Radiocarbon dating of interstratified Neanderthal and early modern human occupations at the Chatelperronian type-site

Gravina, Brad; Mellars, Paul; Ramsey, Christopher Bronk

doi:10.1038/nature04006

Cited by 102 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals shared a long period of coexistence, from as early as 130,000 years ago in the Middle East (39) to as late as 35,000 years ago in Europe (40), consistent with the estimated introgression time of the microcephalin D allele at or sometime before Ϸ37,000 years ago. Furthermore, the worldwide frequency distribution of the D allele, exceptionally high outside of Africa but low in sub-Saharan Africa (29), suggests, but does not necessitate, admixture with an archaic Eurasian population.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Evidence that the adaptive allele of the brain size gene microcephalin introgressed into Homo sapiens from an archaic Homo lineage

Evans

Mekel-Bobrov

Vallender

et al. 2006

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

128

108

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At the center of the debate on the emergence of modern humans and their spread throughout the globe is the question of whether archaic Homo lineages contributed to the modern human gene pool, and more importantly, whether such contributions impacted the evolutionary adaptation of our species. A major obstacle to answering this question is that low levels of admixture with archaic lineages are not expected to leave extensive traces in the modern human gene pool because of genetic drift. Loci that have undergone strong positive selection, however, offer a unique opportunity to identify low-level admixture with archaic lineages, provided that the introgressed archaic allele has risen to high frequency under positive selection. The gene microcephalin (MCPH1) regulates brain size during development and has experienced positive selection in the lineage leading to Homo sapiens. Within modern humans, a group of closely related haplotypes at this locus, known as haplogroup D, rose from a single copy Ϸ37,000 years ago and swept to exceptionally high frequency (Ϸ70% worldwide today) because of positive selection. Here, we examine the origin of haplogroup D. By using the interhaplogroup divergence test, we show that haplogroup D likely originated from a lineage separated from modern humans Ϸ1.1 million years ago and introgressed into humans by Ϸ37,000 years ago. This finding supports the possibility of admixture between modern humans and archaic Homo populations (Neanderthals being one possibility). Furthermore, it buttresses the important notion that, through such adminture, our species has benefited evolutionarily by gaining new advantageous alleles. The interhaplogroup divergence test developed here may be broadly applicable to the detection of introgression at other loci in the human genome or in genomes of other species. human evolution ͉ introgression ͉ admixture

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 57%

Evidence that the adaptive allele of the brain size gene microcephalin introgressed into Homo sapiens from an archaic Homo lineage

Evans

Mekel-Bobrov

Vallender

et al. 2006

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

128

108

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“…(c) The association is an artifact of post-depositional disturbance, with the Châtelperronian having been made by modern humans and the apparently associated Neandertal remains having been upwardly displaced from the underlying Mousterian. The fi rst hypothesis, otherwise known as the "Acculturation" model of the Châtelperronian (Mellars 1999 ;Hublin 2000 ;Gravina et al 2005 ;Mellars et al 2007 ;Mellars and Gravina 2008 ), is overtly inconsistent with the empirical evidence, as highlighted by d 'Errico et al ( 1998 ), Zilhão and d'Errico ( 1999 ), and Zilhão et al ( 2006Zilhão et al ( , 2008a. Namely, the byproducts of bone tool and personal ornament production recovered alongside the fi nished objects refute notions of acquisition via trading or scavenging of abandoned modern human sites, while the differences in blank choice, technology and typology counter imitation.…”

Section: Grotte Du Rennementioning

confidence: 99%

Neandertal-Modern Human Contact in Western Eurasia: Issues of Dating, Taxonomy, and Cultural Associations

Zilhão

2013

Dynamics of Learning in Neanderthals and Modern Humans Volume 1

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Supporting Assimilation views of Neandertal/modern human interaction, chronostratigraphic reasoning indicates that the "transitional" industries of Europe predate modern human immigration, in agreement with their association with Neandertals in the Châtelperronian at the Grotte du Renne and St.-Césaire. Supporting the Neandertals' species separateness and less developed cognition, those industries are alternatively claimed to relate to pioneer groups of modern humans; the latter would have been the true makers of the precocious instances of symbolic material culture that, under Assimilation, are assigned to the Neandertals. However, the taxonomy of the Kent's Cavern and Grotta del Cavallo dental remains is uncertain, and their poor stratigraphic context precludes dating by association. The opposite happens at the Grotte du Renne, whose stratigraphic integrity is corroborated by both taphonomy and dating. Not questioning that the Early Ahmarian is a cultural proxy for modern humans and a source for the Protoaurignacian of Europe, its claimed emergence ~46-49 ka ago at Kebara refl ects the dating of Middle Paleolithic charcoal-to be expected, because the Early Ahmarian units at the back of the cave are made up of reworked Middle Paleolithic sediments derived from the entrance. The dating of inherited material also explains the old results for the Aurignacian of Willendorf II and Geissenklösterle. At the latter, the dates on anthropically modifi ed samples of the hunted taxa (reindeer and horse) place its Aurignacian occupations in the same time range as elsewhere in Europe, after ~40 ka ago. The hypothesis that Neandertal/modern human contact in Europe resulted in a process of assimilation in connection with the spread of the Protoaurignacian ~41.5 ka ago remains unfalsifi ed.

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“…Although the second variable has been almost completely lacking, stratigraphic evidence suggests that the Châtelperronian is always found beneath Proto-or Early Aurignacian archaeological horizons (albeit with some debated instances of purported "interstratification" between the two) (12)(13)(14). Establishing a substantially earlier date for the Châtelperronian would provide strong support for independent Neanderthal development of some aspects of modern behavior before the arrival of modern humans in Western Europe.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronology of the Grotte du Renne (France) and implications for the context of ornaments and human remains within the Châtelperronian

Higham

Jacobi

Julien

et al. 2010

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

Self Cite

220

105

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There is extensive debate concerning the cognitive and behavioral adaptation of Neanderthals, especially in the period when the earliest anatomically modern humans dispersed into Western Europe, around 35,000–40,000 B.P. The site of the Grotte du Renne (at Arcy-sur-Cure) is of great importance because it provides the most persuasive evidence for behavioral complexity among Neanderthals. A range of ornaments and tools usually associated with modern human industries, such as the Aurignacian, were excavated from three of the Châtelperronian levels at the site, along with Neanderthal fossil remains (mainly teeth). This extremely rare occurrence has been taken to suggest that Neanderthals were the creators of these items. Whether Neanderthals independently achieved this level of behavioral complexity and whether this was culturally transmitted or mimicked via incoming modern humans has been contentious. At the heart of this discussion lies an assumption regarding the integrity of the excavated remains. One means of testing this is by radiocarbon dating; however, until recently, our ability to generate both accurate and precise results for this period has been compromised. A series of 31 accelerator mass spectrometry ultrafiltered dates on bones, antlers, artifacts, and teeth from six key archaeological levels shows an unexpected degree of variation. This suggests that some mixing of material may have occurred, which implies a more complex depositional history at the site and makes it difficult to be confident about the association of artifacts with human remains in the Châtelperronian levels.

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Radiocarbon dating of interstratified Neanderthal and early modern human occupations at the Chatelperronian type-site

Cited by 102 publications

References 27 publications

Evidence that the adaptive allele of the brain size gene microcephalin introgressed into Homo sapiens from an archaic Homo lineage

Evidence that the adaptive allele of the brain size gene microcephalin introgressed into Homo sapiens from an archaic Homo lineage

Neandertal-Modern Human Contact in Western Eurasia: Issues of Dating, Taxonomy, and Cultural Associations

Chronology of the Grotte du Renne (France) and implications for the context of ornaments and human remains within the Châtelperronian

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