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Abstract
Most Chinese lithic industries dated between 300,000 and 40,000 are characterized by the absence of Levallois debitage, the persistence of core-and-flake knapping, the rarity of prepared cores, their reduction with direct hard hammer percussion, and the rarity of retouched flakes. Here we report the discovery of seven bone soft hammers at the early hominin Lingjing site (Xuchang County, Henan) dated to 125,000–105,000. These artefacts represent the first instance of the use of bone as raw material to modify stone tools found at an East Asian early Late Pleistocene site. Three types of soft hammers are identified. The first consists of large bone flakes resulting from butchery of large herbivores that were utilized as such for expedient stone tools retouching or resharpening. The second involved the fracture of weathered bone from medium size herbivores to obtain elongated splinters shaped by percussion into sub-rectangular artefacts. Traces observed on these objects indicate intensive and possibly recurrent utilization, which implies their curation over time. The last consists of antler, occasionally used. Lingjing bone tools complement what we know about archaic hominin cultural adaptations in East Asia and highlight behavioural consistencies that could not be inferred from other cultural proxies. This discovery provides a new dimension to the debate surrounding the existence of the Middle Palaeolithic in the region. The attribution of East Asian sites to the Middle Palaeolithic assumes that cultural traits such as the Levallois method represent evolutionary hallmarks applicable to regions of the world different from those in which they were originally found. Here, we promote an approach that consists in identifying, possibly from different categories of material culture, the original features of each regional cultural trajectory and understanding the behavioural and cognitive implications they may have had for past hominin populations.
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52
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Xing S, Martinón-Torres M, Bermúdez de Castro JM. The fossil teeth of the Peking Man. Sci Rep 2018; 8:2066. [PMID: 29391445 PMCID: PMC5794973 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-20432-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2017] [Accepted: 01/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
This study provides new original data, including the endostructure of most Zhoukoudian H. erectus teeth preserved to date, since the publication of Black in 1927 and Weidenreich in 1937. The new evidence ratifies the similarities of Zhoukoudian with other East Asian mid-Middle Pleistocene hominins such as Hexian and Yiyuan, and allows defining a dental pattern potentially characteristic of this population commonly referred to as classic H. erectus. Given the possible chronological overlaps of classic H. erectus with other archaic Homo, the characterization of this group becomes a key issue when deciphering the taxonomy and evolutionary scenario of the Middle Pleistocene hominins in East Asia. Internally, the most remarkable feature of Zhoukoudian teeth is the highly crenulated enamel-dentine junction (EDJ) and its imprint on the roof of the pulp cavity. So far, this "dendrite-like" EDJ has been found only in East Asia Middle Pleistocene hominins although a large group of samples were assessed, and it could be useful to dentally define classic H. erectus in China. The crenulated EDJ surface, together with the stout roots and the taurodontism could be a mechanism to withstand high biomechanical demand despite a general dentognathic reduction, particularly of the crowns, in these populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Song Xing
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China.
| | - María Martinón-Torres
- National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain.,University College London (UCL) Anthropology, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, UK
| | - José María Bermúdez de Castro
- National Research Center on Human Evolution (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain.,University College London (UCL) Anthropology, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, UK
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53
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Rabett RJ. The success of failed Homo sapiens dispersals out of Africa and into Asia. Nat Ecol Evol 2018; 2:212-219. [PMID: 29348642 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-017-0436-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2017] [Accepted: 11/30/2017] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
The evidence for an early dispersal of Homo sapiens from Africa into the Levant during Marine Isotope Stage 5 (MIS-5) 126-74 ka (thousand years ago) was characterized for many years as an 'abortive' expansion: a precursor to a sustained dispersal from which all extant human populations can be traced. Recent archaeological and genetic data from both western and eastern parts of Eurasia and from Australia are starting to challenge that interpretation. This Perspective reviews the current evidence for a scenario where the MIS-5 dispersal encompassed a much greater geographic distribution and temporal duration. The implications of this for tracking and understanding early human dispersal in Southeast Asia specifically are considered, and the validity of measuring dispersal success only through genetic continuity into the present is examined.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan J Rabett
- Archaeology & Palaeoecology, School of Natural & Built Environment, Queen's University Belfast, Elmwood Avenue, Belfast, BT7 1NN, UK.
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54
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Li F, Kuhn SL, Chen F, Wang Y, Southon J, Peng F, Shan M, Wang C, Ge J, Wang X, Yun T, Gao X. The easternmost Middle Paleolithic (Mousterian) from Jinsitai Cave, North China. J Hum Evol 2018; 114:76-84. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.10.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2017] [Revised: 10/04/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
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55
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Trinkaus E, Wu XJ. External auditory exostoses in the Xuchang and Xujiayao human remains: Patterns and implications among eastern Eurasian Middle and Late Pleistocene crania. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0189390. [PMID: 29232394 PMCID: PMC5726651 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189390] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2017] [Accepted: 11/26/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
In the context of Middle and Late Pleistocene eastern Eurasian human crania, the external auditory exostoses (EAE) of the late archaic Xuchang 1 and 2 and the Xujiayao 15 early Late Pleistocene human temporal bones are described. Xujiayao 15 has small EAE (Grade 1), Xuchang 1 presents bilateral medium EAE (Grade 2), and Xuchang 2 exhibits bilaterally large EAE (Grade 3), especially on the right side. These cranial remains join the other eastern Eurasian later Pleistocene humans in providing frequencies of 61% (N = 18) and 58% (N = 12) respectively for archaic and early modern human samples. These values are near the upper limits of recent human frequencies, and they imply frequent aquatic exposure among these Pleistocene humans. In addition, the medial extents of the Xuchang 1 and 2 EAE would have impinged on their tympanic membranes, and the large EAE of Xuchang 2 would have resulted in cerumen impaction. Both effects would have produced conductive hearing loss, a serious impairment in a Pleistocene foraging context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Trinkaus
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University, Saint Louis, MO, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Xiu-Jie Wu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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56
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Martinón-Torres M, Wu X, Bermúdez de Castro JM, Xing S, Liu W. Homo sapiens in the Eastern Asian Late Pleistocene. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1086/694449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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57
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58
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Kaifu Y. Archaic Hominin Populations in Asia before the Arrival of Modern Humans. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2017. [DOI: 10.1086/694318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
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59
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Hoffecker JF, Hoffecker IT. Technological complexity and the global dispersal of modern humans. Evol Anthropol 2017; 26:285-299. [PMID: 29265666 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/10/2017] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) dispersed out of Africa roughly 120,000 years ago and again after 75,000 years ago. The early dispersal was geographically restricted to the Arabian Peninsula, Levant, and possibly parts of southern Asia. The later dispersal was ultimately global in scope, including areas not previously occupied by Homo. One explanation for the contrast between the two out-of-Africa dispersals is that the modern humans who expanded into Eurasia 120,000 years ago lacked the functionally and structurally complex technology of recent hunter-gatherers. This technology, which includes, for example, mechanical projectiles, snares and traps, and sewn clothing, provides not only expanded dietary breadth and increased rates of foraging efficiency and success in places where plant and animal productivity is low, but protection from cold weather in places where winter temperatures are low. The absence of complex technology before 75,000 years ago also may explain why modern humans in the Levant did not develop sedentary settlements and agriculture 120,000 years ago (i.e., during the Last Interglacial).
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Affiliation(s)
- John F Hoffecker
- Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, 80309-0450
| | - Ian T Hoffecker
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77, Stockholm, Sweden
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60
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Athreya S, Wu X. A multivariate assessment of the Dali hominin cranium from China: Morphological affinities and implications for Pleistocene evolution in East Asia. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2017; 164:679-701. [PMID: 29068047 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.23305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2017] [Revised: 08/15/2017] [Accepted: 08/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES A nearly complete hominin fossil cranium from Dali in Shaanxi Province, China was excavated in 1978. We update and expand on previous research by providing a multivariate analysis of the specimen relative to a large sample of Middle and Late Pleistocene hominins. MATERIALS AND METHODS We apply principal components analysis, discriminant function analysis, and a method of assessing group membership based on a soft independent model of class analogy (SIMCA) to the study of Dali's cranial morphology. We evaluate Dali's affinities within the context of Middle and Late Pleistocene Homo patterns of craniofacial morphology. RESULTS When just the facial skeleton is considered, Dali aligns with Middle Paleolithic H. sapiens and is clearly more derived than African or Eurasian Middle Pleistocene Homo. When just the neurocranium is considered, Dali is most similar to African and Eastern Eurasian but not Western European Middle Pleistocene Homo. When both sets of variables are considered together, Dali exhibits a unique morphology that is most closely aligned with the earliest H. sapiens from North Africa and the Levant. DISCUSSION These results add perspective to our previous view of as Dali a "transitional" form between Chinese H. erectus and H. sapiens. Athough no taxonomic allocation is appropriate at this time for Dali, it appears to represent a population that played a more central role in the origin of Chinese H. sapiens. Dali's affinities can be understood in the context of Wu's Continuity with Hybridization scenario and a braided-stream network model of gene flow. Specifically, we propose that Pleistocene populations in China were shaped by periods of isolated evolutionary change within local lineages at certain times, and gene flow between local lineages or between Eastern and Western Eurasia, and Africa at other times, resulting in contributions being made in different capacities to different regions at different times.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sheela Athreya
- Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, MS 4352 TAMU, College Station, Texas 77843
| | - Xinzhi Wu
- Laboratory for Human Evolution, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100044, China
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61
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Trinkaus E, Villotte S. External auditory exostoses and hearing loss in the Shanidar 1 Neandertal. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0186684. [PMID: 29053746 PMCID: PMC5650169 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0186684] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2017] [Accepted: 10/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Late Pleistocene Shanidar 1 older adult male Neandertal is known for the crushing fracture of his left orbit with a probable reduction in vision, the loss of his right forearm and hand, and evidence of an abnormal gait, as well as probable diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis. He also exhibits advanced external auditory exostoses in his left auditory meatus and larger ones with complete bridging across the porus in the right meatus (both Grade 3). These growths indicate at least unilateral conductive hearing (CHL) loss, a serious sensory deprivation for a Pleistocene hunter-gatherer. This condition joins the meatal atresia of the Middle Pleistocene Atapuerca-SH Cr.4 in providing evidence of survival with conductive hearing loss (and hence serious sensory deprivation) among these Pleistocene humans. The presence of CHL in these fossils thereby reinforces the paleobiological and archeological evidence for supporting social matrices among these Pleistocene foraging peoples.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Trinkaus
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University, Saint Louis, Missouri, United States of America
| | - Sébastien Villotte
- UMR5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux–CNRS, Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint Hilaire, Pessac cedex, France
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62
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Bermúdez de Castro JM, Martinón-Torres M, Arsuaga JL, Carbonell E. Twentieth anniversary of Homo antecessor (1997-2017): a review. Evol Anthropol 2017; 26:157-171. [PMID: 28815959 DOI: 10.1002/evan.21540] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/27/2017] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
It has been twenty years since diagnosis and publication of the species Homo antecessor.1 Since then, new human fossils recovered from the TD6 level of the Gran Dolina site (Sierra de Atapuerca, northern Spain) have helped to refine its taxonomic and phylogenetic position. In this paper, we present a synthesis of the most characteristic features of this species, as well as our interpretation derived from the latest investigations. We focus on the phylogenetic interpretation of Homo antecessor, taking into account the most recent paleogenetic analyses and a reassessment of the European Middle Pleistocene hominin record. We try to show that, twenty years after its publication, H. antecessor provides a good opportunity to address the morphology of the last common ancestor of Neandertals and modern humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- José María Bermúdez de Castro
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Paseo de la Sierra de Atapuerca 3, 09002, Burgos, Spain.,Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, UK
| | - María Martinón-Torres
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, 14 Taviton Street, London, WC1H 0BW, UK.,Departamento de la Ciencias Históricas y Geografía, Universidad de Burgos, Hospital del Rey S/N, 09001, Burgos, Spain
| | - Juan Luis Arsuaga
- Centro Mixto UCM-ISCIII de Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain
| | - Eudald Carbonell
- Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), C/ Escorxador s/n, 43003, Tarragona, Spain.,Laboratory of Human Evolution, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology (IVPP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100044, Beijing, China
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63
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Bhatti S, Abbas S, Aslamkhan M, Attimonelli M, Trinidad MS, Aydin HH, de Souza EMS, Gonzalez GR. Genetic perspective of uniparental mitochondrial DNA landscape on the Punjabi population, Pakistan. Mitochondrial DNA A DNA Mapp Seq Anal 2017; 29:714-726. [PMID: 28745560 DOI: 10.1080/24701394.2017.1350951] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
To investigate the uniparental genetic structure of the Punjabi population from mtDNA aspect and to set up an appropriate mtDNA forensic database, we studied maternally unrelated Punjabi (N = 100) subjects from two caste groups (i.e. Arain and Gujar) belonging to territory of Punjab. The complete control region was elucidated by Sanger sequencing and the subsequent 58 different haplotypes were designated into appropriate haplogroups according to the most recently updated mtDNA phylogeny. We found a homogenous dispersal of Eurasian haplogroup uniformity among the Punjab Province and exhibited a strong connotation with the European populations. Punjabi castes are primarily a composite of substantial South Asian, East Asian and West Eurasian lineages. Moreover, for the first time we have defined the newly sub-haplogroup M52b1 characterized by 16223 T, 16275 G and 16438 A in Gujar caste. The vast array of mtDNA variants displayed in this study suggested that the haplogroup composition radiates signals of extensive genetic conglomeration, population admixture and demographic expansion that was equipped with diverse origin, whereas matrilineal gene pool was phylogeographically homogenous across the Punjab. This context was further fully acquainted with the facts supported by PCA scatterplot that Punjabi population clustered with South Asian populations. Finally, the high power of discrimination (0.8819) and low random match probability (0.0085%) proposed a worthy contribution of mtDNA control region dataset as a forensic database that considered a gold standard of today to get deeper insight into the genetic ancestry of contemporary matrilineal phylogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahzad Bhatti
- a Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology , University of Health Sciences Lahore , Lahore , Pakistan.,b Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology , University of Lahore , Lahore , Pakistan
| | - Sana Abbas
- b Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology , University of Lahore , Lahore , Pakistan
| | - Muhammad Aslamkhan
- a Department of Human Genetics and Molecular Biology , University of Health Sciences Lahore , Lahore , Pakistan
| | - Marcella Attimonelli
- c Department of Biosciences, Biotechnologies and Biopharmaceutics , University of Bari , Bari , Italy
| | - Magali Segundo Trinidad
- d Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico , Facultad de Medicinia , Ciudad de Mexico , Mexico
| | - Hikmet Hakan Aydin
- e Department of Medical Biochemistry , Ege University School of Medicine , Izmir , Turkey
| | - Erica Martinha Silva de Souza
- f Instituto Nacional de Pesquisa, Manaus Programa de Pós Graduação em Genética , Conservação e Biologia Evolutiva , Manaus , Brazil
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64
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Berger LR, Hawks J, Dirks PHGM, Elliott M, Roberts EM. Homo naledi and Pleistocene hominin evolution in subequatorial Africa. eLife 2017; 6:e24234. [PMID: 28483041 PMCID: PMC5423770 DOI: 10.7554/elife.24234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 55] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2016] [Accepted: 04/19/2017] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
New discoveries and dating of fossil remains from the Rising Star cave system, Cradle of Humankind, South Africa, have strong implications for our understanding of Pleistocene human evolution in Africa. Direct dating of Homo naledi fossils from the Dinaledi Chamber (Berger et al., 2015) shows that they were deposited between about 236 ka and 335 ka (Dirks et al., 2017), placing H. naledi in the later Middle Pleistocene. Hawks and colleagues (Hawks et al., 2017) report the discovery of a second chamber within the Rising Star system (Dirks et al., 2015) that contains H. naledi remains. Previously, only large-brained modern humans or their close relatives had been demonstrated to exist at this late time in Africa, but the fossil evidence for any hominins in subequatorial Africa was very sparse. It is now evident that a diversity of hominin lineages existed in this region, with some divergent lineages contributing DNA to living humans and at least H. naledi representing a survivor from the earliest stages of diversification within Homo. The existence of a diverse array of hominins in subequatorial comports with our present knowledge of diversity across other savanna-adapted species, as well as with palaeoclimate and paleoenvironmental data. H. naledi casts the fossil and archaeological records into a new light, as we cannot exclude that this lineage was responsible for the production of Acheulean or Middle Stone Age tool industries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee R Berger
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - John Hawks
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, United States
| | - Paul HGM Dirks
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Geosciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
| | - Marina Elliott
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Eric M Roberts
- Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
- Department of Geosciences, James Cook University, Townsville, Australia
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65
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XING SONG, GUAN YING, O’HARA MACKIE, CAI HUIYANG, WANG XIAOMIN, GAO XING. Late Pleistocene hominin teeth from Laoya Cave, southern China. ANTHROPOL SCI 2017. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.170802] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- SONG XING
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
| | - YING GUAN
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
| | - MACKIE O’HARA
- Department of Anthropology, The Ohio State University, Columbus
| | | | - XIAOMIN WANG
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
| | - XING GAO
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
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