Bruno Maureille

Archaeological Evidence for the Emergence of Language, Symbolism, and Music—An Alternative Multidisciplinary Perspective

In recent years, there has been a tendency to correlate the origin of modern culture and language with that of anatomically modern humans. Here we discuss this correlation in the light of results provided by our first hand analysis of ancient and recently discovered relevant archaeological and paleontological material from Africa and Europe. We focus in particular on the evolutionary significance of lithic and bone technology, the emergence of symbolism, Neandertal behavioral patterns, the identification of early mortuary practices, the anatomical evidence for the acquisition of language, the development of conscious symbolic storage, the emergence of musical traditions, and the archaeological evidence for the diversification of languages during the Upper Paleolithic. This critical reappraisal contradicts the hypothesis of a symbolic revolution coinciding with the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Europe some 40,000 years ago, but also highlights inconsistencies in the anatomically–culturally modern equation and the potential contribution of anatomically “pre-modern” human populations to the emergence of these abilities. No firm evidence of conscious symbolic storage and musical traditions are found before the Upper Paleolithic. However, the oldest known European objects that testify to these practices already show a high degree of complexity and geographic variability suggestive of possible earlier, and still unrecorded, phases of development.

Brain development after birth differs between Neanderthals and modern humans

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.

New data on the late Neandertals: direct dating of the Belgian Spy fossils.

In Eurasia, the period between 40,000 and 30,000 BP saw the replacement of Neandertals by anatomically modern humans (AMH) during and after the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. The human fossil record for this period is very poorly defined with no overlap between Neandertals and AMH on the basis of direct dates. Four new (14)C dates were obtained on the two adult Neandertals from Spy (Belgium). The results show that Neandertals survived to at least approximately 36,000 BP in Belgium and that the Spy fossils may be associated to the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician, a transitional techno-complex defined in northwest Europe and recognized in the Spy collections. The new data suggest that hypotheses other than Neandertal acculturation by AMH may be considered in this part of Europe.

Human tooth wear in the past and the present: Tribological mechanisms, scoring systems, dental and skeletal compensations

This review of human tooth wear describes the fundamental mechanisms underlying this process. Using the tribological approach they can be systematised and this in turn aids our understanding of them. In past populations wear was ubiquitous, intense, abrasive and physiological as it was related to their food and their technologies. In these populations, it affected the proximal surfaces, and the occlusal surfaces which modified the occlusal plane profoundly. To categorise this wear many different classification systems are used, from which we can determine diet, cultural changes and the age at death of individuals. They also illustrate the evolution of certain functional dental and skeletal compensations in the masticatory apparatus such as continuous dental eruption, mesial drift of the arches and incisor lingual tipping which can then be monitored. These physiological adaptations related mainly to function and ontogenesis can also be found in present-day populations where wear is moderate, although they are much less obtrusive. Apart from certain pathological cases associated with a specific parafunction, iatrogenic tooth brushing or an eating disorder and encouraged by an acid environment, they are the result of a physiological process that should not be halted. To ensure this, it is essential to prevent lesions related to tooth wear, to detect them early and establish a reliable diagnosis. Types of tooth wear that had remained unchanged since the origin of humanity have undergone profound changes in a very short space of time. Todays tribochemical pathological model has replaced the abrasive physiological model of the past.

Evidence supporting an intentional Neandertal burial at La Chapelle-aux-Saints

Significance For several decades, scholars have questioned the existence of burial in Western Europe prior to the arrival of Anatomically Modern Humans. Therefore, an approach combining a global field recovery and the reexamination of the previously discovered Neandertal remains has been undertaken in the site of La Chapelle-aux-Saints (France), where the hypothesis of a Neandertal burial was raised for the first time. This project has concluded that the Neandertal of La Chapelle-aux-Saints was deposit in a pit dug by other members of its group and protected by a rapid covering from any disturbance. These discoveries attest the existence of West European Neandertal burial and of the Neandertal cognitive capacity to produce it. The bouffia Bonneval at La Chapelle-aux-Saints is well known for the discovery of the first secure Neandertal burial in the early 20th century. However, the intentionality of the burial remains an issue of some debate. Here, we present the results of a 12-y fieldwork project, along with a taphonomic analysis of the human remains, designed to assess the funerary context of the La Chapelle-aux-Saints Neandertal. We have established the anthropogenic nature of the burial pit and underlined the taphonomic evidence of a rapid burial of the body. These multiple lines of evidence support the hypothesis of an intentional burial. Finally, the discovery of skeletal elements belonging to the original La Chapelle aux Saints 1 individual, two additional young individuals, and a second adult in the bouffia Bonneval highlights a more complex site-formation history than previously proposed.

The Spy VI child : A newly discovered Neandertal infant

Spy cave (Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, Belgium) is reputed for the two adult Neandertal individuals discovered in situ in 1886. Recent reassessment of the Spy collections has allowed direct radiocarbon dating of these individuals. The sorting of all of the faunal collections has also led to the discovery of the remains of a Neandertal child, Spy VI. This individual is represented by two mandibular corpus fragments. The left fragment is the most complete and both sides preserve the mental foramen. Four deciduous teeth are associated with these mandibular remains: three incisors and one canine. The lower left canine (Spy 645a) conjoins with the corresponding alveolar socket in the left part of the mandible. Following extant standards, the developmental stage of the preserved teeth indicate an age at death of about one and a half years. In addition to performing a classical morphometric comparative study of the mandible and teeth, we have evaluated the dental tissue proportions using high-resolution microtomographic techniques. Our results show that Spy VI generally falls within the Neandertal range of variation. However, this specimen also exhibits particular traits, notably in the dental internal structural organization, which reveals that variation in the immature Neandertal variation is larger than what was variation currently represented by the available fossil record. These observations demonstrate the need for investigating the frequency and expression of immature Neandertal traits in fossil anterior teeth, as well as their temporal and geographic variation. Direct radiocarbon dating of the Spy VI specimen has been conducted in two different laboratories. The results of Spy VI confirm the age previously determined for the two adults, making the Spy Neandertal remains the youngest ever directly dated in northwest Europe.

The vertebral column of the Regourdou 1 Neandertal.

The Regourdou 1 partial skeleton was found in 1957 in level IV of the eponymous site located in Montignac-sur-Vézère (Dordogne, France) and until now it has been only partially published. The ongoing revision of the faunal remains from the site has yielded additional fossils that pertain to this skeleton. Here we study the vertebral column of this individual, providing for the first time detailed descriptions for all of the fossils and reassessing the anatomical position of all of the fragments. The vertebral column of Regourdou 1 is one of the most complete in the Neandertal fossil record with at least 20 pre-sacral vertebrae (seven cervicals, nine thoracic and four lumbars), a partial sacrum and a fragmentary first coccygeal vertebra. When compared with modern humans, the vertebrae of Regourdou 1 display significant metric differences, and fit well within the range of Neandertal variability. A preliminary analysis of the most complete thoracic vertebrae of this individual indicates that Neandertals displayed significant differences from modern humans in the thoracic spine, which adds to the differences already observed in the cervical and lumbar regions. Finally, we have also observed mild signs of osteoarthrosis, albeit to a lower degree of that present in other Neandertals such as La Chapelle-aux-Saints, La Ferrassie 1 or Shanidar 3. This is consistent with the younger adult age for Regourdou 1.

Human remains from a new Upper Pleistocene sequence in Bondi Cave (Western Georgia)

A new sequence containing human remains from a previously unstudied cave, Bondi Cave, has been discovered in Georgia, with deposits dating to the Caucasian Upper Pleistocene. This site lies in the basin of Rioni-Kvirila Rivers, in the Imereti region of north-western Georgia. The site has yielded a long sequence with human occupations dated from~39 ka14C (uncalibrated) and thus covers the time span of the Middle Palaeolithic (MP)-Upper Palaeolithic (UP) transition in the region. Changes in the techno- logical features between the lower and upper part of the sequence indicate that Bondi Cave could potentially highlight the tempo and mode of the population replacement. Indeed, recent studies in the southern Caucasus (notably at Ortvale Klde, Western Georgia) suggest a very rapid occupation by modern humans replacing existing Neanderthal populations (Adler, 2002; Meshveliani et al., 2004; Bar-Yosef et al., 2006; Adler et al., 2008). The rich UP levels at the upper and middle parts of the new sequence offer data on modern human subsistence and technological behaviors, and on the humans who occupied this cave, as a human tooth has also been discovered in this part of the sequence.

The mesosternum of the Regourdou 1 Neandertal revisited.

Fossil hominin mesosterna, while scarce, can provide useful morphological data in addition to rib remains regarding aspects of thoracic size and shape. These data, in turn, can address hypotheses related to respiratory dynamics, climatic adaptation, and ecogeographical patterning. In this study, we re-evaluate the anatomical representation of the mesosternum of the Regourdou 1 Neandertal individual that alters key aspects of the original description of the fossil remains. We compare this specimen together with the mesosterna of the Kebara 2 Neandertal male individual and the Tabun C1 Neandertal female individual to a large extant modern sample. Our study shows that the current evidence available for Neandertals indicates longer mesosterna, reflecting larger thorax sizes among Neandertals, in comparison with extant humans. Additionally, while this study weakens previous suggestions of ecogeographically mediated differences in the size and shape of upper thorax between Neandertals from the Mediterranean Levant and those deriving from Western Europe, we cannot unambiguously disprove the notion of such clinal differences.

Des nouveaux vestiges néanderthaliens à Las Pélénos (Monsempron-Libos, Lot-et-Garonne, France)

RésuméLe site de Las Pélénos (Monsempron-Libos, Lotet-Garonne) a été fouillé en 1950 par L. Coulonges puis à plusieurs reprises entre 1974 et 2008 par l’un d’entre nous (A.Q.), parallèlement à des travaux d’entretien. Dix vestiges néanderthaliens ont été découverts dans le niveau moustérien lors des fouilles de L. Coulonges. Depuis 1995, 4 autres vestiges humains ont été mis au jour, pour partie hors contexte stratigraphique : deux dents et deux éléments de voûte crânienne. Ils sont supposés provenir également du niveau moustérien reconnu lors des fouilles de L. Coulonges et la question de leur identité phylogénétique est posée. Ces pièces ont donc fait l’objet d’une étude morpho-métrique afin de fournir une réponse. L’analyse des traits morphologiques observés sur ces quatre pièces ne laisse pas de doute quant à leur appartenance aux Néanderthaliens. Les données métriques, sans être spécifiques, s’intègrent dans la variabilité connue de la population.AbstractThe Las Pélénos site was excavated in 1950 by L. Coulonges, then several times between 1974 and 2008 by one of our team (A.Q.). During Coulonges’ excavations, ten Neanderthal remains were discovered in the Mousterian layer. Since 1995, four other human remains have been unearthed, partly outside their stratigraphic context. These remains include two teeth and two cranial vault pieces. They are thought to come from the Mousterian context found during the Coulonges dig, but their phylogenetic identity has yet to be confirmed. A comparative morphometric study was therefore made. Our analysis of a number of their morphological traits indicates that the specimens are undoubtedly Neanderthal remains. The metric data, although nonspecific, are within the known range of variability of the Neanderthal population.