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Essel E, Zavala EI, Schulz-Kornas E, Kozlikin MB, Fewlass H, Vernot B, Shunkov MV, Derevianko AP, Douka K, Barnes I, Soulier MC, Schmidt A, Szymanski M, Tsanova T, Sirakov N, Endarova E, McPherron SP, Hublin JJ, Kelso J, Pääbo S, Hajdinjak M, Soressi M, Meyer M. Ancient human DNA recovered from a Palaeolithic pendant. Nature 2023:10.1038/s41586-023-06035-2. [PMID: 37138083 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06035-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/28/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2023] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
Artefacts made from stones, bones and teeth are fundamental to our understanding of human subsistence strategies, behaviour and culture in the Pleistocene. Although these resources are plentiful, it is impossible to associate artefacts to specific human individuals1 who can be morphologically or genetically characterized, unless they are found within burials, which are rare in this time period. Thus, our ability to discern the societal roles of Pleistocene individuals based on their biological sex or genetic ancestry is limited2-5. Here we report the development of a non-destructive method for the gradual release of DNA trapped in ancient bone and tooth artefacts. Application of the method to an Upper Palaeolithic deer tooth pendant from Denisova Cave, Russia, resulted in the recovery of ancient human and deer mitochondrial genomes, which allowed us to estimate the age of the pendant at approximately 19,000-25,000 years. Nuclear DNA analysis identifies the presumed maker or wearer of the pendant as a female individual with strong genetic affinities to a group of Ancient North Eurasian individuals who lived around the same time but were previously found only further east in Siberia. Our work redefines how cultural and genetic records can be linked in prehistoric archaeology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Essel
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Elena I Zavala
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Ellen Schulz-Kornas
- Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Maxim B Kozlikin
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Helen Fewlass
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Benjamin Vernot
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Michael V Shunkov
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Anatoly P Derevianko
- Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia
| | - Katerina Douka
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- Human Evolution and Archaeological Sciences (HEAS) Research Network, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Ian Barnes
- Earth Sciences Department, Natural History Museum, London, UK
| | - Marie-Cécile Soulier
- Maison de la Recherche, Université de Toulouse-Jean Jaurès, CNRS UMR 5608 TRACES, Toulouse, France
| | - Anna Schmidt
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Merlin Szymanski
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tsenka Tsanova
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Chemistry "Giacomo Ciamician", Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Nikolay Sirakov
- National Institute of Archaeology with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | | | | | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, Collège de France, Paris, France
| | - Janet Kelso
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Svante Pääbo
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Mateja Hajdinjak
- Ancient Genomics Laboratory, The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Marie Soressi
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
| | - Matthias Meyer
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
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2
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Smith GM, Spasov R, Martisius NL, Sinet-Mathiot V, Aldeias V, Rezek Z, Ruebens K, Pederzani S, McPherron SP, Sirakova S, Sirakov N, Tsanova T, Hublin JJ. Subsistence behavior during the Initial Upper Paleolithic in Europe: Site use, dietary practice, and carnivore exploitation at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria). J Hum Evol 2021; 161:103074. [PMID: 34628301 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2021.103074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2021] [Revised: 08/27/2021] [Accepted: 08/27/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
The behavioral dynamics underlying the expansion of Homo sapiens into Europe remains a crucial topic in human evolution. Owing to poor bone preservation, past studies have strongly focused on the Initial Upper Paleolithic (IUP) stone tool record. Recent excavations and extensive radiocarbon dating at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria) pushed back the arrival of IUP H. sapiens into Europe to ca. 45,000 years ago. This site has exceptional bone preservation, and we present the study of 7431 faunal remains from across two IUP layers (I and J) and one Middle Paleolithic layer (K). We identified a shift in site use and occupation intensity through time, marked by increased find density and human modifications in Layer I. Alongside a decrease in carnivore presence and seasonality data demonstrating human presence in all seasons, this indicates a more frequent or prolonged occupation of the site by IUP groups. Contrarily, the dietary focus across the IUP and Middle Paleolithic layers is similar, centered on the exploitation of species from a range of habitats including Bos/Bison, Cervidae, Equidae, and Caprinae. While body parts of large herbivores were selectively transported into the site, the bear remains suggest that these animals died in the cave itself. A distinct aspect of the IUP occupation is an increase in carnivore remains with human modifications, including these cave bears but also smaller taxa (e.g., Canis lupus, Vulpes vulpes). This can be correlated with their exploitation for pendants, and potentially for skins and furs. At a broader scale, we identified similarities in subsistence behavior across IUP sites in Europe and western Asia. It appears that the first IUP occupations were less intense with find densities and human modifications increasing in succeeding IUP layers. Moreover, the exploitation of small game appears to be limited across IUP sites, while carnivore exploitation seems a recurrent strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Geoff M Smith
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany.
| | - Rosen Spasov
- Archaeology Department, New Bulgarian University, 21 Montevideo Str., 1618 Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Naomi L Martisius
- Department of Anthropology, University of Tulsa, 800 South Tucker Drive, 74104, Tulsa, USA; Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Virginie Sinet-Mathiot
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Vera Aldeias
- Interdisciplinary Centre for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, Universidade do Algarve, FCHS, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
| | - Zeljko Rezek
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany; University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, 3260 South Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Karen Ruebens
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sarah Pederzani
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany; Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3FX, UK
| | - Shannon P McPherron
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Svoboda Sirakova
- National Institute of Archaeology with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Saborna Str., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Nikolay Sirakov
- National Institute of Archaeology with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, 2 Saborna Str., 1000 Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Tsenka Tsanova
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103, Leipzig, Germany; Collège de France, 11, place Marcelin Berthelot, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France
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3
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Pederzani S, Britton K, Aldeias V, Bourgon N, Fewlass H, Lauer T, McPherron SP, Rezek Z, Sirakov N, Smith GM, Spasov R, Tran NH, Tsanova T, Hublin JJ. Subarctic climate for the earliest Homo sapiens in Europe. Sci Adv 2021; 7:eabi4642. [PMID: 34550733 PMCID: PMC8457653 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abi4642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 08/03/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
The expansion of Homo sapiens across Eurasia marked a major milestone in human evolution that would eventually lead to our species being found across every continent. Current models propose that these expansions occurred only during episodes of warm climate, based on age correlations between archaeological and climatic records. Here, we obtain direct evidence for the temperatures faced by some of these humans through the oxygen isotope analysis of faunal remains from Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria, the earliest clear record of H. sapiens in Europe. The results indicate that humans ∼45,000 years ago experienced subarctic climates with far colder climatic conditions than previously suggested. This demonstrates that the early presence of H. sapiens in Europe was not contingent on warm climates. Our results necessitate the revision of key models of human expansion and highlight the need for a less deterministic role of climate in the study of our evolutionary history.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Pederzani
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen,
Aberdeen, UK
| | - Kate Britton
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Archaeology, University of Aberdeen,
Aberdeen, UK
| | - Vera Aldeias
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and
Evolution of Human Behaviour, University of Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - Nicolas Bourgon
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Institut für Geowissenschaften, Arbeitsgruppe
für Angewandte und Analytische Paläontologie, Johannes
Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Helen Fewlass
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tobias Lauer
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Shannon P. McPherron
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Zeljko Rezek
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Nikolay Sirakov
- National Institute of Archaeology with Museum,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Geoff M. Smith
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Rosen Spasov
- Archaeology Department, New Bulgarian University,
Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - N.-Han Tran
- Department of Human Behavior, Ecology and Culture,
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tsenka Tsanova
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute
for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Collège de France, Paris, France
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4
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Hajdinjak M, Mafessoni F, Skov L, Vernot B, Hübner A, Fu Q, Essel E, Nagel S, Nickel B, Richter J, Moldovan OT, Constantin S, Endarova E, Zahariev N, Spasov R, Welker F, Smith GM, Sinet-Mathiot V, Paskulin L, Fewlass H, Talamo S, Rezek Z, Sirakova S, Sirakov N, McPherron SP, Tsanova T, Hublin JJ, Peter BM, Meyer M, Skoglund P, Kelso J, Pääbo S. Initial Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe had recent Neanderthal ancestry. Nature 2021; 592:253-257. [PMID: 33828320 PMCID: PMC8026394 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03335-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/05/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023]
Abstract
Modern humans appeared in Europe by at least 45,000 years ago1-5, but the extent of their interactions with Neanderthals, who disappeared by about 40,000 years ago6, and their relationship to the broader expansion of modern humans outside Africa are poorly understood. Here we present genome-wide data from three individuals dated to between 45,930 and 42,580 years ago from Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria1,2. They are the earliest Late Pleistocene modern humans known to have been recovered in Europe so far, and were found in association with an Initial Upper Palaeolithic artefact assemblage. Unlike two previously studied individuals of similar ages from Romania7 and Siberia8 who did not contribute detectably to later populations, these individuals are more closely related to present-day and ancient populations in East Asia and the Americas than to later west Eurasian populations. This indicates that they belonged to a modern human migration into Europe that was not previously known from the genetic record, and provides evidence that there was at least some continuity between the earliest modern humans in Europe and later people in Eurasia. Moreover, we find that all three individuals had Neanderthal ancestors a few generations back in their family history, confirming that the first European modern humans mixed with Neanderthals and suggesting that such mixing could have been common.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mateja Hajdinjak
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
- Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
| | - Fabrizio Mafessoni
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Laurits Skov
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Benjamin Vernot
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alexander Hübner
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Archaeogenetics, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany
| | - Qiaomei Fu
- Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, IVPP, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, China
| | - Elena Essel
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sarah Nagel
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Birgit Nickel
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Julia Richter
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Oana Teodora Moldovan
- Emil Racovita Institute of Speleology, Cluj Department, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
- Romanian Institute of Science and Technology, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
| | - Silviu Constantin
- Department of Geospeleology and Paleontology, Emil Racovita Institute of Speleology, Bucharest, Romania
- Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana, CENIEH, Burgos, Spain
| | | | - Nikolay Zahariev
- Archaeology Department, New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Rosen Spasov
- Archaeology Department, New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Frido Welker
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Section for Evolutionary Genomics, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Geoff M Smith
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Virginie Sinet-Mathiot
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Helen Fewlass
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sahra Talamo
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Department of Chemistry 'G. Ciamician', University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Zeljko Rezek
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Svoboda Sirakova
- National Institute of Archaeology with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Nikolay Sirakov
- National Institute of Archaeology with Museum, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria
| | - Shannon P McPherron
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tsenka Tsanova
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Jean-Jacques Hublin
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
- Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, Collège de France, Paris, France
| | - Benjamin M Peter
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Matthias Meyer
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | | | - Janet Kelso
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Svante Pääbo
- Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany.
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5
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Sirakov N, Tsanova T, Sirakova S, Taneva S, Krumov I, Dimitrova I, Kovatcheva N. Un nouveau faciès lamellaire du début du Paléolithique supérieur dans les Balkans. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2007. [DOI: 10.4000/paleo.565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
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