Paul Mellars

A new radiocarbon revolution and the dispersal of modern humans in Eurasia

Radiocarbon dating has been fundamental to the study of human cultural and biological development over the past 50,000 yr. Two recent developments in the methodology of radiocarbon dating show that the speed of colonization of Europe by modern human populations was more rapid than previously believed, and that their period of coexistence with the preceding Neanderthal was shorter.

Neanderthals and the modern human colonization of Europe.

The fate of the Neanderthal populations of Europe and western Asia has gripped the popular and scientific imaginations for the past century. Following at least 200,000 years of successful adaptation to the glacial climates of northwestern Eurasia, they disappeared abruptly between 30,000 and 40,000 years ago, to be replaced by populations all but identical to modern humans. Recent research suggests that the roots of this dramatic population replacement can be traced far back to events on another continent, with the appearance of distinctively modern human remains and artefacts in eastern and southern Africa.

Genetic and archaeological perspectives on the initial modern human colonization of southern Asia

It has been argued recently that the initial dispersal of anatomically modern humans from Africa to southern Asia occurred before the volcanic “supereruption” of the Mount Toba volcano (Sumatra) at ∼74,000 y before present (B.P.)—possibly as early as 120,000 y B.P. We show here that this “pre-Toba” dispersal model is in serious conflict with both the most recent genetic evidence from both Africa and Asia and the archaeological evidence from South Asian sites. We present an alternative model based on a combination of genetic analyses and recent archaeological evidence from South Asia and Africa. These data support a coastally oriented dispersal of modern humans from eastern Africa to southern Asia ∼60–50 thousand years ago (ka). This was associated with distinctively African microlithic and “backed-segment” technologies analogous to the African “Howiesons Poort” and related technologies, together with a range of distinctively “modern” cultural and symbolic features (highly shaped bone tools, personal ornaments, abstract artistic motifs, microblade technology, etc.), similar to those that accompanied the replacement of “archaic” Neanderthal by anatomically modern human populations in other regions of western Eurasia at a broadly similar date.

Cognitive Changes and the Emergence of Modern Humans in Europe

Explicitly symbolic behaviour is usually seen as the hallmark of the behavioural transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. It is suggested here that this new symbolic component is reflected not only in art and personal ornamentation, but also in the design and form of stone tools, and perhaps also in features such as the organization of living structures. All these new features could be argued to reflect the emergence of typically Upper Palaeolithic ‘culture’ and technology. Whether these features can be correlated directly with the transition from archaic to modern skeletal forms remains more problematic; and whether the changes need reflect any significant shift in the neurological capacities for behaviour and cognition is equally controversial.

Tenfold Population Increase in Western Europe at the Neandertal–to–Modern Human Transition

The ability of modern humans to sustain larger populations contributed to the decline of Neandertals in Western Europe. European Neandertals were replaced by modern human populations from Africa ~40,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence from the best-documented region of Europe shows that during this replacement human populations increased by one order of magnitude, suggesting that numerical supremacy alone may have been a critical factor in facilitating this replacement.

Stable isotopes and the seasonality of the Oronsay middens

Research on six late Mesolithic shell middens on the small Hebridean island of Oronsay address questions of permanent and seasonal occupation. Stable isotope analysis of human bones shows marine resources providing the majority of protein, supporting year-round occupation of Oronsay. One individual, however, demonstrated a mixed diet of marine and terrestrial protein, suggesting seasonal visits and different patterns of site occupation.

The Ecological Basis of Social Complexity in the Upper Paleolithic of Southwestern France

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the ecological basis of social complexity in the upper paleolithic of Southwestern France. If the Upper Paleolithic is regarded as representing a phase of generally advanced or complex hunter–gatherers—as most of the textbooks imply—then the Upper Paleolithic communities of the classic Franco-Cantabrian region of southwestern France and northwestern Spain must surely be ranked among the most impressive representatives of this stage. The wealth and complexity of the archeological record in the Franco-Cantabrian region could no doubt be argued in several other ways—by the abundance of mobiliary art objects, by the elaboration of bone and antler technology, by the abundance of trade objects (especially marine shells), by the frequency of ceremonial burials, by the large sizes attained by many sites, and, indeed, by the sheer complexity and technological elaboration of the industrial sequence itself.

Palaeoanthropology: the earliest modern humans in Europe.

The reanalysis of findings from two archaeological sites calls for a reassessment of when modern humans settled in Europe, and of Neanderthal cultural achievements. See Letters p.521 & p.525 Anatomically modern humans are thought to have arrived in Europe 44,000–42,000 years ago. Physical evidence for early humans is scarce, and these dates are based largely on studies of stone tool assemblages. Two papers published this week use the latest radiocarbon dating and morphological analysis techniques to reassess museum hominid samples. Higham et al. examine a human maxilla from the Aurignacian site at Kents Cavern in the United Kingdom, discovered in 1927 and previously dated at around 35,000 years old, and arrive at an age of 44,200–41,500 years. The dental morphology of the jawbone indicates that its attribution as early human, rather than Neanderthal, is reliable. Benazzi et al. reanalyse two teeth from the Uluzzian site Grotta del Cavallo in southern Italy and conclude that they are definitively modern, not Neanderthal, and date to 45,000–43,000 years old. A further conclusion from this work is that the Uluzzian culture of southern Europe — always found stratigraphically below the Aurignacian signature culture of the modern humans — may represent the earliest modern humans in Europe rather than the last Neanderthals.

THE FATE OF THE NEANDERTHALS

Between about 30,000 and 40,000 years ago, the Neanderthals in Europe were replaced by populations of behaviourally and biologically modern humans. What happened during that period?

ESR chronology of a 100,000-ýear archaeological sequence at Pech de l'Azé II, France

Electron spin resonance (ESR) provides a dated sequence for a classic site in a classic Palaeolithic region, a sequence that covers that difficult period for absolute dating which has often proved too old for radiocarbon and too young for other radiometric methods.