Marked changes in human dispersal and development during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have been attributed to massive volcanic eruption and/or severe climatic deterioration. We test this concept using records of volcanic ash layers of the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption dated to ca. 40,000 y ago (40 ka B.P.). The distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite has been enhanced by the discovery of cryptotephra deposits (volcanic ash layers that are not visible to the naked eye) in archaeological cave sequences. They enable us to synchronize archaeological and paleoclimatic records through the period of transition from Neanderthal to the earliest anatomically modern human populations in Europe. Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe. We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters.

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The authors describe clay features dating from c. 34-23 000 years ago discovered in a stratified occupation sequence in a Greek cave. The clay was brought from outside the cave, puddled with water and shaped into shallow basins. Laboratory analyses have shown that these clay features were burnt. This together with the occurrence of fragments of wood ash and phytoliths lying on their surfaces suggest that these features were hearths used for cooking, including the roasting of wild grasses.

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