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"Journal of
Paleolithic Archaeology",
Volume 6, issue 1, December 2023:
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The Complex Taxonomy of
‘Nubian’ in Context,
di E. Hallinan, A. E. Marks
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The Solutrean
Antlerworking in Hort de Cortés–Volcán del Faro
(Valencia, Spain) in the Southwest Europe
Context: a Preliminary Study,
di M. Borao, L. Pérez, J. E. Aura Tortosa
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What about Apatite?
Possibilities and Limitations of Recognising
Bone Mineral Residues on Stone Tools,
di N. Taipale, D. Cnuts, V. Rots
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A GIS-Based Digital
Documentation Protocol for High-Resolution
Documentation of Paleolithic Sites,
di F. Sauer
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Correction to: A Middle
Pleistocene Butchery Site at Great Yeldham,
Essex, UK: Identifying Butchery Strategies and
Implications for Mammalian Faunal History,
di S. A. Parfitt
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The Middle Stone Age
Sequence at Klipfonteinrand 1 (KFR1), Western
Cape, South Africa,
di A. Mackay, R. B. K. Saktura, Z. Jacobs
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First Data from the
Prehistoric Site Complex of Cueva del Arco
(Murcia, Spain),
di I. Martín-Lerma, D. Román, D. E. Angelucci
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Raw Material Surveys and
Their Behavioral Implications in Highland
Lesotho,
di A. Gregory, P. Mitchell, J. Pargeter
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Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician Industry and
South Moravian Sites: a Homo sapiens Late
Initial Upper Paleolithic with Bohunician
Industrial Generic Roots in Europe,
di Y. E. Demidenko, P. Škrdla
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Exploring the Potential of
the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic Site Korolevo
II (Ukraine): New Results on Stratigraphy,
Chronology and Archaeological Sequence,
di V. I. Usyk, N. Gerasimenko, P. R. Nigst
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Analyzing Trends in
Material Culture Evolution—a Case Study of
Gravettian Points from Lower Austria and Moravia,
di A. Maier, R. John, R. Thomas
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A Predictive Model for the
Non-Destructive Assessment of Stone Age Silcrete
Heat Treatment Strategies,
di W. Archer, D. Presnyakova, M.C. Stahlschmidt
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Revaluation of the
Portable Art of Northern Iberia: a Magdalenian
Decorated Bone Tube from Torre (Basque Country,
Spain),
di A. Erostarbe-Tome, O. Rivero, A. Arrizabalaga
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The Beginning of the Early
Upper Paleolithic in Poland,
di A. Picin, D. Stefański, P. Valde-Nowak
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Innovative Technological
Practices and their Role in the Emergence of
Initial Upper Paleolithic Technologies: A View
from Boker Tachtit,
di M. Goder-Goldberger, O. Barzilai, E. Boaretto
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Exploring the Possible
Function of Paleolithic Open Rings as
Spearthrower Finger Loops,
di J. Garnett, F. Sellet
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Adhesive Strength and
Rupture Behaviour of Birch Tars Made with
Different Stone Age Methods,
di T. J. Koch, P. Schmidt
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Seasonality of Human
Occupations in El Mirón Cave: Late Upper
Paleolithic Hunter-Gatherer
Settlement-Subsistence Systems in Cantabrian
Spain,
di A. B. Marín-Arroyo, J. M. Geiling, L. Guy
Straus
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Pointing to the Ahmarian.
Lithic Technology and the El-Wad Points of
Al-Ansab 1,
di J. Gennai, M. Schemmel, J. Richter |
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Evidence for sophisticated raw material
procurement strategies during the Lower
Paleolithic—Hula Valley case study,
di M. Finkel, O. Bar, Y. Ben Dor, E. Ben-Yosef,
O. Tirosh, G. Sharon, "Geoarchaeology", Volume
38, Issue 5, September/October 2023, Pages
649-664 - open access -
The Hula Valley
has two key Acheulian sites: Gesher Benot Ya'aqov
(GBY), a large flake Acheulian site with
hundreds of basalt bifaces and a significant
number of flint handaxes, and Ma'ayan Barukh (MB),
where more than 3500 flint handaxes were
collected. Over the last one million years, the
valley was filled by alluvium and basalt flows,
devoid of flint sources suitable for handaxe
production. We conducted archaeological and
geological surveys combined with an inductively
coupled plasma mass spectrometry geochemical
study to determine the source(s) of flint,
comparing elemental compositions of handaxes
from GBY and MB with those of different flint
sources using a novel statistical method. The
results demonstrate that Hula Valley Acheulian
flint handaxes were derived from Eocene flint.
For GBY, the nearest matching source for its
small number of excavated handaxes is a
secondary deposit of the Dishon streambed found
~8 km northwest of the site. A more likely
source for both GBY and the thousands of MB
handaxes is the Dishon flint extraction and
reduction complex located 20 km to the west, a
possibility also supported by the near absence
of production waste flakes at the sites
themselves. These findings support direct
procurement strategy as early as the Lower
Paleolithic. (...) |
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Winter sources of ascorbic acid for Pleistocene
hominins in northern Eurasia,
di H. P. Schwarcz, "Archaeological and
Anthropological Sciences", Volume 15, issue 8,
August 2023
Hominins emerging
from Africa in the Pleistocene required sources
of vitamins in addition to sources of energy and
nutrient substance (carbohydrates, proteins, and
fats). Most of their vitamin requirements could
be provided by eating the flesh of herbivores
but vitamin C is in low concentrations in animal
muscle tissue. Lack of vitamin C causes the
fatal disease of scurvy. In southern Eurasia,
hominins would have been able to harvest fruits
and vegetables throughout the year but as they
migrated further to the north, they would
encounter regions in which no plants were
growing in mid-winter. (...) |
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Inferring the territoriality of Upper
Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer’s groups settled at
Cueva del Gato 2 (Épila, Zaragoza),
di M. Sánchez de la Torre, L. Jiménez Ruiz, B.
Gratuze, E. Duarte, M. F. Blasco, J. M. Rodanés,
"Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences",
Volume 15, issue 8, August 2023
- open access -
In recent decades,
the development of different analytical
procedures applied to the study of
archaeological lithic remains has allowed us to
approach the territoriality of past societies.
The application of geochemical tools has
improved the study of lithic raw materials,
allowing direct connections between
archaeological samples and specific geological
formations. In a similar way, the incorporation
of GIS tools to the study of past mobility and
territoriality has allowed to define which could
have been the most probable routes used by past
groups to stock up on rocks. In this paper, we
present the results obtained after the
geochemical study by Laser Ablation Inductively
Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of
lithic cherts found at Upper Palaeolithic human
occupations at Cueva del Gato 2 (Épila, Zaragoza,
Spain) as well as the least cost path routes
obtained after GIS analyses. (...) |
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An Upper Palaeolithic
Proto-writing System and Phenological Calendar,
di B. Bacon, A. Khatiri, J. Palmer, T. Freeth,
P. Pettitt, R. Kentridge, "Cambridge
Archaeological Journal", Volume 33 - Issue 3 -
August 2023
In at least 400
European caves such as Lascaux, Chauvet and
Altamira, Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens groups
drew, painted and engraved non-figurative signs
from at least ~42,000 BP and figurative images (notably
animals) from at least 37,000 BP. Since their
discovery ~150 years ago, the purpose or meaning
of European Upper Palaeolithic non-figurative
signs has eluded researchers. Despite this,
specialists assume that they were notational in
some way. Using a database of images spanning
the European Upper Palaeolithic, we suggest how
three of the most frequently occurring signs—the
line <|>, the dot <•>, and the <Y>—functioned as
units of communication. We demonstrate that when
found in close association with images of
animals the line <|> and dot <•> constitute
numbers denoting months, and form constituent
parts of a local phenological/meteorological
calendar beginning in spring and recording time
from this point in lunar months. (...) |
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Linking primatology and
archaeology: The transversality of stone
percussive behaviors,
di S. Harmand, A. Arroyo, "Journal of Human
Evolution", Volume 181, August 2023, 103398
- open access -
Since the launch
of the Journal of Human Evolution fifty years
ago, the archaeology of human origins and the
evolution of culture have witnessed major
breakthroughs with the identification of several
new archaeological sites whose chronology has
been slowly pushed back until the discovery of
the earliest evidence of stone tool making at
Lomekwi 3 (West Turkana, Kenya), at 3.3 Ma.
Parallel to these discoveries, the study of wild
primates, especially chimpanzees (Pan
troglodytes), allowed the development of models
to understand key aspects of the behavior of
extinct hominin species. Indeed, chimpanzees
possess an impressive diversity of tool-aided
foraging behaviors, demonstrating that
technology (and culture) is not exclusive to
humans. Additionally, current research has also
shown that wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus
libidinosus) and long-tailed macaques (Macaca
fascicularis) also rely on stone percussive
foraging behaviors. (...) |
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Modeling Oldowan tool transport from a primate
perspective,
di S. Reeves, T. Proffitt, K. Almeida-Warren, L.
V. Luncz, "Journal of Human Evolution", Volume
181, August 2023, 103399
Living nonhuman
primates have long served as a referential
framework for understanding various aspects of
hominin biological and cultural evolution.
Comparing the cognitive, social, and ecological
contexts of nonhuman primate and hominin tool
use has allowed researchers to identify key
adaptations relevant to the evolution of hominin
behavior. Although the Oldowan is often
considered to be a major evolutionary milestone,
it has been argued that the Oldowan is rather an
extension of behaviors already present in the
ape lineage. This is based on the fact that
while apes move tools through repeated,
unplanned, short-distance transport bouts, they
produce material patterning often associated
with long-distance transport, planning, and
foresight in the Oldowan. Nevertheless, remain
fundamental differences in how Oldowan core and
flake technology and nonhuman primate tools are
used. (...) |
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New Neanderthal remains from the
Châtelperronian-attributed layer X of the Grotte
du Renne (Arcy-sur-Cure, France),
di J. Henrion, J. J. Hublin, B. Maureille,
"Journal of Human Evolution", Volume 181, August
2023, 103402
The Grotte du
Renne (GR) is located in the township of
Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne, France). The Cure River,
which crosses the town, contributed to the
weathering of the Arcy-Saint-Moré limestone
formation and to the development of complex
karstic systems. Among these karstic systems,
the Arcy-sur-Cure caves open southwards on the
left bank of the Cure. The caves have been
visited since the 17th century (Baffier and
Girard, 1997, 1998; Girard, 2019). Research into
Arcy's prehistoric remains began with A. Parat's
excavations between 1897 and 1901 (Parat, 1901).
However, scientific investigations started with
A. Leroi-Gourhan's excavations (1948–1963),
which uncovered Upper Pleistocene human remains
within four caves: the Grotte du Loup, the
Grotte du Bison, the GR and its attached
Schoepflin gallery, and the Grotte de l'Hyène.
(...) |
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Technology or taphonomy? A study of the
2.04–1.95 Ma bone tools from Drimolen Main
Quarry, South Africa,
di R. C. Stammers, J. W. Adams, S. E. Baker, A.
I. R. Herries, "Quaternary International",
Volumes 665–666, 20 August 2023, Pages 20-33
Analysis of 124
rounded fossils, potential bone tools, from the
2.04–1.95 Ma early hominin-bearing Drimolen Main
Quarry palaeocave deposits in South Africa were
subject to comparative analysis of fossil and
bone collections with known taphonomic
accumulator/s, actualistic experiments, and
comparative analysis relative to published data
in the taphonomic literature. From this sample,
51 specimens were identified as bone tools. The
inclusion of these specimens raises the number
of bone tools identified at Drimolen Main Quarry
to 65. The bone tools have a rounded tip and an
associated use-wear pattern that is restricted
to, and radiates from, this rounded tip.
(...) |
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Taking a closer look: The advantages and
disadvantages of 3D imaging functional analysis
of use-wear on bone retouchers,
di E. F. Martellotta, "Quaternary
International", Volumes 665–666, 20 August 2023,
Pages 34-47
Bone retouchers
were part of the human toolkit since the Lower
Palaeolithic. These tools are essential to the
understanding of lithic technology and raw
materials exploitation in cultural complexes
associated with both Homo neanderthalensis and
Homo sapiens. They are also considered to be
among the oldest bone tools ever made. On
account of their great morphological variability
and the lack of any standardised shaping, bone
retouchers are often classified as expedient
tools rather than as a true bone industry. The
present work proposes a new approach to the
use-wear study of bone retouchers through the
application of 3D imaging microscopy. (...) |
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Rediscovery of the Palaeolithic antler hammer
from Biśnik Cave, Poland: New insights into its
chronology, raw material, technology of
production and function,
di J. Orłowska, K. Cyrek, G. Piotr Kaczmarczyk,
W. Migal, G. Osipowicz, "Quaternary
International", Volumes 665–666, 20 August 2023,
Pages 48-64
This article
presents the results of a multifaceted study of
a Palaeolithic hammer made of antler, found in
Biśnik Cave in southern Poland. It is the only
tool of this type known from this period in
Polish prehistory. The results of the 14C dating
on the object verifies previous assumptions
relating to its chronology and cultural
affiliation. The results of Zooarchaeology by
Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) analysis allow us to
provide further details in relation to the raw
material used in the production of the artefact.
(...) |
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Redefining the MIS 3 climatic scenario for
Neanderthals in northeastern Iberia: A
multi-method approach,
di A. Fagoaga et alii, "Quaternary
Science Reviews", Volume 313, 1 August 2023,
108186 - open access -
One of the major
challenges in scientific research is to
understand past climate and the mechanisms of
climate change. Small vertebrates, and
especially rodents, are very sensitive to shifts
in climate and habitat, and their variations
over time in terms of taxa and abundance can be
successfully used to reconstruct past
environments. The vast array of approaches to
palaeoclimatic reconstruction reflects the great
effort that has gone into this line of
investigation. Recently, the UDA-ODA
discrimination technique has been postulated as
a more reliable ecologically-based methodology
compared to the classical MER method. (...) |
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Neanderthal footprints in the “Matalascañas
trampled surface” (SW Spain): new OSL dating and
Mousterian lithic industry,
di C. Neto de Carvalho et alii, "Quaternary
Science Reviews", Volume 313, 1 August 2023,
108200 - open access -
In the Huelva
Coast of SW Spain erosion by recent marine
storms revealed the presence of a paleosol where
an extensive tracksite known as “Matalascañas
Trampled Surface” (MTS) has been documented. The
MTS includes tracks and trackways of large
species of mammals, along with bird trace
fossils, invertebrate burrows and root traces.
Within this record, the presence of several
hominin footprints and trackways stands out.
Despite previous uncertainties about the
producer of these footprints, new OSL age of 151
± 11 ka secures their attribution to
Neanderthals, the only hominins known to have
been present in the Iberian Peninsula during the
MIS6-5 transition. (...) |
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A
taphonomic and spatial distribution study of the
new levels of the middle Pleistocene site of
Notarchirico (670–695 ka, Venosa, Basilicata,
Italy), di
M. H. Moncel et alii, "Archaeological and
Anthropological Sciences", Volume 15, issue 7,
July 2023
New excavations in
the lower part of the sequence dated between 670
and 695 ka by 40Ar/39Ar and ESR-U-Th at
Notarchirico revealed layers with lithic and
bone remains attesting several phases of human
occupations. Some of these occupations are
located at the top of residual pebble/cobble
lags along former water channels, while others
are more disturbed. All the layers yield faunal
and lithic remains. Here, we aim to discuss the
interpretative limits of traces of hominin
occupations in such Early Palaeolithic sites
through a multidisciplinary approach focusing on
depositional and post-depositional processes in
sedimentary units applied on the micro/macro-mammal
remains, artefacts (surfaces, micro-wear traces),
and spatial distribution of the archaeological
material. These data are then compared with
those from M. Piperno’s previous excavations in
the upper part of the sequence (610–670 ka).
(...) |
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Exploring the reliability of handaxe
morphological analyses in 2D: a simulation-based
approach,
di L. A. Courtenay, "Archaeological and
Anthropological Sciences", Volume 15, issue 7,
July 2023
Morphological
analysis is a critical component in the study of
archaeological artefacts. Handaxes are some of
the most iconic tools of the Palaeolithic era,
and the study of their morphology can provide
important insights into their creation, use, and
development throughout early human evolution.
While many studies exist for the study of
handaxe morphology, little consensus exists as
to what methods should be applied. Here the most
reliable means of analysing handaxe morphology
are explored; based on the use of simulated 2D
toy datasets, we compare two widely used methods,
geometric morphometrics, and elliptic Fourier
analysis, and find that the latter is more
reliable and powerful for differentiating
between different handaxe groups. (...) |
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Spatial analysis and site formation processes
associated with the Middle Pleistocene hominid
teeth from Q1/B waterhole, Boxgrove (West Sussex,
UK), di L.
Sánchez-Romero, A. Benito-Calvo, D. De Loecker,
M. Pope, "Archaeological and Anthropological
Sciences", Volume 15, issue 7, July 2023
- open access -
Boxgrove is a key
locale for our understanding of Middle
Pleistocene human behaviour in Northwestern
Europe. It provides high-resolution evidence for
behaviour at scale in fine-grained sediments,
dating from the end of the MIS13 interglacial at
around 480,000 years ago. Excavations at this
site in the last quarter of the twentieth
century have provided a large body of
interdisciplinary data, comprising stone
artefact assemblages, well-preserved faunal
remains and paleoenvironmental archives, from
over 100 test pits and larger excavation areas.
The excavation area designated Q1/B was
excavated between 1995 and 1996 and provided a
particularly deep and complex record of early
human activity centred upon a pond or waterhole
within the wider landscape. In this work, we
present a new analysis of spatial data from a
single sedimentary unit (Unit 4u) at the
Boxgrove Q1/B site. We consider the spatial
disposition of lithic and faunal materials,
fabric analysis and the role of the
palaeotopography in their distribution. (...) |
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Brief interviews with hideous stone: a glimpse
into the butchery site of Isernia La Pineta — a
combined technological and use-wear approach on
the lithic tools to evaluate the function of a
Lower Palaeolithic context,
di M. Carpentieri, G. L. F. Berruti, S. Titton,
M. Arzarello, C. Peretto, "Archaeological and
Anthropological Sciences", Volume 15, issue 7,
July 2023 - open access
-
The onset of the
Middle Pleistocene (780 ka) in the European
continent is associated with significant
environmental variations (Middle Pleistocene
Revolution), innovative behavioural strategies (bifacial
productions, land-use patterns, raw material
management) and a global increase in the
archaeological evidence from 600 ka onward.
Whether these changes are related to the rise of
the Acheulean, the informative potential carried
by these contexts is currently being explored
through multidisciplinary approaches, allowing
us to infer the role of these sites and the type
of activities conducted. From this perspective,
the Italian peninsula is a hot spot to compare
the different technical behaviours and
strategies human groups employ, given its
crucial geographic location and solid
archaeological record, both culturally and
functionally speaking (the presence of sites
with and without bifaces and core-and-flake
assemblages). (...) |
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Use-wear analysis applied in a dissected
palimpsest at the Middle Palaeolithic site of El
Salt (eastern Iberia): working with lithic tools
in a narrow timescale,
di M. Bencomo, A. Mayor, S. Sossa-Ríos, P.
Jardón, B. Galván, C. Mallol, C. M. Hernández, "Archaeological
and Anthropological Sciences", Volume 15, issue
7, July 2023 - open
access -
Use-wear analyses
are very useful to increase knowledge about the
economic and subsistence dynamics carried out by
Neanderthals. In general terms, functional
results traditionally came from the analysis of
tools belonging to stratigraphic units whose
timescale refers to geological time. This is due
to the fact that many Neanderthal sites are
palimpsests of reiterated occupations over time,
which must be dissected to approach us to human
timescale. In the stratigraphic unit Xa of El
Salt (Alcoi, eastern Iberia), high temporal
resolution archaeostratigraphic studies have
been carried out. Diachronic material
assemblages have been identified, allowing us to
analyse more precisely the variability of
Neanderthal behaviour over time. Amongst these
assemblages, three have been selected (i.e.
5.3.1, 5.3.2 and 5.3.3) in order to analyse the
lithic material functionality. (...) |
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Spatial analysis of an Early Middle Palaeolithic
kill/butchering site: the case of the Cuesta de
la Bajada (Teruel, Spain),
di A. Moclán et alii, "Archaeological and
Anthropological Sciences", Volume 15, issue 7,
July 2023- open access
-
Kill/butchering
sites are some of the most important places for
understanding the subsistence strategies of
hunter-gatherer groups. However, these sites are
not common in the archaeological record, and
they have not been sufficiently analysed in
order to know all their possible variability for
ancient periods of the human evolution. In the
present study, we have carried out the spatial
analysis of the Early Middle Palaeolithic (MIS
9–8) site of Cuesta de la Bajada site (Teruel,
Spain), which has been previously identified as
a kill/butchering site through the taphonomic
analysis of the faunal remains. Our results show
that the spatial properties of the faunal and
lithic tools distribution in levels CB2 and CB3
are well-preserved although the site is an
open-air location. (...) |
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Low-cost technologies in a rich ecological
context: Hotel California open-air site at
Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain,
di M. Santamaría, M. Navazo, L. J. Arnold, A.
Benito-Calvo, M. Demuro, E. Carbonell, "Journal
of Quaternary Science", Volume 38, Issue 5, July
2023, Pages 658-684 -
open access -
Hotel California
is part of a network of open-air Neanderthal
sites located in the Sierra de Atapuerca
(Burgos, Spain). In this study, we examine the
technology of the lithic assemblages recovered
from this site's archaeological levels 3 to 7,
which are characterised by the use of local raw
materials, non-hierarchical centripetal
exploitation systems, systematic production of
flakes and few retouched items. This type of
expedient technology is repeated throughout the
entire sequence, which spans Marine Isotope
Stages (MIS) 3 to 4. Through a comparison with
the technocomplexes and occupation histories of
surrounding sites – including a re-evaluation of
the published chronology for the nearby site of
Fuente Mudarra, which is now dated exclusively
to MIS 5 – we examine whether the detected
pattern is applicable to the rest of the
Atapuerca Mousterian record and if this
expedient behaviour has equivalents in other
sites in the region. (...) |
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Introduction to special issue “Humans in
transition: The occupation of Western Europe,
600–400 Ka”,
di P. García-Medrano, M. Martinón-Torres, N.
Ashton, "Journal of Human Evolution", Volume
180, July 2023, 103388
The Acheulean is
the longest-lasting technocomplex in prehistory,
and its emergence from the Oldowan is one of the
major transitions in human evolution (Clark
1994; de la Torre, 2016; Moncel et al., 2018).
It is widely agreed that the innovation of
Acheulean technology represents a critical stage
in early human development (Issac, 1986; Wynn,
1989; Stout, 2015). Its success can be measured
by its persistence over more than 1.5 Myr during
the Early and Middle Pleistocene (MP), over the
vast geographical area of Africa and Eurasia,
and the involvement in this technocomplex of at
least three hominin species—Homo erectus, Homo
heidelbergensis, and Homo neanderthalensis.
(...) |
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Descriptive catalog of Homo naledi dental
remains from the 2013 to 2015 excavations of the
Dinaledi Chamber, site U.W. 101, within the
Rising Star cave system, South Africa,
di L. K. Delezene et alii, "Journal
of Human Evolution", Volume 180, July 2023,
103372
More than 150
hominin teeth, dated to ~330–241 thousand years
ago, were recovered during the 2013–2015
excavations of the Dinaledi Chamber of the
Rising Star cave system, South Africa. These
fossils comprise the first large single-site
sample of hominin teeth from the Middle
Pleistocene of Africa. Though scattered remains
attributable to Homo sapiens, or their possible
lineal ancestors, are known from older and
younger sites across the continent, the
distinctive morphological feature set of the
Dinaledi teeth supports the recognition of a
novel hominin species, Homo naledi. This
material provides evidence of African Homo
lineage diversity that lasts until at least the
Middle Pleistocene. (...) |
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Pliocene hominins from East Turkana were
associated with mesic environments in a semiarid
basin, di
A. Villaseñor et alii, "Journal of Human
Evolution", Volume 180, July 2023, 103385
During the middle
Pliocene (~3.8–3.2 Ma), both Australopithecus
afarensis and Kenyanthropus platyops are known
from the Turkana Basin, but between 3.60 and
3.44 Ma, most hominin fossils are found on the
west side of Lake Turkana. Here, we describe a
new hominin locality (ET03-166/168, Area 129)
from the east side of the lake, in the Lokochot
Member of the Koobi Fora Formation (3.60–3.44
Ma). To reconstruct the paleoecology of the
locality and its surroundings, we combine
information from sedimentology, the relative
abundance of associated mammalian fauna,
phytoliths, and stable isotopes from plant wax
biomarkers, pedogenic carbonates, and fossil
tooth enamel. (...) |
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Des données génétiques extraites des dents d’un
hominidé de 2 millions d’années,
26 juillet 2023
Les restes des
Paranthropes ont été retrouvés sur le site de
Swartkrans dans la région de Johannesburg. Cette
espèce à l’alimentation végétarienne présente la
particularité de posséder d’épaisses dents avec
la plus épaisse couche d’émail identifiée à ce
jour chez les hominidés. C’est donc à partir de
l’email dentaire que les paléoanthropologues ont
pu examiner des acides aminés, dans la couche
externe minérale. C’est avec un appareil à
spectrographie de masse que les quatre
échantillons provenant de dents distinctes ont
délivré 425 acides aminés qui ont été séquencés.
Les quatre échantillons ici étudiés ont été
prélevés dans la grotte de Swartkrans, à environ
40 kilomètres au nord-ouest de Johannesburg (Afrique
du Sud). Depuis l’émail épais (couche externe
minérale) des dents de végétariens des
Paranthropus robustus, 425 acides aminés ont été
séquencés et examinés grâce à la spectrométrie
de masse. (...) |
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New evidence of plant food processing in Italy
before 40ka,
di M. Mariotti Lippi et alii, "Quaternary
Science Reviews", Volume 312, 15 July 2023,
108161
Evidence of plant
food processing is a significant indicator of
the human ability to exploit environmental
resources. The recovery of starch grains
associated with use-wear on Palaeolithic
grinding tools offers proof of a specific
technology for making flour among Pleistocene
hunter-gatherers. Here we present the analysis
of five grindstones from two Italian sites,
Riparo Bombrini and Grotta di Castelcivita, both
inhabited during a crucial phase spanning the
decline of the Neanderthals and the
establishment of Sapiens. The recovery of starch
grains on a Mousterian grindstone at Bombrini
suggests that the last Neanderthals not only
consumed and processed plants but also made
flour 43–41,000 years ago. (...) |
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Neanderthal bones collected by hyena at Grotta
Guattari, central Italy, 66–65 ka: U/Th
chronology and paleoenvironmental setting,
di M. F. Rolfo et alii, "Quaternary
Science Reviews", Volume 311, 1 July 2023,
108132
After eight
decades since its discovery in 1939, new
investigations have been undertaken at Grotta
Guattari (Latium, central Italy), a coastal cave
by the Tyrrhenian Sea coast and one of the
iconic sites of the Italian prehistory, as it
yielded an almost complete skull and other
remains of Neanderthals. The new excavations of
the innermost and untouched cave deposits
resulted in an outstanding amount of mammal
bones, 40 out of which attributable to
Neanderthal, including new large portions of
cranial remains. Preliminary taphonomic hints
and the collected stratigraphic evidence
strongly indicate that the impressive
accumulation of the large mammal bones was the
work of spotted hyena, in a period in which
human frequentation was really sporadic or even
completely absent. (...) |
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A
history of violence in the Mesolithic female
skeleton from Mezzocorona-Borgonuovo (Trento,
northeastern Italy),
di V. S. Sparacello, E. Mottes, I. Dori, C.
Posth, C. Knüsel, F. Nicolis, "Quaternary
Science Reviews", Volume 311, 1 July 2023,
108149
Scholars have long
been interested in understanding conflict in
prehistoric times. Skeletal lesions attributable
to interpersonal violence constitute the most
direct evidence available to make inferences on
the diachronic changes in the frequency, scale,
and motivation for conflict among human
communities. It has been proposed that evidence
of violence becomes more common among Early
Holocene Mesolithic hunter-gatherers; however,
the skeletal record becomes increasingly
fragmentary in more ancient periods, making the
finding of new evidence of great importance. We
present here a case of traumatic recidivism in a
Mesolithic female from the site of
Mezzocorona-Borgonuovo (MBN-1) in the
northeastern Italian Alps (Trento). (...) |
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Benchmarking methods and data for the
whole-outline geometric morphometric analysis of
lithic tools,
di R. P. Araujo et alii, "Evolutionary
Anthropology", Volume 32, Issue 3, June 2023,
Pages 124-127
Originally
developed for the quantitative analysis of
organismal shapes, both two-dimensional (2D) and
3D geometric morphometric methods (GMMs) have
recently gained some prominence in archaeology
for the analysis of stone tools—unquestionably
the primary deep-time data source for the
earliest periods of human cultural evolution.
The key strength of GMM rests in its ability to
statistically quantify and hence qualify complex
shapes, which in turn can be used to infer
social interaction, function, reduction, as well
as to assess classification systems and cultural
relatedness. The methodological diversification
that has accompanied the rise in popularity of
this particular suite of methods has, however,
also resulted in an increasing lack of
comparability and interoperability, which—ironically—works
against the promise of GMM to provide a tool for
comparing artifact shapes that is not sensitive
to interanalyst variation. Standardized
protocols, vetted datasets, as well as
case-transferable and fully reproducible methods
do not currently exist, hampering the full
utility of geometric morphometrics as an
approach to comparatively understand human
behavior as reflected in these lithic proxies.
(...) |
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The Australopithecus assemblage from
Sterkfontein Member 4 (South Africa) and the
concept of variation in palaeontology,
di A. Beaudet, "Evolutionary Anthropology",
Volume 32, Issue 3, June 2023, Pages 154-168
- open access -
Interpreting
morphological variation within the early hominin
fossil record is particularly challenging. Apart
from the fact that there is no absolute
threshold for defining species boundaries in
palaeontology, the degree of variation related
to sexual dimorphism, temporal depth, geographic
variation or ontogeny is difficult to appreciate
in a fossil taxon mainly represented by
fragmentary specimens, and such variation could
easily be conflated with taxonomic diversity.
One of the most emblematic examples in
paleoanthropology is the Australopithecus
assemblage from the Sterkfontein Caves in South
Africa. Whereas some studies support the
presence of multiple Australopithecus species at
Sterkfontein, others explore alternative
hypotheses to explain the morphological
variation within the hominin assemblage. In this
review, I briefly summarize the ongoing debates
surrounding the interpretation of morphological
variation at Sterkfontein Member 4 before
exploring two promising avenues that would
deserve specific attention in the future, that
is, temporal depth and nonhuman primate
diversity. (...) |
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Major Genetic Risk Factors
for Dupuytren's Disease Are Inherited From
Neandertals,
di R. Ågren et alii, "Molecular Biology
and Evolution", Volume 40, Issue 6, June 2023
-
open access -
Dupuytren's
disease is characterized by fingers becoming
permanently bent in a flexed position. Whereas
people of African ancestry are rarely afflicted
by Dupuytren's disease, up to ~30% of men over
60 years suffer from this condition in northern
Europe. Here, we meta-analyze 3 biobanks
comprising 7,871 cases and 645,880 controls and
find 61 genome-wide significant variants
associated with Dupuytren's disease. (...) |
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Des gravures de 75 000 ans
attribuées à Néandertal à la Roche-Cotard,
23 juin 2023
La Roche-Cotard
est une ancienne cavité située sur un coteau
au-dessus de la Loire. Si elle a été découverte
en 1846 lorsque des carrières étaient exploitées
dans la région (pour la construction d’une ligne
de chemin de fer), la cavité restait
inaccessible. En 1912, François d’Achon,
propriétaire de la grotte, effectue les
premières fouilles dans la cavité. Dans les
sédiments, les fouilles permettent de mettre au
jour des restes osseux de la faune chassée (cheval,
bison, cerf…), présentant des traces de
calcination, mais également de l’outillage
lithique attribué à Néandertal. Un objet trouvé
aux pieds d’une falaise à proximité a également
frappé les imaginaires : un visage de pierre où
un morceau d’os est enfiché et simule des yeux :
le masque de la Roche Cotard (...) |
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Evidence for hunter-gatherer impacts on raven
diet and ecology in the Gravettian of Southern
Moravia, di
C. Baumann, S. T. Hussain, M. Roblíčková, F.
Riede, M. A. Mannino, H. Bocherens, "Nature
Ecology & Evolution", 22 June 2023
he earlier
Gravettian of Southern Moravia—the Pavlovian—is
notable for the many raven bones (Corvus corax)
documented in its faunal assemblages. On the
basis of the rich zooarchaeological and
settlement data from the Pavlovian, previous
work suggested that common ravens were attracted
by human domestic activities and subsequently
captured by Pavlovian people, presumably for
feathers and perhaps food. Here, we report
independent δ15N, δ13C and δ34S stable isotope
data obtained from 12 adult ravens from the
Pavlovian key sites of Předmostí I, Pavlov I and
Dolní Věstonice I to test this idea. We show
that Pavlovian ravens regularly fed on larger
herbivores and especially mammoths, aligning in
feeding preferences with contemporaneous
Gravettian foragers. (...) |
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The earliest unambiguous Neanderthal engravings
on cave walls: La Roche-Cotard, Loire Valley,
France, di
J. C. Marquet et alii, 21 June 2023, doi:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0286568
- open access -
Here we report on
Neanderthal engravings on a cave wall at La
Roche-Cotard (LRC) in central France, made more
than 57±3 thousand years ago. Following human
occupation, the cave was completely sealed by
cold-period sediments, which prevented access
until its discovery in the 19th century and
first excavation in the early 20th century. The
timing of the closure of the cave is based on 50
optically stimulated luminescence ages derived
from sediment collected inside and from around
the cave. The anthropogenic origin of the
spatially-structured, non-figurative marks found
within the cave is confirmed using taphonomic,
traceological and experimental evidence. Cave
closure occurred significantly before the
regional arrival of H. sapiens, and all
artefacts from within the cave are typical
Mousterian lithics; in Western Europe these are
uniquely attributed to H. neanderthalensis. We
conclude that the LRC engravings are unambiguous
examples of Neanderthal abstract design.
(...) |
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A
double-pointed wooden throwing stick from
Schöningen, Germany: Results and new insights
from a multianalytical study,
di A. Milks, J. Lehmann, D. Leder, M. Sietz, T.
Koddenberg, U. Böhner, V. Wachtendorf, T.
Terberger, 19 July 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0287719
- open access -
The site of
Schöningen (Germany), dated to ca. 300,000 years
ago, yielded the earliest large-scale record of
humanly-made wooden tools. These include wooden
spears and shorter double-pointed sticks,
discovered in association with herbivores that
were hunted and butchered along a lakeshore.
Wooden tools have not been systematically
analysed to the same standard as other
Palaeolithic technologies, such as lithic or
bone tools. Our multianalytical study includes
micro-CT scanning, 3-dimensional microscopy, and
Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy,
supporting a systematic technological and
taphonomic analysis, thus setting a new standard
for wooden tool analysis. In illustrating the
biography of one of Schöningen’s double-pointed
sticks, we demonstrate new human behaviours for
this time period, including sophisticated
woodworking techniques. The hominins selected a
spruce branch which they then debarked and
shaped into an aerodynamic and ergonomic tool.
They likely seasoned the wood to avoid cracking
and warping. After a long period of use, it was
probably lost while hunting, and was then
rapidly buried in mud. Taphonomic alterations
include damage from trampling, fungal attack,
root damage and compression. (...) |
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Early humans in the Hula Valley invested in
systematic procurement of raw materials hundreds
of thousands of years ago – much earlier than
previously assumed,
19-JUL-2023
A new study from
Tel Aviv University and Tel-Hai College solves
an old mystery: Where did early humans in the
Hula Valley get flint to make the prehistoric
tools known as handaxes? The researchers applied
advanced methods of chemical analysis and AI to
identify the geochemical fingerprints of
handaxes from the Hula Valley's oldest
prehistoric sites, Ma'ayan Barukh and Gesher
Benot Ya'aqov. Their findings indicate that the
raw material came from exposures of high-quality
flint in the Dishon Plateau, about 20km to the
west, and hundreds of meters above the Hula
Valley. The researchers: "Our findings indicate
that these early humans had high social and
cognitive abilities: they were familiar with
their surroundings, knew the available resources,
and made great efforts to procure the
high-quality raw materials they needed. For this
purpose, they planned and carried out long
journeys, and transferred this essential
knowledge to subsequent generations." (...) |
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Ecological evaluation of the development of
Neanderthal niche exploitation,
di A. J. Trájer, "Quaternary Science Reviews",
Volume 310, 15 June 2023, 108127
- open access -
Understanding the
ecological niche occupied by Neanderthals and
their ancestors is at the forefront of many
Palaeolithic investigations. In this study, a
complex characterization of the environments
once occupied by these hominins in Western
Eurasia were performed. It included the
determination of the biome and climatic zones
occupied, the potential wind exposures, the
classification of the karst regions where they
lived, the direction of the entrance of caves
inhabited and the average daily total solar
irradiation values. In addition, the climatic
suitability of the Mediterranean mosquito fauna,
tick-borne encephalitis and four large mammal
species as potential mammal hosts were also
studied. It was found that Western Eurasian
hominins occupied a wide ecological niche range
from the semi-arid to the subarctic climates.
Between the MIS20-MIS4 interval, the biomes
occupied by Neanderthals and their ancestors
shifted from the woodland-shrubland to the
boreal biomes, indicating the increasing general
biocultural adaptation to the more continental
environments. (...) |
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Fossil footprints at the late Lower Paleolithic
site of Schöningen (Germany): A new line of
research to reconstruct animal and hominin
paleoecology,
di F. Altamura et alii, "Quaternary
Science Reviews", Volume 310, 15 June 2023,
108094 - open access -
The ca. 300 ka
Paleolithic sites of Schöningen in northern
Germany yielded a number of localities with
archeological and paleontological remains
representing a rich paleoenvironmental record of
the late Middle Pleistocene in northern Europe.
An important line of research focused on the
ichnology of two localities: Schöningen 13 I-Fs2
and Schöningen 13 II-2 Untere Berme. Here we
present the first detailed study of these fossil
footprints, which provides insights on
Schöningen's paleoenvironment and a snapshot of
the mammals once living in the area. Herds of
elephants and other species of herbivores
congregated along the muddy shores of a
paleolake during birch, pine and grass-rich
woodland phases. (...) |
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On
the Quina side: A Neanderthal bone industry at
Chez-Pinaud site, France,
di M. Baumann et alii, 14 June 2023, doi:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284081
- open access -
Did Neanderthal
produce a bone industry? The recent discovery of
a large bone tool assemblage at the Neanderthal
site of Chagyrskaya (Altai, Siberia, Russia) and
the increasing discoveries of isolated finds of
bone tools in various Mousterian sites across
Eurasia stimulate the debate. Assuming that the
isolate finds may be the tip of the iceberg and
that the Siberian occurrence did not result from
a local adaptation of easternmost Neanderthals,
we looked for evidence of a similar industry in
the Western side of their spread area. We
assessed the bone tool potential of the Quina
bone-bed level currently under excavation at
chez Pinaud site (Jonzac, Charente-Maritime,
France) and found as many bone tools as flint
ones: not only the well-known retouchers but
also beveled tools, retouched artifacts and a
smooth-ended rib. Their diversity opens a window
on a range of activities not expected in a
butchering site and not documented by the flint
tools, all involved in the carcass processing.
The re-use of 20% of the bone blanks, which are
mainly from large ungulates among faunal remains
largely dominated by reindeer, raises the
question of blank procurement and management.
From the Altai to the Atlantic shore, through a
multitude of sites where only a few objects have
been reported so far, evidence of a Neanderthal
bone industry is emerging which provides new
insights on Middle Paleolithic subsistence
strategies. (...) |
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The evolution of early hominin food production
and sharing,
di I. Alger, S. Dridi, J. Stieglitz, M. L.
Wilson, "Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences", 13 June
2023, 120 (25), e2218096120
- open access -
Human foragers
share food extensively. Influential scenarios
for the evolution of hominin food sharing focus
on hunting, scavenging, cooking, or
grandparental subsidies. However, evidence that
the diets of early hominins such as
Australopithecus included nutrient-dense
extracted foods, long before reliance on meat,
fire, or increased lifespan, suggests the
possibility that early hominins shared extracted
foods. Here, we present a conceptual and
mathematical model of the evolution of food
production and sharing in early hominins, across
diverse mating systems. Male mate guarding
protects females from food theft, promoting
extractive foraging by females. This increased
foraging efficiency motivates females to share
food with males when pair-bonds exist. Female
provisioning of males may have catalyzed the
evolution of uniquely hominin traits. (...) |
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Ancient human DNA recovered from a Palaeolithic
pendant, di
E. Essel et alii, "Nature", Volume 618
Issue 7964, 8 June 2023, pp. 328–332
- open access -
Artefacts made
from stones, bones and teeth are fundamental to
our understanding of human subsistence
strategies, behaviour and culture in the
Pleistocene. Although these resources are
plentiful, it is impossible to associate
artefacts to specific human individuals1 who can
be morphologically or genetically characterized,
unless they are found within burials, which are
rare in this time period. Thus, our ability to
discern the societal roles of Pleistocene
individuals based on their biological sex or
genetic ancestry is limited2,3,4,5. Here we
report the development of a non-destructive
method for the gradual release of DNA trapped in
ancient bone and tooth artefacts. Application of
the method to an Upper Palaeolithic deer tooth
pendant from Denisova Cave, Russia, resulted in
the recovery of ancient human and deer
mitochondrial genomes, which allowed us to
estimate the age of the pendant at approximately
19,000–25,000 years. Nuclear DNA analysis
identifies the presumed maker or wearer of the
pendant as a female individual with strong
genetic affinities to a group of Ancient North
Eurasian individuals who lived around the same
time but were previously found only further east
in Siberia. Our work redefines how cultural and
genetic records can be linked in prehistoric
archaeology. (...) |
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Human scalp hair as a thermoregulatory
adaptation,
di T. Lasisi et alii, "Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences", 6 June
2023, 120 (24), e2301760120
- open access -
The evolution of
human scalp hair might be explained by
thermoregulation pressures experienced in hot
and arid environments. Bipedal posture and a
hairless body may have necessitated the
development of scalp hair to minimize heat gain
from solar radiation, particularly in hominins
with large brains. We used a thermal manikin and
human-hair wigs to examine this thermoregulatory
hypothesis. We confirm that scalp hair reduces
heat gain from solar radiation and find an
effect of hair morphology. Our results show that
tightly curled hair provides the most effective
protection for the scalp against solar radiation,
while minimizing the need for sweat to offset
heat gain. (...) |
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PaleoAnthropology,
Volume 2023, Issue 1, 19-05-2023:
-
Ahead of the Times: Blade
and Bladelet Production Associated with
Neandertal Remains at the Bau de l’Aubesier (Mediterranean
France) Between MIS 7 and MIS 5d,
di L. Carmignani, M. Soressi
-
Marathousa 2: A New Middle
Pleistocene Locality in the Megalopolis Basin (Greece)
With Evidence of Hominin Exploitation of
Megafauna (Hippopotamus),
di G. Konidaris et alii
-
The Wadi Madamagh (Petra
Region, Jordan) Late Upper Paleolithic and
Initial/Early Epipaleolithic Lithic Components,
di D. I. Olszewski, M. al-Nahar, D. Schyle, B.
F. Byrd, H. Parow-Souchon
-
A Third Neanderthal
Individual from La Ferrassie Dated to the End of
the Middle Palaeolithic,
di Guillaume Guérin et alii |
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From legacy data to survey
planning? The relationship between landscape and
waterscape in Southern Tuscany during the Upper
Palaeolithic: towards a predicitive-postdictive
approach,
di G. Pizziolo, "Archeologia e Calcolatori",
34.1, 2023, pp. 237-246
- open access -
During the Upper
Palaeolithic, Southern Tuscany was strongly
affected by geomorphological changes that
significantly altered its coastal seaboard. In
particular, during the Last Glacial Maximum, the
sea reached a level below 100 meters. As a
result of this, the prehistoric coastland
included also the present Tuscan Archipelago, in
particular the Islands of Elba and Pianosa,
assuming a different layout during MIS3 and
MIS2. In this context, the process of
prehistoric occupation took place, according to
different needs and criteria. The present work
explores the possibility of investigating the
dynamic relationship between the prehistoric
landscape and waterscape by a
predictive-postdictive approach. Alongside the
simulation of coastal changes, the study makes
use of legacy data, taking into account those
derived from artefact surface scatters collected
over the past decades by various research groups.
The latter provide further evidence of the
prehistoric occupation process. In this scenario
it is crucial to highlight areas that
potentially still retain some relict features of
the Palaeolithic landscape. These are examined
in order to better understand settlement
strategies taking place during the Upper
Palaeolithic and, at the same time, to
investigate the relationship between inland and
coastal sites in a diachronic perspective.
Although still ongoing, preliminary results
provide new elements for the planning of future
field surveys. (...) |
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Revisiting the Acheulean at Namib IV in the
Namib Desert, Namibia,
di G. M. Leader et alii, "Journal of
Field Archaeology", Volume 48, Issue 5 (2023),
Pages: 380-394
Namib IV (S23°
44.829’, E14° 19.720’) is frequently cited, as
it is one of few Earlier Stone Age sites in the
Sand Sea of the Namib Desert. The site was first
investigated in 1978 by Myra Shackley, who
described 582 artifacts on the surface of a pan
as representing an Acheulean butchery site.
Descriptions of the artifacts, their number, and
area were inconsistently reported. Recently
rediscovered, the site of Namib IV is a rare
example of a tool-rich and fossil fauna-bearing
pan system in the Namib Sand Sea. (...) |
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Cultural changes and adaptations to climatic and
environmental changes of the last Neanderthals
in southern France,
di T. Fourcade, "Quaternaire", Volume 34, Numéro
2, 2023, pp. 139-142 -
open access -
The role of
climate change as a driver of biological and
cultural human evolution is a recurrent topic in
the scientific literature. In order to know
whether a climatic or environmental change may
have produced a cultural change, it is firstly
necessary to test whether both are synchronous.
Previous studies focussing on this question show
the difficulty of comparing archaeological and
palaeoenvironmental records from a chronological
point of view, and this for three reasons: 1)
the different temporal resolution of
environmental and archaeological records, 2) the
inherent uncertainties in dating methods, and 3)
the definitions of the cultures used in these
studies are often questioned. (...) |
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Des passages discrets mais
récurrents de néandertaliens à waziers le bas‑terroir
: un nouveau gisement archéologique du
tardiglaciaire du SIM 6 a l’optimum eemien (SIM
5e) dans le nord de la France,
di D. Hérisson, P. Auguste, L. Deschodt, J. L.
Locht, N. Sévêque, L. Vallin, B. Masson, "Quaternaire",
Volume 34, Numéro 1, 2023, p. 9‑22
- open access -
Une séquence
attribuable à l’Eemien a été révélée par une
série de diagnostics préventifs lors de l’aménagement
sur la commune de Waziers d’une Z.A.C. dite du «
Bas-Terroir » de 2011 à 2013. Suite à cette
découverte, un programme de recherche programmé
a été mis sur pied permettant d’explorer la
séquence et les dépôts eemiens de la zone. Ce
sont les résultats des années de 2013 à 2015 de
recherches sur le terrain – et principalement
ceux obtenus suite aux fouilles programmées de
2014 et 2015 – qui sont restitués dans le
présent article. Quatre niveaux archéologiques
sont documentés pour la première fois à Waziers
attestant de passages discrets mais récurrents
de Néandertaliens depuis le Tardiglaciaire du
SIM 6 (c. 140 ka) à l’optimum eemien (SIM 5e, c.
130 ka). L’outillage mis au jour est produit à
partir de deux concepts de débitage (Levallois
et discoïde). Les vestiges fauniques de
vertébrés, essentiellement les mammifères, sont
dans un état exceptionnel de conservation, tout
comme les bois végétaux constituant une
bioconstruction, identifiable comme un barrage
ou une hutte de castor. (...) |
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An
archaeostratigraphic consideration of the Gran
Dolina TD10.2 cultural sequence from a
quantitative approach,
di A. Arteaga-Brieba et alii, "Quaternary
Science Reviews", Volume 309, 1 June 2023,
108033 - open access
-
Understanding the
temporal resolution of archaeological deposits
is a critical issue for drawing behavioural
inferences. In the case of TD10.2 (Gran Dolina,
Sierra de Atapuerca), this factor becomes
essential in defining the mass communal bison
hunting level and the different butchering
events that took place at the sub-unit, which is
characterised as a kill-butchering site.
Traditionally, the dissection of events within
an assemblage is performed by visual
archaeostratigraphic techniques. This method,
however, can be challenging in high-density
sites without marked sterile gaps between levels.
In this study, we present a combination of
archaeostratigraphic techniques, supervised
machine learning, and lithic refits applied to
TD10.2. (...) |
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Pleistocene freshwater ostracods from the Homo
erectus site at Bilzingsleben, Germany—Review of
historic collection and unpublished manuscript
material for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction,
di T. Daniel, P. Frenzel, "Geoarchaeology",
Volume 38, Issue 4, July/August 2023, Pages
445-465 - open access -
We provide a
review of micropalaeontological research on
Ostracoda from the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 11,
Holstein interglacial) hominin site
Bilzingsleben in Thuringia in Central Germany
from 1963 to the 1990s. Samples from four
sections inside and six search pits outside the
excavation area were investigated and, in total,
49 ostracod species were identified. The
ostracod assemblages of the sections mirror the
complex and small-scale palaeoenvironmental
evolution of the site from a seeping-spring to
fluviatile, lacustrine and finally
seeping-spring habitat in which a massive tufa
layer formed and prevented erosion of the
sediments beneath. Pleistocene index fossils are
represented by Ilyocypris quinculminata from
search pit 3/sample 9933 and Scottia browniana
from section 70. Both species indicate the age
dating of MIS 11 for the tufa deposit. (...) |
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Improved discrimination of biogenic and
diagenetic elements in Palaeolithic mammoth
ivory and bone from Hohle Fels Cave in the
Swabian Jura of Southwestern Germany,
di L. Tranchant, K. Müller, Q. Lemasson, L.
Pichon, S. Schöder, N. J. Conard, I. Reiche, "Quaternary
International", Volume 660, 30 June 2023, Pages
4-12 - open access -
Mammoth ivory was
used by humans to manufacture personal ornaments,
sculptures or music instruments during the Upper
Palaeolithic. These objects are among the first
and most precious witnesses of ancient artistic
behaviour. Archaeological ivory, however, has
been subjected to complex alteration processes
due to exchange with its burial environment over
time. Therefore, it is necessary to understand
the diagenetic phenomena in order to develop
adequate conservation measures for ivory
artefacts. The element-analytical study of ivory
artefacts can shed light on these processes and
can help to track the origin of these objects.
(...) |
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This Small-Brained Human Species May Have Buried
Its Dead, Controlled Fire and Made Art,
di K. Wong, 5 June 2023
- open access -
In the millions of
years over which humans have been evolving,
brain size has tripled, and behavior has become
exponentially more elaborate. Early,
small-brained hominins (members of the human
family) made only simple stone tools. Later,
brainier ancestors invented more sophisticated
implements and developed more advanced
subsistence strategies. As for behavioral
complexity in our own eggheaded species, Homo
sapiens, well, we went all out—developing
technology that carried us to every corner of
the planet, ceremonially burying our dead,
forming extensive social networks and creating
art, music and language rich in shared meaning.
Scientists have long assumed that increasing
brain size drove these technological and
cognitive advances. Now startling new
discoveries at a fossil site in South Africa are
challenging this bedrock tenet of human
evolution. (...)
·
Homo naledi est-il premier partout? sépulture,
gravure, utilisation de lampes, c’est lui?,
"Hominides", 6 juin 2023 |
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The endocast from Dana
Aoule North (DAN5/P1): A 1.5 million year-old
human braincase from Gona, Afar, Ethiopia,
di E. Bruner, R. Holloway, K. L. Baab, M. J.
Rogers, S. Semaw, "American Journal of
Biological Anthropology", Volume181, Issue 2,
June 2023, Pages 206-215
The nearly
complete cranium DAN5/P1 was found at Gona (Afar,
Ethiopia), dated to 1.5–1.6 Ma, and assigned to
the species Homo erectus. Its size is,
nonetheless, particularly small for the known
range of variation of this taxon, and the
cranial capacity has been estimated as 598 cc.
In this study, we analyzed a reconstruction of
its endocranial cast, to investigate its
paleoneurological features. The main anatomical
traits of the endocast were described, and its
morphology was compared with other fossil and
modern human samples. The endocast shows most of
the traits associated with less encephalized
human taxa, like narrow frontal lobes and a
simple meningeal vascular network with posterior
parietal branches. (...) |
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Assessing the subsistence strategies of the
earliest North African inhabitants: evidence
from the Early Pleistocene site of Ain Boucherit
(Algeria),
di I. Cáceres, R. Chelli Cheheb, J. van der Made,
Z. Harichane, K. Boulaghraief, M. Sahnouni, "Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences ",
Volume 15, issue 6, June 2023
- open access -
The archaeological
data on the earliest hominin behavioral
subsistence activities in North Africa are
derived primarily from the Early Pleistocene
site of Ain Boucherit (northeastern Algeria).
Ain Boucherit consists of two archaeological
layers, Ain Boucherit Upper (AB-Up) and Ain
Boucherit Lower (AB-Lw), estimated to ~ 1.9 Ma
and ~ 2.4 Ma, respectively. Cutmarked and
hammerstone percussed bones associated with
Oldowan stone tools were found in both layers,
with AB-Lw yielding the oldest in North Africa.
The faunal assemblages from both deposits are
dominated by small-sized bovids and equids.
Evidence of cutmarks and percussion marks in
both assemblages shows that hominins exploited
animal carcasses, involving skinning,
evisceration and defleshing activities. (...)
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A
multi-technique approach to characterization:
the Sant Martí de Tous chert as a prehistoric
resource for the NE of the Iberian Peninsula,
di B. Gómez de Soler et alii, "Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences ",
Volume 15, issue 6, June 2023
- open access -
The Sant Genís
Formation is located in the NE of the Iberian
Peninsula (Catalonia, Spain) and is dated to the
Priabonian (upper Eocene), being part of the
evaporitic formations of the margin of the Ebro
Basin. It is formed by a succession of sandy
lutites, occasional limestone layers, marls, and
local stratified gypsum and cherts, including
the Sant Martí de Tous chert. The Sant Martí de
Tous chert type is confirmed by its abundance at
specific locations within the territory (NE
Iberian Peninsula). This is an important raw
material procurement area, as evidenced by the
presence of this chert in the main prehistoric
sites of the region (e.g., Abric Romaní) and the
constant discovery of new sites in the area
around the Sant Genís Formation, especially from
the Neolithic period onwards (e.g., Cal Sitjo,
La Guinardera Nord workshop). (...) |
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Production method of the Königsaue birch tar
documents cumulative culture in Neanderthals,
di P. Schmidt, T. J. Koch, M. A. Blessing, F. A.
Karakostis, K. Harvati, V. Dresely, A.
Charrié-Duhaut, "Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences ", Volume 15, issue 6,
June 2023 - open access
-
Birch tar is the
oldest synthetic substance made by early humans.
The earliest such artefacts are associated with
Neanderthals. According to traditional
interpretations, their study allows
understanding Neanderthal tool behaviours,
skills and cultural evolution. However, recent
work has found that birch tar can also be
produced with simple processes, or even result
from fortuitous accidents. Even though these
findings suggest that birch tar per se is not a
proxy for cognition, they do not shed light on
the process by which Neanderthals produced it,
and, therefore, cannot evaluate the implications
of that behaviour. Here, we address the question
of how tar was made by Neanderthals. (...) |
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Red Balloon rock shelter Middle Stone Age ochre
assemblage and population’s adaption to local
resources in the Waterberg (Limpopo, South
Africa), di
G. Mauran, "Archaeological and Anthropological
Sciences ", Volume 15, issue 6, June 2023
- open access -
Ochre has been
found at many Middle Stone Age sites throughout
southern Africa. Much work has been done to
document these iron-rich raw materials, their
modifications and their implications for past
communities’ behaviours, skills and cognition.
However, until recently few works focused on the
Middle Stone Age Waterberg ochre assemblages.
The paper presents the ochre assemblage
recovered at Red Balloon rock shelter, a new
Middle Stone Age site on the Waterberg Plateau.
The site preserves Middle Stone Age occupations
dated around 95,000 years ago. Scanning electron
microscopy observations, portable X-ray
fluorescence spectroscopy and infrared
spectroscopy characterization document the
presence of four ochre types. The MSA ochre
assemblage recovered is mainly composed of
specularite and specular hematite similar to the
ones of Olieboomspoort and North Brabant.
(...) |
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The crystalline
quartz-rich raw material from Olduvai Gorge
(Tanzania): why is it called quartzite when it
should be called quartz?
di A. Tarriño, B.
Ábalos, P. Puelles, L. Eguiluz, F. Díez-Martín,
"Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences ",
Volume 15, issue 6, June 2023
- open access -
The major raw
material documented in the archeological sites
of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) is a geological
material with crystalline appearance, white or
colorless, foliated or seemingly massive only at
the outcrop scale, with a very high quartz-rich
composition, and apparently of metamorphic
origin, named by us in this paper: Crystalline
Quartz-rich Raw Material (CQRM). Since the early
days of research in Olduvai Gorge, a
long-lasting terminological imprecision has
allowed defining this material in a confused way
as quartz or quartzite. Stubbornness in
terminological imprecision reflects the
complexity and specificity of CQRM related to a
protracted and complex geological history
composed by quartz-bearing metamorphic rocks of
varied types and origins from recycling and/or
tectonic reworking of much older Precambrian
orogens and cratons. (...) |
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Petrographic and geochemical characterization of
chert artifacts from Middle, Upper, and
Epi-Paleolithic assemblages in the Jebel Qalkha
area, southern Jordan,
di N. Ichinose et alii, "Archaeometry",
Volume 65, Issue 3, June 2023, Pages 530-546
This study
conducted petrographic and geochemical analyses
of chert artifacts from the Late Middle
Paleolithic, the Initial Upper Paleolithic, the
Early Upper Paleolithic, and the Epi-Paleolithic
assemblages in the Jebel Qalkha area, southern
Jordan, to examine their correlations with the
visual attributes and diachronic variability.
The results revealed two different aspects of
the petrographic and geochemical signatures. The
first aspect showed some correlations with the
visual chert types that were characterized by
the abundance/preservation of fossils, the
enrichment of several elements (i.e., Ca, Sr,
and Ba), and the quartz crystallite size.
(...) |
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"Journal of Human
Evolution",
Volume 179, June 2023:
-
Knuckle-walking in
Sahelanthropus? Locomotor inferences from the
ulnae of fossil hominins and other hominoids,
di M. R. Meyer et alii
-
The Western European
Acheulean: Reading variability at a regional
scale,
di P. García-Medrano, M. H. Moncel, E.
Maldonado-Garrido, A. Ollé, N. Ashton
-
The revolution that still
isn't: The origins of behavioral complexity in
Homo sapiens,
di E. M. L. Scerri, M. Will
-
Evolution of vertebral
numbers in primates, with a focus on hominoids
and the last common ancestor of hominins and
panins,
di J. K. Spear et alii
-
Making meaning from
fragmentary fossils: Early Homo in the Early to
early Middle Pleistocene,
di S. C. Antón, E. R. Middleton |
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After the emergence of the Acheulean at Melka
Kunture (Upper Awash, Ethiopia): From Gombore IB
(1.6 Ma) to Gombore Iγ (1.4 Ma), Gombore Iδ (1.3
Ma) and Gombore II OAM Test Pit C (1.2 Ma),
di M. Mussi et alii, "Quaternary
International", Volume 657, 30 May 2023, Pages
3-25 - open access -
While the
emergence of the Acheulean is well documented in
East Africa at ~1.7 Ma, subsequent developments
are less well understood and to some extent
controversial. Here, we provide robust evidence
regarding the time period between 1.6 Ma and 1.2
Ma, based on an interdisciplinary approach to
the stratigraphic sequences exposed in the
Gombore gully of Melka Kunture, in the upper
Awash Valley of Ethiopia. Throughout the
Pleistocene, the environment differed
significantly from elsewhere in Africa because
of the elevation at 2000 m asl, the cooler and
rainy climate, the Afromontane vegetation, the
development of endemic animal species, and the
recurrent impact of volcanic activity. At
Gombore IB, dated ~1.6 Ma, remains of Homo
erectus/ergaster have been discovered,
associated with a rich early Acheulean
assemblage. (...) |
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Adaptations and cultures of pleistocene humans
in italy,
di M. Peresani, "Alpine and Mediterranean
Quaternary", 36 (2), 2023, 1-20, 26 may 2023
- open access -
Continental and
above all peninsular Italy, preserve abundant
biological and cultural fossil record, sometimes
geographically and ecologically so peculiar
contexts, to stimulate the study of population
dynamics, adaptations, cultural transitions that
took place during the whole Pleistocene in this
country. In such a variegated region, bounded by
the Alpine chain and longitudinally split by the
Apennines, Italy hosted distinct migration waves
attributed to unidentified hominins, and to Homo
heidelbergensis, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo
sapiens in a heterogeneous scenario subjected to
profound changes during extreme sea-level
lowering. The first human colonization occurred
around the Early to Middle Pleistocene
transition, presumably driven by major faunal
renewals which invested Southern Europe. These
first attestations are documented in the oldest
sites, Pirro Nord and Monte Poggiolo, with
lithic industries based on core-and-flake
technology. After a gap in the evidence of human
settlements between MIS19 and MIS17, the
earliest Acheulean makes its appearance in south
Italy starting from 661-614 ka. (...) |
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"PaleoAnthropology",
volume 2023, issue 1, 2023-05-19
- open access -
- Ahead of the Times:
Blade and Bladelet Production Associated with
Neandertal Remains at the Bau de l’Aubesier (Mediterranean
France) Between MIS 7 and MIS 5d,
di L. Carmignani, M. Soressi
-
Marathousa 2: A New Middle
Pleistocene Locality in the Megalopolis Basin (Greece)
With Evidence of Hominin Exploitation of
Megafauna (Hippopotamus),
di G. Konidaris et alii
- The Wadi Madamagh (Petra
Region, Jordan) Late Upper Paleolithic and
Initial/Early Epipaleolithic Lithic Components,
di D. I. Olszewski, M. al-Nahar, D. Schyle, B.
F. Byrd, H. Parow-Souchon
-
A Third Neanderthal
Individual from La Ferrassie Dated to the End of
the Middle Palaeolithic,
di G. Guérin |
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Reconstructing Middle and
Upper Paleolithic human mobility in Portuguese
Estremadura through laser ablation strontium
isotope analysis,
di B. Linscott
et alii, "Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences", 16 May
2023, vol. 120, no. 20, e2204501120
- open access -
Understanding
mobility and landscape use is important in
reconstructing subsistence behavior, range, and
group size, and it may contribute to our
understanding of phenomena such as the dynamics
of biological and cultural interactions between
distinct populations of Upper Pleistocene humans.
However, studies using traditional strontium
isotope analysis are generally limited to
identifying locations of childhood residence or
nonlocal individuals and lack the sampling
resolution to detect movement over short
timescales. Here, using an optimized methodology,
we present highly spatially resolved 87Sr/86Sr
measurements made by laser ablation
multicollector inductively coupled plasma mass
spectrometry along the growth axis of the enamel
of two marine isotope stage 5b, Middle
Paleolithic Neanderthal teeth (Gruta da
Oliveira), a Tardiglacial, Late Magdalenian
human tooth (Galeria da Cisterna), and
associated contemporaneous fauna from the
Almonda karst system, Torres Novas, Portugal.
(...) |
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Human adaptation to diverse biomes over the past
3 million years,
di E. Zeller, A. Timmermann, K. Sook Yun, P.
Raia, K. Stein, J. Rujan, "Science", volume 380,
issue 6645, 12 may 2023, pp. 604-608
To investigate the
role of vegetation and ecosystem diversity on
hominin adaptation and migration, we identify
past human habitat preferences over time using a
transient 3-million-year earth system-biome
model simulation and an extensive hominin fossil
and archaeological database. Our analysis shows
that early African hominins predominantly lived
in open environments such as grassland and dry
shrubland. Migrating into Eurasia, hominins
adapted to a broader range of biomes over time.
(...) |
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Why is art disappearing? Problems with the
preservation of prehistoric rock art on the
north shore of the Strait of Gibraltar,
di D. S. Fernández-Sánchez, M. L. Gómez-Sánchez,
"Quaternary International", Volume 655, 10 May
2023, Pages 69-83 -
open access -
The Strait of
Gibraltar is one of the areas with the highest
concentration of sites with prehistoric graphic
expressions in the Iberian Peninsula. The region
stands out both by the number of sites, over 400
rock shelters, and by their typological and
chronological implications, with paintings
dating from at least the early Upper Paleolithic
to the latest stages of prehistory. However,
recent decades have witnessed the generalized
and accelerated deterioration of these paintings,
which, in many instances, has led to them
disappear altogether. This article analyzes the
natural and anthropic factors that, in one way
or another, contribute to the degradation of a
rock art phenomenon on the verge of extinction.
(...) |
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Resurrecting the
alternative splicing landscape of archaic
hominins using machine learning, di C. M.
Brand, L. L. Colbran, J. A. Capra, "Nature
Ecology & Evolution", 04 May 2023
Alternative
splicing contributes to adaptation and
divergence in many species. However, it has not
been possible to directly compare splicing
between modern and archaic hominins. Here, we
unmask the recent evolution of this previously
unobservable regulatory mechanism by applying
SpliceAI, a machine-learning algorithm that
identifies splice-altering variants (SAVs), to
high-coverage genomes from three Neanderthals
and a Denisovan. We discover 5,950 putative
archaic SAVs, of which 2,186 are
archaic-specific and 3,607 also occur in modern
humans via introgression (244) or shared
ancestry (3,520). Archaic-specific SAVs are
enriched in genes that contribute to traits
potentially relevant to hominin phenotypic
divergence, such as the epidermis, respiration
and spinal rigidity. (...) |
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Longstanding behavioural
stability in West Africa extends to the Middle
Pleistocene at Bargny, coastal Senegal,
di K. Niang, J. Blinkhorn, M. D. Bateman, C. A.
Kiahtipes, "Nature Ecology & Evolution", 04 May
2023 - open access -
Middle Stone Age (MSA)
technologies first appear in the archaeological
records of northern, eastern and southern Africa
during the Middle Pleistocene epoch. The absence
of MSA sites from West Africa limits evaluation
of shared behaviours across the continent during
the late Middle Pleistocene and the diversity of
subsequent regionalized trajectories. Here we
present evidence for the late Middle Pleistocene
MSA occupation of the West African littoral at
Bargny, Senegal, dating to 150 thousand years
ago. Palaeoecological evidence suggests that
Bargny was a hydrological refugium during the
MSA occupation, supporting estuarine conditions
during Middle Pleistocene arid phases. (...) |
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Natural products from reconstructed bacterial
genomes of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic,
di M. Klapper et alii, "Science", 4 May
2023, Vol 380, Issue 6645, pp. 619-624
Major advances
over the past decade in the field of ancient DNA
are providing access to past paleogenomic
diversity, but the diverse functions and
biosynthetic capabilities of this growing
paleome remain largely elusive. We investigated
the dental calculus of 12 Neanderthals and 52
anatomically modern humans ranging from 100,000
years ago to the present and reconstructed 459
bacterial metagenome-assembled genomes. We
identified a biosynthetic gene cluster shared by
seven Middle and Upper Paleolithic individuals
that allows for the heterologous production of a
class of previously unknown metabolites that we
name “paleofurans.” (...) |
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Western visitors at the Blätterhöhle (city of
Hagen, southern Westphalia) during the Younger
Dryas? A new final palaeolithic assemblage type
in western Germany,
di M. Baales et alii, 3 May 2023, doi:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284479
- open access -
Until now, it was
considered certain that the last reindeer
hunters of the Ahrensburgian (tanged point
groups) existed exclusively in northwestern
Central Europe during the Younger Dryas Cold
Period (~ Greenland Stadial 1). The excavations
carried out since 2006 on the forecourt (Vorplatz)
of the small Blätterhöhle in Hagen on the
northern edge of the Sauerland uplands of
southern Westphalia (North Rhine-Westphalia,
western Germany) have now changed this view.
Beneath a surprisingly extensive sequence of
Mesolithic find horizons, Pleistocene sediments
could be reached whose excavations yielded a
Final Palaeolithic lithic ensemble of the
Younger Dryas, unusual for the region and beyond.
It is characterised by numerous backed lithic
projectile points of high variability.
Comparisons suggest a typological-technological
connection with the Western European Laborian /
Late Laborian. (...) |
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The three waves:
Rethinking the structure of the first Upper
Paleolithic in Western Eurasia,
di L. Slimak, 3 May 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0277444
- open access -
The Neronian is a
lithic tradition recognized in the Middle Rhône
Valley of Mediterranean France now directly
linked to Homo sapiens and securely dated to
54,000 years ago (ka), pushing back the arrival
of modern humans in Europe by 10 ka. This
incursion of modern humans into Neandertal
territory and the relationships evoked between
the Neronian and the Levantine Initial Upper
Paleolithic (IUP) question the validity of
concepts that define the first H. sapiens
migrations and the very nature of the first
Upper Paleolithic in western Eurasia. Direct
comparative analyses between lithic technology
from Grotte Mandrin and East Mediterranean
archeological sequences, especially Ksar Akil,
suggest that the three key phases of the
earliest Levantine Upper Paleolithic have very
precise technical and chronological counterparts
in Western Europe, recognized from the Rhône
Valley to Franco-Cantabria. (...) |
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Ancient human DNA recovered from a Palaeolithic
pendant, di
E. Essel et alii, "Nature", 03 May 2023
- open access -
Artefacts made
from stones, bones and teeth are fundamental to
our understanding of human subsistence
strategies, behaviour and culture in the
Pleistocene. Although these resources are
plentiful, it is impossible to associate
artefacts to specific human individuals1 who can
be morphologically or genetically characterized,
unless they are found within burials, which are
rare in this time period. Thus, our ability to
discern the societal roles of Pleistocene
individuals based on their biological sex or
genetic ancestry is limited2,3,4,5. Here we
report the development of a non-destructive
method for the gradual release of DNA trapped in
ancient bone and tooth artefacts. Application of
the method to an Upper Palaeolithic deer tooth
pendant from Denisova Cave, Russia, resulted in
the recovery of ancient human and deer
mitochondrial genomes, which allowed us to
estimate the age of the pendant at approximately
19,000–25,000 years. (...) |
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Hominin fossils from Kromdraai and Drimolen
inform Paranthropus robustus craniofacial
ontogeny,
di J. Braga et alii, "Science Advances",
volume 9, issue 18, 3 may 2023
- open access -
Ontogeny provides
critical information about the evolutionary
history of early hominin adult morphology. We
describe fossils from the southern African sites
of Kromdraai and Drimolen that provide insights
into early craniofacial development in the
Pleistocene robust australopith Paranthropus
robustus. We show that while most distinctive
robust craniofacial features appear relatively
late in ontogeny, a few do not. We also find
unexpected evidence of independence in the
growth of the premaxillary and maxillary regions.
Differential growth results in a proportionately
larger and more postero-inferiorly rotated
cerebral fossa in P. robustus infants than in
the developmentally older Australopithecus
africanus juvenile from Taung. The accumulated
evidence from these fossils suggests that the
iconic SK 54 juvenile calvaria is more likely
early Homo than Paranthropus. It is also
consistent with the hypothesis that P. robustus
is more closely related to Homo than to A.
africanus. (...) |
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The Neanderthal patellae from Krapina (Croatia):
A comparative investigation of their
endostructural conformation and distinctive
features compared to the extant human condition,
di M. Cazenave, D. Radovčić, "American Journal
of Biological Anthropology", Volume181, Issue 1,
May 2023, Pages 118-129
- open access -
The Neanderthal
patella differs from that of extant humans by
being thicker anteroposteriorly and by having
more symmetric medial and lateral articular
facets. However, it is still unclear to what
extent these differences affect knee kinesiology.
We aim at assessing the endostructural
conformation of Neanderthal patellae to reveal
functionally related mechanical information
comparatively to the extant human condition. In
principle, we expect that the Neanderthal
patella (i) shows a higher amount of cortical
bone and (ii) a trabecular network organization
distinct from the extant human condition.
By using micro-focus X-ray tomography, we
characterized the endostructure of six adult
patellae from the OIS 5e Neanderthal site of
Krapina, Croatia, the largest assemblage of
human fossil patellae assessed so far, and
compared their pattern to the configuration
displayed by a sample of 22 recent humans.
(...) |
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From the Jura Arc to the
Paris Basin: exploitation of jet as black raw
material for making ornamental objects during
the Magdalenian in the northwest Europe,
di C.
Peschaux, B. Ligouis, "American Journal of
Biological Anthropology", Volume 15, issue 5,
May 2023
Jet is coalified
wood widely used as a black raw material for
making ornamental objects at the end of the
Magdalenian (16.5–14 ka cal BP). This paper
applies a multidisciplinary approach, including
organic petrology methods, to the study of
ornamental archaeological objects, in order to
analyse Magdalenian jet exploitation (acquisition
and transformation) and distribution modes in
northwestern Europe (Jura Arc and the Paris
Basin). The results shed light on the exclusive
use of jet for the production of symbolic
objects (geometric beads, figurative pendants,
and elements of portable art) and show that
jet-working techniques were adapted to the
specific mechanical properties of the material (percussion
and meticulous grooving, scraping, and abrasion
techniques). (...) |
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Searching for intra-site spatial patterns in the
African Early Acheulean: the lowermost
archaeo-units at FLK West (Olduvai Gorge,
Tanzania),
di F. Diez-Martín et alii,
"American Journal of Biological Anthropology",
Volume 15, issue 5, May 2023
FLK West (Olduvai
Gorge) constitutes one of the most relevant
archeological resources for the study of the
Acheulean in East Africa. This site presents a
number of unique characteristics that make it an
exceptional archeological document: a precise
chronological framework, a multi-component site
with six different archeological units bearing a
rich lithic and faunal record, the oldest
association of stone tools and processed fauna,
and a well-preserved paleoenvironmental context.
For these reasons, FLK West constitutes a
remarkable opportunity to undertake a
micro-spatial analysis at an archaeo-unit level.
This work pursues a first approach to the
intra-site study of the archeological
associations preserved in the densest patches
documented in the lowermost levels (L4 to L6) of
the FLK West sequence. (...) |
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Homo floresiensis and Homo luzonensis are not
temporally exceptional relative to Homo erectus,
di D. L. Roberts, I. Jarić, S. J. Lycett, D.
Flicker, A. Key, "Journal of Quaternary
Science", Volume 38, Issue 4, May 2023, Pages
463-470 - open access -
The presence of
Homo floresiensis and Homo luzonensis in
southeast Asia 90,000 to 60,000 years ago is
considered surprising by many, and has been used
to support their designation as unique species
and the islands they were discovered on as
refugia. Here, we statistically test the null
hypothesis that H. floresiensis and H.
luzonensis represent temporally uninterrupted
occurrences relative to Homo erectus. We do this
using the ‘surprise test’ for the exceptionality
of a new record. Results demonstrate that H.
floresiensis and H. luzonensis are not
temporally distinct relative to H. erectus.
Their late persistence should, therefore, not be
considered surprising, they cannot reliably be
inferred to be outside of H. erectus’ temporal
range, and – temporally – the islands of Luzon
and Flores are not supported as refugia.
(...) |
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Neanderthal subsistence, taphonomy and
chronology at Salzgitter-Lebenstedt (Germany): a
multifaceted analysis of morphologically
unidentifiable bone,
di K. Ruebens, G. M. Smith, H. Fewlass, V.
Sinet-Mathiot, J. J. Hublin, F. Welker, "Journal
of Quaternary Science", Volume 38, Issue 4, May
2023, Pages 471-487 -
open access -
Pleistocene faunal
assemblages are often highly fragmented,
hindering taxonomic identifications and
interpretive potentials. In this paper, we apply
four different methodologies to morphologically
unidentifiable bone fragments from the
Neanderthal open-air site of
Salzgitter-Lebenstedt (Germany). First, we
recorded zooarchaeological attributes for all
1362 unidentifiable bones recovered in 1977.
Second, we applied zooarchaeology by mass
spectrometry (ZooMS) to 761 fragments, and
calculated glutamine deamidation values. Third,
we assessed the collagen preservation of 30
fragments by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR)
and, finally, we pretreated 10 bones with high
predicted collagen values for radiocarbon dating.
All returned dates at, or beyond, the limit of
radiocarbon dating, indicating an age of older
than 51 000 years ago. (...) |
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Early Upper Paleolithic cultural variability in
the Southern Levant: New evidence from Nahal
Rahaf 2 Rockshelter, Judean Desert, Israel,
di M. Shemer et alii, "Journal of Human
Evolution", Volume 178, May 2023, 103342
- open access -
The Levantine
Early Upper Paleolithic (ca. 45–30 ka) has been
a focus of research because of its unique
position as a conduit of human, flora, and fauna
species between Africa and Eurasia. Studies have
mainly focused on the Early Ahmarian and
Levantine Aurignacian, two entities, the former
endemic and the latter foreign, which are
considered to have coinhabited the region during
that period. However, other cultural entities,
such as the Atlitian in the Mediterranean region
and the Arkov-Divshon in the arid regions of the
southern Levant received less attention, and
accordingly, suffer from broad definitions and
chronological insecurity. These cultures hold
potential insights regarding nuanced adaptations,
reciprocal influences, and diachronic
assimilation processes. (...) |
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Hominin locomotion and evolution in the Late
Miocene to Late Pliocene,
di P. A. Stamos, Z. Alemseged, "Journal of Human
Evolution", Volume 178, May 2023, 103332
- open access -
In this review, we
present on the evolution of the locomotor
adaptation of hominins in the Late Miocene to
Late Pliocene, with emphasis on some of the
prominent advances and debates that have
occurred over the past fifty years. We start
with the challenging issue of defining hominin
locomotor grades that are currently used
liberally and offer our own working definitions
of facultative, habitual, and obligate
bipedalism. We then discuss the nature of the
Pan-Homo last common ancestor and characterize
the locomotor adaptation of Sahelanthropus,
Orrorin, and Ardipithecus—often referred to as
facultative bipeds—and examine the debates on
the extent of bipedality and arboreality in
these taxa. Moreover, the question of Middle
Pliocene hominin locomotor diversity is
addressed based on information derived from the
‘Little Foot’ specimen from Sterkfontein,
footprints from Laetoli, and the Burtele Foot in
Ethiopia. (...) |
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An
overlooked Australopithecus brain endocast from
Makapansgat, South Africa,
di Z. Cofran, S. Hurst, A. Beaudet, B. Zipfel,
"Journal of Human Evolution", Volume 178, May
2023, 103346 - open
access -
Endocasts provide
the most direct evidence for brain evolution,
and the natural endocast of the Taung specimen
was critical for its identification as an early
hominin and designation as the holotype of a new
genus and species, Australopithecus africanus (Dart,
1925). An important piece of evidence in Dart's
assessment was the position of the lunate sulcus
(LS), which separates the parietal and occipital
lobes of the brain in nonhuman primates (Smith,
1903; Allen et al., 2006). In nonhuman primates,
the LS is in a rostral position, reflecting
their relatively larger visual cortex compared
to humans (Frahm et al., 1984; Holloway, 1992,
de Sousa et al., 2010). (...) |
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Plant foods in the Late Palaeolithic of Southern
Italy and Sicily: Integrating carpological and
dental calculus evidence,
di M. Carra, A. Zupancich, E. Fiorin, L. Sarti,
D. Lo Vetro, F. Martini, E. Cristiani, "Quaternary
International", Volumes 653–654, 20 April 2023,
Pages 53-68 - open
access -
Several caves from
Southern Italy and Sicily provided invaluable
evidence, including several human burials, for
reconstructing human adaptations and subsistence
in the area during the Upper Palaeolithic. A
wealth of information is available concerning
the exploitation of animal resources as food.
However, little is still known about the role of
plants in the diet of the ancient
hunter-gatherers of the region. By combining the
carpological data with vegetal micro-debris
entrapped in human dental calculus, we provide
new clues about the dietary role of plant foods
in the analysed area during the Late Glacial.
Our study focused on five key sites from
Southern Italy and Sicily: Grotta della
Serratura in Campania, Grotta del Romito in
Calabria, Grotta del Cavallo in Apulia, Grotta
di San Teodoro and Grotta d’Oriente in Sicily.
(...) |
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Archaeological evidence for two culture diverse
Neanderthal populations in the North Caucasus
and contacts between them,
di E. V. Doronicheva, L. V. Golovanova, V. B.
Doronichev, R. N. Kurbanov, 13 April 2023,
doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0284093
- open access -
Neanderthals were
widespread during the Middle Palaeolithic (MP)
across Europe and Asia, including the Caucasus
Mountains. Occupying the border between eastern
Europe and West Asia, the Caucasus is important
region regarding the Neanderthal occupation of
Eurasia. On current radiometric estimates, the
MP is represented in the Caucasus between about
260–210 ka and about 40 ka. Archaeological
record indicates that several culture diverse MP
hominin populations inhabited the Caucasus, but
the region complex population history during
this period remains poorly understood. In this
paper, we identify for the first time the
archaeological evidence indicating contacts
between two culture diverse MP Neanderthal
populations in the North Caucasus and discuss
the nature of these contacts. Basing on the
lithic assemblages that we excavated at
Mezmaiskaya cave in the north-western Caucasus (Kuban
River basin) and Saradj-Chuko grotto in the
north-central Caucasus (Terek River basin),
dating from MIS 5 to MIS 3, and comparative data
from other MP sites in the Caucasus, we identify
two large cultural regions that existed during
the late MP in the North Caucasus (...) |
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A
39,600-year-old leather punch board from Canyars,
Gavà, Spain,
di L. Doyon, T. Faure, M. Sanz, J. Daura, L.
Cassard, F. D'Errico, "Science Advances", volume
9, issue 15, 12 apr 2023
- open access -
Puncture
alignments are found on Palaeolithic carvings,
pendants, and other fully shaped osseous
artifacts. These marks were interpreted as
abstract decorations, system of notations, and
features present on human and animal depictions.
Here, we create an experimental framework for
the analysis and interpretation of human-made
punctures and apply it to a highly intriguing,
punctured bone fragment found at Canyars, an
Early Upper Palaeolithic coastal site from
Catalonia, Spain. Changes of tool and variation
in the arrangement and orientation of punctures
are consistent with the interpretation of this
object as the earliest-known leather work punch
board recording six episodes of hide pricking,
one of which was to produce a linear seam. Our
results indicate that Aurignacian
hunters-gatherers used this technology to
produce leather works and probably tailored
clothes well before the introduction of bone
eyed needles in Europe 15,000 years later.
(...) |
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Exploring the relative influence of raw
materials, percussion techniques, and hominin
skill levels on the diversity of the early
Oldowan assemblages: Insights from the Shungura
Formation, Lower Omo Valley, Ethiopia,
di A. Delagnes, M. Brenet, B. Gravina, F.
Santos, 5 April 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283250
- open access -
The eastern
African Oldowan has been documented in multiple
raw material contexts and physical environments
and displays considerable differences in terms
of technological complexity. The relative
influence of percussion techniques and raw
material quality are central to debates
concerning hominin skill levels as a potential
driver of change during the period between 2.6
and 2 million-years (Ma). The early Oldowan
assemblages from the Shugura Formation play a
key role in these debates due to a number of
distinctive features, including the small size
of the artefacts and poorly controlled flaking.
Here we mobilize quantified and replicable
experimental data in order to (a) assess the
significance of the bipolar technique in the Omo
archaeological assemblages and (b) discriminate
the respective impact of raw materials,
technical choices and knapper skill levels on
the unique character of these assemblages. By
combining descriptive statistics with regression
tree models, our analysis demonstrates knapper
skill level to be of minimal importance in this
context for the production of sharp-edged flakes.
(...) |
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Stone Age Animal Urine Could Solve a Mystery
about Technological Development,
di E. Cutts, April 2023, volume 328, issue 4
- open access -
High on a sheer
cliff in South Africa's Swartberg mountain range
last September, University of Utah
paleoclimatologist Tyler Faith finally reached
something he hoped might solve one of
anthropology's stickiest mysteries. His target
looked like goo that had oozed from the
sandstone cliff and hardened into a foot-thick
slab of black amber. Gas mask on, Faith got to
work hewing away a 70-pound chunk; dust flung
from his chainsaw quickly filled the air with a
yellow-gold haze. “It just gets in your pores,”
Faith says. “The second you jump in the shower
and that stuff finally rehydrates, it's like:
Imagine the most stinky alleyway where people
have been peeing. It's awesome. But yeah. All my
gear now smells like pee.” The substance is
fossilized urine from untold generations of
marmotlike critters called rock hyraxes—and it
acts as an excellent record of the ancient
climate. Sticky and viscous like molasses, hyrax
urine hardens quickly in air. It traps pollen
grains and charcoal, telling scientists when
particular plants grew and wildfires raged. It
also preserves chemical isotopes indicating
precipitation and temperature. And the neat
layers of the urine mounds or “middens,” which
form where the animals habitually relieve
themselves, can be precisely radiocarbon-dated.
(...) |
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Neanderthal teeth from
Lezetxiki (Arrasate, Iberian Peninsula): New
insights and reassessment,
di D. López-Onaindia, M. Lozano, A. Gómez-Robles,
A. Arrizabalaga, M. E. Subirà, "American Journal
of Biological Anthropology", Volume 180, Issue
4, April 2023, Pages 745-760
- open access -
We reassess the
taxonomic assignment and stratigraphic context
of a permanent upper first molar and a permanent
lower third premolar recovered from the
archeological site of Lezetxiki in the North of
the Iberian Peninsula.
We assessed the external and internal morphology
of the teeth using qualitative descriptions,
crown diameters, dental tissue proportions, and
geometric morphometrics. The teeth from
Lezetxiki were compared with Middle Pleistocene
specimens, Neanderthals, Upper Paleolithic
modern humans, and recent modern humans.
Both teeth were consistent with a Neanderthal
classification. The upper first molar shows
taurodontism, and its cusp proportions and
overall morphology match those of Neanderthals.
Geometric morphometric analyses of occlusal
anatomy classify this molar as a Neanderthal
with a posterior probability of 76%. The lower
third premolar, which was originally classified
as a lower fourth premolar, also shows a
Neanderthal morphology. This premolar is
classified as a Neanderthal with a posterior
probability of 60%. (...) |
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Structuring domestic space in the Lower
Magdalenian: an analysis of the fauna from Level
115 of El Mirón Cave, Cantabria,
di E. Lena Jones, L. Guy Straus, A. B.
Marín-Arroyo, M. R. González Morales, "Antiquity",
Volume 97, Issue 392, April 2023
- open access -
Documenting the
intentional structuring of space by
hunter-gatherers can be challenging, especially
in complex cave contexts. One approach is the
spatial analysis of discard patterns. Here, the
authors consider the spatial distribution of
faunal remains from the Lower Magdalenian Level
115 in El Mirón Cave, Cantabria, to assess a
possible structuring function for an unusual
alignment of rocks. Although it is impossible to
determine whether the alignment was
intentionally constructed, differences in the
distributions of taxa and in specimen sizes on
different sides of this feature suggest that it
played a role in structuring the living space of
the cave's inhabitants. (...) |
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Antarctica as a ‘natural laboratory’ for the
critical assessment of the archaeological
validity of early stone tool sites,
di M. I. Eren, M. R. Bebber, B. Buchanan, A.
Grunow, A. Key, S. J. Lycett, E. Maletic, T. R.
Riley, "Antiquity", Volume 97, Issue 392, April
2023 - open access -
Lithic
technologies dominate understanding of early
humans, yet natural processes can fracture rock
in ways that resemble artefacts made by Homo
sapiens and other primates. Differentiating
between fractures made by natural processes and
primates is important for assessing the validity
of early and controversial archaeological sites.
Rather than depend on expert authority or
intuition, the authors propose a null model of
conchoidally fractured Antarctic rocks. As no
primates have ever occupied the continent,
Antarctica offers a laboratory for generating
samples that could only have been naturally
fractured. Examples that resemble artefacts
produced by primates illustrate the potential of
‘archaeological’ research in Antarctica for the
evaluation of hominin sites worldwide. (...) |
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Identifying activity areas in a neanderthal
hunting camp (the Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter,
Spain) via spatial analysis,
di A. Moclán et alii, "Archaeological and
Anthropological Sciences", Volume 15, issue 4,
April 2023 - open
access -
Spatial analysis
has been much used to examine the distribution
of archaeological remains at Pleistocene sites.
However, little is known about the distribution
patterns at sites identified as hunting camps,
i.e., places occupied over multiple short
periods for the capture of animals later
transported to a base camp. The present work
examines a Neanderthal hunting camp (the
Navalmaíllo Rock Shelter in Pinilla del Valle,
Madrid, Spain) to determine whether different
activities were undertaken in different areas of
the site. A spatial pattern was detected with a
main cluster of materials (lithic tools, faunal
remains, and coprolites) clearly related to the
presence of nearby hearths—the backbone of the
utilised space. This main cluster appears to
have been related to collaborative and
repetitive activities undertaken by the hunting
parties that used the site. Spatial analysis
also detected a small, isolated area perhaps
related to carcasses processing at some point in
time and another slightly altered by water.
(...) |
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"Journal of Human
Evolution",
Volume 177, April 2023:
-
Paleoecological evidence
for environmental specialization in Paranthropus
boisei compared to early Homo,
di K. O'Brien, N. Hebdon, J. T. Faith
-
A cranial injury from the
earliest Gravettian at the Cro-Magnon rock
shelter (Vézère Valley, Dordogne, southwest
France),
di C. J. Knüsel, A. Thibeault, S. Villotte
-
World variation in
three-rooted lower second molars and
implications for the hominin fossil record,
di G. R. Scott et alii
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Ecospaces of the Middle to
Upper Paleolithic transition: The archaeofaunal
record of the Iberian Peninsula,
di E. Lena Jones, M. Carvalho
-
Early evidence for bear
exploitation during MIS 9 from the site of
Schöningen 12 (Germany),
di I. Verheijen, B. M. Starkovich, J. Serangeli,
T. van Kolfschoten, N. J. Conard |
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Common orthopaedic trauma
may explain 31,000-year-old remains,
di N. J. Murphy, J. S. Davis, S. M. Tarrant, Z.
J. Balogh, "Nature", volume 615, issue 7952, 16
March 2023 - open
access -
The fascinating
discovery of skeletal remains in Borneo of an
individual (TB1) with absent left distal tibia,
fibula and foot from 31,000 years ago1 has been
proposed as evidence of a contemporaneous
sophisticated amputation procedure. Maloney et
al.1 infer from the bony abnormalities that
surgical amputation is the only possible
explanation and, furthermore, that the limb
shows no evidence of infection. We dispute the
conclusion that these skeletal remains provide
evidence of a transosseous surgical amputation
and that the limb shows no signs of infection.
We propose that the skeletal findings have more
plausible alternative explanations, such as the
natural history of an injury pattern commonly
encountered in blunt orthopaedic trauma, an open
distal tibia/fibula fracture with growth-plate
involvement. (...) |
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The archaeological potential of the northern
Luangwa Valley, Zambia: The Luwumbu basin,
di A. Burke, M. Bisson, F. Schilt, S.
Tolan, J. Museba, M. S. M. Drapeau, J. C. Aleman,
M. C. Peros, 14 March 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0269209
- open access -
The Luangwa Basin,
Zambia, which forms part of the Zambezi drainage,
is strategically located between the Central
African plateau and the East African Rift
system. The Luangwa River and major tributaries,
such as the Luwumbu River, are perennial water
sources supporting essential resources that
sustain human communities and a rich and diverse
fauna and flora. The archaeological record of
Luangwa is relatively unknown, despite early
archaeological exploration hinting at its
potential. Recent research in the southern
Luangwa valley, however, suggests that it
preserves a long record of hominin occupation
spanning the Early to Late Stone Age. The
research described here details fieldwork
carried out in northeastern Luangwa, in the
Luwumbu Basin, that confirms that a relatively
deep package of Quaternary deposits, containing
evidence of the Stone Age occupation of the
region persists in the upper piedmont zone.
(...) |
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The dentition of the Early Upper Paleolithic
hominins from Ksâr ‘Akil, Lebanon,
di S. E. Bailey, C. A. Tryon, "Journal of Human
Evolution", Volume 176, March 2023, 103323
There are scant
human remains associated with Early Upper
Paleolithic (EUP) industries. The rock shelter
at Ksâr ‘Akil, Lebanon, is one of the few
circum-Mediterranean archaeological sites with
EUP artifacts and associated fossils attributed
to Homo sapiens. The skull and post-crania of
the juvenile ‘Egbert’ (Ksâr ‘Akil 1) from the
EUP levels (conservatively dated from ∼43 to 39
ka) have been lost; the partial edentulous
maxilla of ‘Ethelruda’ (Ksâr ‘Akil 2) from the
Initial Upper Paleolithic levels has only
recently been rediscovered, leaving an isolated
deciduous molar (Ksâr ‘Akil 3) from Levantine
Aurignacian strata. (...) |
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Problems with Paranthropus,
di M. Sponheimer, D. J. Daegling, P. S. Ungar,
R. Bobe, O. C. C. Paine, "Quaternary
International", Volume 650, 20 March 2023, Pages
40-51 - open access -
Carbon isotopic
analysis has been challenging our ideas about
hominin diet for nearly 30 years. The first
study in 1994 revealed that Paranthropus
robustus from South Africa consumed principally
C3 foods (e.g., tree fruits and leaves) but also
about 25% C4/CAM resources (e.g., tropical
grasses and sedges). This result was largely
consistent with morphological and dental
microwear evidence suggesting P. robustus had a
diet which included hard objects like nuts and
seeds. Decades later, however, P. boisei from
eastern Africa was shown to have eaten nearly
80% C4/CAM plants like the contemporaneous
grass-eating primate Theropithecus. Moreover,
dental microwear revealed no evidence of hard
object consumption in P. boisei, suggesting a
diet of tough foods such as grass or sedge leaf
and stem. (...) |
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Dental tissue proportions and linear dimensions
of Sima de los Huesos lower incisors,
di A. L. Lockey et alii, Volume 180,
Issue 3, March 2023, Pages 472-487
To assess the
phenotypic affinities of the Sima de los Huesos
(SH) mandibular incisors dental tissue
proportions, and radicular dimensions, relative
to Neandertals, recent modern humans (RMH), and
a large comparative sample of Pleistocene
hominins. (...) |
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Unusual pubic bone morphology in A.L. 288-1 (Australopithecus
afarensis) and MH2 (Australopithecus sediba),
di J. Eyre, J. M. DeSilva, S. Semaw, S. A.
Williams, Volume 180, Issue 3, March 2023, Pages
573-582
We describe a
novel pelvic feature, the “ventral sulcus,”
located on the pubic bone ventrolateral to the
pubic symphysis, which is present in A.L. 288-1
(Australopithecus afarensis) and MH2 (Australopithecus
sediba). We determine how widespread the
appearance of the ventral sulcus is in fossil
hominins, modern humans, and other extant
hominoids. (...) |
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Using GIS and
Geostatistical Techniques to Identify
Neanderthal Campsites at archaeolevel Ob at
Abric Romaní,
di M. J. Gabucio, A. Bargalló, P. Saladié, F.
Romagnoli, M. G. Chacón, J. Vallverdú, M.
Vaquero, "Archaeological and Anthropological
Sciences", Volume 15, issue 3, March 2023
- open access -
Although
intra-site spatial approaches are considered a
key factor when interpreting archaeological
assemblages, these are often based on
descriptive, qualitative, and subjective
observations. Currently, within the framework of
research into spatial taphonomy and palimpsest
dissection, several studies have begun to employ
more quantitative and objective techniques,
implementing tools such as geostatistics and
geographic information system (GIS) methods.
This is precisely the approach that the Abric
Romaní team is following. In this work, we
present GIS and geostatistics methods applied to
the faunal and lithic assemblages from
archaeolevel Ob, including an analysis of the
spatial structure, the identification of
clusters and sectors, size and fabric analyses,
the projection of vertical profiles, and the
reconstruction of a digital elevation model of
the paleosurface. The results obtained indicate
a clustered distribution, primarily concentrated
into four dense accumulations. (...) |
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Dietary traits of the
ungulates from the Middle Pleistocene sequence
of Lazaret Cave: palaeoecological and
archaeological implications,
di F. Rivals, J. Cohen, E. Desclaux, "Archaeological
and Anthropological Sciences", Volume 15, issue
3, March 2023 - open
access -
Dietary traits in
ungulates from Lazaret Cave were analysed for
possible changes in ecological niches throughout
the marine isotopic stage (MIS) 6 sequence of
the site and to investigate the duration of the
occupations corresponding to the accumulation of
ungulate remains by human groups. The analysis
revealed changes in dietary diversity throughout
the sequence related to the climatic and
environmental changes of the MIS 6. These
changes affected the availability of vegetal
resources, competition among species, and the
distribution and movement of the ungulates in
the territory. Human groups were also affected
by these changes, as the archaeological record
of Lazaret Cave in the duration of occupations
at the different levels shows. (...) |
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Oral Storytelling and Knowledge Transmission in
Upper Paleolithic Children and Adolescents,
di A. Nowell, "Journal of Archaeological Method
and Theory", Volume 30, issue 1, March 2023
The ways in which
children learn in foraging societies differ from
the classroom-based style of learning and
teaching typical of industrialized societies in
the West. This difference, however, has often
been mischaracterized by anthropologists as an
absence or rarity of direct teaching in foraging
societies. In this paper, following Scalise
Sugiyama (Evolution and Human Behavior
22:221–240, 2001), I argue that oral
storytelling is a form of pedagogy in foraging
societies that shares all of the key features of
direct teaching including the signaling of an
intention to share information (...) |
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Learning by Doing: Investigating Skill Through
Techno-Functional Study of Recycled Lithic Items
from Qesem Cave (Israel),
di E. Assaf, S. Nunziante-Cesaro, A. Gopher, F.
Venditti, "Journal of Archaeological Method and
Theory", Volume 30, issue 1, March 2023
In this study, we
discuss learning aspects related to the
production of prehistoric stone tools and their
use as a holistic process, with a case study
from the late Lower Paleolithic Levant—recycled
items from the site of Qesem Cave (420–200,000
bp), Israel. Qesem Cave is a central and
well-studied Acheuleo-Yabrudian site. Among the
set of distinct behaviors documented in this
site, the use of small flakes systematically
produced from old-discarded flakes (i.e., lithic
recycling) stands out. We will present an
exploratory techno-functional study of the
recycled items from the Amudian context of the
southern area of the cave. Previous observations
highlighted some unique features characterizing
the lithic assemblages of this area, including
the possibility that inexperienced knappers in
the process of learning had been practicing
there. (...) |
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To
Err Is Human: Knapping Expertise and
Technological Variability at the Middle
Palaeolithic Site of Nesher Ramla, Israel,
di L. Centi, F. Valletta, Y. Zaidner, "Journal
of Archaeological Method and Theory", Volume 30,
issue 1, March 2023
One important
aspect affecting variability in core reduction
technology is the degree of expertise of
knappers. In the present paper, we show that, at
the Middle Palaeolithic open-air site of Nesher
Ramla, the degree of expertise of ancient
knappers played a major role in shaping the
composition of the lithic assemblage. Using
robust markers of knapping skill, such as the
frequency and reiteration of decision mistakes
in the knapping process, allowed us to establish
that a clear relationship exists between the
degree of structuring of core technologies and
the degree of expertise of the knapper at Nesher
Ramla. Simple core technologies (e.g. pebble and
multiple surface cores) can be linked to the
work of novices, while more structured
technologies (e.g. Levallois) are linked to the
work of more experienced individuals. (...) |
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Revealing Evolutionary Patterns Behind
Homogeneity: the Case of the Palaeolithic
Assemblages from Notarchirico (Southern Italy),
di V. Rineau, M. H. Moncel, V. Zeitoun, "Journal
of Archaeological Method and Theory", Volume 30,
issue 1, March 2023
Notarchirico is at
a nodal point in time and space for
understanding the settlement of Europe in terms
of migration or in situ evolution. Former
technological analyses have not shown
significant differences between the different
lithic assemblages at Notarchirico. Our approach
here is to produce a phylogenetic analysis of
the lithic assemblages taken as the terminal of
the analysis and interpreted as cultural units.
In the cladistic framework, characters are
hypotheses of relationships between lithic
assemblages, and homologies are hypotheses of
relationships between lithic objects: cores,
flakes, nodules. To effectively grasp
informative lithic innovations in the
assemblages, we formalise cladistic hypotheses
as hierarchical characters in the framework of
three-item analysis and propose a new algorithm
to remove the high number of repeated terminals
among trees inherent to a cladistic analysis of
assemblages. (...) |
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Catching a Glimpse of Mesolithic Settlement
Patterns and Site Re-occupation Through Lithic
Refitting, Raw Material Characterizations and
Absolute Dating,
di H. Vandendriessche, E. Van Maldegem, P.
Crombé, "Journal of Archaeological Method
and Theory", Volume 30, issue 1, March 2023
Contemporaneity of
spatially distinct activity areas at prehistoric
sites is often inferred based on lithic refit
connections alone. These connections are, in
addition, only rarely discussed in detail, nor
are they explicitly subjected to any form of
critical assessment. In this paper, we present a
combined use of Bayesian modeling of 14C-dates,
raw material characterizations and lithic
refitting to investigate the occurrence of
interconnected artefact clusters at the Belgian
Mesolithic site of Kerkhove (...) |
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Bovid Bone Accumulation in
Late Middle Palaeolithic Poland,
di A. Wiśniewski, J. Wilczyński, B.Przybylski,
M. Ciombor, K. Stefaniak, "Journal of Field
Archaeology", Volume 48, 2023 - Issue 3
The hunting
activities of Neanderthals inhabiting the
European Lowlands during the Weichsel glaciation
are poorly understood due to the scarcity of
faunal remains. This work concerns the puzzling
accumulation of mammalian remains at the Middle
Palaeolithic site Haller Av. in Wrocław,
southwestern Poland. The site yielded lithic
artifacts in two levels and numerous bone
remains typical for steppe-tundra fauna,
dominated by steppe bison (Bison priscus). As
the site was transformed by fluvial processes,
the question arose whether the accumulation of
faunal bones was the result of human activity.
To resolve this question, we used a multiproxy
approach, including spatial analysis with GIS,
as well as taphonomic and paleozoological
analyses. (...) |
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A
Techno-Functional Analysis of Acheulean Backed
Knives from Wonderboom, South Africa,
di M. V. Caruana, M. G. Lotter, M. Lombard,
"Journal of Field Archaeology", Volume 48, 2023
- Issue 3
We present the
first techno-functional examination of backed
knives from the southern African Acheulean. Our
results suggest that they were opportunistically
produced, although they demonstrate a unique
ergonomic design that may have increased their
efficiency in subsistence activities. Moreover,
the frequency of backed knives at Wonderboom may
be associated with possible meat harvesting at a
nearby gap (...) |
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Paléolithique de l'Europe,
"L'Anthropologie", Volume 127, Issue 1, January–March
2023: -
The Technological Multiplicity of the Acheulean
of the Southern Iberian Peninsula,
di F. J. García-Vadillo et alii
- À propos de
l’éclairage à la Grotte du Bison, Arcy-sur-Cure,
Yonne, France,
di M. Hardy
- Les silex et
autres matières premières comme preuves de
contacts entre les groupes de
chasseurs-cueilleurs pendant le Paléolithique
supérieur de la région cantabrique (nord de
l’Espagne): synthèse de l’information disponible,
di S. Martín-Jarque et alii
- Pigment
spectroscopy analyses in Maltravieso cave, Spain,
di P. Rosina et alii
- Le Jas d’en
Biel 2, nouveau site gravettien du piémont
est-méditerranéen des Pyrénées,
di H. Baills
- A Botanical
Classroom of the Early Upper Paleolithic: The
vault fragments of the Grotta di Fumane depict
geophytes,
di R. Jürgen Koch, L. Grützmacher, N. Friesen
- Re-dating the
Early Upper Paleolithic Levels of Le Trou
Magrite (Pont-à-Lesse, Belgium),
di L. Guy Straus, M. Otte, J. Southon, T. W.
Stafford
-
Chronostratigraphy and the Palaeoenvironment of
the Bistrița Valley. New Interpretations and a
Critical Retrospective Evaluation,
di M. Cârciumaru et alii
- A new
Palaeolithic female figurine from Piatra Neamț,
Romania, di
E. C. Nițu et alii
- Armes de
chasse dans l’Épipaléolithique du Caucase du
Nord, di L.
Golovanova et alii
- Le
Mésolithique. Continuité et développement
métaphysique,
di D. Delnoÿ |
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Palaeogenomics of Upper Palaeolithic to
Neolithic European hunter-gatherers,
di C. Posth et alii, "Nature", Volume 615
Issue 7950, 2 March 2023
- open access -
Modern humans have
populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2.
Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and
structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however
limited, owing to the scarceness and poor
molecular preservation of human remains from
that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient
hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic
data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in
western and central Eurasia, spanning between
35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a
genetic ancestry profile in individuals
associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian
assemblages from western Europe that is distinct
from contemporaneous groups related to this
archaeological culture in central and southern
Europe4, but resembles that of preceding
individuals associated with the Aurignacian
culture. (...) |
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Were Neanderthals and Homo sapiens ‘good species’?
di A. Meneganzin, M. Bernardi, "Quaternary
Science Reviews", Volume 303, 1 March 2023,
107975 - open access -
Prior to the
advent of whole-genome sequencing in ancient
humans, the likelihood that Homo sapiens and
Neanderthals admixed has long been debated,
mostly on the basis of phenotypic assessments
alone. Today, evidence for archaic hominin
admixture is being documented in an increasing
number of studies, expanding the evidential
basis of the debate on whether Homo sapiens and
Neanderthals merit separate specific taxonomic
status. (...) |
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Life on the edge or living in the middle? New
perspectives on southern Africa's Middle Stone
Age, di D.
S. G. Thomas, R. Bynoe, "Quaternary Science
Reviews", Volume 303, 1 March 2023, 107965
- open access -
Much archaeological research is
conducted within the environments, locational
and cultural, that archaeologists are familiar
and comfortable with. But that which is marginal
and difficult today, and that which is central
and convenient, may not have been so in the past.
To answer new and pressing questions about human
evolution, less familiar and less comfortable
environments therefore require systematic and
prolonged multidisciplinary investigation. With
a focus on the extensive Makgadikgadi salt pans
of the Middle Kalahari Desert, Botswana, six
papers represent the output of systematic
investigations and excavations of, predominantly,
Middle Stone Age (MSA) archaeology.
(...) |
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A
23,000-year-old southern Iberian individual
links human groups that lived in Western Europe
before and after the Last Glacial Maximum,
di V. Villalba-Mouco et alii, "Nature Ecology &
Evolution", 01 March 2023
- open access -
Human populations
underwent range contractions during the Last
Glacial Maximum (LGM) which had lasting and
dramatic effects on their genetic variation. The
genetic ancestry of individuals associated with
the post-LGM Magdalenian technocomplex has been
interpreted as being derived from groups
associated with the pre-LGM Aurignacian. However,
both these ancestries differ from that of
central European individuals associated with the
chronologically intermediate Gravettian. Thus,
the genomic transition from pre- to post-LGM
remains unclear also in western Europe, where we
lack genomic data associated with the
intermediate Solutrean, which spans the height
of the LGM. Here we present genome-wide data
from sites in Andalusia in southern Spain,
including from a Solutrean-associated individual
from Cueva del Malalmuerzo, directly dated to
~23,000 cal yr BP. (...) |
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Defining paleoclimatic routes and opportunities
for hominin dispersals across Iran,
di M. Javad Shoaee et alii, 1 March 2023,
doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281872
- open access -
Fossil and
archaeological evidence indicates that hominin
dispersals into Southwest Asia occurred
throughout the Pleistocene, including the
expansion of Homo sapiens populations out of
Africa. While there is evidence for hominin
occupations in the Pleistocene in Iran, as
evidenced by the presence of Lower to Upper
Paleolithic archaeological sites, the extent to
which humid periods facilitated population
expansions into western Asia has remained
unclear. To test the role of humid periods on
hominin dispersals here we assess Paleolithic
site distributions and paleoenvironmental
records across Iran. We developed the first
spatially comprehensive, high-resolution
paleohydrological model for Iran in order to
assess water availability and its influence on
hominin dispersals. (...) |
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Evidence for Earlier Stone Age ‘coastal use’:
The site of Dungo IV, Benguela Province, Angola,
di I. Mesfin et alii, 24 February 2023,
doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278775
- open access -
The relationship
between Earlier Stone Age (ESA) hominins and the
southern African coastal environment has been
poorly investigated, despite the high
concentration of open-air sites in marine and
fluvial terraces of the coastal plain from c.
1Ma onward during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition.
Southern Africa provides some of the earliest
evidence of coastal subsistence strategies since
the end of the Middle Pleistocene, during the
Middle Stone Age (MSA). These coastal MSA sites
showcase the role of coastal environments in the
emergence and development of modern human
behaviors. Given the high prevalence of coastal
ESA sites throughout the region, we seek to
question the relationship between hominins and
coastal landscapes much earlier in time. In this
regard, the +100 m raised beaches of the
Benguela Province, Angola, are key areas as they
are well-preserved and contain a dense record of
prehistoric occupation from the beginning of the
Middle Pleistocene, including sites like Dungo,
Mormolo, Sombreiro, Macaca and Punta das Vacas.
(...) |
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Bow-and-arrow, technology
of the first modern humans in Europe 54,000
years ago at Mandrin, France,
di L. Metz, J. E. Lewis, L. Slimak, Volume 9,
Issue 8, 22 Feb 2023 -
open access -
Consensus in
archaeology has posited that mechanically
propelled weapons, such as bow-and-arrow or
spear-thrower-and-dart combinations, appeared
abruptly in the Eurasian record with the arrival
of anatomically and behaviorally modern humans
and the Upper Paleolithic (UP) after 45,000 to
42,000 years (ka) ago, while evidence for weapon
use during the preceding Middle Paleolithic (MP)
in Eurasia remains sparse. The ballistic
features of MP points suggest that they were
used on hand-cast spears, whereas UP lithic
weapons are focused on microlithic technologies
commonly interpreted as mechanically propelled
projectiles, a crucial innovation distinguishing
UP societies from preceding ones. (...) |
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Modelling Neanderthals’ dispersal routes from
Caucasus towards east,
di E. Ghasidian, A. Kafash, M. Kehl, M. Yousefi,
S. Heydari-Guran, 23 February 2023, doi:
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0281978
- open access -
The study of the
cultural materials associated with the
Neanderthal physical remains from the sites in
the Caucasus, Central Asia and Siberian Altai
and adjacent areas documents two distinct
techno-complexes of Micoquian and Mousterian.
These findings potentially outline two dispersal
routes for the Neanderthals out of Europe. Using
data on topography and Palaeoclimate, we
generated computer-based least-cost-path
modelling for the Neanderthal dispersal routes
from Caucasus towards the east. In this regard,
two dispersal routes have been identified: A
northern route from Greater Caucasus associated
with Micoquian techno-complex towards Siberian
Altai and a southern route from Lesser Caucasus
associated with Mousterian towards Siberian
Altai via the Southern Caspian Corridor. Based
on archaeological, bio- and physio-geographical
data, our model hypothesises that during
climatic deterioration phases (e.g. MIS 4) the
connection between Greater and Lesser Caucasus
was limited. (...) |
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Back to the future: The
advantage of studying key events in human
evolution using a new high resolution
radiocarbon method,
di S. Talamo, B. Kromer, M. P. Richards, L.
Wacker, 15 February 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0280598
- open access -
Radiocarbon dating
is the most widely applied dating method in
archaeology, especially in human evolution
studies, where it is used to determine the
chronology of key events, such as the
replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans in
Europe. However, the method does not always
provide precise and accurate enough ages to
understand the important processes of human
evolution. Here we review the newest method
developments in radiocarbon dating (‘Radiocarbon
3.0’), which can lead us to much better
chronologies and understanding of the major
events in recent human evolution. As an example,
we apply these new methods to discuss the dating
of the important Palaeolithic site of Bacho Kiro
(Bulgaria). (...) |
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An
integrative paleobiological study of woolly
mammoths from the Upper Paleolithic site
Kostenki 14 (European Russia),
di E. A. Petrova, L. L. Voyta, A. A. Bessudnov,
A. A. Sinitsyn, "Quaternary Science Reviews",
Volume 302, 15 February 2023, 107948
- open access -
This paper
presents a thought-out protocol for an
integrative analysis of woolly mammoth (Mammuthus
primigenius) bone accumulation in the upper (I)
cultural layer of the famous Upper Paleolithic
site Kostenki 14 (Markina gora) using Haynes’
concept of a “demographic health measure,” the
advanced concept of the “last glacial body size
decrease,” and precise taphonomic analysis. We
apply linear regression analysis to further
reveal the complex structure of mammoth size
variation, complementary to univariate measures
of body size used in previous studies: body size
variation in woolly mammoths is predominantly
accounted for by sexual dimorphism, size
differences between smaller “East” and larger
“West” mammoth populations, and two types of
allometry (ontogenetic and static). (...) |
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Archaic hominins maiden voyage in the
Mediterranean Sea,
di G. Ferentinos, M. Gkion, M. Prevenios, M.
Geraga, G. Papatheodorou, "Quaternary
International", Volume 646, 10 February 2023,
Pages 11-21 - open
access -
When archaic
hominins started sea-crossings and whether or
not seas were barriers to their dispersal, is
highly debated. This paper attempts to provide
insights into these issues, focusing on the
Aegean Sea. The study shows that the Central
Aegean Island Chain was insular from the
surrounding landmasses over the last 450 ka and
contests previously available Aegean Sea
palaeo-geography. This, in association with the
spatiotemporal patterning of Lower and Middle
Paleolithic assemblages in the margin of the
Mediterranean Sea, implies that pre-sapiens, as
early as 450 ka BP: (a) were sea-crossing the
Aegean Sea; (b) were encouraged by the favorable
land/seascape configuration to attempt
sea-crossings and (c) spread to the
Circum-Mediterranean basin sourcing from the
Levant, following two converging routes, the one
via the Aegean Sea and/or the Bosporus
land-bridge and the other via the Gibraltar
straits. (...) |
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Expanded geographic
distribution and dietary strategies of the
earliest Oldowan hominins and Paranthropus,
di T. W. Plummer et alii, "Science", 9
Feb 2023, Vol 379, Issue 6632, pp. 561-566
The oldest Oldowan
tool sites, from around 2.6 million years ago,
have previously been confined to Ethiopia’s Afar
Triangle. We describe sites at Nyayanga, Kenya,
dated to 3.032 to 2.581 million years ago and
expand this distribution by over 1300 kilometers.
Furthermore, we found two hippopotamid butchery
sites associated with mosaic vegetation and a C4
grazer–dominated fauna. Tool flaking proficiency
was comparable with that of younger Oldowan
assemblages, but pounding activities were more
common. Tool use-wear and bone damage indicate
plant and animal tissue processing. Paranthropus
sp. teeth, the first from southwestern Kenya,
possessed carbon isotopic values indicative of a
diet rich in C4 foods. (...)
·
2.9-million-year-old butchery site reopens case
of who made first stone tools, "EurekAlert!", 9
feb. 2023
·
2.9-million-year-old butchery site reopens case
of who made first stone tools, "ScienceDaily", 9
February 2023
·
Des hippopotames des outils et des paranthropes,
"Hominides", 19 février 2023 |
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Neanderthals lived in groups big enough to eat
giant elephants,
di A. Curry, "Science news", 1 feb 2023
On the muddy
shores of a lake in east-central Germany,
Neanderthals gathered some 125,000 years ago to
butcher massive elephants. With sharp stone
tools, they harvested up to 4 tons of flesh from
each animal, according to a new study that is
casting these ancient human relatives in a new
light. The degree of organization required to
carry out the butchery—and the sheer quantity of
food it provided—suggests Neanderthals could
form much larger social groups than previously
thought.
The find comes from a trove of animal bones and
stone tools uncovered in the 1980s by coal
miners near the town of Neumark-Nord. Beginning
in 1985, archaeologists spent a decade observing
the mining work, recovering animal bones and
stone tools from a sprawling site. Dating to a
relatively warm period in Europe known as the
Eemian interglacial, 75,000 years before modern
humans arrived in Western Europe, the
discoveries include the bones and tusks of more
than 70 mostly adult male straight-tusked
elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus), an extinct
species almost twice the size of modern African
elephants that stood nearly 4 meters tall at the
shoulder. Most had been left in dozens of piles
along the ancient lakeshore over the course of
about 300 years.
“We wondered, ‘What the hell are 70 elephants
doing there?’” says Lutz Kindler, an
archaeozoologist at the MONREPOS Archaeological
Research Center. (...) |
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The Acheulean is a
temporally cohesive tradition,
di A. Key, "World Archaeology", 01 Feb 2023, doi:
https://doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2023.2169340
- open access -
The Acheulean has
long been considered a single, unified tradition.
Decades of morphometric and technological
evidence supports such an understanding by
demonstrating that a single fundamental Bauplan
was followed for more than 1.6 million years.
What remains unknown is whether sites assigned
to the Acheulean represent multiple
socially-independent iterations of the same
technological solution to shared ecological (functional)
and ergonomic demands. Here, using the ‘surprise
test’, the temporal cohesion of the Acheulean
record is statistically assessed for the first
time. (...) |
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Hunting and processing of
straight-tusked elephants 125.000 years ago:
Implications for Neanderthal behavior, di
S. Gaudzinski-Windheuser, L. Kindler, K.
Macdonald, W. Roebroeks, "Science Advances",
volume 9, Issue 5, 1 feb 2023
- open access -
Straight-tusked
elephants (Palaeoloxodon antiquus) were the
largest terrestrial mammals of the Pleistocene,
present in Eurasian landscapes between 800,000
and 100,000 years ago. The occasional
co-occurrence of their skeletal remains with
stone tools has generated rich speculation about
the nature of interactions between these
elephants and Pleistocene humans: Did hominins
scavenge on elephants that died a natural death
or maybe even hunt some individuals? Our
archaeozoological study of the largest P.
antiquus assemblage known, excavated from
125,000-year-old lake deposits in Germany, shows
that hunting of elephants weighing up to 13
metric tons was part of the cultural repertoire
of Last Interglacial Neanderthals there, over
>2000 years, many dozens of generations.
(...) |
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Revised age and stratigraphy of the classic Homo
erectus-bearing succession at Trinil (Java,
Indonesia),
di S. L. Hilgen et alii, "Quaternary
Science Reviews", Volume 301, 1 February 2023,
107908 - open access -
Obtaining accurate
age control for fossils found on Java
(Indonesia) has been and remains challenging due
to geochronologic and stratigraphic
uncertainties. In the 1890s, Dubois excavated
numerous faunal fossils—including the first
remains of Homo erectus—in sediments exposed
along the Solo River at Trinil. Since then,
various, and often contradictory age estimates
have been proposed for the Trinil site and its
fossils. However, the age of the fossil-bearing
layers and the fossil assemblage remains
inconclusive. This study constructs a
chronostratigraphic framework for the Trinil
site by documenting new stratigraphic sections
and test pits, and by applying 40Ar/39Ar,
paleomagnetic, and luminescence (pIRIR290)
dating methods. Our study identifies two
distinct, highly fossiliferous channel fills at
the Trinil site. (...) |
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Reassessing palaeoenvironmental conditions
during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic
transition in the Cantabrian region (Southwestern
Europe), di
M. Fernández-García, M. Vidal-Cordasco, J. R.
Jones, A. B. Marín-Arroyo, "Quaternary Science
Reviews", Volume 301, 1 February 2023, 107928
- open access -
Climatic and
environmental changes have been commonly
proposed as driving factors behind the decline
of Neanderthals in Europe. The Cantabrian region,
in northern Iberia, is a key area for
understanding the replacement of Neanderthals by
Anatomically Modern Humans, where an early
disappearance of Neanderthals in relation to
other areas of Iberia has been proposed. To
evaluate how climate might have influenced human
behaviour during Marine Isotope Stage 3, an
accurate review of palaeoecological conditions
is required. For the first time, an assessment
of the regional available terrestrial proxies
linked to archaeo-palaeontological sites,
including small vertebrate assemblages, pollen
sequences, charcoal data and stable isotope
studies on macromammals is undertaken in this
region. In addition, records from macrofaunal
assemblages and glacial records have also been
considered. (...) |
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Making Points: The Middle Stone Age lithic
industry of the Makgadikgadi Basin, Botswana,
di S. Staurset, S. D. Coulson, S. Mothulatshipi,
S. L. Burrough, D. J. Nash, D. S. G. Thomas, "Quaternary
Science Reviews", Volume 301, 1 February 2023,
107823 - open access -
Studies of early
human occupation of Africa over recent decades
have profoundly changed how we understand our
early ancestors, their inventiveness and
adaptability. The spread of Homo sapiens to new
environmental settings, the expansion of diet
breadth, the development of more complex
technology and the use of personal ornaments
have all been recognized at well-documented
Middle Stone Age (MSA) cave and shelter sites,
particularly along the South African coast. This
paper addresses two under-represented aspects of
MSA research: open-air sites and the African
interior. We present here recent surveys and
excavations in Ntwetwe Pan, Botswana, a remote,
open landscape, that formerly contained a vast
palaeolake. (...) |
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Post-depositional disturbance and spatial
organization at exposed open-air sites: Examples
from the Middle Stone Age of the Makgadikgadi
Basin, Botswana,
di S. Staurset, S. D. Coulson, S. Mothulatshipi,
S. L. Burrough, D. J. Nash, D. S. G. Thomas, "Quaternary
Science Reviews", Volume 301, 1 February 2023,
107824 - open access -
The influence of
natural factors such as bioturbation or sediment
movement caused by wind and water is a perennial
concern for Stone Age site selection and
subsequent interpretation. This paper discusses
the spatial artefact distribution of five
recently excavated, open-air exposed Middle
Stone Age (MSA) sites in Ntwetwe Pan, Botswana.
The finds comprise lithic assemblages dominated
by MSA points, manufactured in a variety of
silcretes. The sites were examined following the
assumption that archaeological sites are the
product of a combination of natural and cultural
factors, occurring both during and after
artefacts are deposited. The results indicate
that some of these exposed pan floor sites do
preserve cultural artefact distribution patterns,
and that the level of post-depositional
disturbance varies locally. (...) |
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Les lampes à graisse au paléolithique,
Février 2023
La lampe à graisse
ou lampe à huile est une invention humaine qui
va permettre aux paléolithiques de maîtriser la
lumière, en particulier pour s’enfoncer dans les
grottes et les cavités. On dénombre seulement
quelques 300 lampes paléolithiques recensées et
identifiées. En effet, il existe un grand nombre
d’objets dont l’étude ne permet pas de définir
notamment s’ls ont été utilisées comme lampes à
graisse. « L’invention d’un moyen d’éclairage
portatif au Paléolithique a accru cette
indépendance vis-à-vis du milieu et a sans doute
influencé profondément la vie quotidienne de ces
hommes en élargissant les limites de leur
environnement» Sophie Archambault de Beaune
(...) |
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Coordination of trunk motion during bipedal
walking in the frontal plane: A comparison
between Homo sapiens, Macaca fuscata, and an
exploratory study on a gibbon,
di Y. Kinoshita, R. Goto, Y. Nakano, E. Hirasaki,
"American Journal of Physical Anthropology",
Volume 180, Issue 2, February 2023, Pages
316-327
In human walking,
the pelvis lists toward the swing side during
the support phase while the thorax lists toward
the stance side. In contrast, during bipedal
walking in chimpanzees, both the pelvis and
thorax list toward the stance side during the
support phase, making their body mass
oscillation larger than that in humans. However,
aside from a few reports on chimpanzees and
macaques, studies on the relationship between
trunk movements and step width during bipedal
walking in nonhuman primates are limited.
(...) |
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Crown tissue proportions and enamel thickness
distribution in early Pleistocene Homo
antecessor maxillary premolars (Atapuerca, Spain),
di L. Martín-Francés et alii, "American
Journal of Physical Anthropology", Volume 180,
Issue 2, February 2023, Pages 370-385
Both morphometric
and proteomic studies have revealed the close
relationship of Homo antecessor with
Neanderthals and H. sapiens. Considering this
relationship, we aim to characterize the Early
Pleistocene Atapuerca-Gran Dolina (TD6)
maxillary premolars to test if their pattern of
enamel thickness is shared with Neanderthals or
H. sapiens. (...) |
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A human lower third molar
from the Acheulean site of Cueva del Ángel (Lucena,
Córdoba, Spain),
di F. J. Bermúdez et alii, "American
Journal of Physical Anthropology", Volume 180,
Issue 2, February 2023, Pages 386-400
To present a new
dental specimen that will provide additional
evidence for a better understanding of early
European Upper Pleistocene hominin morphological
variability. We described the morphology of this
human right lower third molar at both the outer
enamel surface and the enamel–dentine junction
by means of micro-computed tomography. In order
to better understand hominin diversity, our
morphological and metrical results were compared
with those of other hominins obtained from
published research. We provide a direct aspartic
acid racemization dating of the molar. (...) |
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Cooking in caves: Palaeolithic carbonised plant
food remains from Franchthi and Shanidar,
di C. Kabukcu et alii, "Antiquity",
Volume 97, Issue 391, February 2023, pp.
12-28 - open access -
Research on
Palaeolithic hunter-gatherer diet has focused on
the consumption of animals. Evidence for the use
of plant foods is comparatively limited but is
rapidly expanding. The authors present an
analysis of carbonised macro-remains of
processed plants from Franchthi Cave in the
Aegean Basin and Shanidar Cave in the north-west
Zagros Mountains. Microscopic examination of the
charred food remains reveals the use of pounded
pulses as a common ingredient in cooked plant
foods. The results are discussed in the context
of the regional archaeobotanical literature,
leading the authors to argue that plants with
bitter and astringent tastes were key
ingredients of Palaeolithic cuisines in
South-west Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean.
(...) |
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New radiocarbon dates for ornamented Mesolithic
objects from north-west Poland: chronology and
regional connections in the western Baltic
region, di
T. Płonka, M. Adamczyk, M. Diakowski, Antiquity, Volume 97, Issue 391, February 2023, pp. 29
- 49 - open access -
During the
northern European Mesolithic, new types of
objects were ornamented with different geometric
motifs. Many examples, however, are stray finds
and their dating is poorly understood. The
authors present new AMS radiocarbon dates for
ornamented artefacts from Pomerania that
contribute to an absolute chronology of
Mesolithic art and allow for new consideration
of connections between cultural groups in the
western Baltic region. A baton, featuring an
anthropomorphic figure, dates to the end of the
Boreal period; three other objects date to the
early Atlantic period, revealing a combination
of regional and local innovations. The results
demonstrate the value of absolute dating of
stray finds for refining knowledge of wider
cultural trends. (...) |
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Déjà vu: on the use of meat resources by
sabretooth cats, hominins, and hyaenas in the
Early Pleistocene site of Fuente Nueva 3 (Guadix-Baza
Depression, SE Spain),
di P. Palmqvist et alii, "Archaeological
and Anthropological Sciences", Volume 15, issue
2, February 2023 - open
access -
The late Early
Pleistocene archaeological site of Fuente Nueva
3 (Orce, Guadix-Baza Depression, SE Spain),
dated to ~1.4 Ma, provides evidence on the
subsistence strategies of the first hominin
population that dispersed in Western Europe. The
site preserves Oldowan tool assemblages
associated with abundant remains of large
mammals. A small proportion of these remains
show cut marks and percussion marks resulting
from defleshing and bone fracturing, and a small
proportion of bones also show tooth marks.
Previous taphonomic studies of FN3 suggested
that the hominins had secondary access to the
prey leftovers abandoned by sabretooth cats and
other primary predators. However, a recent
analysis by Yravedra et al. (2021) of the
frequency of anthropogenic marks and tooth marks
has concluded that the hominins had primary
access to the carcasses of a wide variety of
ungulate prey, even though the frequency of
evisceration marks is strikingly low (...) |
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Hominins likely occupied northern Europe before
one million years ago,
di A. Key, N. Ashton, "Evolutionary Anthropology",
Volume 32, Issue 1, February 2023, Pages 10-25
Our understanding
of when hominins first reached northern Europe
is dependent on a fragmented archaeological and
fossil record known from as early as marine
isotope stage (MIS) 21 or 25 (c. 840 or 950
thousand years ago [Ka]). This contrasts sharply
with southern Europe, where hominin occupation
is evidenced from MIS 37 to 45 (c. 1.22 or 1.39
million years ago [Ma]). Northern Europe,
however, exhibits climatic, geological,
demographic, and historical disadvantages when
it comes to preserving fossil and archaeological
evidence of early hominin habitation. It is
argued here that perceived differences in first
occupation timings between the two European
regions needs to be revised in light of these
factors. (...) |
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Fossil footprints and what
they mean for hominin paleobiology,
di K. G. Hatala, N. T. Roach, A. K. Behrensmeyer,
"Evolutionary Anthropology", Volume 32, Issue 1,
February 2023, Pages 39-53
Hominin footprints
have not traditionally played prominent roles in
paleoanthropological studies, aside from the
famous 3.66 Ma footprints discovered at Laetoli,
Tanzania in the late 1970s. This contrasts with
the importance of trace fossils (ichnology) in
the broader field of paleontology. Lack of
attention to hominin footprints can probably be
explained by perceptions that these are
exceptionally rare and “curiosities” rather than
sources of data that yield insights on par with
skeletal fossils or artifacts. In recent years,
however, discoveries of hominin footprints have
surged in frequency, shining important new light
on anatomy, locomotion, behaviors, and
environments from a wide variety of times and
places (...) |
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Worldwide research trends on Neanderthals,
di J. L. Guil-Guerrero, F. Manzano-Agugliaro,
"Journal of Quaternary Science", Volume 38,
Issue 2, February 2023, Pages 208-220
- open access -
Research on
Neanderthals is a topic of growing interest and
it may even be considered that this subject will
get more attention in the future. The demise and
diets of the various Neanderthal populations are
controversial issues that promote heated debates.
In this work, a bibliometric study of all the
publications contained in the Scopus database
until 2021 has been conducted, analysing more
than 3800 of them. The main authors,
institutions and countries researching this
subject have been identified, and their future
development. Furthermore, the links between the
authors, the countries and the topics researched
have been analysed through communities
detection. (...) |
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A
step back to move forward: a geological
re-evaluation of the El Castillo Cave Middle
Palaeolithic lithostratigraphic units (Cantabria,
northern Iberia),
di D. M. Martín-Perea, J. M. Maíllo-Fernández,
J. Marín, X. Arroyo, R. Asiaín, "Journal of
Quaternary Science", Volume 38, Issue 2,
February 2023, Pages 221-234
- open access -
El Castillo Cave
is one of the most important sites for
understanding the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic
in Europe. Despite its importance, the absence
of a widely used stratigraphic section with
detailed lithostratigraphic descriptions and
correlations between the different geological
and archaeological interpretations has led to
confusion in the correct identification of
lithostratigraphic units in the lowermost,
Middle Palaeolithic sequence. This study
establishes a new lithostratigraphic framework
for the site, which can be accurately correlated
to previous geological and archaeological
studies and generates a solid working basis for
framing the Mousterian of El Castillo Cave in
the Cantabrian region and southwestern Europe.
(...) |
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Challenges and perspectives on functional
interpretations of australopith postcrania and
the reconstruction of hominin locomotion,
di M. Cazenave, T. L. Kivell, "Journal of Human
Evolution", Volume 175, February 2023, 103304
- open access -
In 1994, Hunt
published the ‘postural feeding hypothesis’—a
seminal paper on the origins of hominin
bipedalism—founded on the detailed study of
chimpanzee positional behavior and the
functional inferences derived from the upper and
lower limb morphology of the Australopithecus
afarensis A.L. 288-1 partial skeleton. Hunt
proposed a model for understanding the potential
selective pressures on hominins, made robust,
testable predictions based on Au. afarensis
functional morphology, and presented a
hypothesis that aimed to explain the dual
functional signals of the Au. afarensis and,
more generally, early hominin postcranium.
(...) |
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An
updated analysis of hominin phylogeny with an
emphasis on re-evaluating the phylogenetic
relationships of Australopithecus sediba,
di C. S. Mongle, D. S. Strait, F. E. Grine,
"Journal of Human Evolution", Volume 175,
February 2023, 103311 -
open access -
The discovery and
description of Australopithecus sediba has
reignited the debate over the evolutionary
history of the australopiths and the genus Homo.
It has been suggested that A. sediba may be an
ancestor of Homo because it possesses a mosaic
of derived Homo-like and primitive
australopith-like traits. However, an
alternative hypothesis proposes that the
majority of the purported Homo-like craniodental
characters can be attributed to the juvenile
status of the type specimen, MH1. We conducted
an independent character assessment of the
craniodental morphology of A. sediba, with
particular emphasis on evaluating whether the
ontogenetic status of MH1 may have affected its
purported Homo-like characteristics. In doing
so, we have also expanded fossil hypodigms to
incorporate the new Australopithecus anamensis
cranium from Woranso-Mille (MRD-VP-1/1), as well
as recently described Paranthropus robustus
cranial remains from Drimolen (DNH 7, DNH 155).
(...) |
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Hominin nomenclature and
the importance of information systems for
managing complexity in paleoanthropology,
di D. N. Reed et alii, "Journal of Human
Evolution", Volume 175, February 2023, 103308
- open access -
Shortly after
Darwin published “On the Origin of Species”
(Darwin, 1859), King (1864) attributed the
fossil remains from the Klein Feldhofer Grotte
in the Neander Valley, Germany to a new species
of extinct human ancestor, Homo neanderthalensis.
King's assertion came amidst a heated debate
about the taxonomic status of these remains (Huxley,
1863). Thirty years later, Dubois (1892, 1894)
expanded human prehistory to Asia with the
discovery of Homo erectus remains in Java. Some
30 years after that, Dart (1925) brought
attention to the African continent with the
discovery of the Taung skull. (...) |
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New insights into the use
and circulation of reindeer antler in northern
Iberia during the Magdalenian (ca. 21-13 cal ka
BP),
di A. Lefebvre et alii, "Journal of
Archaeological Science", Volume 150, February
2023, 105708 - open
access -
Interactions
between prehistoric foragers and reindeer at the
end of the Pleistocene are still poorly
documented in northern Iberia, particularly the
reasons and means by which their antlers were
collected, processed and circulated. Here we
review the main osseous industries dated to
between 21 and 13 cal ka BP, focusing on the use
and circulation of reindeer antler as a raw
material for the production of weapons and tools
by Magdalenian foragers. Thirty-six reindeer
antler artefacts were identified from 11 Iberian
sites that are located at either end of the
Pyrenees: the Cantabrian region to the west, and
to a lesser extent, in Catalonia to the east.
(...) |
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Radiocarbon Dates for Las Chimeneas (Cantabria,
Spain) Palaeolithic Cave Art: Quality of
Radiocarbon and Relevance to Parietal Art,
di M. García-Diez, Á. Ibero, B. Ochoa, P.
López-Calle, D. Garrido, "European Journal of
Archaeology", Volume 26 - Issue 1 - February
2023 - open access -
AMS radiocarbon
dating has been widely applied in Palaeolithic
art research and its value has been proven over
the past three decades. Yet it still suffers
from issues that need to be discussed and
analysed to improve future sampling strategies
and strengthen the interpretation of the results.
This study presents new AMS dates for the
parietal art in Cueva de Las Chimeneas in
northern Spain, describes the quality of the
samples, and discusses their reliability. The
joint assessment of the dates and its comparison
with previously obtained dates as well as
stratified and dated portable art makes it
possible to put forward a hypothesis about the
time of creation of the cave's parietal art and
the degree of synchrony or diachrony in its
production. Consequently, it is proposed that
the cave art at Las Chimeneas was created in the
lower Magdalenian, between 19,000 and 17,500 cal
BP. (...) |
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A
symbolic Neanderthal accumulation of large
herbivore crania,
di E. Baquedano et alii, "Nature Human
Behaviour", 26 January 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-022-01503-7
- open access -
This work examines
the possible behaviour of Neanderthal groups at
the Cueva Des-Cubierta (central Spain) via the
analysis of the latter’s archaeological
assemblage. Alongside evidence of Mousterian
lithic industry, Level 3 of the cave infill was
found to contain an assemblage of mammalian bone
remains dominated by the crania of large
ungulates, some associated with small hearths.
The scarcity of post-cranial elements, teeth,
mandibles and maxillae, along with evidence of
anthropogenic modification of the crania (cut
and percussion marks), indicates that the
carcasses of the corresponding animals were
initially processed outside the cave, and the
crania were later brought inside. A second round
of processing then took place, possibly related
to the removal of the brain. The continued
presence of crania throughout Level 3 indicates
that this behaviour was recurrent during this
level’s formation. This behaviour seems to have
no subsistence-related purpose but to be more
symbolic in its intent. (...) |
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Study offers new insight on what ancient noses
smelled, 25
january 2023
It sounds a little
like Stone Age standup: A Denisovan and a human
walk past a bees’ nest heavy with honeycomb.
What happens next? According to a study led by
University of Alaska Fairbanks biological
anthropologist Kara C. Hoover and Universite
Paris-Saclay biochemist Claire de March, the
Denisovan, with the species’ greater sensitivity
to sweet smells, may have immediately homed in
on the scent and beat the human to a high-energy
meal. "This research has allowed us to draw some
larger conclusions about the sense of smell in
our closest genetic relatives and understand the
role that smell played in adapting to new
environments and foods during our migrations out
of Africa,” said Hoover, a professor in the
Department of Anthropology at UAF. (...) |
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A
surge in obsidian exploitation more than 1.2
million years ago at Simbiro III (Melka Kunture,
Upper Awash, Ethiopia),
di M. Mussi et alii, "Nature Ecology &
Evolution", 19 January 2023
Pleistocene
archaeology records the changing behaviour and
capacities of early hominins. These behavioural
changes, for example, to stone tools, are
commonly linked to environmental constraints. It
has been argued that, in earlier times, multiple
activities of everyday life were all uniformly
conducted at the same spot. The separation of
focused activities across different localities,
which indicates a degree of planning, according
to this mindset characterizes later hominins
since only 500,000 years ago. Simbiro III level
C, in the upper Awash valley of Ethiopia, allows
us to test this assumption in its assemblage of
stone tools made only with obsidian, dated to
more than 1.2 million years (Myr) old. (...) |
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A
long-term perspective on Neanderthal environment
and subsistence: Insights from the dental
microwear texture analysis of hunted ungulates
at Combe-Grenal (Dordogne, France),
di E. Berlioz, E. Capdepon, E. Discamps, 18
January 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0278395
- open access -
Large bovids and
cervids constituted major components of the
European Middle Palaeolithic faunas and hence a
key resource for Neanderthal populations. In
paleoenvironmental reconstructions, red deer (Cervus
elaphus) occurrence is classically considered as
a tree-cover indicator while Bovinae (Bison
priscus and Bos primigenius) and reindeer (Rangifer
tarandus) occurrences are typically associated
with open landscapes. However, insights into the
ecology of extant ungulate populations show a
more complex reality. Exploring the diet of past
ungulates allows to better comprehend the
hunting strategies of Palaeolithic populations
and to reconstruct the modifications through
time of past landscapes (...) |
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Dietary strategies of
Pleistocene Pongo sp. and Homo erectus on Java
(Indonesia),
di J. Kubat et alii, "Nature Ecology &
Evolution", 16 January 2023, volume 7, pages
279–289
During the Early
to Middle Pleistocene, Java was inhabited by
hominid taxa of great diversity. However, their
seasonal dietary strategies have never been
explored. We undertook geochemical analyses of
orangutan (Pongo sp.), Homo erectus and other
mammalian Pleistocene teeth from Sangiran. We
reconstructed past dietary strategies at
subweekly resolution and inferred seasonal
ecological patterns. Histologically controlled
spatially resolved elemental analyses by
laser-based plasma mass spectrometry confirmed
the preservation of authentic biogenic signals
despite the effect of spatially restricted
diagenetic overprint. The Sr/Ca record of faunal
remains is in line with expected trophic
positions, contextualizing fossil hominid diet.
(...) |
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A
taphonomic analysis of PTK (Bed I, Olduvai
Gorge) and its bearing on the interpretation of
the dietary and eco-spatial behaviors of early
humans, di
E. Organista et alii, "Quaternary Science
Reviews", Volume 300, 15 January 2023, 107913
- open access -
Here, we present a
thorough taphonomic analysis of the 1.84
million-year-old site of Phillip Tobias Korongo
(PTK), Bed I, Olduvai Gorge. PTK is one of the
new archaeological sites documented on the FLK
Zinj paleolandscape, in which FLK 22 level was
deposited and covered by Tuff IC. Therefore, PTK
is pene-contemporary with these sites: FLK Zinj,
DS, AMK and AGS. The occurrence of these sites
within a thin clay unit of ∼20 cm, occupying not
only the same vertically discrete stratigraphic
unit, but also the same paleosurface, with an
exceptional preservation of the archaeological
record in its primary depositional locus,
constitutes a unique opportunity to explore
early hominin behavioral diversity at the most
limited geochronological scale possible.
(...) |
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Palaeoenvironmental sequences surrounding Border
Cave, South Africa, and review of conditions
during middle and later stone age occupation,
di L. Scott, F. H. Neumann, A. C. van Aardt, G.
A. Botha, "Quaternary Science Reviews", Volume
300, 15 January 2023, 107894
- open access -
As a result of
selective anthropogenic accumulation of plant
and faunal remains in the sedimentary record at
Border Cave, palaeoclimatological records at the
site can only be broadly interpreted and cannot
be reconstructed with any precision. To aid
environmental reconstructions spanning the
sedimentary record, we review published climate
change proxy records from both marine and
terrestrial archives within 500 km in the
surrounding the summer rainfall region of the
site to derive the history of environmental
change. (...) |
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Balancing selection on genomic deletion
polymorphisms in humans,
di A. Aqil, L. Speidel, P. Pavlidis, O. Gokcume,
10 Jan 2023, doi: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.79111
- open access -
A key question in
biology is why genomic variation persists in a
population for extended periods. Recent studies
have identified examples of genomic deletions
that have remained polymorphic in the human
lineage for hundreds of millennia, ostensibly
owing to balancing selection. Nevertheless,
genome-wide investigation of ancient and
possibly adaptive deletions remains an
imperative exercise. Here, we demonstrate an
excess of polymorphisms in present-day humans
that predate the modern human-Neanderthal split
(ancient polymorphisms), which cannot be
explained solely by selectively neutral
scenarios. We analyze the adaptive mechanisms
that underlie this excess in deletion
polymorphisms. (...) |
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Arched footprints preserve the motions of fossil
hominin feet,
di K. G. Hatala, S. M. Gatesy, P. L. Falkingham,
"Nature Ecology & Evolution", 05 January 2023,
volume 7, pages 32–41
The longitudinal
arch of the human foot is viewed as a pivotal
adaptation for bipedal walking and running.
Fossil footprints from Laetoli, Tanzania, and
Ileret, Kenya, are believed to provide direct
evidence of longitudinally arched feet in
hominins from the Pliocene and Pleistocene,
respectively. We studied the dynamics of track
formation using biplanar X-ray,
three-dimensional animation and discrete element
particle simulation. Here, we demonstrate that
longitudinally arched footprints are false
indicators of foot anatomy; instead they are
generated through a specific pattern of foot
kinematics that is characteristic of human
walking (...) |
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Homo sapiens and
Neanderthals share high cerebral cortex
integration into adulthood,
di G. Sansalone et alii, "Nature Ecology
& Evolution", 05 January 2023, volume 7, pages
42–50
There is controversy around the mechanisms that
guided the change in brain shape during the
evolution of modern humans. It has long been
held that different cortical areas evolved
independently from each other to develop their
unique functional specializations. However, some
recent studies suggest that high integration
between different cortical areas could
facilitate the emergence of equally extreme,
highly specialized brain functions. Here, we
analyse the evolution of brain shape in primates
using three-dimensional geometric morphometrics
of endocasts. We aim to determine, firstly,
whether modern humans present unique
developmental patterns of covariation between
brain cortical areas; and secondly, whether
hominins experienced unusually high rates of
evolution in brain covariation as compared to
other primates. (...) |
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The interaction between
large mammals and Acheulean tools during the
Middle Pleistocene in the Manzanares valley
(Madrid, Spain): new evidence for Santa Elena
and Oxígeno sites,
di I. Claver, J. A. Martos, J. Yravedra, J.
Panera, S. Rubio-Jara, "Archaeological and
Anthropological Sciences", Volume 15, issue 1,
January 2023
- open access
-
The fluvial
deposits of the Manzanares and Jarama rivers
present one of the largest concentrations of
lithic and faunal remains of Pleistocene sites
in Europe. In the Manzanares River close to the
confluence of the Jarama River, the stepped
terrace system disappears and gives way to the
Complex Terrace of Butarque (CTB), where the
sites of Santa Elena and Oxígeno are located.
Different numerical dates obtained from the
visible CTB’s bottom suggest that it was
deposited during the MIS 6 or even MIS 7. This
paper provides the first taphonomic and
palaeoecological interpretation of both
collections. A total of 445 fossil elements have
been recorded in Oxígeno. The most represented
are cranial fragments of Elephas sp. About Santa
Elena, 130 fossil elements have been recorded.
(...) |
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MaLAdapt Reveals Novel Targets of Adaptive
Introgression From Neanderthals and Denisovans
in Worldwide Human Populations,
di X. Zhang, B. Kim, A. Singh, S. Sankararaman,
A. Durvasula, K. E Lohmueller, "Molecular
Biology and Evolution", Volume 40, Issue 1,
January 2023 - open
access -
Adaptive
introgression (AI) facilitates local adaptation
in a wide range of species. Many
state-of-the-art methods detect AI with ad-hoc
approaches that identify summary statistic
outliers or intersect scans for positive
selection with scans for introgressed genomic
regions. Although widely used, approaches
intersecting outliers are vulnerable to a high
false-negative rate as the power of different
methods varies, especially for complex
introgression events. Moreover, population
genetic processes unrelated to AI, such as
background selection or heterosis, may create
similar genomic signals to AI, compromising the
reliability of methods that rely on neutral null
distributions. (...) |
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San Quirce (Palencia, Spain): new chronologies
for the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic transition
of south-west Europe,
di M. Terradillos-Bernal et alii, "Journal of
Quaternary Science", Volume 38, Issue 1, January
2023, Pages 21-37
San Quirce is an
open-air archaeological site situated on a
fluvial terrace in the Duero basin (Palencia,
northern Iberia). This paper presents new and
consistent chronologies obtained for the
sedimentary sequence using post-infrared
infrared stimulated luminescence (pIR-IR) dating
of K-feldspars and single-grain thermally
transferred optically stimulated luminescence (TT-OSL)
dating of quartz. The new dating results
indicate that the sequence is older than ~200000
years and place San Quirce Level III within
marine isotope stages (MIS) 8 and 7, between
274±13 ka and 238±13 ka. (...) |
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Coherent changes in wood charcoals, site
occupation and lithic technology across the MIS
4/3 transition at Klein Kliphuis rock shelter,
South Africa,
di A. Mackay, C. R. Cartwright, Volume 38, Issue
1, January 2023, Pages 38-48
- open access -
We explore the
correspondence between changing
palaeoenvironments, patterns of site use, and
lithic technology at the rock shelter site Klein
Kliphuis (South Africa) across the interval
65–55 000 years before present. This period
coincides with the termination of Marine Isotope
Stage (MIS) 4, and the disappearance of an
iconic late Pleistocene archaeological unit
known as the Howiesons Poort. Wood charcoals
indicate sufficient soil moisture around Klein
Kliphuis throughout the Howiesons Poort to
support diverse tree species at a time when site
occupation was relatively intense. At least some
fuelwood-gathering in this period may have been
undertaken to support heat treatment of silcrete,
which was the dominant lithology in tool
production. (...) |
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"Journal of Human
Evolution",
Volume 174, January 2023:
-
Introduction to special
issue: The biotic context of the Early
Pleistocene hominins from Dmanisi (Georgia,
southern Caucasus),
di D. Lordkipanidze, J. Agustí, L. Rook
-
The brain of Homo habilis:
Three decades of paleoneurology,
di E. Bruner, A. Beaudet
-
Geometric morphometric
analysis of the bony labyrinth of the Sima de
los Huesos hominins,
di A. D. Velez et alii
-
Multi-isotope
zooarchaeological investigations at Abri du
Maras: The paleoecological and
paleoenvironmental context of Neanderthal
subsistence strategies in the Rhône Valley
during MIS 3,
di K. Britton et alii
-
Reassessment of the human
mandible from Banyoles (Girona, Spain),
di B. A. Keeling
-
Moving beyond the
adaptationist paradigm for human evolution, and
why it matters,
di L. Schroeder, R. Rogers Ackermann |
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Index
di antiqui |
Sommario
bacheca |
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