The idea that there are two different types of people homo sapiens The idea that (us) and Neanderthals coexisted in Western Eurasia 50-40,000 years ago has long captured the imagination of both academics and the public.
It is therefore not surprising that the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition period has been a focus of research for many archaeologists, physical anthropologists, and more recently geneticists.
Various scenarios have been explored over the years, from those that suggested coexistence between the two groups of humans for tens of thousands of years to those that saw Neanderthals being replaced by Neanderthals much more quickly. sapiens – whether through the active or incidental displacement of our cousins, or by leaving them behind in terms of resources.
Both locations allow for occasional interbreeding, resulting in some Neanderthal in most of us, especially those of European and East Asian descent.
But exploring this distant time has many challenges. Human skeletal remains are relatively rare; Many of the best-known fossils were excavated under less than ideal conditions in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
When skeletal remains are found, questions often arise as to their exact relationship to other archaeological remains from the same area, such as stone and bone tools, animal remains, and other finds. Links between a particular human species and finds from an excavation are often assumed, but later revealed to be spurious in some cases.
Major revisions
The transition period of 50-40,000 years ago is within the lower limits of radiocarbon dating, a technique that only works on organic remains up to about 50,000 years old. This means that even the slightest amount of more recent contamination from funerary environments or museum preservation materials can make dating finds from these sites extremely challenging.
This has led to major revisions in the chronology of early human settlement over the past decade, causing some dates for Neanderthal and modern human remains to shift by thousands of years.
This is crucial to the discussion, as it is impossible to talk about overlap or displacement without a solid chronology. There is also the issue of spatial scale. For example, does the persistence of Neanderthals in Southern Iberia after 40,000 years ago represent a long period of overlap and coexistence, or a “last stand” at the continent’s margins that explicitly avoided contact with newcomers?
The latest entry into the fray comes from the Ilsenhöhle cave in Ranis in eastern Germany; This cave occupies a spectacular location at the foot of a 16th-century Renaissance castle with early medieval origins.
An international, multidisciplinary teamsapiens) remains from both the early 20th century and more recent excavations in the cave date them to approximately 45,000 years ago. Combined with early dates, the authors say: sapiens The various dates that Neanderthals have been present in France for 45,000 years allow for a potential period of overlap between these two species lasting approximately 10,000 years.
In a companion paper, the researchers reported the results of their analysis of stable oxygen isotopes (different chemical forms of an element) from the teeth of equine mammals. These teeth came from the same sediment levels as human remains. The results put humans into a particularly cold period around 45-43,000 years ago.
sapiens The remains are associated with what was previously considered an obscure stone tool industry (a specialized way of making tools) called the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician (LRJ). However, it is unclear whether these were made by Neanderthals or modern humans.
Mysterious tool makers
Other transitional Middle-Upper Paleolithic stone tool industries have a long history of the same problem; We’re not sure who made these. The most notable of these is the Châtelperronian in southern France and northern Spain: Do the Neanderthal remains accompanying some of these “modern-looking” tool industries mean that they were toolmakers, or is this association coincidental?
This debate continues at full speed and a possible sapiens The ilium of a newborn child was recently identified in the Châtelperronian assemblage at the Grotte du Renne in Arcy-sur-Cure in central France. Only Neanderthal remains had previously been identified here.
Many of the caves where Paleolithic deposits were found were occupied intermittently, often by both Neanderthals and non-Neanderthals. sapiens, for more than a thousand years. The materials are easily mixed together, so it is difficult to say who made them, as no tools have been found buried in modern human graves. Ranis appears to have an advantage in this regard, as the levels containing human remains and LRJ tools were sealed together by a rockfall.
However, even here a warning must be made. The dates of the levels in question still span several thousand years, during which time there may have been brief visits by both parties.
New archaeological techniques
The results from Ranis provide important new data to our understanding of the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition, as well as highlighting the contributions of recent developments in archaeological science.
Far from revealing a complete skeleton or skull that would traditionally herald a significant new hominin fossil, Ranis uncovered only a few small bone fragments that could be recognized as human. Several other small bone fragments were identified as belonging to hominins (the broader human family) using a technique known as proteomics (the study of protein structures specific to genera and sometimes species). This technique has also been applied to the fauna of the region in another companion article.
Relatively high-precision radiocarbon dates were subsequently obtained for both the sediment level and human remains. The precision of these dates was further improved through statistical modelling.
But most importantly for the question at hand, analysis of ancient DNA (in this case mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)) confirmed the identification as follows: sapiens. MtDNA results link Ranis to other Early Upper Paleolithic human remains from Zlatý kůň in the Czech Republic and Grotta di Fumane in Italy.
An interesting twist in the story, as the authors of the Ranis study note, is that recent genetic studies suggest that: sapiens These first forays into Europe appear to have been replaced by others sapiens Later populations in the Upper Paleolithic Age.
Therefore, the focus on the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition and its replacement of one hominin population by another should be extended to include similar events that subsequently remained much less visible, since all of these are involved. sapiens.
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Rick Schulting does not work for, consult, own shares in, or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond his academic duties.