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1
Teixeira, João C., and Alan Cooper. "Using hominin introgression to trace modern human dispersals." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116, no. 31 (2019): 15327–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1904824116.
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The dispersal of anatomically modern human populations out of Africa and across much of the rest of the world around 55 to 50 thousand years before present (ka) is recorded genetically by the multiple hominin groups they met and interbred with along the way, including the Neandertals and Denisovans. The signatures of these introgression events remain preserved in the genomes of modern-day populations, and provide a powerful record of the sequence and timing of these early migrations, with Asia proving a particularly complex area. At least 3 different hominin groups appear to have been involved in Asia, of which only the Denisovans are currently known. Several interbreeding events are inferred to have taken place east of Wallace’s Line, consistent with archaeological evidence of widespread and early hominin presence in the area. However, archaeological and fossil evidence indicates archaic hominins had not spread as far as the Sahul continent (New Guinea, Australia, and Tasmania), where recent genetic evidence remains enigmatic.
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Matsu’ura, Shuji, Megumi Kondo, Tohru Danhara, et al. "Age control of the first appearance datum for JavaneseHomo erectusin the Sangiran area." Science 367, no. 6474 (2020): 210–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aau8556.
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The chronology of the World Heritage Site of Sangiran in Indonesia is crucial for the understanding of human dispersals and settlement in Asia in the Early Pleistocene (before 780,000 years ago). It has been controversial, however, especially regarding the timing of the earliest hominin migration into the Sangiran region. We use a method of combining fission-track and uranium-lead dating and present key ages to calibrate the lower (older) Sangiran hominin-bearing horizons. We conclude that the first appearance datum for the Sangiran hominins is most likely ~1.3 million years ago and less than 1.5 million years ago, which is markedly later than the dates that have been widely accepted for the past two decades.
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Guo, Xiaoqi, Xuefeng Sun, Huayu Lu, Shejiang Wang, and Chengqiu Lu. "Early Hominin Dispersal across the Qinling Mountains, China, during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition." Land 12, no. 10 (2023): 1882. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land12101882.
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The Qinling Mountain Range (QMR), where more than 500 hominin fossils and Paleolithic sites have been preserved, was a major center of hominin evolution and settlement and an important link for the hominin migration and dispersal between the north and the south during the Pleistocene in China. The rich culture remains and the related data make it possible and meaningful to study the characteristics and mechanisms of hominin occupation and dispersal in the region. This paper has summarized and analyzed the geographical distributions and chronologies of 55 dated hominin fossils and Paleolithic sites in the QMR to date. By combining them with the evidence from the loess–paleosol sequence, a relatively continuous and chronological sequence of hominin occupation and dispersal has been established, in which we have identified five stages, viz. ~before 1.2 Ma, the sporadic occurrence stage of early hominin occupation; ~1.2–0.7 Ma, the initial expansion stage; ~0.7–0.3 Ma, the stability and maintenance stage; ~0.3–0.05 Ma, the large-scale expansion stage; ~0.05–0.01 Ma, the sharp decline stage of the record of hominin occupation. We conclude that the environmental and ecosystem changes associated with the MPT drove early hominins to disperse southwards across the QMR. In addition, the evidence suggests that the hominin occupation and dispersal here was broadly continuous during both glacial and interglacial scales from early to late Pleistocene, and that the southern QMR provided a glacial refuge.
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Qin, Zhenyu, and Xuefeng Sun. "Glacial–Interglacial Cycles and Early Human Evolution in China." Land 12, no. 9 (2023): 1683. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land12091683.
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China is a crucial region for investigating the relationship between climate change and hominin evolution across diverse terrestrial ecosystems. With the continuous development of palaeoclimatology, chronology, and archaeology, the environmental and hominin record of the Early and Middle Pleistocene in China is steadily accumulating, shedding light on the effects of climate change on the distribution of early human settlements and population dynamics. However, the migration and dispersal of these early humans within long-term climate fluctuations and their underlying mechanisms remain to be clarified. Based on the spatial-temporal distribution of 95 Early to Middle Pleistocene archaeological sites in China, we found that intensified hominin activities gradually shifted southward under the influence of multiple glacial–interglacial cycles. The frequent bidirectional movements of these early humans between north and south were assumed as follows. During glacial periods, hominins living in North China migrated to southern areas, while inter-glacial periods witnessed the northward expansion of hominins inhabiting South China. Among all the potential driving mechanisms, we suggest that the available resources in terrestrial ecosystems may be the most fundamental factor. Combined with paleoenvironmental and archaeological records, we provide an Asian perspective for a better understanding of how the glacial–interglacial cycles shaped early human evolution.
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Stewart, Mathew, Richard Clark-Wilson, Paul S. Breeze, et al. "Human footprints provide snapshot of last interglacial ecology in the Arabian interior." Science Advances 6, no. 38 (2020): eaba8940. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba8940.
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The nature of human dispersals out of Africa has remained elusive because of the poor resolution of paleoecological data in direct association with remains of the earliest non-African people. Here, we report hominin and non-hominin mammalian tracks from an ancient lake deposit in the Arabian Peninsula, dated within the last interglacial. The findings, it is argued, likely represent the oldest securely dated evidence for Homo sapiens in Arabia. The paleoecological evidence indicates a well-watered semi-arid grassland setting during human movements into the Nefud Desert of Saudi Arabia. We conclude that visitation to the lake was transient, likely serving as a place to drink and to forage, and that late Pleistocene human and mammalian migrations and landscape use patterns in Arabia were inexorably linked.
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Bicho, Nuno. "Unravelling human migrations: DISPERSALS Project sheds light on early Homo sapiens' journey." Project Repository Journal 19, no. 1 (2024): 18–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.54050/prj1921192.
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Unravelling human migrations: DISPERSALS Project sheds light on early Homo sapiens' journey DISPERSALS will compare the human occupation and ecology between central Mozambique and eastern and southern Africa using a multi-scale approach based on the study of regional diachronic cultural traits. It will reconstruct regional population patterns, followed by comparative quantitative population genetics combined with GIS computational network analyses. The results will then be integrated through agent-based modelling, based on the incremental creation, elimination, or reorientation of network links to simulate a quantitative framework to study the evolution of population dispersal across southern-eastern Africa. The project will be crucial in providing groundbreaking high-resolution archaeological, chronological and paleoenvironmental data. DISPERSALS will deliver a fundamental perspective on the key processes that triggered migrations and dispersals within Africa and out of Africa, ultimately resulting in the human diaspora over the entire planet.
7
Moreno-Mayar, J. Víctor, Lasse Vinner, Peter de Barros Damgaard, et al. "Early human dispersals within the Americas." Science 362, no. 6419 (2018): eaav2621. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aav2621.
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Studies of the peopling of the Americas have focused on the timing and number of initial migrations. Less attention has been paid to the subsequent spread of people within the Americas. We sequenced 15 ancient human genomes spanning from Alaska to Patagonia; six are ≥10,000 years old (up to ~18× coverage). All are most closely related to Native Americans, including those from an Ancient Beringian individual and two morphologically distinct “Paleoamericans.” We found evidence of rapid dispersal and early diversification that included previously unknown groups as people moved south. This resulted in multiple independent, geographically uneven migrations, including one that provides clues of a Late Pleistocene Australasian genetic signal, as well as a later Mesoamerican-related expansion. These led to complex and dynamic population histories from North to South America.
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Kuhn, Steven L. "Was Anatolia a bridge or a barrier to early hominin dispersals?" Quaternary International 223-224 (September 2010): 434–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2009.07.012.
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Tocheri, Matthew W. "Previously unknown human species found in Asia raises questions about early hominin dispersals from Africa." Nature 568, no. 7751 (2019): 176–78. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-01019-7.
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Blanco-Lapaz, Àngel, Àngel H. Luján, Elvan Demirci, and Josep Sanjuan. "Early Pleistocene freshwater fish from Dursunlu (Ilgın Basin, south-western Türkiye): Implications for early hominin dispersals out of Africa." Quaternary Environments and Humans 2, no. 6 (2024): 100029. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.qeh.2024.100029.
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Carter, Tristan, Daniel A. Contreras, Justin Holcomb, et al. "Earliest occupation of the Central Aegean (Naxos), Greece: Implications for hominin and Homo sapiens’ behavior and dispersals." Science Advances 5, no. 10 (2019): eaax0997. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aax0997.
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We present evidence of Middle Pleistocene activity in the central Aegean Basin at the chert extraction and reduction complex of Stelida (Naxos, Greece). Luminescence dating places ~9000 artifacts in a stratigraphic sequence from ~13 to 200 thousand years ago (ka ago). These artifacts include Mousterian products, which arguably provide first evidence for Neanderthals in the region. This dated material attests to a much earlier history of regional exploration than previously believed, opening the possibility of alternative routes into Southeast Europe from Anatolia (and Africa) for (i) hominins, potentially during sea level lowstands (e.g., Marine Isotope Stage 8) permitting terrestrial crossings across the Aegean, and (ii) Homo sapiens of the Early Upper Paleolithic (Aurignacian), conceivably by sea.
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Croitor, Roman. "A Description of Two New Species of the Genus Rucervus (Cervidae, Mammalia) from the Early Pleistocene of Southeast Europe, with Comments on Hominin and South Asian Ruminants Dispersals." Quaternary 1, no. 2 (2018): 17. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/quat1020017.
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The article attests the presence of the genus Rucervus in the paleontological record of Europe and presents the description of new species of large-sized deer Rucervus radulescui sp. nov. from the Early Pleistocene of Valea Grăunceanului (Southern Romania) and Rucervus gigans sp. nov. from the late Early Pleistocene of Apollonia-1 (Greece). The described cervid species represent two different evolutionary radiations of Rucervus that are grouped into the extinct subgenus Arvernoceros that represents the northern evolutionary radiation and the nominotypical subgenus that is regarded as the southern evolutionary radiation and represented today by only one species Rucervus duvaucelii. The evolutionary radiation and dispersals of Rucervus are regarded in the paleobiogeographic context of faunal exchanges between southeastern Europe, Caucasus, and Near East during the Early Pleistocene and the westward dispersal of early hominins in Eurasia.
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Maslin, Mark A., Susanne Shultz, and Martin H. Trauth. "A synthesis of the theories and concepts of early human evolution." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 370, no. 1663 (2015): 20140064. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2014.0064.
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Current evidence suggests that many of the major events in hominin evolution occurred in East Africa. Hence, over the past two decades, there has been intensive work undertaken to understand African palaeoclimate and tectonics in order to put together a coherent picture of how the environment of Africa has varied over the past 10 Myr. A new consensus is emerging that suggests the unusual geology and climate of East Africa created a complex, environmentally very variable setting. This new understanding of East African climate has led to the pulsed climate variability hypothesis that suggests the long-term drying trend in East Africa was punctuated by episodes of short alternating periods of extreme humidity and aridity which may have driven hominin speciation, encephalization and dispersals out of Africa. This hypothesis is unique as it provides a conceptual framework within which other evolutionary theories can be examined: first, at macro-scale comparing phylogenetic gradualism and punctuated equilibrium ; second, at a more focused level of human evolution comparing allopatric speciation , aridity hypothesis , turnover pulse hypothesis , variability selection hypothesis , Red Queen hypothesis and sympatric speciation based on sexual selection. It is proposed that each one of these mechanisms may have been acting on hominins during these short periods of climate variability, which then produce a range of different traits that led to the emergence of new species. In the case of Homo erectus ( sensu lato ), it is not just brain size that changes but life history (shortened inter-birth intervals, delayed development), body size and dimorphism, shoulder morphology to allow thrown projectiles, adaptation to long-distance running, ecological flexibility and social behaviour. The future of evolutionary research should be to create evidence-based meta-narratives, which encompass multiple mechanisms that select for different traits leading ultimately to speciation.
14
Robinson, Mark, Gaspar Morcote-Rios, Francisco Javier Aceituno, Patrick Roberts, Juan Carlos Berrío, and José Iriarte. "‘Moving South’: Late Pleistocene Plant Exploitation and the Importance of Palm in the Colombian Amazon." Quaternary 4, no. 3 (2021): 26. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/quat4030026.
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The role of plants in early human migrations across the globe has received little attention compared to big game hunting. Tropical forests in particular have been seen as a barrier for Late Pleistocene human dispersals due to perceived difficulties in obtaining sufficient subsistence resources. Archaeobotanical data from the Cerro Azul rock outcrop in the Colombian Amazon details Late Pleistocene plant exploitation providing insight into early human subsistence in the tropical forest. The dominance of palm taxa in the assemblage, dating from 12.5 ka BP, allows us to speculate on processes of ecological knowledge transfer and the identification of edible resources in a novel environment. Following the hypothesis of Martin Jones from his 2009 work, “Moving North: archaeobotanical evidence for plant diet in Middle and Upper Paleolithic Europe”, we contend that the instantly recognizable and economically useful palm family (Arecaceae) provided a “gateway” to the unknown resources of the Amazon forest.
15
Hawkins, Stuart, Sue O'Connor, and Shimona Kealy. "Late Quaternary hominin–bat (Chiroptera) interactions in the Asia‐Pacific." Archaeology in Oceania 51, no. 1 (2016): 7–17. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13461107.
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(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) This paper reviews the zooarchaeological and historical evidence of insular bat hunting in the Asia-Pacific, spanning the late Pleistocene to the ethnographic present. A sample of archaeofauna assemblages (n = 18) examined from both cave and open beach archaeological sites reveal a number of issues, which may have obscured archaeological interpretations. These include variability in identification protocols and taphonomic assessment of assemblages between sites and regions. Based on current evidence, it appears that bats were optimal dietary resources in areas where their abundance was concentrated on faunally depauperate islands. Islanders targeted large fruit bats and opportunistically exploited smaller bats either in caves or forest environments using simple technologies, and possibly as early as 74 kya by Homo floresiensis on Flores. Later Neolithic migrations into Remote Oceania during the late Holocene appear to have resulted in the greatest impacts on bat diversity due to hunting and landscape degradation. This pattern of rapid human impact is also likely to reflect differences in biogeography and higher archaeological visibility of colonising sites in Remote Oceania.
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Hawkins, Stuart, Sue O'Connor, and Shimona Kealy. "Late Quaternary hominin–bat (Chiroptera) interactions in the Asia‐Pacific." Archaeology in Oceania 51, no. 1 (2016): 7–17. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13461107.
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(Uploaded by Plazi for the Bat Literature Project) This paper reviews the zooarchaeological and historical evidence of insular bat hunting in the Asia-Pacific, spanning the late Pleistocene to the ethnographic present. A sample of archaeofauna assemblages (n = 18) examined from both cave and open beach archaeological sites reveal a number of issues, which may have obscured archaeological interpretations. These include variability in identification protocols and taphonomic assessment of assemblages between sites and regions. Based on current evidence, it appears that bats were optimal dietary resources in areas where their abundance was concentrated on faunally depauperate islands. Islanders targeted large fruit bats and opportunistically exploited smaller bats either in caves or forest environments using simple technologies, and possibly as early as 74 kya by Homo floresiensis on Flores. Later Neolithic migrations into Remote Oceania during the late Holocene appear to have resulted in the greatest impacts on bat diversity due to hunting and landscape degradation. This pattern of rapid human impact is also likely to reflect differences in biogeography and higher archaeological visibility of colonising sites in Remote Oceania.
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Vislobokova, Innessa A., Alexander K. Agadzhanyan, and Alexey V. Lopatin. "The case of Trlica TRL11–10 (Montenegro): Implications for possible early hominin dispersals into the Balkans in the middle of the Early Pleistocene." Quaternary International 554 (July 2020): 15–35. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2020.06.025.
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Tu, Hua, Lan Luo, Chenglong Deng, et al. "Isochron 26Al/10Be burial dating of the Xiashagou Fauna in the Nihewan Basin, northern China: Implications for biogeography and early hominin dispersals." Quaternary Science Reviews 283 (May 2022): 107447. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107447.
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Pinhasi, Ron. "Neolithic skull shapes and demic diffusion: a bioarchaeological investigation into the nature of the Neolithic transition." Documenta Praehistorica 33 (December 31, 2006): 61–70. http://dx.doi.org/10.4312/dp.33.8.
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There is a growing body of evidence that the spread of farming in Europe was not a single uniform process, but that it involved a complex set of processes such as demic diffusion, folk migration, frontier mobility, and leapfrog colonisation. Archaeogenetic studies, which examine contemporary geographical variations in the frequencies of various genetic markers have not succeeded in addressing the complex Neolithisation process at the required level of spatial and temporal resolution. Moreover, these studies are based on modern populations, and their interpretive genetic maps are often affected by post-Neolithic dispersals, migrations, and population movements in Eurasia. Craniometric studies may provide a solid link between the archaeological analysis of past events and their complex relationship to changes and fluctuations in corresponding morphological and thus biological variations. This paper focuses on the study of craniometric variations between and within Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Pottery Neolithic, and Early Neolithic specimens from the Near East, Anatolia and Europe. It addresses the meaning of the observed multivariate morphometric variations in the context of the spread of farming in Europe.
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Lahr, Marta Mirazón, Robert Foley, Simon Armitage, et al. "DMP III: Pleistocene and Holocene palaeonvironments and prehistoric occupation of Fazzan, Libyan Sahara." Libyan Studies 39 (2008): 263–94. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0263718900010098.
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AbstractThe palaeoanthropological and geomorphological sub-projects of the Desert Migrations Project (DMP) focus on the Pleistocene and early Holocene environment and prehistory of Fazzan so as to assess the timing and extent of hominin and human movement across the Sahara through time. This paper reports on the findings of the 2008 field season, with a focus on the prehistoric evidence along the northern margin of the Ubari sand sea.The geomorphological record of the area preserves evidence of at least five past episodes of lake formation. The exact chronology of these, as well as the spatial extent of these lakes, remains the focus of further study.The archaeological record of hominin and human occupation of Fazzan prior to the establishment of the Garamantian civilisation is extraordinarily rich. Between 2007 and 2008, the DMP palaeoanthropological project surveyed thirty-five localities along the northern margin of the Ubari sand sea, recording a range of assemblages spanning all Palaeolithic industries. Most of the archaeological remains found consisted of stone-tools, while grinding stones were comparatively restricted geographically. Mode 1/Oldowan tools were found at two localities, contrasting with the widespread presence of Mode 2/Acheulean, Mode 3/Middle Stone Age and Mode 5/microlithic artefacts. This indicates that, although hominin presence in the area is probably earlier than previously thought, populations were comparatively sparse until the Middle Pleistocene. Twenty-one localities within the Ubari sand sea, as well as seven south of the Messak Settafet were also surveyed between 2007 and 2008. The detailed study of the lithics from these areas will be carried out next year, but preliminary results stress the different nature of the assemblages found within interdune corridors — very low frequency of cores, no Mode 1 and extremely rare Mode 2 lithics (found at a single locality).The 2009 field season will focus on obtaining further samples of palaeolake sediments for dating, on the evidence of Mode 1 assemblages south of the Messak, as well as on the refining of the archaeological indicators that may distinguish the different phases of hominin and human occupation of Fazzan during the Later Pleistocene and Holocene.
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Suleimanov, R. H. "A.P. Derevianko’s Multivolume Three Global Human Migrations in Eurasia and Its Place in Paleolithic Studies." Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 51, no. 3 (2023): 3–8. http://dx.doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.3.003-008.
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Academician A.P. Derevianko’s longterm studies are summarized in the fi rst four volumes of his monograph on three global human migrations in Eurasia. The routes whereby early humans dispersed from Africa and eventually spread over nearly entire Eurasia are reconstructed, and numerous empirical and theoretical problems stemming from these reconstructions are convincingly resolved. Derevianko headed the excavations of Paleolithic sites scattered across vast territories of Asia. Especially important are the discoveries in the Altai. This work has raised a number of questions of key importance, for which no universally accepted answers have been given so far. Based on the hominin fossil record and having critically examined the principal hypotheses and proposals concerning both biological and cultural aspects of human evolution, A.P. Derevianko has come up with his own theory of the origin of the genus Homo, originating from Australopithecines. Some groups of the latter are believed to have been mentally predisposed for developing cumulative knowledge relating to lithic technologies and other aspects of culture. One of these aspects is the behavior relating to the interment of the dead—the fi rst specifi cally human cultural trait, documented since the fi nal Acheulean. Human migrations involve a plexus of issues: properties of the raw material affecting lithic industries, and the extreme environmental variability peculiar to the largest continent. Despite the exponential growth of publications addressing human evolution, Derevianko’s conclusions, both empirical and theoretical, outlined in the fi rst volumes of his summarizing work, retain a key importance.
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Masojć, Mirosław, Ju Yong Kim, Joanna Krupa-Kurzynowska, et al. "The oldest Homo erectus buried lithic horizon from the Eastern Saharan Africa. EDAR 7 - an Acheulean assemblage with Kombewa method from the Eastern Desert, Sudan." PLOS ONE 16, no. 3 (2021): e0248279. http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0248279.
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Although essential for reconstructing hominin behaviour during the Early Palaeolithic, only a handful of Acheulean sites have been dated in the Eastern Sahara region. This is due to the scarcity of sites for this time period and the lack of datable material. However, recent excavations in the Atbara region (Sudan) have provided unique opportunities to analyse and date Acheulean stone tools. We report here on EDAR 7, part of a cluster of Acheulean and Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites that were recently discovered in the Eastern Desert Atbara River (EDAR) region, located in the Eastern Desert (Sudan) far from the Nile valley. At EDAR 7, a 3.5 metre sedimentary sequence was excavated, allowing an Acheulean assemblage to be investigated using a combination of sedimentology, stone tool studies and optically stimulated luminescence dating (OSL). The site has delivered a complete Acheulean knapping chaine opératoire, providing new information about the Saharan Acheulean. The EDAR 7 site is interpreted as a remnant of a campsite based on the co-occurrence of two reduction modes: one geared towards the production of Large Cutting Tools (LCTs), and the other based on the flaking of small debitage and production of flake tools. Particularly notable in the EDAR 7 assemblage is the abundance of cleavers, most of which display evidence of flake production. Implementation of giant Kombewa flakes was also observed. A geometric morphometric analysis of hand-axes was conducted to verify a possible Late Acheulean assemblage standardisation in the Nubian Sahara. In addition, the analysis of micro-traces and wear on the artefacts has provided information on the use history of the Acheulean stone tools. Sediment analyses and OSL dating show that the EDAR 7 sequence contains the oldest Acheulean encampment remains in the Eastern Sahara, dated to the MIS 11 or earlier. This confirms that Homo erectus occupied the EDAR region during Middle Pleistocene humid periods, and demonstrates that habitable corridors existed between the Ethiopian Highlands, the Nile and the Red Sea coast, allowing population dispersals across the continent and out of it.
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Konidaris, George E., Dimitris S. Kostopoulos, Matteo Maron, et al. "Dating of the Lower Pleistocene Vertebrate Site of Tsiotra Vryssi (Mygdonia Basin, Greece): Biochronology, Magnetostratigraphy, and Cosmogenic Radionuclides." Quaternary 4, no. 1 (2021): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/quat4010001.
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Background and scope: The late Villafranchian large mammal age (~2.0–1.2 Ma) of the Early Pleistocene is a crucial interval of time for mammal/hominin migrations and faunal turnovers in western Eurasia. However, an accurate chronological framework for the Balkans and adjacent territories is still missing, preventing pan-European biogeographic correlations and schemes. In this article, we report the first detailed chronological scheme for the late Villafranchian of southeastern Europe through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary dating approach (biochronology, magnetostratigraphy, and cosmogenic radionuclides) of the recently discovered Lower Pleistocene vertebrate site Tsiotra Vryssi (TSR) in the Mygdonia Basin, Greece. Results: The minimum burial ages (1.88 ± 0.16 Ma, 2.10 ± 0.18 Ma, and 1.98 ± 0.18 Ma) provided by the method of cosmogenic radionuclides indicate that the normal magnetic polarity identified below the fossiliferous layer correlates to the Olduvai subchron (1.95–1.78 Ma; C2n). Therefore, an age younger than 1.78 Ma is indicated for the fossiliferous layer, which was deposited during reverse polarity chron C1r. These results are in agreement with the biochronological data, which further point to an upper age limit at ~1.5 Ma. Overall, an age between 1.78 and ~1.5 Ma (i.e., within the first part of the late Villafranchian) is proposed for the TSR fauna. Conclusions: Our results not only provide age constraints for the local mammal faunal succession, thus allowing for a better understanding of faunal changes within the same sedimentary basin, but also contribute to improving correlations on a broader scale, leading to more accurate biogeographic, palaeoecological, and taphonomic interpretations.
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Konidaris, George E., Dimitris S. Kostopoulos, Matteo Maron, et al. "Dating of the Lower Pleistocene Vertebrate Site of Tsiotra Vryssi (Mygdonia Basin, Greece): Biochronology, Magnetostratigraphy, and Cosmogenic Radionuclides." Quaternary 4, no. 1 (2021): 1. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/quat4010001.
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Background and scope: The late Villafranchian large mammal age (~2.0–1.2 Ma) of the Early Pleistocene is a crucial interval of time for mammal/hominin migrations and faunal turnovers in western Eurasia. However, an accurate chronological framework for the Balkans and adjacent territories is still missing, preventing pan-European biogeographic correlations and schemes. In this article, we report the first detailed chronological scheme for the late Villafranchian of southeastern Europe through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary dating approach (biochronology, magnetostratigraphy, and cosmogenic radionuclides) of the recently discovered Lower Pleistocene vertebrate site Tsiotra Vryssi (TSR) in the Mygdonia Basin, Greece. Results: The minimum burial ages (1.88 ± 0.16 Ma, 2.10 ± 0.18 Ma, and 1.98 ± 0.18 Ma) provided by the method of cosmogenic radionuclides indicate that the normal magnetic polarity identified below the fossiliferous layer correlates to the Olduvai subchron (1.95–1.78 Ma; C2n). Therefore, an age younger than 1.78 Ma is indicated for the fossiliferous layer, which was deposited during reverse polarity chron C1r. These results are in agreement with the biochronological data, which further point to an upper age limit at ~1.5 Ma. Overall, an age between 1.78 and ~1.5 Ma (i.e., within the first part of the late Villafranchian) is proposed for the TSR fauna. Conclusions: Our results not only provide age constraints for the local mammal faunal succession, thus allowing for a better understanding of faunal changes within the same sedimentary basin, but also contribute to improving correlations on a broader scale, leading to more accurate biogeographic, palaeoecological, and taphonomic interpretations.
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Lahr, Marta Mirazón, Robert Foley, Federica Crivellaro, et al. "DMP XIV: Prehistoric sites in the Wadi Barjuj, Fazzan, Libyan Sahara." Libyan Studies 42 (2011): 117–38. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0263718900004866.
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AbstractThis paper reports on the fifth season of fieldwork for the Palaeoanthropology part of the Desert Migrations Project. Previous seasons established an extensive archaeological map based on a wide survey of the rich record along the edges of the Ubari Sand Sea, a small area of the Messak Settafet, the Wadi al-Ajal, the Wadi ash-Shati and the Wadi Barjuj. These surveys, complemented with small excavations, demonstrated a deep prehistory to the Fazzan, with Mode 1 technologies, Acheulean, Mode 3 (classic Levallois, large blade technologies, and Aterian), and Late Stone Age and Neolithic assemblages, some with pottery and grinding stones. The focus of the 2011 season was the Wadi Barjuj. This is an extensive wadi system to the South of the Messak, running along the northern edge of the Murzuq Sand Sea, and draining towards the east. Geomorphologically, it comprises old channel cut and fill gravels, usually finely graded, with areas of ancient lacustrine duricrusts, some of which are elevated significantly above the landscape. Surveys, complementing those of 2008, revealed a particularly rich and extensive Holocene series of sites, with microliths, pottery and grinding stones. These sites indicate a dense early Holocene occupation which seems associated with both hunter-gatherers and pastoralists. In addition, there was a low frequency of MSA lithics (compared to other survey areas), although one extremely rich site (BJJ4) had a very large number of water-worn, highly diagnostic small bifaces, characteristics of some Africa MSA traditions. Acheulean was relatively rare. One restricted locality (BJJ6) provided further evidence for a Mode 1 presence in the region, similar to that reported earlier from the Messak and Wadi ash-Shati (Mirazón Lahr et al. 2009, 2010). The context for the finds suggests that at various points during the Pleistocene the Wadi Barjuj was a low lying, swampy and/or lacustrine region, possibly riverine at times, and attractive to hominin populations because of its relatively rich resource base. This paper describes the localities and finds underpinning these conclusions.
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Hallett, Emily Y., Michela Leonardi, Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni, et al. "Major expansion in the human niche preceded out of Africa dispersal." Nature, June 18, 2025. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09154-0.
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Abstract All contemporary Eurasians trace most of their ancestry to a small population that dispersed out of Africa about 50,000 years ago (ka)1–9. By contrast, fossil evidence attests to earlier migrations out of Africa10–15. These lines of evidence can only be reconciled if early dispersals made little to no genetic contribution to the later, major wave. A key question therefore concerns what factors facilitated the successful later dispersal that led to long-term settlement beyond Africa. Here we show that a notable expansion in human niche breadth within Africa precedes this later dispersal. We assembled a pan-African database of chronometrically dated archaeological sites and used species distribution models (SDMs) to quantify changes in the bioclimatic niche over the past 120,000 years. We found that the human niche began to expand substantially from 70 ka and that this expansion was driven by humans increasing their use of diverse habitat types, from forests to arid deserts. Thus, humans dispersing out of Africa after 50 ka were equipped with a distinctive ecological flexibility among hominins as they encountered climatically challenging habitats, providing a key mechanism for their adaptive success.
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radu, iovita, Vlaicu Marius, Petculescu Alexandru, et al. "Geoarchaeological prospection in the loess steppe: Preliminary results from the Lower Danube Survey for Paleolithic Sites (LoDanS)." Quaternary International, November 17, 2014. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.260003.
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The Danube has long been considered a "highway" for the prehistoric hominin colonization of Europe. However, its role in the two most significant episodes of colonization e the first peopling of Europe in the LowereMiddle Pleistocene, and Late Pleistocene colonization by anatomically modern humans e is presently a matter of hypothesis based on the locations of only a few key archaeological sites. Much of Eastern Europe has a particularly low density of known sites, in part due to the thick loess deposits blanketing the region which provide a challenging environment for archaeological survey. Our project, the Lower Danube Survey (LoDanS), aims to discover new Paleolithic sites and to reassess previously identified sites in the southeastern Romanian loess steppe between the Danube River and the Black Sea. Here we present the preliminary results of our first three seasons (2010e2012) of geoarchaeological survey and excavation in the lower Danube basin. We revisit and reexamine the lithostratigraphic and lithic data available from previously known sites in the region. We also provide new luminescence ages from one of these sites, Cuza Voda!, and confirm its previously proposed Middle Paleolithic antiquity. We describe three newly discovered stratified Paleolithic sites, which together with existing sites confirm occupation of the Romanian loess steppe during the Lower, Middle and Paleolithic. Additional pre- liminary work at a nearby geological loess profile provides valuable paleoenvironmental context for hominin occupation of the region throughout the Pleistocene. Our investigations elucidate strategies and prospects for new site discoveries in open loess steppe landscapes such as those of Eastern Europe.
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Husson, Laurent, Tristan Salles, Anne-Elisabeth Lebatard, et al. "Javanese Homo erectus on the move in SE Asia circa 1.8 Ma." Scientific Reports 12, no. 1 (2022). http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-23206-9.
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AbstractThe migration of Homo erectus in Southeast Asia during Early Pleistocene is cardinal to our comprehension of the evolution of the genus Homo. However, the limited consideration of the rapidly changing physical environment, together with controversial datings of hominin bearing sites, make it challenging to secure the robust timeline needed to unveil the behavior of early humans. Here, we reappraise the first appearance datum of Javanese H. erectus by adding the most reliable age constraints based on cosmogenic nuclides $$^{10}$$ 10 Be and $$^{26}$$ 26 Al produced in situ to a compilation of earlier estimates. We find that H. erectus reached Java and dwelled at Sangiran, Java, ca. 1.8 Ma. Using this age as a baseline, we develop a probabilistic approach to reconstruct their dispersal routes, coupling ecological movement simulations to landscape evolution models forced by reconstructed geodynamic and climatic histories. We demonstrate that the hospitable terra firma conditions of Sundaland facilitated the prior dispersal of hominins to the edge of Java, where they conversely could not settle until the Javanese archipelago emerged from the sea and connected to Sundaland. The dispersal of H. erectus across Sundaland occurred over at least tens to hundreds kyr, a time scale over which changes in their physical environment, whether climatic or physiographic, may have become primary forcings on their behavior. Our comprehensive reconstruction method to unravel the peopling timeline of SE Asia provides a novel framework to evaluate the evolution of early humans.
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AGUSTÍ, Jordi, Hugues-Alexandre BLAIN, Marc FURIÓ, et al. "Early Pleistocene hominin dispersals in Eurasia: East-West or North-South? The small vertebrate approach." COMMUNICATION on CONTEMPORARY ANTHROPOLOGY 04, no. 01 (2010). http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/coca.2010.41031.
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Ramírez-Pedraza, Iván, Carlos Tornero, Hassan Aouraghe, et al. "Arid, mosaic environments during the Plio-Pleistocene transition and early hominin dispersals in northern Africa." Nature Communications 15, no. 1 (2024). http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-52672-0.
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Moncel, Marie-Hélène, Pierre Antoine, David Herisson, Jean-Luc Locht, Arnaud Hurel, and Jean-Jacques Bahain. "Were Hominins Specifically Adapted to North-Western European Territories Between 700 and 600 ka? New Insight Into the Acheulean Site of Moulin Quignon (France, Somme Valley)." Frontiers in Earth Science 10 (July 11, 2022). http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.882110.
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Current data seem to suggest that the earliest hominins only occupied the Northwest of Europe during favourable climatic periods, and left the area when the climate was too cold and dry, in the same way as Neandertal and even Homo sapiens. However, several sites in England and the North of France indicate that the earliest hominins, possibly Homo antecessor and/or Homo heidelbergensis, could adapt to cool environments and open grasslands without the use of fire. Recent discoveries of Acheulean lithic assemblages in early glacial fluvial deposits at Moulin Quignon in the Somme Valley in the Northwest of France reveal new knowledge on the earliest occupations in north-western territories and indicate hominins’ capacity to live above the c. 45th N. under a cold climate. The site shows evidence of occupations at the beginning of MIS 16 at around 650–670 ka. These findings bring to the forefront the possible ability, flexibility and resilience of Acheulean hominins at around 700 ka to extend to northern territories during transitional climatic periods (interglacial/glacial events), even if the climate was not fully favourable. Recent fieldwork has changed our interpretation of the timing and characteristics of the earliest Acheulean techno-complexes in Western Europe over a large geographical area, from Northwest Europe to the Mediterranean coast. In Western Europe, the earliest evidence, Moulin Quignon, is now dated to a narrow timeframe, between 700–650 ka, and is the northernmost evidence of biface production. This latter is earlier than British Acheulean records. Based on new findings at Moulin Quignon, we explore whether Acheulean traditions and associated new technological abilities could have facilitated the dispersal of hominins in Western Europe over large territories, regardless of climatic conditions. Changes in behavioural flexibility, and not only phenotypic changes in Homo groups, have to be investigated. Here, we examine the behavioural and technological abilities of hominins in north-western Europe in light of the available environmental data and compare them to those in southern areas between 700 and 600 ka. This event occurred at the end of the “Middle Pleistocene Transition” (MPT), a period marked by cyclical climate changes and vegetation and faunal turnovers (less competition with big carnivores). The extension of the grassland habitat into higher latitudes could have led to the opening and/or closing of migration corridors in these regions, probably favouring hominin expansion depending on tolerance to climate variability.
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Anil, Devara, Monika Devi, Neha Ati, et al. "Diversity of MIS 3 Levallois technology from Motravulapadu, Andhra Pradesh, India‐implications of MIS 3 cultural diversity in South Asia." Frontiers in Earth Science 11 (December 1, 2023). http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/feart.2023.1302419.
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The chronology and hominin association of the South Asian Middle Palaeolithic have attracted much attention in the last few decades. The emergence of Middle Palaeolithic culture in the region has been debated between the local origins (behavioural change) model based on an early date around 380 ka and the diffusion (biological change) model based on Homo sapiens dispersals from Africa around 120–80 ka. The latter has more consensus, whereas the former requires a more robust chronological framework to attribute the emergence of the Middle Palaeolithic to behavioural changes. In the absence of hominin remains, the presence of Middle Palaeolithic technological trajectories are frequently used as behavioural markers of Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens fossil remains from the regions between Africa and South Asia dated to ∼ 200 ka presents more convincing support for the latter model. Here we present contextual, chronological and technological analysis of Middle Palaeolithic assemblages dated to 52 ka from Motravulapadu, Andhra Pradesh, India. Morphometrical analysis of the lithic assemblage indicates diverse Levallois core reductions were practised at the site at the onset of MIS 3. Further this evidence highlights the significance of MIS 3 cultural diversity in South Asia, likely related to changing population dynamics, cultural drift, and the highly variable climatic context of MIS 3.
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Muttoni, Giovanni, and Dennis V. Kent. "Hominin population bottleneck coincided with migration from Africa during the Early Pleistocene ice age transition." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 121, no. 13 (2024). http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2318903121.
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Two recently published analyses make cases for severe bottlenecking of human populations occurring in the late Early Pleistocene, one case at about 0.9 Mya based on a genomic analysis of modern human populations and the low number of hominin sites of this age in Africa and the other at about 1.1 Mya based on an age inventory of sites of hominin presence in Eurasia. Both models point to climate change as the bottleneck trigger, albeit manifested at very different times, and have implications for human migrations as a mechanism to elude extinction at bottlenecking. Here, we assess the climatic and chronologic components of these models and suggest that the several hundred-thousand-year difference is largely an artifact of biases in the chronostratigraphic record of Eurasian hominin sites. We suggest that the best available data are consistent with the Galerian hypothesis expanded from Europe to Eurasia as a major migration pulse of fauna including hominins in the late Early Pleistocene as a consequence of the opening of land routes from Africa facilitated by a large sea level drop associated with the first major ice age of the Pleistocene and concurrent with widespread aridity across Africa that occurred during marine isotope stage 22 at ~0.9 Mya. This timing agrees with the independently dated bottleneck from genomic analysis of modern human populations and allows speculations about the relative roles of climate forcing on the survival of hominins.
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Roberts, Patrick, Katerina Douka, Monica Tromp, et al. "Fossils, fish and tropical forests: prehistoric human adaptations on the island frontiers of Oceania." Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 377, no. 1849 (2022). http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2020.0495.
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Oceania is a key region for studying human dispersals, adaptations and interactions with other hominin populations. Although archaeological evidence now reveals occupation of the region by approximately 65–45 000 years ago, its human fossil record, which has the best potential to provide direct insights into ecological adaptations and population relationships, has remained much more elusive. Here, we apply radiocarbon dating and stable isotope approaches to the earliest human remains so far excavated on the islands of Near and Remote Oceania to explore the chronology and diets of the first preserved human individuals to step across these Pacific frontiers. We demonstrate that the oldest human (or indeed hominin) fossil outside of the mainland New Guinea-Aru area dates to approximately 11 800 years ago. Furthermore, although these early sea-faring populations have been associated with a specialized coastal adaptation, we show that Late Pleistocene–Holocene humans living on islands in the Bismarck Archipelago and in Vanuatu display a persistent reliance on interior tropical forest resources. We argue that local tropical habitats, rather than purely coasts or, later, arriving domesticates, should be emphasized in discussions of human diets and cultural practices from the onset of our species' arrival in this part of the world. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.
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Abood, Steven, and Hiroki Oota. "Human dispersal into East Eurasia: ancient genome insights and the need for research on physiological adaptations." Journal of Physiological Anthropology 44, no. 1 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40101-024-00382-3.
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Abstract Humans have long pondered their genesis. The answer to the great question of where Homo sapiens come from has evolved in conjunction with biotechnologies that have allowed us to more brightly illuminate our distant past. The “Multiregional Evolution” model was once the hegemonic theory of Homo sapiens origins, but in the last 30 years, it has been supplanted by the “Out of Africa” model. Here, we review the major findings that have resulted in this paradigmatic shift. These include hominin brain expansion, classical insight from the mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) regarding the timing of the divergence point between Africans and non-Africans, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) of the Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes. These findings largely bolstered the “Out of Africa” model, although they also revealed a small degree of introgression of the Neanderthal and Denisovan genomes into those of non-African Homo sapiens. We also review paleogenomic studies for which migration route, north or south, early migrants to East Eurasia most likely traversed. Whichever route was taken, the migrants moved to higher latitudes, which necessitated adaptation for lower light conditions, colder clines, and pro-adipogenic mechanisms to counteract food scarcity. Further genetic and epigenetic investigations of these physiological adaptations constitute an integral aspect of the story of human origins and human migration to East Asia.
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Holcomb, Justin Allen, Curtis Runnels, Duncan Howitt-Marshall, and Evangelos Sachperoglou. "New evidence for the Palaeolithic in Attica, Greece." Journal of Lithic Studies 5, no. 1 (2018). http://dx.doi.org/10.2218/jls.2665.
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Despite Greece’s key geographic position between southeast Europe and southwest Asia, and its potential for documenting hominin dispersals, Lower and Middle Palaeolithic sites are rare. This suggests the need for research to identify deposits that may contain Palaeolithic artefacts. Here we describe 165 quartz and quartzite artefacts with Palaeolithic characteristics (based on technical and morphotypological definitions) from a private collection that was made from erosional lag deposits on the southeastern slopes of Mt. Pendeli and the northern edge of the Spata polje (a large karstic depression filled with terra rossas) in northeast Attica. Artefacts of the same type occur in the region of Ano Souli, another karstic depression. These karstic depressions are of interest because they resemble artefact-bearing deposits found at similar features such as Kokkinopilos in Epirus that have provided datable geologic contexts for Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts. Our study suggests that Attica was frequented by hominins in the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic and that Pleistocene deposits in karstic depressions in Attica may preserve datable contexts for documenting early human activity. The lithic collection described here provides a glimpse of the potential of the region, and we recommend continued archaeological efforts in Attica to investigate the likelihood for buried Palaeolithic sites.
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Lombao, Diego, Juan I. Morales, Marina Mosquera, Andreu Ollé, Palmira Saladié, and Josep Vallverdú. "Beyond Large-Shaped Tools: Technological Innovations and Continuities at the Late Early Pleistocene Assemblage of El Barranc de la Boella (Tarragona, Spain)." Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology 7, no. 1 (2024). http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s41982-024-00189-9.
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AbstractThe emergence of the mode 2 technocomplex, traditionally characterized by the development of large cutting tools (LCTs) or standardized large-shaped tools, has also implied a range of new technological behaviours. These include enhanced raw material management, more sophisticated knapping strategies, and transport patterns, among other innovations. Unit II of the localities of La Mina, El Forn, and Pit 1 in El Barranc de la Boella (Tarragona, Spain) — dating back to between 0.99–0.78 million years ago — contains the oldest mode 2 assemblages in the European subcontinent and represents an exceptional opportunity to examine the technological features associated with the appearance of LCTs in Europe and to provide clues to shed light to different hypotheses about their appearance. The presence of functionally diverse but environmentally similar localities enables a study of behavioural flexibility and technological variation, marking a critical contribution to understanding early human technological evolution. Our research focuses on the technological behaviours of hominins in unit II of Pit 1, La Mina, and El Forn at Barranc de la Boella, examining five keys technological aspects such as (1) raw material management, (2) core reduction sequences, (3) reduction intensity, (4) large flake production, and (5) the spatiotemporal integrity of reduction sequences. We compare these behaviours with those observed in mode 1 (~ 1.8–0.9 Ma) and early Middle Pleistocene (~ 0.78–0.6 Ma) assemblages across western Europe. Our findings reveal significant advancements and anticipatory behaviours at El Barranc de la Boella, such as the use of procedural templates for core reduction strategies and the production of large-shaped tools governed by principles of gestural economy, and also the existence of different reduction sequences in different raw materials according to specific purposes. The technological behaviours observed at El Barranc de la Boella seem to be more indicative of population dispersals rather than local evolutionary developments from mode 1 technologies. The non-linear evolution of core knapping strategies, along with the variability in large-shaped tool types, suggests multiple waves of hominin dispersals into Europe during this crucial period. We propose that El Barranc de la Boella may represent an early dispersal of the Acheulean from Africa around 1.4 million years ago, potentially connected to assemblages such as ‘Ubeidiya. This study underscores the complexity of lithic technology during this period and contributes significantly to our understanding of the complex emergence and adoption of new technological behaviours in European early mode 2 assemblages, extending beyond the mere appearance of LCTs.
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Tobler, Raymond, Yassine Souilmi, Christian D. Huber, et al. "The role of genetic selection and climatic factors in the dispersal of anatomically modern humans out of Africa." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 120, no. 22 (2023). http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2213061120.
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The evolutionarily recent dispersal of anatomically modern humans (AMH) out of Africa (OoA) and across Eurasia provides a unique opportunity to examine the impacts of genetic selection as humans adapted to multiple new environments. Analysis of ancient Eurasian genomic datasets (~1,000 to 45,000 y old) reveals signatures of strong selection, including at least 57 hard sweeps after the initial AMH movement OoA, which have been obscured in modern populations by extensive admixture during the Holocene. The spatiotemporal patterns of these hard sweeps provide a means to reconstruct early AMH population dispersals OoA. We identify a previously unsuspected extended period of genetic adaptation lasting ~30,000 y, potentially in the Arabian Peninsula area, prior to a major Neandertal genetic introgression and subsequent rapid dispersal across Eurasia as far as Australia. Consistent functional targets of selection initiated during this period, which we term the Arabian Standstill, include loci involved in the regulation of fat storage, neural development, skin physiology, and cilia function. Similar adaptive signatures are also evident in introgressed archaic hominin loci and modern Arctic human groups, and we suggest that this signal represents selection for cold adaptation. Surprisingly, many of the candidate selected loci across these groups appear to directly interact and coordinately regulate biological processes, with a number associated with major modern diseases including the ciliopathies, metabolic syndrome, and neurodegenerative disorders. This expands the potential for ancestral human adaptation to directly impact modern diseases, providing a platform for evolutionary medicine.
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Croitor, Roman, Chris Robinson, Sabrina Curran, et al. "Early pleistocene ruminants (Artiodactyla, Mammalia) from the Dacian Basin (South Romania) before and after the Pachycrocuta event: implications for hominin dispersals in Western Eurasia." Historical Biology, March 2, 2023, 1–49. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2023.2167602.
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Laurent, Romain, Zachary Alfano Szpiech, Sergio S. da Costa, et al. "A genetic and linguistic analysis of the admixture histories of the islands of Cabo Verde." eLife 12 (April 25, 2023). http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/elife.79827.
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From the 15th to the 19th century, the Trans-Atlantic Slave-Trade (TAST) influenced the genetic and cultural diversity of numerous populations. We explore genomic and linguistic data from the nine islands of Cabo Verde, the earliest European colony of the era in Africa, a major Slave-Trade platform between the 16th and 19th centuries, and a previously uninhabited location ideal for investigating early admixture events between Europeans and Africans. Using local-ancestry inference approaches, we find that genetic admixture in Cabo Verde occurred primarily between Iberian and certain Senegambian populations, although forced and voluntary migrations to the archipelago involved numerous other populations. Inter-individual genetic and linguistic variation recapitulates the geographic distribution of individuals' birth-places across Cabo Verdean islands, following an isolation-by-distance model with reduced genetic and linguistic effective dispersals within the archipelago, and suggesting that Kriolu language variants have developed together with genetic divergences at very reduced geographical scales. Furthermore, based on approximate bayesian computation inferences of highly complex admixture histories, we find that admixture occurred early on each island, long before the 18th-century massive TAST deportations triggered by the expansion of the plantation economy in Africa and the Americas, and after this era mostly during the abolition of the TAST and of slavery in European colonial empires. Our results illustrate how shifting socio-cultural relationships between enslaved and non-enslaved communities during and after the TAST, shaped enslaved-African descendants’ genomic diversity and structure on both sides of the Atlantic.
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Konidaris, George E., Dimitris S. Kostopoulos, Matteo Maron, et al. "Dating of the Lower Pleistocene Vertebrate Site of Tsiotra Vryssi (Mygdonia Basin, Greece): Biochronology, Magnetostratigraphy, and Cosmogenic Radionuclides." Quaternary 4, no. 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/quat4010001.
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Background and scope: The late Villafranchian large mammal age (~2.0–1.2 Ma) of the Early Pleistocene is a crucial interval of time for mammal/hominin migrations and faunal turnovers in western Eurasia. However, an accurate chronological framework for the Balkans and adjacent territories is still missing, preventing pan-European biogeographic correlations and schemes. In this article, we report the first detailed chronological scheme for the late Villafranchian of southeastern Europe through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary dating approach (biochronology, magnetostratigraphy, and cosmogenic radionuclides) of the recently discovered Lower Pleistocene vertebrate site Tsiotra Vryssi (TSR) in the Mygdonia Basin, Greece. Results: The minimum burial ages (1.88 ± 0.16 Ma, 2.10 ± 0.18 Ma, and 1.98 ± 0.18 Ma) provided by the method of cosmogenic radionuclides indicate that the normal magnetic polarity identified below the fossiliferous layer correlates to the Olduvai subchron (1.95–1.78 Ma; C2n). Therefore, an age younger than 1.78 Ma is indicated for the fossiliferous layer, which was deposited during reverse polarity chron C1r. These results are in agreement with the biochronological data, which further point to an upper age limit at ~1.5 Ma. Overall, an age between 1.78 and ~1.5 Ma (i.e., within the first part of the late Villafranchian) is proposed for the TSR fauna. Conclusions: Our results not only provide age constraints for the local mammal faunal succession, thus allowing for a better understanding of faunal changes within the same sedimentary basin, but also contribute to improving correlations on a broader scale, leading to more accurate biogeographic, palaeoecological, and taphonomic interpretations.
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Konidaris, George E., Dimitris S. Kostopoulos, Matteo Maron, et al. "Dating of the Lower Pleistocene Vertebrate Site of Tsiotra Vryssi (Mygdonia Basin, Greece): Biochronology, Magnetostratigraphy, and Cosmogenic Radionuclides." Quaternary 4, no. 1 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3390/quat5020021.
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Background and scope: The late Villafranchian large mammal age (~2.0–1.2 Ma) of the Early Pleistocene is a crucial interval of time for mammal/hominin migrations and faunal turnovers in western Eurasia. However, an accurate chronological framework for the Balkans and adjacent territories is still missing, preventing pan-European biogeographic correlations and schemes. In this article, we report the first detailed chronological scheme for the late Villafranchian of southeastern Europe through a comprehensive and multidisciplinary dating approach (biochronology, magnetostratigraphy, and cosmogenic radionuclides) of the recently discovered Lower Pleistocene vertebrate site Tsiotra Vryssi (TSR) in the Mygdonia Basin, Greece. Results: The minimum burial ages (1.88 ± 0.16 Ma, 2.10 ± 0.18 Ma, and 1.98 ± 0.18 Ma) provided by the method of cosmogenic radionuclides indicate that the normal magnetic polarity identified below the fossiliferous layer correlates to the Olduvai subchron (1.95–1.78 Ma; C2n). Therefore, an age younger than 1.78 Ma is indicated for the fossiliferous layer, which was deposited during reverse polarity chron C1r. These results are in agreement with the biochronological data, which further point to an upper age limit at ~1.5 Ma. Overall, an age between 1.78 and ~1.5 Ma (i.e., within the first part of the late Villafranchian) is proposed for the TSR fauna. Conclusions: Our results not only provide age constraints for the local mammal faunal succession, thus allowing for a better understanding of faunal changes within the same sedimentary basin, but also contribute to improving correlations on a broader scale, leading to more accurate biogeographic, palaeoecological, and taphonomic interpretations.