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Morrissey P, Mentzer SM, Wurz S. The stratigraphy and formation of Middle Stone Age deposits in Cave 1B, Klasies River Main site, South Africa, with implications for the context, age, and cultural association of the KRM 41815/SAM-AP 6222 human mandible. J Hum Evol 2023; 183:103414. [PMID: 37660505 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2023.103414] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2023] [Revised: 07/11/2023] [Accepted: 07/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/05/2023]
Abstract
Cave 1B, in the Klasies River Main site complex (KRM), is best known for the recovery of the KRM 41815/SAM-AP 6222 human mandible. After initial skepticism over the modernity of this specimen, it is accepted that the mix of archaic and modern traits it displays is characteristic of early Homo sapiens individuals. Different authors have associated this specimen with the Middle Stone Age (MSA) I and II/Mossel Bay cultural phases, but the published data do not allow an unambiguous attribution. KRM 41815's frequent use in studies of the evolution of the human mandible, and its well-developed chin, makes clarifying its age and context important objectives. The field and micromorphology observations presented here provide greater insight into the stratigraphy and formation of the sequence exposed in the PP38 excavation. There are three major divisions: the basal Light Brown Sand (LBS) Member (not excavated), the Rubble Sand (RS) Member (MSA I), and the Shell and Sand Dark Carbonized (SASDC) Submember (MSA II). Cultural stratigraphy based on lithic artifacts remains the only way to make secure (but broad) temporal correlations with the rest of the site complex. This investigation shows that a range of anthropogenic, geogenic, and biogenic processes contributed to the deposition and post-depositional alteration of the identified microfacies. Short depositional hiatuses are reasonably common, and a significant hiatus was identified between the RS and SASDC. The impact of post-depositional processes on the RS is significant, with anthropogenic deposits poorly preserved. In comparison, the SASDC is dominated by hearths contained within deposits rich in reworked anthropogenic materials known as carbonized partings. Small shell disposal features are also present. The distribution of these anthropogenic features suggests continuity in the management of space throughout the MSA II occupations, from before 110 ka. New stratigraphic correlations indicate that KRM 41815 is unambiguously associated with the MSA I. Therefore, it predates 110 ka, with a lower age limit potentially in Marine Isotope Stage 6.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Morrissey
- School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
| | - Susan M Mentzer
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Sarah Wurz
- School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa; SFF Centre for Early Sapiens Behaviour (SapienCE), University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
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2
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Grine FE, Gonzalvo E, Rossouw L, Holt S, Black W, Braga J. Variation in Middle Stone Age mandibular molar enamel-dentine junction topography at Klasies River Main Site assessed by diffeomorphic surface matching. J Hum Evol 2021; 161:103079. [PMID: 34739985 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103079] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Revised: 09/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
The morphology and variability of the Middle Stone Age (MSA) hominin fossils from Klasies River Main Site have been the focus of investigation for more than four decades. The mandibular remains have figured prominently in discussions relating to robusticity, size dimorphism, and symphyseal morphology. Variation in corpus size between the robust SAM-AP 6223 and the diminutive SAM-AP 6225 mandibles is particularly impressive, and the difference between the buccolingual diameters of their M2s significantly exceeds recent human sample variation. SAM-AP 6223 and SAM-AP 6225 are the only Klasies specimens with homologous teeth (M2 and M3) that permit comparisons of crown morphology. While the differences in dental trait expression at the outer enamel surfaces of these molars are slight, diffeomorphic surface analyses of their underlying enamel-dentine junction (EDJ) topographies reveal differences that are well beyond the means of pairwise differences among comparative samples of Later Stone Age (LSA) Khoesan and recent African homologues. The EDJs of both SAM-AP 6225 molars and the SAM-AP 6223 M3 fall outside the envelopes that define the morphospace of these two samples. Although the radiocarbon dated LSA individuals examined here differ by a maximum of some 7000 years, and the two Klasies jaws may differ by perhaps as much as 18,000 years, it is difficult to ascribe their differences to time alone. With reference to the morphoscopic traits by which the SAM-AP 6223 and SAM-AP 6225 EDJs differ, the most striking is the expression of the protoconid cingulum. This is very weakly developed on the SAM-AP 6223 molars and distinct in SAM-AP 6225. As such, this diminutive fossil exhibits a more pronounced manifestation of what is likely a plesiomorphic feature, thus adding to the morphological mosaicism that is evident in the Klasies hominin assemblage. Several possible explanations for the variation and mosaicism in this MSA sample are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederick E Grine
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA; Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA.
| | - Elsa Gonzalvo
- Centre d'Anthropobiologie et de Génomique de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, Toulouse, France
| | - Lloyd Rossouw
- Florisbad Quaternary Research Department, The National Museum, 36 Aliwal Street, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa
| | - Sharon Holt
- Florisbad Quaternary Research Department, The National Museum, 36 Aliwal Street, Bloemfontein 9300, South Africa
| | - Wendy Black
- Archaeology Unit, Research and Exhibitions Department, Iziko Museums of South Africa, Cape Town, South Africa
| | - José Braga
- Centre d'Anthropobiologie et de Génomique de Toulouse, Université Paul Sabatier Toulouse III, Faculté de Médecine Purpan, 37 Allées Jules Guesde, Toulouse, France; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2050, South Africa
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Cameron ME, Pfeiffer S, Stock J. Small body size phenotypes among Middle and Later Stone Age Southern Africans. J Hum Evol 2021; 152:102943. [PMID: 33571806 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102943] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2019] [Revised: 12/17/2020] [Accepted: 12/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Modern humans originated between 300 and 200 ka in structured populations throughout Africa, characterized by regional interaction and diversity. Acknowledgment of this complex Pleistocene population structure raises new questions about the emergence of phenotypic diversity. Holocene Southern African Later Stone Age (LSA) skeletons and descendant Khoe-San peoples have small adult body sizes that may reflect long-term adaptation to the Cape environment. Pleistocene Southern African adult body sizes are not well characterized, but some postcranial elements are available. The most numerous Pleistocene postcranial skeletal remains come from Klasies River Mouth on the Southern Cape coast of South Africa. We compare the morphology of these skeletal elements with globally sampled Holocene groups encompassing diverse adult body sizes and shapes (n = 287) to investigate whether there is evidence for phenotypic patterning. The adult Klasies River Mouth bones include most of a lumbar vertebra, and portions of a left clavicle, left proximal radius, right proximal ulna, and left first metatarsal. Linear dimensions, shape characteristics, and cross-sectional geometric properties of the Klasies River Mouth elements were compared using univariate and multivariate methods. Between-group principal component analyses group Klasies River Mouth elements, except the proximal ulna, with LSA Southern Africans. The similarity is driven by size. Klasies River Mouth metatarsal cross-sectional geometric properties indicate similar torsional and compressive strength to those from LSA Southern Africans. Phenotypic expressions of small-bodied adult morphology in Marine Isotope Stages 5 and 1 suggest this phenotype may represent local convergent adaptation to life in the Cape.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle E Cameron
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S2, Canada.
| | - Susan Pfeiffer
- Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto, 19 Russell Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2S2, Canada; Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa; Department of Anthropology and Center for Advanced Study of Human Paleobiology, The George Washington University, Science and Engineering Hall, 800 22nd St NW, Suite 6000, Washington, DC 20052, USA
| | - Jay Stock
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, CB2 3QG, UK; Department of Anthropology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, N6A 5C2, UK; Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Str. 10, Jena, 07745, Germany
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4
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Human manual distal phalanges from the Middle Stone Age deposits of Klasies River Main Site, Western Cape Province, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2020; 146:102849. [PMID: 32721654 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2020.102849] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2020] [Revised: 06/11/2020] [Accepted: 06/11/2020] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Two new distal manual phalanges from the Middle Stone Age deposits of Klasies River Main Site are described. One (SAM-AP 6387) likely derives from ray II or ray III, whereas the other (SAM-AP 6388) is from the thumb. Both derive from a late adolescent or fully adult individual. They were recovered by H. Deacon from the same stratigraphic unit (submember W or possibly submember R) of the Shell and Sand Member of Cave 1, which places them between 100 and 90 ka. Both are comparatively small elements, and the possibility that they came from the same hand cannot be discounted at this time. These bones add to the meager and all too fragmentary postcranial human fossil sample from the Late Pleistocene of South Africa. These two specimens provide some additional evidence pertaining to the morphological attributes of the distal phalanges of the Middle Stone Age inhabitants of South Africa. Together with the distal pollical phalanx from Die Kelders (SAM-AP 6402), they are relatively small in comparison with homologs from recent human samples as well as Late Pleistocene specimens from Eurasia. Given their small sizes, the distal pollical phalanges from Klasies and Die Kelders are not dissimilar to Holocene Khoesan homologs. As expected, the Klasies elements differ noticeably from Neandertal homologs, especially in the narrowness of their shafts and distal tuberosities.
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5
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Loftus E, Lee-Thorp J, Leng M, Marean C, Sealy J. Seasonal scheduling of shellfish collection in the Middle and Later Stone Ages of southern Africa. J Hum Evol 2019; 128:1-16. [PMID: 30825979 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.12.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2018] [Revised: 12/06/2018] [Accepted: 12/14/2018] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
This study assesses the seasonal scheduling of shellfish harvesting among hunter-gatherer populations along the southernmost coast of South Africa, based on a large number of serial oxygen isotope analyses of marine mollusk shells from four archaeological sites. The south coast of South Africa boasts an exceptional record of coastal hunter-gatherer occupation spanning the Holocene, the last glacial cycle and beyond. The significance of coastal adaptations, in this region in particular, for later modern human evolution has been prominently debated. Shellfishing behaviors are an important focus for investigation given the dietary and scheduling implications and the abundant archaeological shell remains in numerous sites. Key to better understanding coastal foraging is whether it was limited to one particular season, or year-round. Yet, this has proven very difficult to establish by conventional archaeological methods. This study reconstructs seasonal harvesting patterns by calculating water temperatures from the final growth increment of shells. Results from two Later Stone Age sites, Nelson Bay Cave (together with the nearby Hoffman's Robberg Cave) and Byneskranskop 1, show a pronounced cool season signal, which is unexpected given previous ethnographic documentation of summer as the optimal season for shellfishing activities and inferences about hunter-gatherer scheduling and mobility in the late Holocene. Results from two Middle Stone Age sites, Klasies River and Pinnacle Point 5-6, show distinct seasonal patterns that likely reflect the seasonal availability of resources in the two locations. The Pinnacle Point 5-6 assemblage, which spans the MIS5-4 transition, records a marked shift in shellfishing seasonality at c. 71 ka that aligns with other indications of archaeological and environmental change at this time. We conclude that the scheduling and intensity of shellfishing in this region is affected by a suite of factors, including environmental and cultural drivers, rather than a single variable, such as population growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emma Loftus
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 1-2 South Parks Road, OX1 3TG, UK; Merton College, University of Oxford, Merton Street, OX1 4JD, UK.
| | - Julia Lee-Thorp
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, 1-2 South Parks Road, OX1 3TG, UK
| | - Melanie Leng
- NERC Isotope Geoscience Laboratory Facilities, British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG, UK; Centre for Environmental Geochemistry, School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Curtis Marean
- Institute of Human Origins, School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, PO Box 874101, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4101, USA; African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University, PO Box 77000, Port Elizabeth, 6031, South Africa
| | - Judith Sealy
- Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch 7701, South Africa
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6
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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: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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7
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Grine FE, Wurz S, Marean CW. The Middle Stone Age human fossil record from Klasies River Main Site. J Hum Evol 2017; 103:53-78. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2016.12.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2016] [Revised: 12/01/2016] [Accepted: 12/06/2016] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Grine FE. The Late Quaternary Hominins of Africa: The Skeletal Evidence from MIS 6-2. AFRICA FROM MIS 6-2 2016. [DOI: 10.1007/978-94-017-7520-5_17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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9
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The earliest unequivocally modern humans in southern China. Nature 2015; 526:696-9. [DOI: 10.1038/nature15696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 298] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2015] [Accepted: 09/09/2015] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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Harvati K, Bauer CC, Grine FE, Benazzi S, Ackermann RR, van Niekerk KL, Henshilwood CS. A human deciduous molar from the Middle Stone Age (Howiesons Poort) of Klipdrift Shelter, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2015; 82:190-6. [PMID: 25883050 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2015.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2014] [Revised: 03/07/2015] [Accepted: 03/10/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Katerina Harvati
- Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 23, Tübingen 72070, Germany.
| | - Catherine C Bauer
- Paleoanthropology, Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Paleoenvironment, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Rümelinstrasse 23, Tübingen 72070, Germany
| | - Frederick E Grine
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, 11794-4364 New York, USA; Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, 11794-4364 New York, USA
| | - Stefano Benazzi
- Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121 Ravenna, Italy; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Karen L van Niekerk
- Institute for Archaeology, History, Culture and Religious Studies, University of Bergen, Øysteinsgate 3, N-5007 Bergen, Norway; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Christopher S Henshilwood
- Institute for Archaeology, History, Culture and Religious Studies, University of Bergen, Øysteinsgate 3, N-5007 Bergen, Norway; Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, 1 Jan Smuts Avenue, Braamfontein 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa
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Kyriacou K, Parkington JE, Marais AD, Braun DR. Nutrition, modernity and the archaeological record: Coastal resources and nutrition among Middle Stone Age hunter-gatherers on the western Cape coast of South Africa. J Hum Evol 2014; 77:64-73. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.02.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2012] [Revised: 06/21/2013] [Accepted: 02/21/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
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12
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Pfeiffer S. Conditions for Evolution of Small Adult Body Size in Southern Africa. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2012. [DOI: 10.1086/667521] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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13
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Grine FE. Observations on Middle Stone Age human teeth from Klasies River Main Site, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2012; 63:750-8. [PMID: 23044372 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2012.08.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2012] [Revised: 08/10/2012] [Accepted: 08/15/2012] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
The human fossils, artefacts and faunal remains from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits of Klasies River Main Site have featured prominently in discussions of the evolution of modern human morphology and the emergence of human behavioral modernity. Nearly 40 human fossils were uncovered by John Wymer's (1967-1968) excavations, and subsequent work by Hilary Deacon (1984-1995) has produced an additional dozen specimens. Many of the latter have been described, but most of the dental remains have been afforded only cursory mention and provisional identification. These specimens are documented here, and questions of individual association among some of the fossils from Wymer's excavations are also addressed. Three teeth provide the first indisputable evidence for juvenile individuals in the deposit. The proportion of juvenile to adult remains in the MSA levels at Klasies is notably lower than in other penecontemporaneous South African coastal MSA sites such as Die Kelders Cave 1 and Blombos Cave, where the proportion of juveniles is seemingly in closer keeping with coastal, geographically proximate Later Stone Age sites such as Oakhurst Shelter and Matjes River Cave. The sizes of most of the recently identified human teeth from Klasies seem to affirm at least one arguable aspect of morphometric modernity in the MSA at this site in the form of a tendency for tooth size reduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederick E Grine
- Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364, USA.
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14
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Pfeiffer S, Harrington L. Bioarchaeological Evidence for the Basis of Small Adult Stature in Southern Africa. CURRENT ANTHROPOLOGY 2011. [DOI: 10.1086/659452] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
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Rightmire GP, Deacon HJ, Schwartz JH, Tattersall I. Human foot bones from Klasies River main site, South Africa. J Hum Evol 2006; 50:96-103. [PMID: 16242755 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2005] [Revised: 08/25/2005] [Accepted: 08/28/2005] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The caves at Klasies River contain abundant archaeological evidence relating to human evolution in the late Pleistocene of southern Africa. Along with Middle Stone Age artifacts, animal bones, and other food waste, there are hominin cranial fragments, mandibles with teeth, and a few postcranial remains. Three foot bones can now be added to this inventory. An adult first metatarsal is similar in size and discrete anatomical features to those from Holocene burials in the Cape Province. A complete and well-preserved second metatarsal is especially long and heavy at midshaft in comparison to all Holocene and more recent South African homologues. A large fifth metatarsal is highly distinctive in its morphology. In overall size, these pedal elements resemble specimens from late Pleistocene sites in western Asia, but there are some differences in proportions. The fossils support earlier suggestions concerning a relatively high level of sexual dimorphism in the African Middle Stone Age population. Squatting facets on the two lateral metatarsals appear to indicate a high frequency of kneeling among members of this group. The new postcranial material also underlines the fact that the morphology of particular skeletal elements of some of the 100,000-year-old Klasies River individuals falls outside the range of modern variation.
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Affiliation(s)
- G Philip Rightmire
- Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University (SUNY), Binghamton, NY 13902, USA.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erik Trinkaus
- Department of Anthropology, Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri 63130;
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Klein RG, Avery G, Cruz-Uribe K, Halkett D, Parkington JE, Steele T, Volman TP, Yates R. The Ysterfontein 1 Middle Stone Age site, South Africa, and early human exploitation of coastal resources. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2004; 101:5708-15. [PMID: 15007171 PMCID: PMC395859 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0400528101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 197] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Human fossils and the genetics of extant human populations indicate that living people derive primarily from an African population that lived within the last 200,000 years. Yet it was only approximately 50,000 years ago that the descendants of this population spread to Eurasia, where they swamped or replaced the Neanderthals and other nonmodern Eurasians. Based on archaeological observations, the most plausible hypothesis for the delay is that Africans and Eurasians were behaviorally similar until 50,000 years ago, and it was only at this time that Africans developed a behavioral advantage. The archaeological findings come primarily from South Africa, where they suggest that the advantage involved much more effective use of coastal resources. Until now, the evidence has come mostly from deeply stratified caves on the south (Indian Ocean) coast. Here, we summarize results from recent excavations at Ysterfontein 1, a deeply stratified shelter in a contrasting environment on the west (Atlantic) coast. The Ysterfontein 1 samples of human food debris must be enlarged for a full comparison to samples from other relevant sites, but they already corroborate two inferences drawn from south coast sites: (i) coastal foragers before 50,000 years ago did not fish routinely, probably for lack of appropriate technology, and (ii) they collected tortoises and shellfish less intensively than later people, probably because their populations were smaller.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richard G Klein
- Program in Human Biology, Stanford University, Building 80, Inner Quad, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
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Abstract
Excavations in later Middle Pleistocene levels at the Bau de l'Aubesier, Vaucluse, France yielded a maxillary molar (M(1) or M(2); Aubesier 10) and a partial mandible from the left C(1) alveolus to the right condylar base lacking the coronoid process (Aubesier 11). Dentally they are similar to other later Middle Pleistocene Europeans in dental dimensions and variable taurodontism (Aubesier 10 but not Aubesier 11). The small Aubesier 11 mandible exhibits a retreating symphyseal profile with a minimal tuber symphyseos, an anterior marginal tubercle at P(4)/M(1), the mental foramen at P(4)/M(1)-M(1), a modest retromolar space, no lingular bridging of the mandibular foramen, an enlarged superior medial pterygoid tubercle, a modest lateral condylar tubercle, and a mandibular notch crest that intersects the middle third of the condylar margin. All of these features fall within the ranges of variation of later Middle Pleistocene Neandertal lineage humans, and some are characteristic of Middle Pleistocene human mandibles in general. In addition, Aubesier 11 exhibits pervasive ante mortem alveolar resorption with apical abscesses, alveolar bone destruction, universal labial/buccal bone loss, ante mortem tooth loss (for > or =81.8% of preserved alveoli), a lingual alveolar fenestration, and two broken root apices with masticatory attrition. These lesions indicate significantly impaired masticatory function, the oldest specimen currently known with such a reduced degree of dental function but one of several Middle Pleistocene human remains with indications of serious abnormalities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Serge Lebel
- Département des Sciences de la Terre et de l'Atmosphère, Université de Québec à Montréal, Casse postale 8888, succursale Centre Ville, Montréal, Québec H3C 3P8, Canada.
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