Modern Human Remains Research Articles

The emergence and distribution of early modern human in Indonesia

How did early Anatomically Modern Human (Homo sapiens sapiens) appear on earth and then spread rapidly across the globe to the present day? There are two main stages of Homo sapiens’ evolution: (1) the archaic Homo sapiens lived since their initial appearance up to 150,000 years ago, and (2) anatomically modern Homo sapiens from 150,000 years ago to the present. The multiregional model argues there was a gradual and continuous evolutionary process from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens in every region of Africa and Eurasia. In contrast the “Out of Africa” evolutionary model, known as the “replacement” theory argued that the genetic roots of Homo sapiens were around 150,000 to 100,000 years ago originated from one place in Africa, and spread out in different directions, flourished, and replaced local archaic populations. This paper will discuss the presence of early anatomically modern human remains in Southeast Asia including Indonesia from around the second half of the Upper Pleistocene including Wajak man, Lida Ajer and Punung remains, also Flores hominin.

Bow-and-arrow, technology of the first modern humans in Europe 54,000 years ago at Mandrin, France.

Consensus in archaeology has posited that mechanically propelled weapons, such as bow-and-arrow or spear-thrower-and-dart combinations, appeared abruptly in the Eurasian record with the arrival of anatomically and behaviorally modern humans and the Upper Paleolithic (UP) after 45,000 to 42,000 years (ka) ago, while evidence for weapon use during the preceding Middle Paleolithic (MP) in Eurasia remains sparse. The ballistic features of MP points suggest that they were used on hand-cast spears, whereas UP lithic weapons are focused on microlithic technologies commonly interpreted as mechanically propelled projectiles, a crucial innovation distinguishing UP societies from preceding ones. Here, we present the earliest evidence for mechanically propelled projectile technology in Eurasia from Layer E of Grotte Mandrin 54 ka ago in Mediterranean France, demonstrated via use-wear and impact damage analyses. These technologies, associated with the oldest modern human remains currently known from Europe, represent the technical background of these populations during their first incursion into the continent.

Agency and the Critical Study of Religion

The critical study of religion is enchanted by modern problematics, and this limits the feasibility of the project. Both secularity and modernity have been deconstructed in recent decades, but the primacy of the modern and secular agentic human remains largely unchallenged. Tracing this trend back in European history shows that a definitive collapsing of agency was necessary for the development of modern political and social structures. Modern prescriptions on agency limit the study of religion - a domain which is largely constituted by narratives involving non-human agents. A remedy for the impasse may be found in looking to a nonmodern conceptual apparatus for new avenues in theory-making and applying these concepts to the critical study of religion in the 21st century.

Agency and the Critical Study of Religion

The critical study of religion is enchanted by modern problematics, and this limits the feasibility of the project. Both secularity and modernity have been deconstructed in recent decades, but the primacy of the modern and secular agentic human remains largely unchallenged. Tracing this trend back in European history shows that a definitive collapsing of agency was necessary for the development of modern political and social structures. Modern prescriptions on agency limit the study of religion - a domain which is largely constituted by narratives involving non-human agents. A remedy for the impasse may be found in looking to a nonmodern conceptual apparatus for new avenues in theory-making and applying these concepts to the critical study of religion in the 21st century.

Sex Estimation Using Geometric Morphometrics

Creating and testing efficient techniques for the sex estimation of modern human skeletal remains has been a significant focus in biological anthropology. It is well established that the innominate, particularly the pubic bone, is a sexually dimorphic part of the human skeleton, but prone to fragmentation. Using modern pubic bones of known age and sex, this study aims to capture shape differences using geometric morphometrics (GMM) to test classification accuracy of segments of the pubic bone. The sample consists of 70 left adult pubic bones from the William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection, with 35 males and 35 females of mixed age and population affinity. Landmarks were placed on the dorsal surface of the pubic body and ischiopubic ramus to capture their overall shape in two dimensions, so the study is easily replicable and applicable. The scans were separately run through a generalized Procrustes, principal components (PCA), and canonical linear discriminant function analysis (DFA). The DFA results show high classification accuracy for the pubic body (94% males, 100% females) and the ischiopubic ramus (100% females, 97% males), with the PCA DFA allowing a researcher to explore specific shape changes driving the differentiation between groups. GMM was able to quantify and successfully discriminant the shape changes between males and females for small elements of the pubis, which can be applied to fragmentary remains and future morphological methods.

The Early Upper Paleolithic Site Crvenka-At, Serbia–The First Aurignacian Lowland Occupation Site in the Southern Carpathian Basin

The Carpathian Basin is a key region for understanding modern human expansion into western Eurasia during the Late Pleistocene because of numerous early hominid fossil find spots. However, the corresponding archeological record remains less understood due to a paucity of well dated, contextualized sites. To help rectify this, we excavated and sampled Crvenka-At (Serbia), one of the largest Upper Paleolithic sites in the region to obtain radiometric ages for the archeological artifacts and evaluate their depositional context and subsequent site formation processes. Our results confirm that this locality represents a multiple-occupation Aurignacian site that dates to 36.4 ± 2.8 ka based on modeling of luminescence ages. Electrical resistivity tomography measurements indicate that the site formed on a sandy-gravelly fill terrace covered by overbank deposits. Complex grain size distributions further suggest site formation in contrasting depositional environments typically occurring alongside fluvial channels, at lakeshores, in alluvial fan or delta settings. The site is thus the closest (ca. 50 km) known Aurignacian site to the earliest undisputed modern human remains in Europe at the Peştera cu oase and some intervals of the occupation may therefore have been contemporaneous with them. This suggests that modern humans, during their initial settlement of Europe, exploited a wider range of topographic and ecological settings than previously posited. Our findings indicate that lowland areas of the Carpathian Basin are an important part of understanding the early settlement patterns of modern humans in Europe.

Climate-influenced cave deposition and human occupation during the Pleistocene in Zhiren Cave, southwest China

A large number of hominin fossil-bearing caves in South China have yielded evidence for the occupation of early modern humans during the Middle to Late Pleistocene. However, the geology of these caves and the paleoenvironmental context of human occupation remain poorly documented and understood. In this study, we obtained new ages yielded by MC-ICPMS uranium-series dating of speleothems from Zhiren Cave, Guangxi, where a partial early modern human mandible and 2 M have been recovered. The ages demonstrate that cave infilling of Zhiren Cave began at ~1 Ma, much earlier than the date previously suggested. Our dating results also suggest that fossils of anatomically modern human were deposited in Zhiren Cave during marine isotope stage (MIS) 6, between ~190 and ~130 ka, representing the oldest known anatomically modern human remains in East Asia. The cave's sedimentary processes and the paleoenvironmental changes were reconstructed based on detailed analyses of lithostratigraphy, grain-size, pollen assemblages and the chemical weathering intensity of the sediments inside Zhiren Cave. The results show that major climatic changes in the Middle Pleistocene led to the accelerated incision of local streams and the erosion of cave sediments by controlling the regional hydrological response during the Early to Middle Pleistocene. After ~300 ka, increased climatic contrasts between glacial and interglacial periods dominated the accumulation of sediments and the occupation of mammals and early modern humans in Zhiren Cave. Gradually desiccating climatic conditions and reduced forest cover during the penultimate glacial period (MIS 6) may have define a temporal window for the human occupation of Zhiren Cave, providing ideal environmental conditions. However, floodwater incursion and/or dense vegetation cover corresponding to a much warmer and wetter climate in the subsequent last interglacial (MIS 5) may have discouraged humans from further occupying Zhiren Cave.

The human remains from Axlor (Dima, Biscay, northern Iberian Peninsula).

We provide the description and comparative analysis of all the human fossil remains found at Axlor during the excavations carried out by J. M. de Barandiarán from 1967 to 1974: a cranial vault fragment and seven teeth, five of which likely belonged to the same individual, although two are currently lost. Our goal is to describe in detail all these human remains and discuss both their taxonomic attribution and their stratigraphic context. We describe external and internal anatomy, and use classic and geometric morphometrics. The teeth from Axlor are compared to Neandertals, Upper Paleolithic, and recent modern humans. Two teeth (a left dm2 , a left di1 ) and the parietal fragment show morphological features consistent with a Neandertal classification, and were found in an undisturbed Mousterian context. The remaining three teeth (plus the two lost ones), initially classified as Neandertals, show morphological features and a general size that are more compatible with their classification as modern humans. A left parietal fragment (Level VIII) from a single probably adult Neandertal individual was recovered during the old excavations performed by Barandiarán. Additionally, two different Neandertal children lost deciduous teeth during the formations of levels V (left di1 ) and IV (right dm2 ). In addition, a modern human individual is represented by five remains (two currently lost) from a complex stratigraphic setting. Some of the morphological features of these remains suggest that they may represent one of the scarce examples of Upper Paleolithic modern human remains in the northern Iberian Peninsula, which should be confirmed by direct dating.

Somewhere beyond the sea: Human cranial remains from the Lesser Sunda Islands (Alor Island, Indonesia) provide insights on Late Pleistocene peopling of Island Southeast Asia

The migration of anatomically modern humans (AMH) from Africa to every inhabitable continent included their dispersal through Island Southeast Asia (ISEA) to Australia. Significantly, this involved overwater dispersal through the Lesser Sunda Islands between Sunda (continental Southeast Asia) and Sahul (Australia and New Guinea). However, the timing and direction of this movement is still debated. Here, we report on human skeletal material recovered from excavations at two rockshelters, known locally as Tron Bon Lei, on Alor Island, Indonesia. The remains, dated to the Late Pleistocene, are the first anatomically modern human remains recovered in Wallacea dated to this period and are associated with cultural material demonstrating intentional burial. The human remains from Tron Bon Lei represent a population osteometrically distinct from Late Pleistocene Sunda and Sahul AMH. Instead, morphometrically, they appear more similar to Holocene populations in the Lesser Sundas. Thus, they may represent the remains of a population originally from Sunda whose Lesser Sunda Island descendants survived into the Holocene.

Isolated teeth from La Ferrassie: Reassessment of the old collections, new remains, and their implications.

We provide the description and comparative analysis of six new teeth from the site of La Ferrassie. Our goal is to discuss their taxonomic attribution, and to provide an updated inventory of Neandertal and modern human remains from La Ferrassie in their associated archeological context. We use external and internal anatomy, classic morphometrics, and geometric morphometrics. The teeth from La Ferrassie are compared to several samples of contemporary Neandertals and upper Paleolithic modern humans and to recent modern humans. Three specimens are classified as Neandertals, two as modern humans, and one remains unclassified. Based on the previously known fossil samples and the new teeth reported here, there are currently a minimum of four adult and five immature Neandertal individuals coming from the "Grand Abri" and a minimum of two modern human adult individuals: one from "Grand Abri" and one from "Grotte." It is noteworthy that the spatial distribution of the recovered Neandertal remains is not restricted to the area where the LF1-LF 8 were found but now covers the full extension of the excavated area. Moreover, while both Neandertal and modern human occupations have yielded isolated human remains, the partial-to-complete skeletons only belong to Neandertals. These considerations open new perspectives for the understanding of the occupation and use of the La Ferrassie site.

Quantitative ultrasonometry for the diagnosis of osteoporosis in human skeletal remains: New methods and standards

Osteoporosis, a complex and heterogeneous disorder with a multi-factorial etiology, is characterized by abnormal bone loss leading to an increased risk of fractures.In recent years, the study of osteoporosis and bone mineral quality has received increasing interest by biological anthropologists. In particular, the study of bone quality in ancient populations in relation to sex, age and cultural background can provide important insights into the diachronic evolution of a seemingly modern pathology. However, a number of challenges remain in the determination of bone loss in ancient remains, partly due to the methodological approaches applied in the anthropological analysis. This underlines the need for a new methodology and new standards, specifically created and adapted to human skeletal remains.The current study aims to develop a new methodology to assess bone quality in modern and ancient human skeletal remains using Quantitative Ultrasonometry, applied for the first time to a skeletal sample of known age-at-death and sex (Frassetto collection, University of Bologna). After the assessment of intra- and inter-observer reliability, new ultrasonometric standards based on the analysis of age-related and sex-related changes in bone quantity and quality were created, providing a reference point for the analysis of osteoporosis and bone loss in skeletal remains. The applicability of the method was tested in a medieval sample including both males and females. The low intra- and inter-observer errors suggest that the Phalangeal Ultrasonometry is a reliable and valid technique that can be applied to modern and ancient human skeletons.

Human tooth development, tooth length and eruption; a study of British archaeological dentitions

Human teeth erupt during root growth but few studies report the relationship between fractions of root development and eruption levels. The aim of this study was to assess root stages of deciduous and early erupting permanent teeth (maxillary and mandibular central incisors and first molars) at eruption levels and relate this to root fraction and tooth length. The sample consisted of 620 modern human skeletal remains with developing teeth. Tooth stage (based on Moorrees crown and root stages) and eruption levels of all developing teeth were assessed where possible. Tooth length of isolated teeth was measured. The distribution of root stage at eruption levels was calculated. Results showed that root stage at alveolar eruption was less variable than at partial eruption. Most teeth (72% of 138) at alveolar eruption were at root a quarter (R¼) whereas teeth at partial eruption were at R¼ or root half (R½) (38 and 50% of 128 respectively). These findings suggest that the active phase of eruption is probably a rapid process and occurs during the first half of root growth.

Atlas occipitalisation associated with other anomalies in a 16th century skeleton from Sardinia (Italy).

Archaeological excavations carried out in the plague cemetery of 16th century Alghero (Sardinia) brought to light the skeleton of a male aged 35-45 years, showing anomalies of the atlas. A macroscopic and radiological study has been carried out. The first cervical vertebra is fused with the skull base, resulting in an occipitalisation of the atlas. Absence of the costal element of the left foramen transversarium, resulting in an open anterior foramen transversarium, and posterior arch defect are also observed. The atlanto-occipital junction is a complex structure, susceptible to develop different patterns of congenital defects. These anatomical variations of atlas should be considered in modern clinical practice in order to formulate a correct diagnosis and to conceive an appropriate treatment. Osteoarchaeological cases are important as, beside to ascertain the presence of congenital defects in past populations, allow an in-depth study in dry bones, which can help modern medicine in interpreting anatomical variations. We present an association of congenital anomalies of the atlanto-occipital junction, a condition rarely documented in ancient and modern human skeletal remains.

Ethical Issues Surrounding the Use of Modern Human Remains for Research in South Africa.

Chapter 8 of the South African National Health Act 61 of 2003 (NHA) that deals with the donation of human tissue was promulgated in 2012. The new Act is perceived to impose restrictions on low-risk research involving human remains. This study aimed to identify the issues raised by a research ethics committee (REC) when reviewing protocols where human remains are used as data source. REC minutes from 2009 to 2014 were reviewed, and issues raised by the committee were categorized. In total, 127 protocols submitted to the committee over 6 years involved human remains. Queries relating to science (22.2%) and administration (18.9%) were the most common, whereas queries relating to legal issues constituted only 10.2%. Ethical issues centered on informed consent regarding sensitive topics such as HIV, DNA, and deceased children. The change in legislation did not change the number or type of legal issues identified by the REC.

Luminol testing in detecting modern human skeletal remains: a test on different types of bone tissue and a caveat for PMI interpretation.

When forensic pathologists and anthropologists have to deal with the evaluation of the post-mortem interval (PMI) in skeletal remains, luminol testing is frequently performed as a preliminary screening method. However, the repeatability of this test on the same bone, as well as comparative studies on different bones of the same individual, has never been performed. Therefore, with the aim of investigating the influence that different types of bones may exert on the response to the luminol test, the present study analysed three different skeletal elements (femoral diaphysis, vertebra and cranial vault), gathered from ten recent exhumed skeletons (all with a 20-year PMI). The analysis was performed twice on the same bone after 2months: the analysis at time 0 concerned the whole bone, whereas the second concerned only a part of the same bone taken during the first test (which already had been broken). The overall results showed different responses, depending on the type of bone and on the integrity of the samples. Negative results at the first analysis (6.6% out of the total of samples) are consistent with what is reported in the literature, whilst at the second analysis, the increase of about 20% of false-negative results highlights that the luminol test ought to be performed with caution in case of broken bones or elements which are taphonomically altered. Results have thus proven that the exposition to environmental agents might result in haemoglobin (Hb) loss, as detected even after only 2months. The study also focused on the crucial issue of the type of bone subjected to testing, remarking the suitability of the femoral diaphysis (100% of positive responses at the first analysis vs only 18% of false-negative results at the second test, corresponding to 5% of total false-negative results) as opposed to other bone elements that showed a low yield. In particular, the cranial vault gave poor results, with 40% of discrepancy between results from the two analyses, which suggests caution in choosing the type of bone sample to test. In conclusion, luminol testing should be used with caution on bones different from long bones or on non-intact bones.

Initial micromorphological results from Liang Bua, Flores (Indonesia): Site formation processes and hominin activities at the type locality of Homo floresiensis

Liang Bua, a karstic cave located on the island of Flores in eastern Indonesia, is best known for yielding the holotype of the diminutive hominin Homo floresiensis from Late Pleistocene sediments. Modern human remains have also been recovered from the Holocene deposits, and abundant archaeological and faunal remains occur throughout the sequence. The cave, the catchment in which it is located and the gross aggradational phases of the sediment sequence have all been subject to a great deal of scientific scrutiny since the discovery of the holotype of H. floresiensis in 2003. A recent program of geoarchaeological research has extended analyses of the site’s deposits to the microstratigraphic (micromorphological) level. The stratigraphic sequence in the cave is well defined but complex, comprising interstratified sediments of diverse lithologies and polygenetic origins, including volcanic tephras, fine-grained colluvium, coarse autogenic limestone gravels, speleothems and anthropogenic sediments, such as combustion features. The sedimentological and chemical heterogeneity suggest that processes of site formation and diagenesis varied markedly through time, both laterally and vertically. We present initial results from samples collected in 2014 from an excavation area near the rear of the cave, which yielded radiocarbon ages from charcoal that fill an important temporal gap in the chrono-stratigraphic sequence of previously excavated areas of the site. The results indicate marked changes in site environment and hominin activity during the Late Pleistocene, relating primarily to the degree to which the cave was connected to the hydrogeological system and to the varying intensities of use of the cave by hominins. Importantly, we identify anthropogenic signs of fire-use at the site between 41 and 24 thousand years ago, most likely related to the presence of modern humans.

Late Stone Age human remains from Ishango (Democratic Republic of Congo): New insights on Late Pleistocene modern human diversity in Africa

Although questions of modern human origins and dispersal are subject to intense research within and outside Africa, the processes of modern human diversification during the Late Pleistocene are most often discussed within the context of recent human genetic data. This situation is due largely to the dearth of human fossil remains dating to the final Pleistocene in Africa and their almost total absence from West and Central Africa, thus limiting our perception of modern human diversification within Africa before the Holocene.Here, we present a morphometric comparative analysis of the earliest Late Pleistocene modern human remains from the Central African site of Ishango in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The early Late Stone Age layer (eLSA) of this site, dated to the Last Glacial Maximum (25–20 Ky), contains more than one hundred fragmentary human remains. The exceptional associated archaeological context suggests these remains derived from a community of hunter-fisher-gatherers exhibiting complex social and cognitive behaviors including substantial reliance on aquatic resources, development of fishing technology, possible mathematical notations and repetitive use of space, likely on a seasonal basis.Comparisons with large samples of Late Pleistocene and early Holocene modern human fossils from Africa and Eurasia show that the Ishango human remains exhibit distinctive characteristics and a higher phenotypic diversity in contrast to recent African populations. In many aspects, as is true for the inner ear conformation, these eLSA human remains have more affinities with Middle to early Late Pleistocene fossils worldwide than with extant local African populations. In addition, cross-sectional geometric properties of the long bones are consistent with archaeological evidence suggesting reduced terrestrial mobility resulting from greater investment in and use of aquatic resources.Our results on the Ishango human remains provide insights into past African modern human diversity and adaptation that are consistent with genetic theories about the deep sub-structure of Late Pleistocene African populations and their complex evolutionary history of isolation and diversification.

Skeletal manifestations of tuberculosis in modern human remains

Paleopathologists study the presence of diseases in the past and as such have a vast knowledge of skeletal changes associated with different conditions. Tuberculosis is one of the most studied diseases and still remains a major health problem today. Its manifestations in past populations have been extensively described, but less is known about its bony involvement in the post-antibiotic era. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency and manifestations of skeletal lesions in the post-antibiotic era in a South African sample and compare it to that found before the introduction of antibiotics. Skeletons of 205 individuals from modern skeletal collections and who are known to have died from TB were assessed. It was found that 39.2% of all individuals dying in the post-antibiotic era showed skeletal changes that could be associated with TB, while another 27.5% showed nonspecific changes. The highest incidences were found in individuals who died after 1985, when co-infection with HIV and drug resistance became common. While, as expected, vertebral and rib changes were the most common, the number of individuals who showed changes to the skull, and specifically intracranially, was surprising. These could most probably be associated with TB meningitis, although this specific cause of death was noted in only a few individuals. It seems that individuals may be living longer as a result of long-term antibiotic use, leaving more time for lesions to develop. Clin. Anat. 29:854-861, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

New chronology for Ksâr ‘Akil (Lebanon) supports Levantine route of modern human dispersal into Europe

Modern human dispersal into Europe is thought to have occurred with the start of the Upper Paleolithic around 50,000-40,000 y ago. The Levantine corridor hypothesis suggests that modern humans from Africa spread into Europe via the Levant. Ksâr 'Akil (Lebanon), with its deeply stratified Initial (IUP) and Early (EUP) Upper Paleolithic sequence containing modern human remains, has played an important part in the debate. The latest chronology for the site, based on AMS radiocarbon dates of shell ornaments, suggests that the appearance of the Levantine IUP is later than the start of the first Upper Paleolithic in Europe, thus questioning the Levantine corridor hypothesis. Here we report a series of AMS radiocarbon dates on the marine gastropod Phorcus turbinatus associated with modern human remains and IUP and EUP stone tools from Ksâr 'Akil. Our results, supported by an evaluation of individual sample integrity, place the EUP layer containing the skeleton known as "Egbert" between 43,200 and 42,900 cal B.P. and the IUP-associated modern human maxilla known as "Ethelruda" before ∼ 45,900 cal B.P. This chronology is in line with those of other Levantine IUP and EUP sites and demonstrates that the presence of modern humans associated with Upper Paleolithic toolkits in the Levant predates all modern human fossils from Europe. The age of the IUP-associated Ethelruda fossil is significant for the spread of modern humans carrying the IUP into Europe and suggests a rapid initial colonization of Europe by our species.

Library construction for ancient genomics: single strand or double strand?

A novel method of library construction that takes advantage of a single-stranded DNA ligase has been recently described and used to generate high-resolution genomes from ancient DNA samples. While this method is effective and appears to recover a greater fraction of endogenous ancient material, there has been no direct comparison of results from different library construction methods on a diversity of ancient DNA samples. In addition, the single-stranded method is limited by high cost and lengthy preparation time and is restricted to the Illumina sequencing platform. Here we present in-depth comparisons of the different available library construction methods for DNA purified from 16 ancient and modern faunal and human remains, covering a range of different taphonomic and climatic conditions. We further present a DNA purification method for ancient samples that permits the concentration of a large volume of dissolved extract with minimal manipulation and methodological improvements to the single-stranded method to render it more economical and versatile, in particular to expand its use to both the Illumina and the Ion Torrent sequencing platforms. We show that the single-stranded library construction method improves the relative recovery of endogenous to exogenous DNA for most, but not all, of our ancient extracts.