examined recently by Dr Evgeny Artemyev who said that the figurines can be either Ice Age toys made by people who populated this area of the modern-day Siberia, or a form of primeval art. "When you look at them at different angles, they resemble different types of animals. It is possible that this is the new form of Palaeolithic art," the archeologist said. (...)

Coastal adaptations of Palaeolithic foragers along the north Atlantic seaboard have received renewed attention in the last decade and include growing evidence for exploitation of whale bone by Late Glacial Magdalenian groups to the north of the Pyrenees. Here we present a systematic revision of Magdalenian osseous industries from the Cantabrian region designed to explore whether this phenomenon was more widely shared by hunter-gatherer groups along the Atlantic coast of the northern Iberian Peninsula. Fifty-four whale bone objects were identified from 12 of the 64 sampled sites. Essentially represented by large, finished weapon elements (projectile points), these objects are primarily associated with the middle phase of the Cantabrian Magdalenian, and overlap slightly with the beginning its upper and probably the end of its lower phases. (...)

The Galería Complex is a cave sediment succession at the Atapuerca paleoanthropological site (Burgos, Spain) that offers detailed environmental information about the late Middle Pleistocene, especially the period between marine oxygen isotope stages MIS10 and MIS7. Previous studies have reconstructed the chronology and detailed the environmental development of this key succession. We introduce rock magnetic climate proxies from the sedimentary units of the Galería succession that we correlate with the global climate record as represented by the marine oxygen isotope record. The cave sediment sequence consists of five infilling phases, four of which were sampled at high resolution across a 5 m thick composite profile. (...)

To study pre- and early postnatal tooth formation and to analyze the effects of physiological disturbances on enamel and dentin formation in deciduous teeth of infants from the Late Epipaleolithic (Natufian) site Shubayqa 1.
Ten deciduous teeth from six infants (ages at death between 21 and 239 days) were analyzed by light and scanning electron microscopy.
Marked prism cross-striations and an abnormal wavy course of the prisms were recorded in pre. and postnatal enamel of all analyzed teeth. Single or multiple accentuated incremental lines were observed in prenatal enamel of nine teeth and in postnatal enamel of eight teeth. (...)

The Krapina rock shelter has yielded a large assemblage of early Neandertals. Although endocranial volume (ECV) has been estimated for four individuals from the site, several published values that appear in the literature warrant revisiting.
We used virtual methods, including high‐resolution surface models of fossils and 3D geometric morphometrics, to reconstruct endocasts and estimate ECV for five Krapina crania. We generated 10 reconstructions of each endocast to quantify missing data uncertainty. To assess the method and our ECV estimates, we applied these techniques to the Spy II Neandertal, and estimated ECV of a human reference endocast simulating the missing data of the Krapina fossils. (...)

Explanations of variability in Middle Stone Age stone tool assemblage composition and raw material use in Eastern Africa, di J. Blinkhorn, M. Grove, "Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences", Volume 13, Issue 1, January 2021 - open access -

The Middle Stone Age (MSA) corresponds to a critical phase in human evolution, overlapping with the earliest emergence of Homo sapiens as well as the expansions of these populations across and beyond Africa. Within the context of growing recognition for a complex and structured population history across the continent, Eastern Africa remains a critical region to explore patterns of behavioural variability due to the large number of well-dated archaeological assemblages compared to other regions. Quantitative studies of the Eastern African MSA record have indicated patterns of behavioural variation across space, time and from different environmental contexts. Here, we examine the nature of these patterns through the use of matrix correlation statistics, exploring whether differences in assemblage composition and raw material use correlate to differences between one another, assemblage age, distance in space, and the geographic and environmental characteristics of the landscapes surrounding MSA sites. (...)

From forest to settlement: Magdalenian hunter-gatherer interactions with the wood vegetation environment based on anthracology and intra-site spatial distribution, di B. Mas, E. Allué, E. S. Alonso, M. Vaquero, "Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences", Volume 13, Issue 1, January 2021 - open access -

This study aims to provide anthracological data on forest transformations on the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula during the transition from the last glacial GS-2a to the last isotopic event of interstadial GI-1. We present a complete anthracological sequence from Molí del Salt (Vimbodí i Poblet, Tarragona, NE Iberian Peninsula), a site assigned to the Late Upper Palaeolithic. Our results suggest a continuous forest cover transformation throughout the inter-GI-1. Forest opening was determined by the retreat of Pinus sylvestris type, which was dominant during the Late Pleistocene, in relation to the continuous expansion of Juniperus sp. Likewise, our results suggest a progressive increase in the diversity of cold- and drought-resistant mesophilic taxa, which would have begun with the more temperate climatic conditions occasioned by the positive isotopic oscillations of GI-1. (...)

Specialized aquatic resource exploitation at the Late Natufian site of Nahal Ein Gev II, Israel, di N. D. Munro, A. N. Petrillo, L. Grosman, "Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences", Volume 13, Issue 1, January 2021

This paper investigates aquatic resource exploitation at the Late Natufian site (ca. 12,000 cal. BP) of Nahal Ein Gev II located 2 km east of the Sea of Galilee. Aquatic game, here fish and waterfowl, were an important component of the diverse small game resources that became important in the Late Epipaleolithic in Southwest Asia. We characterize local adaptations to the aquatic habitat and their economic and social implications at Nahal Ein Gev II. Taxonomic abundance and diversity, body-part representation, and fish body-size were investigated to evaluate the contribution of aquatic resources to human diets and butchery and transport strategies. Our results show that the residents of Nahal Ein Gev II were highly selective of the aquatic resources they captured and transported home. (...)

Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian chronology and palaeoenvironments at Kůlna Cave, Moravia, Czech Republic, di H. Reade et alii, "Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences", Volume 13, Issue 1, January 2021 - open access -

Kůlna Cave is the only site in Moravia, Czech Republic, from which large assemblages of both Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian archaeological materials have been excavated from relatively secure stratified deposits. The site therefore offers the unrivalled opportunity to explore the relationship between these two archaeological phases. In this study, we undertake radiocarbon, stable isotope (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur), and ZooMS analysis of the archaeological faunal assemblage to explore the chronological and environmental context of the Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian deposits. Our results show that the Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian deposits can be understood as discrete units from one another, dating to the Late Glacial between c. 15,630 cal. BP and 14,610 cal. BP, and c. 14,140 cal. BP and 12,680 cal. BP, respectively. Stable isotope results (δ13C, δ15N, δ34S) indicate that Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian activity at Kůlna Cave occurred in very different environmental settings. (...)

Human herpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6) can integrate into the germline, and as a result, ~70 million people harbor the genome of one of these viruses in every cell of their body. Until now, it has been largely unknown if 1) these integrations are ancient, 2) if they still occur, and 3) whether circulating virus strains differ from integrated ones. Here, we used next-generation sequencing and mining of public human genome data sets to generate the largest and most diverse collection of circulating and integrated HHV-6 genomes studied to date. In genomes of geographically dispersed, only distantly related people, we identified clades of integrated viruses that originated from a single ancestral event, confirming this with fluorescent in situ hybridization to directly observe the integration locus. (...)

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. (...)

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. (...)

Previously, Olduvai Bed I excavations revealed Oldowan assemblages <1.85 Ma, mainly in the eastern gorge. New western gorge excavations locate a much older ~2.0 Ma assemblage between the Coarse Feldspar Crystal Tuff (~2.015 Ma) and Tuff IA (~1.98 Ma) of Lower Bed I, predating the oldest eastern gorge DK assemblage below Tuff IB by ~150 kyr. We characterize this newly discovered fossil and artifact assemblage, adding information on landscape and hominin resource use during the ~2.3–2.0 Ma period, scarce in Oldowan sites. Assemblage lithics and bones, lithofacies boundaries, and phytolith samples were surveyed and mapped. Sedimentological facies analysis, tephrostratigraphic and sequence stratigraphic principles were applied to reconstruct paleoenvironments and sedimentary processes of sandy claystone (lake), sandstone (fluvial), and sandy diamictite (debris flow) as principal lithofacies. Artifacts, sized, weighed, categorized, were examined for petrography, retouch, and flake scar size. (...)

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. (...)

The systematic evaluation of accessibility to different sectors in caves with Palaeolithic rock art is crucial to interpret the contexts of prehistoric human activity that took place inside them, especially if focused on the areas that are harder to reach. 3D models have been employed in a GIS to process spatial information, calculate numerical cost values and estimate optimal transit routes or needed times to reach several sectors inside a cave, based on morphological features and movement types. These have been obtained through empirical observations and experimental archaeology. (...)

We report a newly extended stratigraphic sequence with associated Palaeolithic sites from the area of the extinct Kilombe volcano in central Kenya. The extended archaeological sequence runs from Oldowan finds, through the Acheulean, and up to the Middle Stone Age. The sedimentary sequences within the Kilombe caldera and south flanks of the mountain have been dated through 40Ar/39Ar measurements and palaeomagnetic studies. A series of 40Ar/39Ar values date the geological sequence from 2.493 ± 0.095 Ma, near the beginning of the Lower Pleistocene, through to 0.118 ± 0.030 Ma near the Middle to Upper Pleistocene transition. It includes the first entirely new area of Oldowan localities in East Africa south of Ethiopia for thirty years, and the first in a rugged mountainous setting. (...)