Laura Niven

Early modern human settlement of Europe north of the Alps occurred 43,500 years ago in a cold steppe-type environment

Significance Modern humans dispersed into Europe and replaced Neanderthals at least 40,000 years ago. However, the precise timing and climatic context of this dispersal are heavily debated. Therefore, a new project combining paleoenvironmental and archaeological fieldwork has been undertaken at Willendorf II (Austria), a key site for this time period. This project has concluded that modern humans producing Aurignacian stone tools occupied Central Europe about 43,500 years ago in a medium-cold steppe environment with some boreal trees along valleys. This discovery represents the oldest well-documented occurrence of behaviorally modern humans in Europe and demonstrates contemporaneity with Neanderthals in other parts of Europe, showing that behaviorally modern humans and Neanderthals shared this region longer than previously thought. The first settlement of Europe by modern humans is thought to have occurred between 50,000 and 40,000 calendar years ago (cal B.P.). In Europe, modern human remains of this time period are scarce and often are not associated with archaeology or originate from old excavations with no contextual information. Hence, the behavior of the first modern humans in Europe is still unknown. Aurignacian assemblages—demonstrably made by modern humans—are commonly used as proxies for the presence of fully behaviorally and anatomically modern humans. The site of Willendorf II (Austria) is well known for its Early Upper Paleolithic horizons, which are among the oldest in Europe. However, their age and attribution to the Aurignacian remain an issue of debate. Here, we show that archaeological horizon 3 (AH 3) consists of faunal remains and Early Aurignacian lithic artifacts. By using stratigraphic, paleoenvironmental, and chronological data, AH 3 is ascribed to the onset of Greenland Interstadial 11, around 43,500 cal B.P., and thus is older than any other Aurignacian assemblage. Furthermore, the AH 3 assemblage overlaps with the latest directly radiocarbon-dated Neanderthal remains, suggesting that Neanderthal and modern human presence overlapped in Europe for some millennia, possibly at rather close geographical range. Most importantly, for the first time to our knowledge, we have a high-resolution environmental context for an Early Aurignacian site in Central Europe, demonstrating an early appearance of behaviorally modern humans in a medium-cold steppe-type environment with some boreal trees along valleys around 43,500 cal B.P.

Strontium isotope evidence for migration in late Pleistocene Rangifer: Implications for Neanderthal hunting strategies at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Jonzac, France

In order to understand the behaviours and subsistence choices of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers, it is essential to understand the behavioural ecology of their prey. Here, we present strontium isotope data from sequentially-sampled enamel from three reindeer (Rangifer tarandus ssp.) and a single bison (Bison cf. priscus) from the late Middle Palaeolithic site of Jonzac (Chez-Pinaud), France. The results are used to investigate the ranging and migratory behaviours of these important prey species. We found that the bison had isotope values most consistent with a local range, while the three reindeer had values indicating a seasonal migration pattern. Due to the similarity of the patterning of two of the three reindeer and in conjunction with zooarchaeological results, we suggest that they may have been from the same herd, were likely killed around the same point during their seasonal round and may therefore be the product of a single hunting event or a small number of successive hunting events. The isotope analyses complement the zooarchaeological data and have allowed greater insight into the palaeoecology of these species, the palaeoenvironment, and Neanderthal site use and hunting strategies.

On the Role of Fire in Neandertal Adaptations in Western Europe: Evidence from Pech de l'Azé and Roc de Marsal, France

Though the earliest evidence for the use of fire is a subject of debate, it is clear that by the late Middle Paleolithic, Neandertals in southwest France were able to use fire. The archaeological record of fire use in this place and time is, however, quite patchy. While there are a growing number of sites with impressive evidence for fire use, there are also a much larger number of sites without such evidence. Based primarily on evidence from two recently excavated well-stratified Middle Paleolithic sites, we argue here that taphonomic issues, sampling bias, or site use are not sufficient explanations to account for the relative lack of evidence for fire. Given that modern huntergatherers use fire daily and in a wide variety of circumstances, the prolonged periods of Mousterian occupation without fires, even during some of the harshest conditions of the late Pleistocene, raises significant issues regarding the role of fire during these times. In our view, the evidence suggests that Western European Neandertals were not habitual fire users. One explanation advanced here is that at least some Neandertals, even in the late Middle Paleolithic, lacked the technological skill to make fire on demand, and thus relied on access to natural sources of fire. PaleoAnthropology 2011: 216−242.

New chronology for Ksâr ‘Akil (Lebanon) supports Levantine route of modern human dispersal into Europe

Significance Bayesian modeling of AMS radiocarbon dates on the marine mollusk Phorcus turbinatus from Ksâr ‘Akil (Lebanon) indicates that the earliest presence of Upper Paleolithic (UP) modern humans in the Levant predates 45,900 cal B.P. Similarities in early UP lithic technology and material culture suggest population dispersals between the Levant and Europe around 50,000–40,000 cal B.P. Our data confirm the presence of modern humans carrying a UP toolkit in the Levant prior to any known European modern human fossils and allow rejection of recent claims that European UP modern humans predate those in the Levant. This result, in turn, suggests the Levant served as a corridor for the dispersal of modern humans out of Africa and into Eurasia. Modern human dispersal into Europe is thought to have occurred with the start of the Upper Paleolithic around 50,000–40,000 y ago. The Levantine corridor hypothesis suggests that modern humans from Africa spread into Europe via the Levant. Ksâr ‘Akil (Lebanon), with its deeply stratified Initial (IUP) and Early (EUP) Upper Paleolithic sequence containing modern human remains, has played an important part in the debate. The latest chronology for the site, based on AMS radiocarbon dates of shell ornaments, suggests that the appearance of the Levantine IUP is later than the start of the first Upper Paleolithic in Europe, thus questioning the Levantine corridor hypothesis. Here we report a series of AMS radiocarbon dates on the marine gastropod Phorcus turbinatus associated with modern human remains and IUP and EUP stone tools from Ksâr ‘Akil. Our results, supported by an evaluation of individual sample integrity, place the EUP layer containing the skeleton known as “Egbert” between 43,200 and 42,900 cal B.P. and the IUP-associated modern human maxilla known as “Ethelruda” before ∼45,900 cal B.P. This chronology is in line with those of other Levantine IUP and EUP sites and demonstrates that the presence of modern humans associated with Upper Paleolithic toolkits in the Levant predates all modern human fossils from Europe. The age of the IUP-associated Ethelruda fossil is significant for the spread of modern humans carrying the IUP into Europe and suggests a rapid initial colonization of Europe by our species.

A Diachronic Evaluation of Neanderthal Cervid Exploitation and Site Use at Pech de l’Azé IV, France

Pech de l’Aze IV has long been known for its extensive sequence of Mousterian deposits that span from MIS 5c to the later parts of MIS 3 and incorporate roughly 60,000 years of Neanderthal occupation. Rich stone tool and faunal assemblages were recovered from Bordes’ original excavations of the site as well as a recent campaign of excavations from 2000 to 2003. Presented here are results from a zooarchaeological analysis of faunal remains from the recent excavations, which provide insight on the exploitation of large cervids (red deer and reindeer) by Neanderthals over time. The zooarchaeological results are considered in conjunction with other archaeological data from the site in order to better understand changes in site use and Neanderthal mobility.