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Jean-jacques Hublin - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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Supplementary Material from Computer simulations show that Neanderthal facial morphology represents adaptation to cold and high energy demands, but not heavy biting
2018Co-Authors: Stephen Wroe, Jean-jacques Hublin, Stefano Benazzi, Chris Stringer, William C. H. Parr, Justin A. Ledogar, Jason Bourke, S.p. Evans, Luca Fiorenza, Ottmar KullmerAbstract:Three adaptive hypotheses have been forwarded to explain the distinctive Neanderthal face: (i) an improved ability to accommodate high anterior bite forces, (ii) more effective conditioning of cold and/or dry air, and, (iii) adaptation to facilitate greater ventilatory demands. We test these hypotheses using three-dimensional models of Neanderthals, modern humans, and a close outgroup (H. heidelbergensis), applying finite-element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This is the most comprehensive application of either approach applied to date and the first to include both. FEA reveals few differences between H. heidelbergensis, modern humans and Neanderthals in their capacities to sustain high anterior tooth loadings. CFD shows that the nasal cavities of Neanderthals and especially modern humans condition air more efficiently than does that of H. heidelbergensis, suggesting that both evolved to better withstand cold and/or dry climates than less derived Homo. We further find that Neanderthals could move considerably more air through the nasal pathway than could H. heidelbergensis or modern humans, consistent with the propositions that, relative to our outgroup Homo, Neanderthal facial morphology evolved to reflect improved capacities to better condition cold, dry air, and, to move greater air volumes in response to higher energetic requirements
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direct radiocarbon dating and genetic analyses on the purported Neanderthal mandible from the monti lessini italy
Scientific Reports, 2016Co-Authors: Sahra Talamo, Mateja Hajdinjak, Marcello A Mannino, Leone Fasani, Frido Welker, Fabio Martini, Francesca Romagnoli, Roberto Zorzin, Matthias Meyer, Jean-jacques HublinAbstract:Anatomically modern humans replaced Neanderthals in Europe around 40,000 years ago. The demise of the Neanderthals and the nature of the possible relationship with anatomically modern humans has captured our imagination and stimulated research for more than a century now. Recent chronological studies suggest a possible overlap between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans of more than 5,000 years. Analyses of ancient genome sequences from both groups have shown that they interbred multiple times, including in Europe. A potential place of interbreeding is the notable Palaeolithic site of Riparo Mezzena in Northern Italy. In order to improve our understanding of prehistoric occupation at Mezzena, we analysed the human mandible and several cranial fragments from the site using radiocarbon dating, ancient DNA, ZooMS and isotope analyses. We also performed a more detailed investigation of the lithic assemblage of layer I. Surprisingly we found that the Riparo Mezzena mandible is not from a Neanderthal but belonged to an anatomically modern human. Furthermore, we found no evidence for the presence of Neanderthal remains among 11 of the 13 cranial and post-cranial fragments re-investigated in this study.
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brain development after birth differs between Neanderthals and modern humans
Current Biology, 2010Co-Authors: Philipp Gunz, Simon Neubauer, Bruno Maureille, Jean-jacques HublinAbstract:Summary Neanderthals had brain sizes comparable to modern humans, but their brain cases were elongated and not globular as in Homo sapiens [1,2]. It has, therefore, been suggested that modern humans and Neanderthals reached large brain sizes along different evolutionary pathways [2]. Here, we assess when during development these adult differences emerge. This is critical for understanding whether differences in the pattern of brain development might underlie potential cognitive differences between these two closely related groups. Previous comparisons of Neanderthal and modern human cranial development have shown that many morphological characteristics separating these two groups are already established at the time of birth [3–5], and that the subsequent developmental patterns of the face are similar, though not identical [6]. Here, we show that a globularization phase seen in the neurocranial development of modern humans after birth is absent from Neanderthals.
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evolution of middle late pleistocene human cranio facial form a 3 d approach
Journal of Human Evolution, 2010Co-Authors: Katerina Harvati, Jean-jacques Hublin, Philipp GunzAbstract:The classification and phylogenetic relationships of the middle Pleistocene human fossil record remains one of the most intractable problems in paleoanthropology. Several authors have noted broad resemblances between European and African fossils from this period, suggesting a single taxon ancestral to both modern humans and Neanderthals. Others point out 'incipient' Neanderthal features in the morphology of the European sample and have argued for their inclusion in the Neanderthal lineage exclusively, following a model of accretionary evolution of Neanderthals. We approach these questions using geometric morphometric methods which allow the intuitive visualization and quantification of features previously described qualitatively. We apply these techniques to evaluate proposed cranio-facial 'incipient' facial, vault, and basicranial traits in a middle-late Pleistocene European hominin sample when compared to a sample of the same time depth from Africa. Some of the features examined followed the predictions of the accretion model and relate the middle Pleistocene European material to the later Neanderthals. However, although our analysis showed a clear separation between Neanderthals and early/recent modern humans and morphological proximity between European specimens from OIS 7 to 3, it also shows that the European hominins from the first half of the middle Pleistocene still shared most of their cranio-facial architecture with their African contemporaries.
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strontium isotope evidence of Neanderthal mobility at the site of lakonis greece using laser ablation pimms
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2008Co-Authors: Michael P Richards, Vaughan Grimes, Tanya M Smith, Panagiotis Karkanas, Katerina Harvati, Jean-jacques Hublin, Colin I Smith, Eleni PanagopoulouAbstract:We report here direct evidence for Neanderthal mobility through the measurement of strontium isotope ratios in tooth enamel using laser-ablation, which allows us to use much smaller samples than traditional methods. There has been a long-standing debate over the extent of Neanderthal mobility, with some arguing for Neanderthals having a very limited geographic range and others for more substantial, and even seasonal, lifetime movements. We sampled across the enamel of a Neanderthal third molar from the site of Lakonis, Greece, dating to ca. 40,000 years ago. The tooth was found in a coastal limestone cave, yet the strontium isotope values indicate the enamel was formed while the individual resided in a region with bedrock consisting of older (more radiogenic) volcanic bedrock. Therefore, this individual must have lived in a different (more radiogenic) location during this period of third molar crown formation (likely to be between the ages of 7 and 9 years) than where the tooth was found. This strontium isotope evidence therefore indicates that this Neanderthal moved over a relatively wide (i.e. at least 20 km) geographical range in their lifetime.
Stefano Benazzi - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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speleothem record attests to stable environmental conditions during Neanderthal modern human turnover in southern italy
Nature Ecology and Evolution, 2020Co-Authors: Andrea Columbu, Stefano Benazzi, Veronica Chiarini, John Hellstrom, Hai Cheng, Christoph Spotl, Jo De WaeleAbstract:The causes of Neanderthal–modern human (MH) turnover are ambiguous. While potential biocultural interactions between the two groups are still little known, it is clear that Neanderthals in southern Europe disappeared about 42 thousand years ago (ka) after cohabitation for ~3,000 years with MH. Among a plethora of hypotheses on Neanderthal extinction, rapid climate changes during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (MUPT) are regarded as a primary factor. Here we show evidence for stable climatic and environmental conditions during the MUPT in a region (Apulia) where Neanderthals and MH coexisted. We base our findings on a rare glacial stalagmite deposited between ~106 and ~27 ka, providing the first continuous western Mediterranean speleothem palaeoclimate archive for this period. The uninterrupted growth of the stalagmite attests to the constant availability of rainfall and vegetated soils, while its δ13C–δ18O palaeoclimate proxies demonstrate that Apulia was not affected by dramatic climate oscillations during the MUPT. Our results imply that, because climate did not play a key role in the disappearance of Neanderthals in this area, Neanderthal–MH turnover must be approached from a perspective that takes into account climatic and environmental conditions favourable for both species. Unstable and harsh climates have been implicated as partial causes of Neanderthal demise. Here a speleothem palaeoenvironmental record spanning the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition attests to stable and moderate conditions in the Mediterranean during this time suggesting a more complicated picture than previously thought.
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Speleothem record attests to stable environmental conditions during Neanderthal-modern human turnover in southern Italy
'Springer Science and Business Media LLC', 2020Co-Authors: Andrea Columbu, Stefano Benazzi, Veronica Chiarini, John Hellstrom, Hai Cheng, Christoph Spoetl, Jo De WaeleAbstract:The causes of Neanderthal-modern human (MH) turnover are ambiguous. While potential biocultural interactions between the two groups are still little known, it is clear that Neanderthals in southern Europe disappeared about 42 thousand years ago (ka) after cohabitation for similar to 3,000 years with MH. Among a plethora of hypotheses on Neanderthal extinction, rapid climate changes during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (MUPT) are regarded as a primary factor. Here we show evidence for stable climatic and environmental conditions during the MUPT in a region (Apulia) where Neanderthals and MH coexisted. We base our findings on a rare glacial stalagmite deposited between similar to 106 and similar to 27 ka, providing the first continuous western Mediterranean speleothem palaeoclimate archive for this period. The uninterrupted growth of the stalagmite attests to the constant availability of rainfall and vegetated soils, while its delta C-13-delta O-18 palaeoclimate proxies demonstrate that Apulia was not affected by dramatic climate oscillations during the MUPT. Our results imply that, because climate did not play a key role in the disappearance of Neanderthals in this area, Neanderthal-MH turnover must be approached from a perspective that takes into account climatic and environmental conditions favourable for both species
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Speleothem record attests to stable environmental conditions during Neanderthal–modern human turnover in southern Italy
'Springer Science and Business Media LLC', 2020Co-Authors: Andrea Columbu, Stefano Benazzi, Veronica Chiarini, Christoph Spö, John Hellstrom, Hai Cheng, Jo De WaeleAbstract:The causes of Neanderthal\u2013modern human (MH) turnover are ambiguous. While potential biocultural interactions between the two groups are still little known, it is clear that Neanderthals in southern Europe disappeared about 42 thousand\u2009years ago (ka) after cohabitation for ~3,000\u2009years with MH. Among a plethora of hypotheses on Neanderthal extinction, rapid climate changes during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (MUPT) are regarded as a primary factor. Here we show evidence for stable climatic and environmental conditions during the MUPT in a region (Apulia) where Neanderthals and MH coexisted. We base our findings on a rare glacial stalagmite deposited between ~106 and ~27\u2009ka, providing the first continuous western Mediterranean speleothem palaeoclimate archive for this period. The uninterrupted growth of the stalagmite attests to the constant availability of rainfall and vegetated soils, while its \u3b413C\u2013\u3b418O palaeoclimate proxies demonstrate that Apulia was not affected by dramatic climate oscillations during the MUPT. Our results imply that, because climate did not play a key role in the disappearance of Neanderthals in this area, Neanderthal\u2013MH turnover must be approached from a perspective that takes into account climatic and environmental conditions favourable for both species
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New perspectives on Neanderthal dispersal and turnover from Stajnia Cave (Poland)
'Springer Science and Business Media LLC', 2020Co-Authors: Andrea Picin, Stefano Benazzi, Mateja Hajdinjak, Wioletta Nowaczewska, Miko\u142aj Urbanowski, Adrian Marciszak, Helen Fewlass, Pawe\u142 Socha, Krzysztof Stefaniak, Marcin \u17barskiAbstract:The Micoquian is the broadest and longest enduring cultural facies of the Late Middle Palaeolithic that spread across the periglacial and boreal environments of Europe between Eastern France, Poland, and Northern Caucasus. Here, we present new data from the archaeological record of Stajnia Cave (Poland) and the paleogenetic analysis of a Neanderthal molar S5000, found in a Micoquian context. Our results demonstrate that the mtDNA genome of Stajnia S5000 dates to MIS 5a making the tooth the oldest Neanderthal specimen from Central\u2011Eastern Europe. Furthermore, S5000 mtDNA has the fewest number of differences to mtDNA of Mezmaiskaya 1 Neanderthal from Northern Caucasus, and is more distant from almost contemporaneous Neanderthals of Scladina and Hohlenstein-Stadel. This observation and the technological affinity between Poland and the Northern Caucasus could be the result of increased mobility of Neanderthals that changed their subsistence strategy for coping with the new low biomass environments and the increased foraging radius of gregarious animals. The Prut and Dniester rivers were probably used as the main corridors of dispersal. The persistence of the Micoquian techno\u2011complex in South\u2011Eastern Europe infers that this axis of mobility was also used at the beginning of MIS 3 when a Neanderthal population turnover occurred in the Northern Caucasus
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Supplementary Material from Computer simulations show that Neanderthal facial morphology represents adaptation to cold and high energy demands, but not heavy biting
2018Co-Authors: Stephen Wroe, Jean-jacques Hublin, Stefano Benazzi, Chris Stringer, William C. H. Parr, Justin A. Ledogar, Jason Bourke, S.p. Evans, Luca Fiorenza, Ottmar KullmerAbstract:Three adaptive hypotheses have been forwarded to explain the distinctive Neanderthal face: (i) an improved ability to accommodate high anterior bite forces, (ii) more effective conditioning of cold and/or dry air, and, (iii) adaptation to facilitate greater ventilatory demands. We test these hypotheses using three-dimensional models of Neanderthals, modern humans, and a close outgroup (H. heidelbergensis), applying finite-element analysis (FEA) and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). This is the most comprehensive application of either approach applied to date and the first to include both. FEA reveals few differences between H. heidelbergensis, modern humans and Neanderthals in their capacities to sustain high anterior tooth loadings. CFD shows that the nasal cavities of Neanderthals and especially modern humans condition air more efficiently than does that of H. heidelbergensis, suggesting that both evolved to better withstand cold and/or dry climates than less derived Homo. We further find that Neanderthals could move considerably more air through the nasal pathway than could H. heidelbergensis or modern humans, consistent with the propositions that, relative to our outgroup Homo, Neanderthal facial morphology evolved to reflect improved capacities to better condition cold, dry air, and, to move greater air volumes in response to higher energetic requirements
Leopoldo Perez - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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fire and brief human occupations in iberia during mis 4 evidence from abric del pastor alcoy spain
Scientific Reports, 2019Co-Authors: Carolina Mallol, Cristo M. Hernández, Norbert Mercier, Christophe Falgueres, Angel Carrancho, Dan Cabanes, Paloma Vidalmatutano, Rory Connolly, Leopoldo PerezAbstract:There is a relatively low amount of Middle Paleolithic sites in Europe dating to MIS 4. Of the few that exist, several of them lack evidence for anthropogenic fire, raising the question of how this period of global cooling may have affected the Neanderthal population. The Iberian Peninsula is a key area to explore this issue, as it has been considered as a glacial refugium during critical periods of the Neanderthal timeline and might therefore yield archaeological contexts in which we can explore possible changes in the behaviour and settlement patterns of Neanderthal groups during MIS 4. Here we report recent data from Abric del Pastor, a small rock shelter in Alcoy (Alicante, Spain) with a stratified deposit containing Middle Palaeolithic remains. We present absolute dates that frame the sequence within MIS 4 and multi-proxy geoarchaeological evidence of in situ anthropogenic fire, including microscopic evidence of in situ combustion residues and thermally altered sediment. We also present archaeostratigraphic evidence of recurrent, functionally diverse, brief human occupation of the rock shelter. Our results suggest that Neanderthals occupied the Central Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula during MIS 4, that these Neanderthals were not undergoing climatic stress and they were habitual fire users.
Josep Vallverdu - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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paleoenvironmental context of Neanderthal occupations in northeastern iberia the small mammal assemblage from abric romani capellades barcelona spain
Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 2018Co-Authors: Monica Fernandezgarcia, Juan Manuel Lopezgarcia, Maria Bennasar, Maria Joana Gabucio, Amelia Bargallo, Gema M Chacon, Palmira Saladie, Josep VallverduAbstract:The Abric Romani site (Capellades, Barcelona, Spain) constitutes a key site for understanding the latest Neanderthal occupations in Western Europe. Here we present a comprehensive systematic and taphonomic analysis of a small-mammal assemblage from Level O of the Abric Romani site, with the aim of reconstructing the paleoecological context in which the Neanderthals lived. The assemblage, which probably dates from a stadial episode between Interstadial 15 and Interstadial 14, contains fifteen small mammal species, including species uncommon for the northeast of Iberia, such as Sciurus vulgaris, Nyctalus lasiopterus and Pipistrellus pipistrellus. Taphonomic studies suggest a predatory origin for the assemblage, probably related to Strix aluco, and paleoecological inferences suggest lower temperatures (−3/−4 °C) and higher rainfall (+70/+170 mm) than at present and a landscape dominated by an open forest with watercourses. The new data improve our knowledge of trends associated with Marine Isotope Stage 3 that affected Neanderthal populations in the Iberian Peninsula, showing that the Neanderthals were well adapted to cooler and wetter conditions across Iberia.
Paloma Vidalmatutano - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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fire and brief human occupations in iberia during mis 4 evidence from abric del pastor alcoy spain
Scientific Reports, 2019Co-Authors: Carolina Mallol, Cristo M. Hernández, Norbert Mercier, Christophe Falgueres, Angel Carrancho, Dan Cabanes, Paloma Vidalmatutano, Rory Connolly, Leopoldo PerezAbstract:There is a relatively low amount of Middle Paleolithic sites in Europe dating to MIS 4. Of the few that exist, several of them lack evidence for anthropogenic fire, raising the question of how this period of global cooling may have affected the Neanderthal population. The Iberian Peninsula is a key area to explore this issue, as it has been considered as a glacial refugium during critical periods of the Neanderthal timeline and might therefore yield archaeological contexts in which we can explore possible changes in the behaviour and settlement patterns of Neanderthal groups during MIS 4. Here we report recent data from Abric del Pastor, a small rock shelter in Alcoy (Alicante, Spain) with a stratified deposit containing Middle Palaeolithic remains. We present absolute dates that frame the sequence within MIS 4 and multi-proxy geoarchaeological evidence of in situ anthropogenic fire, including microscopic evidence of in situ combustion residues and thermally altered sediment. We also present archaeostratigraphic evidence of recurrent, functionally diverse, brief human occupation of the rock shelter. Our results suggest that Neanderthals occupied the Central Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula during MIS 4, that these Neanderthals were not undergoing climatic stress and they were habitual fire users.
