Dating the demise: Neandertal extinction and the establishment of modern humans in the southern Caucasus

Adler, Daniel S.; Bar‐Yosef, Ofer; Belfer‐Cohen, Anna; Tushabramishvili, Nicholas; Mercier, Norbert; Valladas, Hélène; Rink, W.J.

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2008.08.010

Cited by 82 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…There is some chronological overlap among previously published AMS dates for layers 1C and 2, and a comparison of radiocarbon and electron spin resonance (ESR) dates (20) from levels 2B-4 and 2 shows that there is agreement between the two methods once calibrated against the same timescale. At present, the only comparable chronometric and archaeological sequence in the Caucasus is found at Ortvale Klde (Georgian Republic), in the southern Caucasus (21). The MP-UP chronology in Mezmaiskaya combining AMS dates (for EUP layers) and ESR dates (for Middle Paleolithic layers) is in broad agreement with the MP-UP chronology (combined from thermoluminescence and AMS estimates) in Ortvale Klde in the southern Caucasus.…”

supporting

confidence: 67%

“…We interpret the striking similarities between the EUP lithic and organic technologies at both Mezmaiskaya Cave and Ortvale Klde (6,18,33), and the chronometric similarities between the two sites (21,34), as compelling evidence for the regional demographic demise of the Neanderthals, followed closely in time (given the precision of AMS) by the range expansion of AMHs into the Caucasus. Although it is not currently possible to determine how or whether these two demographic processes are linked, our research highlights the need to carefully reassess existing AMS records based on modern pretreatment techniques and directly dated hominin specimens from secure stratigraphic and archaeological contexts, and consider the importance of regional chronologies when building demographic models for geographically widespread hominin species.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

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Revised age of late Neanderthal occupation and the end of the Middle Paleolithic in the northern Caucasus

Pinhasi

Higham²,

Golovanova³

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

107

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Advances in direct radiocarbon dating of Neanderthal and anatomically modern human (AMH) fossils and the development of archaeostratigraphic chronologies now allow refined regional models for Neanderthal–AMH coexistence. In addition, they allow us to explore the issue of late Neanderthal survival in regions of Western Eurasia located within early routes of AMH expansion such as the Caucasus. Here we report the direct radiocarbon ( 14 C) dating of a late Neanderthal specimen from a Late Middle Paleolithic (LMP) layer in Mezmaiskaya Cave, northern Caucasus. Additionally, we provide a more accurate chronology for the timing of Neanderthal extinction in the region through a robust series of 16 ultrafiltered bone collagen radiocarbon dates from LMP layers and using Bayesian modeling to produce a boundary probability distribution function corresponding to the end of the LMP at Mezmaiskaya. The direct date of the fossil (39,700 ± 1,100 14 C BP) is in good agreement with the probability distribution function, indicating at a high level of probability that Neanderthals did not survive at Mezmaiskaya Cave after 39 ka cal BP ("calendrical" age in kiloannum before present, based on IntCal09 calibration curve). This challenges previous claims for late Neanderthal survival in the northern Caucasus. We see striking and largely synchronous chronometric similarities between the Bayesian age modeling for the end of the LMP at Mezmaiskaya and chronometric data from Ortvale Klde for the end of the LMP in the southern Caucasus. Our results confirm the lack of reliably dated Neanderthal fossils younger than ∼40 ka cal BP in any other region of Western Eurasia, including the Caucasus.

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supporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Revised age of late Neanderthal occupation and the end of the Middle Paleolithic in the northern Caucasus

Pinhasi

Higham²,

Golovanova³

et al. 2011

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

107

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Although this assemblage is thought to be slightly younger than the ProtoAurignacian of Italy and the Balkans (that is, less than 40,000 cal BP), new dates from the southern Caucasus indicate that the same industry was established there by 42,000 cal BP. 68 New research at Kostenki-Borshchevo has shown that the same stratigraphic context found in southern Italy and the Balkans is present on the central plain of eastern Europe. At several localities, including Kostenki 12, 14, and 17, EUP artifact assemblages are buried below local deposits of the CI tephra and dated to more than 40,000 cal BP (see text box).…”

Section: Is There a Proto-aurignacian In Eastern Europe?mentioning

confidence: 88%

The early upper Paleolithic of eastern Europe reconsidered

Hoffecker

2011

Evolutionary Anthropology

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Artifacts of Paleolithic age were first recognized in eastern Europe during the 1870s. Archeologists have struggled ever since to integrate them into the better known record of western Europe, where the interpretive framework of Paleolithic archeology was originally developed. The essential elements of both the Middle and Upper Paleolithic were recognized quickly in eastern Europe, and a close connection with a major middle Upper Paleolithic industry of central Europe (Gravettian) was established many years ago. The early Upper Paleolithic (EUP) has remained a major challenge, however; it is represented primarily by a bewildering array of local archeological cultures that exhibit limited similarity to contemporaneous industries of western and central Europe.6-9.

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“…Central Asia is considered another possible source of modern human populations in Europe, especially for adjoining Eastern Europe (65). The Iberian Peninsula and the Caucasus seem less likely routes, because local Neanderthal populations were present in both areas until relatively late (66,67). After the onset of cold HE4 at Ϸ40,000 cal BP, a new industry (Aurignacian) possibly developed in South-Central Europe spread rapidly throughout the continent.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The spread of modern humans in Europe

Hoffecker

2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

129

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The earliest credible evidence of Homo sapiens in Europe is an archaeological proxy in the form of several artifact assemblages (Bohunician) found in South-Central and possibly Eastern Europe, dating to <48,000 calibrated radiocarbon years before present (cal BP). They are similar to assemblages probably made by modern humans in the Levant (Emiran) at an earlier date and apparently represent a population movement into the Balkans during a warm climate interval [Greenland Interstadial 12 (GI 12)]. A second population movement may be represented by a diverse set of artifact assemblages (sometimes termed Proto-Aurignacian) found in the Balkans, parts of Southwest Europe, and probably in Eastern Europe, and dating to several brief interstadials (GI 11-GI 9) that preceded the beginning of cold Heinrich Event 4 (HE4) (Ϸ40,000 cal BP). They are similar to contemporaneous assemblages made by modern humans in the Levant (Ahmarian). The earliest known human skeletal remains in Europe that may be unequivocally assigned to H. sapiens (Peçstera cu Oase, Romania) date to this time period (Ϸ42,000 cal BP) but are not associated with artifacts. After the Campanian Ignimbrite volcanic eruption (40,000 cal BP) and the beginning of HE4, artifact assemblages assigned to the classic Aurignacian, an industry associated with modern human skeletal remains that seems to have developed in Europe, spread throughout the continent.archaeology ͉ Neanderthals ͉ Homo sapiens ͉ Western Eurasia

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Dating the demise: Neandertal extinction and the establishment of modern humans in the southern Caucasus

Cited by 82 publications

References 31 publications

Revised age of late Neanderthal occupation and the end of the Middle Paleolithic in the northern Caucasus

Revised age of late Neanderthal occupation and the end of the Middle Paleolithic in the northern Caucasus

The early upper Paleolithic of eastern Europe reconsidered

The spread of modern humans in Europe

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