Pleistocene Humans Research Articles

Using Soil Magnetic Properties to Determine the Onset of Pleistocene Human Settlement at Gledswood Shelter 1, Northern Australia

In regions that lack built structures or stratified open archaeological sites, such as precolonial Australia, rockshelters are a major source of detailed information for understanding the nature and timing of human occupation. A key concern is that the proposed ages for the earliest archaeological sites are based on luminescence dating of sediments, rather than directly of cultural materials, leaving the association between the sediments and evidence of human activity questionable. Here, we present evidence of magnetic enhancement associated with cultural horizons within the deposits of a Pleistocene rockshelter in interior northern Queensland. Soil magnetic studies combined with experimental burning show that magnetically enhanced sediments in Gledswood Shelter 1 are the result of anthropogenic burning of hearth fires, which burn hotter and for a longer time than natural wild fires. These techniques appear to work in this setting because of the nature of the local geology and the geological antiquity of the landscape. Susceptibility and frequency dependence of susceptibility signatures provide a critical tool to resolve that human occupation starts at 2.2 m depth within a stratigraphic section. In conjunction with luminescence dating, soil magnetic studies provide an opportunity for archaeologists to resolve the timing of human settlement in Australia and other intracratonic plate settings.

Structural analysis of the femoral diaphyses of an early modern human from Tianyuan Cave, China

The Tianyuan 1 skeleton is among the oldest fossil specimens of our species from East Asia. Important in the original assessment of the skeleton as belonging to a modern human was its femoral structure, particularly its well-developed pilasters. Also noteworthy were its large femoral diaphyseal second moments of area, which were interpreted as evidence of a physically demanding lifestyle, and pathological bone growths on the posterior femoral shafts. Here, we build on previous studies of femoral morphology in Tianyuan 1 by analyzing its diaphyseal structure using micro-computed tomography coupled with a novel method of visualizing cortical bone thickness distributions along the shaft with color maps. Additionally, we calculate diaphyseal second moments of area in Tianyuan 1 with and without its pathological bone additions in order to evaluate whether these growths are the cause of its apparently high diaphyseal robusticity. Diaphyseal color maps and second moments of area of Tianyuan 1 femora are compared to those of three recent (Holocene) human comparative samples, as well as samples of Pleistocene humans. The results show that in terms of cortical thickness distribution, Tianyuan 1 femoral diaphyses are strikingly similar to those of recent humans, as well as Pleistocene early modern humans, yet distinct from the diaphyses of Neandertals. This provides additional support for the modern human status of Tianyuan 1. Analyses of second moments of area reveal that Tianyuan 1 is best classified as a Pleistocene early modern human rather than as a member of any of the recent samples when pathological bone additions are included in area moment calculations. Interestingly, however, once pathological growths are virtually removed, Tianyuan 1 cannot be assigned with confidence to any comparative group. This suggests that the relatively high anteroposterior femoral diaphyseal strength mid-distally in Tianyuan 1 is to some degree a product of its pathological condition.

Inner ear morphology of the cioclovina early modern European calvaria from Romania.

The morphology of the human bony labyrinth is thought to preserve a strong phylogenetic signal and to be minimally, if at all, affected by postnatal processes. The form of the semicircular canals is considered a derived feature of Neanderthals and different from the modern human anatomy. Among other hominins, European Middle Pleistocene humans have been found to be most similar to Neanderthals. Early modern humans have been proposed to show a pattern that is distinct, but most similar to that of Holocene people. Here we examine the inner ear structures of the Cioclovina calvaria, one of the earliest reliably dated and relatively complete modern human crania from Europe, in the context of recent and fossil human variation. Bony labyrinths were virtually extracted from CT scans of recent Europeans and Cioclovina. Using univariate and multivariate methods, measurements of the semicircular canals were compared with published measurements of other fossil specimens. Our results show that Cioclovina's inner ear morphology falls within the range of modern variation, with affinities to both Late Pleistocene modern humans and recent Europeans. Using discriminant functions, the sex of the Cioclovina specimen is estimated as male. Results agree with previous work showing that Cioclovina exhibits fully modern cranial morphology.

Possible Further Evidence of Low Genetic Diversity in the El Sidrón (Asturias, Spain) Neandertal Group: Congenital Clefts of the Atlas.

We present here the first cases in Neandertals of congenital clefts of the arch of the atlas. Two atlases from El Sidrón, northern Spain, present respectively a defect of the posterior (frequency in extant modern human populations ranging from 0.73% to 3.84%), and anterior (frequency in extant modern human populations ranging from 0.087% to 0.1%) arch, a condition in most cases not associated with any clinical manifestation. The fact that two out of three observable atlases present a low frequency congenital condition, together with previously reported evidence of retained deciduous mandibular canine in two out of ten dentitions from El Sidrón, supports the previous observation based on genetic evidence that these Neandertals constituted a group with close genetic relations. Some have proposed for humans and other species that the presence of skeletal congenital conditions, although without clinical significance, could be used as a signal of endogamy or inbreeding. In the present case this interpretation would fit the general scenario of high incidence of rare conditions among Pleistocene humans and the specific scenariothat emerges from Neandertal paleogenetics, which points to long-term small and decreasing population size with reduced and isolated groups. Adverse environmental factors affecting early pregnancies would constitute an alternative, non-exclusive, explanation for a high incidence of congenital conditions. Further support or rejection of these interpretations will come from new genetic and skeletal evidence from Neandertal remains.

Direct Dates and mtDNA of Late Pleistocene Human Skeletons from South America: A Comment on Chatters et al. (2014)

In a recent paper in the journal Science (2014, Vol. 344, pp. 750–754), J. Chatters et al. present a new early human skeleton from the Yucatan, Mexico, considering it in the context of eight other ...

Tracking in Caves: Experience Based Reading of Pleistocene Human Footprints in French Caves

Some of the painted caves in southern France preserve human footprints from the Ice Age of 17,000 years ago. Research has so far dealt with them sparsely and through a morphometric approach only. In 2013 three indigenous hunters/trackers from the Kalahari had an opportunity to read several spoor accumulations in four caves on the basis of their indigenous knowledge. As a result of this morpho-classificatory approach to track reading they produced new hypotheses on prehistoric cave visitors. Most spectacular is the narrative which the trackers generated from the footprints not far from the clay bison at Tuc d’Audoubert. Further research is planned to inspect more tracks and look into the epistemological status of the indigenous tracking method.

Direct evidence for human reliance on rainforest resources in late Pleistocene Sri Lanka.

Human occupation of tropical rainforest habitats is thought to be a mainly Holocene phenomenon. Although archaeological and paleoenvironmental data have hinted at pre-Holocene rainforest foraging, earlier human reliance on rainforest resources has not been shown directly. We applied stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to human and faunal tooth enamel from four late Pleistocene-to-Holocene archaeological sites in Sri Lanka. The results show that human foragers relied primarily on rainforest resources from at least ~20,000 years ago, with a distinct preference for semi-open rainforest and rain forest edges. Homo sapiens' relationship with the tropical rainforests of South Asia is therefore long-standing, a conclusion that indicates the time-depth of anthropogenic reliance and influence on these habitats.

Pleistocene humans in tropical rainforest

Human Paleoecology The tropical rainforest environment is nutritionally poor and tricky to navigate as compared to open habitats. This poses challenges for human subsistence. There has been little evidence to suggest that human populations relied on rainforest resources before the start of the Holocene, 10,000 years ago. Roberts et al. analyzed earlier fossil human and animal tooth enamel from Sri Lanka. The diet of these humans suggests rainforest rather than open-habitat foraging. Thus, humans were effectively exploiting rainforests in Sri Lanka since at least 20,000 years ago throughout periods of considerable climatic and environmental flux. Science , this issue p. [1246][1] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.aaa1230

The Regourdou 1 Neandertal body size

In order to maximize sample sizes for the assessment of body size and proportions among Late Pleistocene humans, the femoral head diameter of the Regourdou 1 Neandertal was estimated from its ischial acetabular lunate surface, so as to provide a reliable measure for body mass assessment. This estimate was accomplished by fitting a sphere to the 3D surface of the acetabulum and then estimating femoral head diameter using a regression of acetabular sphere diameter to femoral head diameter based on associated recent human femora and ossa coxarum. The resultant mean and range of values for the Regourdou 1 femoral head dimension place it among the smaller of the European and southwest Asian Neandertals, although its humeral length is above average for that sample. Regourdou 1 therefore joins Kebara 2 in having moderately long arms for body core size, and it thereby emphasizes the variation in Neandertal body proportions.

The oral pathological conditions of the Broken Hill (Kabwe) 1 cranium

The Broken Hill (Kabwe) 1 cranium exhibits dental caries on ten teeth, multiple periapical lesions, periodontal disease, severe anterior dental wear, and hypercementosis, conditions all little-studied in Middle Pleistocene humans and making Broken Hill 1 of great value to discussions of the antiquity of oral pathological conditions. These individual pathological conditions, however, have never previously been described in detail; the focus has been on diagnosing an overarching syndrome connecting the temporal and oral lesions. This case study examines the individual dentoalveolar pathological conditions to provide data for cross-comparison using ordinal scores (e.g., carious lesions, interdental septum condition), descriptions (e.g., hypercementosis, periapical lesions), and continuous measurements (cemento-enamel junction to alveolar crest distances). Differential diagnoses are explored including age-related hyposalivation, dental wear, lead poisoning, and diet, and are discussed within the context of past published attempts. Studies on recent humans have demonstrated correlations between oral disease, systemic health, and diet, suggesting Broken Hill 1 likely suffered from larger systemic inflammation related to its age, health, and perhaps subsistence.

Temporal labyrinths of eastern Eurasian Pleistocene humans.

One of the morphological features that has been identified as uniquely derived for the western Eurasian Neandertals concerns the relative sizes and positions of their semicircular canals. In particular, they exhibit a relatively small anterior canal, a relatively larger lateral one, and a more inferior position of the posterior one relative to the lateral one. These discussions have not included full paleontological data on eastern Eurasian Pleistocene human temporal labyrinths, which have the potential to provide a broader context for assessing Pleistocene Homo trait polarities. We present the temporal labyrinths of four eastern Eurasian Pleistocene Homo, one each of Early (Lantian 1), Middle (Hexian 1), and Late (Xujiayao 15) Pleistocene archaic humans and one early modern human (Liujiang 1). The labyrinths of the two earlier specimens and the most recent one conform to the proportions seen among western early and recent modern humans, reinforcing the modern human pattern as generally ancestral for the genus Homo. The labyrinth of Xujiayao 15 is in the middle of the Neandertal variation and separate from the other samples. This eastern Eurasian labyrinthine dichotomy occurs in the context of none of the distinctive Neandertal external temporal or other cranial features. As such, it raises questions regarding possible cranial and postcranial morphological correlates of Homo labyrinthine variation, the use of individual "Neandertal" features for documenting population affinities, and the nature of late archaic human variation across Eurasia.

The Middle Palaeolithic of the central Trans-Urals: Present evidence

The Urals and the adjacent regions, located at the easternmost limits of Europe and representing a geographic borderline with northern Asia/West Siberia, are of key relevance for comprehension of the culture-historical trajectories and environmental contexts of early peopling to this still marginally explored montage Russian territory. Complex Quaternary transformations of regional natural settings due to climate change controlled timing and dynamics of Palaeolithic occupation in the central mountain zone, foothills and adjoining Fore-Ural and Trans-Ural plains. Following the earliest and still sporadically mapped presence of the pre-Middle Pleistocene humans in the upper Kama Basin, the first marked geoarchaeology evidence is linked to the Middle Palaeolithic inhabitation of the Urals foothills and the mountain inner valleys. The Chusovaya River valley and its tributary valleys, transecting the Central Ural's mountain range NE–SW, were the principal corridor for the following Middle and Upper Palaeolithic migrations into the eastern (Trans-Ural) regions and West Siberia. Except for mountain karst formations, present Middle Palaeolithic habitat indices come from the eastern Ural foothills, the Leba, Neiva and Tara River basins, with occupation and workshop sites nearby natural exposures of rocky outcrops exploited as raw material deposits for lithic industry production. Diagnostic technological attributes of employed Levallois and bifacial stone flaking techniques with corresponding lithic artefact inventories provide some means for the general pre-Upper Palaeolithic age-assessment of the investigated sites. The limited number of the mapped Middle Palaeolithic loci does not allow evaluation of spatio-temporal settlement patterns. The present cultural evidence illustrates successful biological and behavioural adjustments to the Central Urals ecosystems in the framework of Middle/Late Pleistocene cultural development.

Evaluating developmental shape changes in Homo antecessor subadult facial morphology

The fossil ATD6-69 from Atapuerca, Spain, dated to ca. 900 ka (thousands of years ago) has been suggested to mark the earliest appearance of modern human facial features. However, this specimen is a subadult and the interpretation of its morphology remains controversial, because it is unclear how developmental shape changes would affect the features that link ATD6-69 to modern humans. Here we analyze ATD6-69 in an evolutionary and developmental context. Our modern human sample comprises cross-sectional growth series from four populations. The fossil sample covers human specimens from the Pleistocene to the Upper Paleolithic, and includes several subadult Early Pleistocene humans and Neanderthals. We digitized landmarks and semilandmarks on surface and CT scans and analyzed the Procrustes shape coordinates using multivariate statistics. Ontogenetic allometric trajectories and developmental simulations were employed in order to identify growth patterns and to visualize potential adult shapes of ATD6-69. We show that facial differences between modern and archaic humans are not exclusively allometric. We find that while postnatal growth further accentuates the differences in facial features between Neanderthals and modern humans, those features that have been suggested to link ATD6-69's morphology to modern humans would not have been significantly altered in the course of subsequent development. In particular, the infraorbital depression on this specimen would have persisted into adulthood. However, many of the facial features that ATD6-69 shares with modern humans can be considered to be part of a generalized pattern of facial architecture. Our results present a complex picture regarding the polarity of facial features and demonstrate that some modern human-like facial morphology is intermittently present in Middle Pleistocene humans. We suggest that some of the facial features that characterize recent modern humans may have developed multiple times in human evolution.

The Cognitive Implications of Controlled Fire Use by Early Humans

This article proposes a framework for investigating the cognitive implications of controlled fire use by Middle Pleistocene humans. By identifying the simplest strategies they could have used to control fire, given the constraints individuals had to overcome, we can establish a behavioural basis for making inferences about cognition. Accessing, maintaining and benefiting from fire involved a range of behaviours that imply future-directed planning, response inhibition and group-level cooperation. I argue that we can infer human cognitive abilities such as an extended working memory, episodic memories, collective intentionality and intersubjective communication from these fire-related behaviours.

Neurocranial Trauma in the Late Archaic Human Remains from Xujiayao, Northern China

AbstractThe early Late Pleistocene late archaic human remains from Xujiayao, northern China, reveal several abnormalities of the neurocranial vault. The Xujiayao site is located on the northwestern boundary of the Nihewan Basin, and on the basis of various indicators, it dates to the early Late Pleistocene. Among the 15 human neurocranial elements found at Xujiayao in the 1970s, three elements show minor traumatic lesions of the external table: the largely complete Xujiayao 5a immature parietal bone, the Xujiayao 8 small piece of anterior right parietal bone and the Xujiayao 12 partial occipital bone. The lesions are all superior to the temporal or nuchal lines and hence were subcutaneous, covered only by the pericranium, the galea aponeurotica and the overlying skin. The external tables are variably concave with irregular bone within the bony depressions, and the diploë show varying degrees of involvement. The Xujiayao abnormalities join a series of minor neurocranial healed lesions among Pleistocene humans, as well as more pronounced healed neurocranial and facial trauma. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Sunghir 3 Upper Paleolithic Juvenile: Pathology versus Persistence in the Paleolithic

AbstractThe Mid Upper Paleolithic Sunghir 3 late juvenile early modern human, from the most elaborate burial in the Pleistocene, had pathologically foreshortened and anteriorly bowed femora and, based on her dental enamel hypoplasias and transverse lines, sustained severe and persistent systemic stress throughout her decade of life. Her modest femoral and tibial asymmetry and her femoral bicondylar angles indicate non‐pathological patterns of posture and locomotion. The levels of rigidity for her weight‐bearing tibiae and the non‐dominant left arm reflect normal weight‐bearing and manipulation. These indicators are combined with an elevated level of right humeral strength, leading to pronounced humeral diaphyseal asymmetry, combined with elevated muscular insertion asymmetry. In combination with marked upper limb muscle markings and normal levels of bone formation, these reflections of her robustness indicate that she was fully mobile and participated actively in the tasks of her social group. There is no indication of the skeletal hypotrophy/atrophy that would be associated with less than full participation in the mobility and subsistence of her social group. As such, Sunghir 3 joins a growing list of developmentally or degeneratively pathological Late Pleistocene humans who nonetheless remained mobile and active. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Middle Pleistocene human facial morphology in an evolutionary and developmental context

Neanderthals and modern humans exhibit distinct facial architectures. The patterning of facial morphology of their predecessors, the Middle Pleistocene humans, is more mosaic showing a mix of archaic and modern morphologies. Significant changes in facial size and robusticity occurred throughout Pleistocene human evolution, resulting in temporal trends in both facial reduction and enlargement. However, the allometric patterning in facial morphology in archaic humans is not well understood. This study explores temporal trends in facial morphology in order to gain a clearer understanding of the polarity of features, and describes the allometric patterning of facial shape.The modern human sample comprises cross-sectional growth series of four morphologically distinct human populations. The fossil sample covers specimens from the Middle Pleistocene to the Upper Paleolithic. We digitized landmarks and semilandmarks on surface and computed tomography scans and analyzed the Procrustes shape coordinates. Principal component analyses were performed, and Procrustes distances were used to identify phenetic similarities between fossil hominins. In order to explore the influence of size on facial features, allometric trajectories were calculated for fossil and modern human groups, and developmental simulations were performed.We show that facial features can be used to separate Pleistocene humans into temporal clusters. The distinctly modern human pattern of facial morphology is already present around 170 ka. Species- and population-specific facial features develop before two years of age, and several of the large-scale facial differences between Neanderthals and Middle Pleistocene humans are due to scaling along a shared allometric trajectory. These features include aspects of the frontal bone, browridge morphology, nasal aperture size and facial prognathism. Infraorbital surface topography and orientation of the midface in the European Middle Pleistocene hominins is intermediate between the African Middle Pleistocene and Neanderthal condition. This could suggest that the European Middle Pleistocene hominins display incipient Neanderthal features.

Brief communication: The human humerus from the Broken Hill Mine, Kabwe, Zambia

The distal half of a right human humerus (E.898), recovered ex situ in 1925 by Hrdlička at the Broken Hill Mine, Kabwe, Zambia, has figured prominently in assessments of Middle Pleistocene Homo postcranial variation and of the phylogenetic polarity and functional anatomy of Pleistocene Homo upper limb morphology. Reassessment of distal humeral features that distinguish modern human and some archaic Homo humeri, especially relative olecranon breadth and medial and lateral pillar thicknesses, confirm previous studies placing it morphologically close to recent humans, as well as possibly to Early Pleistocene Homo. However, it completely lacks stratigraphic context, and there is faunal and archeological evidence for human activity at Broken Hill from the Middle Pleistocene to the Holocene. Given its uncertain geological age and modern human morphology, the Broken Hill E.898 humerus should not be used in analyses of Pleistocene humans until it is securely dated.

Communicative capacities in Middle Pleistocene humans from the Sierra de Atapuerca in Spain

The present study presents new data on the abilities of Homo heidelbergensis to produce and perceive the sounds emitted during modern human spoken language. The pattern of sound power transmission was studied through the outer and middle ears in five individuals from the Sima de los Huesos, four chimpanzees and four modern humans. The results were then used to calculate the occupied bandwidth of the outer and middle ears, an important variable related with communicative capacities. The results demonstrate that the Atapuerca SH hominins were similar to modern humans in this aspect, falling within the lower half of the range of variation, and clearly distinct from chimpanzees. Specifically, the Atapuerca SH hominins show a bandwidth that is slightly displaced and considerably extended to encompass the frequencies that contain relevant acoustic information in human speech, permitting the transmission of a larger amount of information with fewer errors. At the same time, the presence of a complete cervical segment of the spinal column associated with Cranium 5 from the Sima de los Huesos Middle Pleistocene site (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain) makes it possible to estimate the vocal tract proportions in H. heidelbergensis for the first time. The results demonstrate that it is similar to the reconstructed vocal tract in the La Ferrassie 1 Neandertal individual, which has been suggested to have been capable of producing the full range of sounds emitted during modern human spoken language. These results in the Atapuerca (SH) hominins are consistent with other recent suggestions for an ancient origin for human speech capacity.

Middle Paleolithic human remains from the Gruta Da Oliveira (Torres Novas), Portugal

Additional Middle Paleolithic human remains from layers 17, 18, and 22 of the Gruta da Oliveira, Portugal consist of a proximal manual phalanx 2 (Oliveira 5), a partial postcanine tooth (Oliveira 6), a humeral diaphysis (Oliveira 7), a distal mandibular molar (Oliveira 8), and a mandibular premolar (P(3) ) (Oliveira 9). Oliveira 5, 6, and 8 are unremarkable for Late Pleistocene humans. The Oliveira 7 right humerus is moderately robust or the individual had the stocky body proportions of other European (including Iberian) Neandertals. The Oliveira 9 P(3) has a large and symmetrical crown and lacks a distal accessory ridge and accessory lingual cusps, overlapping both Neandertal and recent human ranges of variation. It contrasts with at least recent human P(3) s in having relatively thin enamel. These join the Oliveira 1 to 4 remains in further documenting early MIS 3 Neandertal morphology in western Iberia.