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Briatico G, Bocherens H, Geraads D, Melis RT, Mussi M. The Pleistocene high-elevation environments between 2.02 and 0.6 Ma at Melka Kunture (Upper Awash Valley, Ethiopia) based upon stable isotope analysis. Sci Rep 2024; 14:6619. [PMID: 38503829 PMCID: PMC10950861 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-56768-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2023] [Accepted: 03/11/2024] [Indexed: 03/21/2024] Open
Abstract
Pleistocene environments are among the most studied issues in paleoecology and human evolution research in eastern Africa. Many data have been recorded from archaeological sites located at low and medium elevations (≤ 1500 m), whereas few contexts are known at 2000 m and above. Here, we present a substantial isotopic study from Melka Kunture, a complex of prehistoric sites located at 2000-2200 m above sea level in the central Ethiopian highlands. We analyzed the stable carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of 308 faunal tooth enamel samples from sites dated between 2.02 and 0.6 Ma to investigate the animal diets and habitats. The carbon isotopic results indicate that the analyzed taxa had C4-dominated and mixed C3-C4 diets with no significant diachronic changes in feeding behavior with time. This is consistent with faunal and phytolith analyses, which suggested environments characterized by open grasslands (with both C3 and C4 grasses), patches of bushes and thickets, and aquatic vegetation. However, palynological data previously documented mountain forests, woodlands, and high-elevation grasslands. Additionally, the carbon isotopic comparison with other eastern African localities shows that differences in elevation did not influence animal feeding strategies and habitat partitioning, even though plant species vary according to altitudinal gradients. In contrast, the oxygen isotopic comparison suggests significant differences consistent with the altitude effect. Our approach allows us to detect diverse aspects of animal behavior, habitat, and vegetation that should be considered when reconstructing past environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giuseppe Briatico
- Dipartimento Di Scienze Dell'Antichità, Sapienza Università Di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany.
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia.
| | - Hervé Bocherens
- Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Hölderlinstrasse 12, 72074, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Sigwartstrasse 10, 72076, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Denis Geraads
- CR2P, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, CP 38, 8 Rue Buffon, 75231, Paris cedex 05, France
| | - Rita T Melis
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia
- Dipartimento Di Scienze Chimiche E Geologiche, Università Di Cagliari, 09042, Cittadella Di Monserrato, Italy
- CNR-IGAG, Piazzale Aldo Moro 7, 00185, Rome, Italy
| | - Margherita Mussi
- Dipartimento Di Scienze Dell'Antichità, Sapienza Università Di Roma, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia
- ISMEO, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 244, 00186, Rome, Italy
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Mussi M, Skinner MM, Melis RT, Panera J, Rubio-Jara S, Davies TW, Geraads D, Bocherens H, Briatico G, Le Cabec A, Hublin JJ, Gidna A, Bonnefille R, Di Bianco L, Méndez-Quintas E. Early Homo erectus lived at high altitudes and produced both Oldowan and Acheulean tools. Science 2023:eadd9115. [PMID: 37824630 DOI: 10.1126/science.add9115] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/14/2023]
Abstract
In Africa, the scarcity of hominin remains found in direct association with stone tools has hindered attempts to link Homo habilis and Homo erectus with particular lithic industries. The infant mandible discovered in level E at Garba IV (Melka Kunture) on the highlands of Ethiopia is critical to this issue due to its direct association with an Oldowan lithic industry. Here, we use synchrotron imaging to examine the internal morphology of the unerupted permanent dentition and confirm its identification as Homo erectus. Additionally, we utilize new palaeomagnetic ages to show that (i) the mandible in level E is ca. 2 million-years-old, and represents one of the earliest Homo erectus fossils, and (ii) that overlying level D, ca. 1.95 million-years-old, contains the earliest known Acheulean assemblage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margherita Mussi
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Roma, Italy
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- ISMEO - The International Association for Mediterranean and Oriental Studies, 00186 Roma, Italy
| | - Matthew M Skinner
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK
- Centre for the Exploration of the Deep Human Journey (CSDHJ), University of the Witwatersrand, Braamfontein 2000, Johannesburg, South Africa
| | - Rita T Melis
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università di Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, 09042 Monserrato, Italy
| | - Joaquín Panera
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- Departamento de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Prof. Aranguren, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- IDEA, Instituto de Evolución en África, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, 28010 Madrid, Spain
| | - Susana Rubio-Jara
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- Departamento de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueología, Facultad de Geografía e Historia, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Prof. Aranguren, 28040 Madrid, Spain
- IDEA, Instituto de Evolución en África, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, 28010 Madrid, Spain
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, 09002 Burgos, Spain
| | - Thomas W Davies
- School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NR, UK
| | - Denis Geraads
- Centre de Recherche en Paléontologie - Paris, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Hervé Bocherens
- Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Giuseppe Briatico
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Sapienza Università di Roma, 00185 Roma, Italy
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- Department of Geosciences, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, 72074 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Adeline Le Cabec
- Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, Ministère de la Culture, PACEA (UMR 5199), F-33600 Pessac, France
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
- Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, CIRB (UMR 7241-U1050), Collège de France, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Agness Gidna
- Department of Cultural Heritage, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Arusha, Tanzania
| | - Raymonde Bonnefille
- CEREGE, Université Aix-Marseille, CNRS, IRD, INRAE, Technopole Arbois-Méditerranée, 13545 Aix-en-Provence Cedex 04, France
| | - Luca Di Bianco
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
| | - Eduardo Méndez-Quintas
- Italo-Spanish Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Italy-Spain
- IDEA, Instituto de Evolución en África, Universidad de Alcalá de Henares, 28010 Madrid, Spain
- GEAAT, Grupo de Estudos de Arqueoloxía, Antigüidade e Territorio. Universidade de Vigo, Facultade de Historia, Campus As Lagoas, 32004 Ourense, Spain
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Le Cabec A, Colard T, Charabidze D, Chaussain C, Di Carlo G, Gaudzinski-Windheuser S, Hublin JJ, Melis RT, Pioli L, Ramirez-Rozzi F, Mussi M. Insights into the palaeobiology of an early Homo infant: multidisciplinary investigation of the GAR IVE hemi-mandible, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia. Sci Rep 2021; 11:23087. [PMID: 34845260 PMCID: PMC8630034 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-02462-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Accepted: 10/01/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Childhood is an ontogenetic stage unique to the modern human life history pattern. It enables the still dependent infants to achieve an extended rapid brain growth, slow somatic maturation, while benefitting from provisioning, transitional feeding, and protection from other group members. This tipping point in the evolution of human ontogeny likely emerged from early Homo. The GAR IVE hemi-mandible (1.8 Ma, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia) represents one of the rarely preserved early Homo infants (~ 3 years at death), recovered in a richly documented Oldowan archaeological context. Yet, based on the sole external inspection of its teeth, GAR IVE was diagnosed with a rare genetic disease-amelogenesis imperfecta (AI)-altering enamel. Since it may have impacted the child's survival, this diagnosis deserves deeper examination. Here, we reassess and refute this diagnosis and all associated interpretations, using an unprecedented multidisciplinary approach combining an in-depth analysis of GAR IVE (synchrotron imaging) and associated fauna. Some of the traits previously considered as diagnostic of AI can be better explained by normal growth or taphonomy, which calls for caution when diagnosing pathologies on fossils. We compare GAR IVE's dental development to other fossil hominins, and discuss the implications for the emergence of childhood in early Homo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adeline Le Cabec
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany. .,Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR 5199, 33600, Pessac, France.
| | - Thomas Colard
- grid.410463.40000 0004 0471 8845Department of Orthodontics, University of Lille, Lille University Hospital, 59000 Lille, France
| | - Damien Charabidze
- grid.503422.20000 0001 2242 6780UMR 8025, Centre d’Histoire Judiciaire, University of Lille, 59000 Lille, France
| | - Catherine Chaussain
- grid.508487.60000 0004 7885 7602UR 2496 Orofacial Pathologies, Imaging and Biotherapies. Dental School Université de Paris, AP-HP- Hôpital Bretonneau - Service Odontologie CRMR Métabolisme du Phosphore et du Calcium (OSCAR, ERN Bond), Paris, France
| | - Gabriele Di Carlo
- grid.7841.aDepartment of Oral and Maxillofacial Sciences, Unit of Pediatric Dentistry, Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy
| | - Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser
- grid.461784.80000 0001 2181 3201MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Leibniz-Forschungsinstitut Für Archäologie and Institute of Ancient Studies, Johannes Gutenberg–University Mainz, Schloss Monrepos, 56567 Neuwied, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- grid.419518.00000 0001 2159 1813Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Rita T. Melis
- Italian Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Rome, Italy ,grid.7763.50000 0004 1755 3242Dipartimento Di Scienze Chimiche E Geologiche, Università Degli Studi Di Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, 09042 Monserrato (CA), Italy
| | - Laura Pioli
- grid.7763.50000 0004 1755 3242Dipartimento Di Scienze Chimiche E Geologiche, Università Degli Studi Di Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria, 09042 Monserrato (CA), Italy
| | - Fernando Ramirez-Rozzi
- grid.508487.60000 0004 7885 7602UR 2496 Orofacial Pathologies, Imaging and Biotherapies. Dental School Université de Paris, AP-HP- Hôpital Bretonneau - Service Odontologie CRMR Métabolisme du Phosphore et du Calcium (OSCAR, ERN Bond), Paris, France ,grid.420021.50000 0001 2153 6793UMR 7206 CNRS MNHN UP Ecoanthropologie Musée de l’Homme, Paris, France
| | - Margherita Mussi
- Italian Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit, Rome, Italy. .,Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Università di Roma La Sapienza, Piazzale A. Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy.
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Altamura F, Bennett MR, D'Août K, Gaudzinski-Windheuser S, Melis RT, Reynolds SC, Mussi M. Archaeology and ichnology at Gombore II-2, Melka Kunture, Ethiopia: everyday life of a mixed-age hominin group 700,000 years ago. Sci Rep 2018; 8:2815. [PMID: 29434269 PMCID: PMC5809588 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-21158-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2017] [Accepted: 01/31/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
We report the occurrence at 0.7 million years (Ma) of an ichnological assemblage at Gombore II-2, which is one of several archaeological sites at Melka Kunture in the upper Awash Valley of Ethiopia, 2000 m asl. Adults and children potentially as young as 12 months old left tracks in a silty substrate on the shore of a body of water where ungulates, as well as other mammals and birds, congregated. Furthermore, the same layers contain a rich archaeological and palaeontological record, confirming that knapping was taking place in situ and that stone tools were used for butchering hippo carcasses at the site. The site gives direct information on hominin landscape use at 0.7 Ma and may provide fresh perspective on the childhood of our ancestors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Flavio Altamura
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Università di Roma Sapienza, Piazzale A. Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy
- Italian Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit (Ethiopia), Rome, Italy
| | - Matthew R Bennett
- Institute for Studies in Landscapes and Human Evolution, Bournemouth University, Poole, BH12 5BB, UK
| | - Kristiaan D'Août
- Department of Musculoskeletal Biology, Institute of Ageing and Chronic Disease, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L7 8TX, UK
| | - Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser
- MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution and Institute of Ancient Studies, Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz, Schloss Monrepos, 56567, Neuwied, Germany
| | - Rita T Melis
- Italian Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit (Ethiopia), Rome, Italy
- Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università di Cagliari, Via Trentino 51, 009127, Cagliari, Italy
| | - Sally C Reynolds
- Institute for Studies in Landscapes and Human Evolution, Bournemouth University, Poole, BH12 5BB, UK
| | - Margherita Mussi
- Dipartimento di Scienze dell'Antichità, Università di Roma Sapienza, Piazzale A. Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy.
- Italian Archaeological Mission at Melka Kunture and Balchit (Ethiopia), Rome, Italy.
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