Paleolithic Man of Denisova Cave and Zoogeography of Pleistocene Mammals of Northwestern Altai

Agadjanian, Alexander; Shunkov, M.V.

doi:10.1134/s0031030118010021

Cited by 8 publications

(8 citation statements)

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“…Micromorphological analysis of the Denisova Cave sequence has provided micro-contextualised insights into the use of the site by hominins and other animals. These new data largely support previous interpretations based on field observations and other proxy datasets (e.g., faunal and pollen records 6–9,35,59 ), thus increasing confidence in environmental reconstructions for the cave and surrounding region.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…The abundant coprolite record shows that the cave was occupied by animals near-continuously. Cave hyena ( Crocuta crocuta speleans )—the dominant carnivore in the Altai during the Pleistocene 6,59 —was present throughout the period of deposition of the Pleistocene sediments 7,9,35 . Whereas bones can accumulate at a cave site through the agency of various animals, animal droppings are most likely to be delivered directly to the cave floor.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hominin and animal activities in the microstratigraphic record from Denisova Cave (Altai Mountains, Russia)

Morley

Goldberg

Uliyanov

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Denisova Cave in southern Siberia uniquely contains evidence of occupation by a recently discovered group of archaic hominins, the Denisovans, starting from the middle of the Middle Pleistocene. Artefacts, ancient DNA and a range of animal and plant remains have been recovered from the sedimentary deposits, along with a few fragmentary fossils of Denisovans, Neanderthals and a first-generation Neanderthal–Denisovan offspring. The deposits also contain microscopic traces of hominin and animal activities that can provide insights into the use of the cave over the last 300,000 years. Here we report the results of a micromorphological study of intact sediment blocks collected from the Pleistocene deposits in the Main and East Chambers of Denisova Cave. The presence of charcoal attests to the use of fire by hominins, but other evidence of their activities preserved in the microstratigraphic record are few. The ubiquitous occurrence of coprolites, which we attribute primarily to hyenas, indicates that the site was visited for much of its depositional history by cave-dwelling carnivores. Microscopic traces of post-depositional diagenesis, bioturbation and incipient cryoturbation are observed in only a few regions of the deposit examined here. Micromorphology can help identify areas of sedimentary deposit that are most conducive to ancient DNA preservation and could be usefully integrated with DNA analyses of sediments at archaeological sites to illuminate features of their human and environmental history that are invisible to the naked eye.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hominin and animal activities in the microstratigraphic record from Denisova Cave (Altai Mountains, Russia)

Morley

Goldberg

Uliyanov

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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“…10). The Altai Mountains may therefore have been a contact zone for both hominins and distinct lineages of hyaena and other fauna, as previously suggested by studies of mammalian skeletal remains 25 . At least two major turnovers of large mammals are evident from the sediment DNA (Fig.…”

Section: Ancient Faunal Mtdnamentioning

confidence: 73%

“…This period is notable also for the absence of Denisovan mtDNA in the cave sediments. These changes suggest that turnovers in hominin and faunal populations may have been linked, and related to ecological factors 25 .…”

Section: Ancient Faunal Mtdnamentioning

confidence: 95%

Pleistocene sediment DNA reveals hominin and faunal turnovers at Denisova Cave

Zavala

Jacobs

Vernot

et al. 2021

Nature

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Denisova Cave in southern Siberia is the type locality of the Denisovans, an archaic hominin group who were related to Neanderthals1–4. The dozen hominin remains recovered from the deposits also include Neanderthals5,6 and the child of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan7, which suggests that Denisova Cave was a contact zone between these archaic hominins. However, uncertainties persist about the order in which these groups appeared at the site, the timing and environmental context of hominin occupation, and the association of particular hominin groups with archaeological assemblages5,8–11. Here we report the analysis of DNA from 728 sediment samples that were collected in a grid-like manner from layers dating to the Pleistocene epoch. We retrieved ancient faunal and hominin mitochondrial (mt)DNA from 685 and 175 samples, respectively. The earliest evidence for hominin mtDNA is of Denisovans, and is associated with early Middle Palaeolithic stone tools that were deposited approximately 250,000 to 170,000 years ago; Neanderthal mtDNA first appears towards the end of this period. We detect a turnover in the mtDNA of Denisovans that coincides with changes in the composition of faunal mtDNA, and evidence that Denisovans and Neanderthals occupied the site repeatedly—possibly until, or after, the onset of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic at least 45,000 years ago, when modern human mtDNA is first recorded in the sediments.

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“…In the last glacial cycle, the Loess Plateau was predominantly Artemisia steppe (Sun et al, 1997) During cold, dry periods of the Late Pleistocene, the fauna of north China was characterized by horse (Equus przewalskyi and E. hemionus), gazelle (Gazella przewalskyi (=Procapra przewalskyi) woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis), Bison, and Bos primigenius. Horse and gazelle were particularly important prey animals in neighbouring Mongolia; both can also migrate several hundred kilometres between winter and summer grazing (Agadjanian and Shunkov, 2018;Olsen et al, 2010;Zwyns and Lbova, 2019). During cold and dry episodes in MIS 3, woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) grazed in Inner Mongolia and Shandong Province south of Beijing (Larramendi, 2014;Takahashi et al, 2007), and even as far south as the Qinling Mountains in the LGM.…”

Section: Insert Near Here: Tablementioning

confidence: 99%

A demographic history of Late Pleistocene China

Dennell

Martinón‐Torres

Castro

et al. 2020

Quaternary International

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Paleolithic Man of Denisova Cave and Zoogeography of Pleistocene Mammals of Northwestern Altai

Cited by 8 publications

References 53 publications

Hominin and animal activities in the microstratigraphic record from Denisova Cave (Altai Mountains, Russia)

Hominin and animal activities in the microstratigraphic record from Denisova Cave (Altai Mountains, Russia)

Pleistocene sediment DNA reveals hominin and faunal turnovers at Denisova Cave

A demographic history of Late Pleistocene China

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