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An ecological niche shift for Neanderthal populations in Western Europe 70,000 years ago.

ABSTRACT: Middle Paleolithic Neanderthal populations occupied Eurasia for at least 250,000 years prior to the arrival of anatomically modern humans. While a considerable body of archaeological research has focused on Neanderthal material culture and subsistence strategies, little attention has been paid to the relationship between regionally specific cultural trajectories and their associated existing fundamental ecological niches, nor to how the latter varied across periods of climatic variability. We examine the Middle Paleolithic archaeological record of a naturally constrained region of Western Europe between 82,000 and 60,000 years ago using ecological niche modeling methods. Evaluations of ecological niche estimations, in both geographic and environmental dimensions, indicate that 70,000 years ago the range of suitable habitats exploited by these Neanderthal populations contracted and shifted. These ecological niche dynamics are the result of groups continuing to occupy habitual territories that were characterized by new environmental conditions during Marine Isotope Stage 4. The development of original cultural adaptations permitted this territorial stability.

SUBMITTER: Banks WE

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7935894 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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An ecological niche shift for Neanderthal populations in Western Europe 70,000 years ago.

Banks William E WE Moncel Marie-Hélène MH Raynal Jean-Paul JP Cobos Marlon E ME Romero-Alvarez Daniel D Woillez Marie-Noëlle MN Faivre Jean-Philippe JP Gravina Brad B d'Errico Francesco F Locht Jean-Luc JL Santos Frédéric F

Scientific reports 20210305 1

Middle Paleolithic Neanderthal populations occupied Eurasia for at least 250,000 years prior to the arrival of anatomically modern humans. While a considerable body of archaeological research has focused on Neanderthal material culture and subsistence strategies, little attention has been paid to the relationship between regionally specific cultural trajectories and their associated existing fundamental ecological niches, nor to how the latter varied across periods of climatic variability. We ex ...[more]

PMID: 33674720

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Project description:BACKGROUND:The main unequivocal conclusion after three decades of phylogeographic mtDNA studies is the African origin of all extant modern humans. In addition, a southern coastal route has been argued for to explain the Eurasian colonization of these African pioneers. Based on the age of macrohaplogroup L3, from which all maternal Eurasian and the majority of African lineages originated, the out-of-Africa event has been dated around 60-70 kya. On the opposite side, we have proposed a northern route through Central Asia across the Levant for that expansion and, consistent with the fossil record, we have dated it around 125 kya. To help bridge differences between the molecular and fossil record ages, in this article we assess the possibility that mtDNA macrohaplogroup L3 matured in Eurasia and returned to Africa as basal L3 lineages around 70 kya. RESULTS:The coalescence ages of all Eurasian (M,N) and African (L3 ) lineages, both around 71 kya, are not significantly different. The oldest M and N Eurasian clades are found in southeastern Asia instead near of Africa as expected by the southern route hypothesis. The split of the Y-chromosome composite DE haplogroup is very similar to the age of mtDNA L3. An Eurasian origin and back migration to Africa has been proposed for the African Y-chromosome haplogroup E. Inside Africa, frequency distributions of maternal L3 and paternal E lineages are positively correlated. This correlation is not fully explained by geographic or ethnic affinities. This correlation rather seems to be the result of a joint and global replacement of the old autochthonous male and female African lineages by the new Eurasian incomers. CONCLUSIONS:These results are congruent with a model proposing an out-of-Africa migration into Asia, following a northern route, of early anatomically modern humans carrying pre-L3 mtDNA lineages around 125 kya, subsequent diversification of pre-L3 into the basal lineages of L3, a return to Africa of Eurasian fully modern humans around 70 kya carrying the basal L3 lineages and the subsequent diversification of Eurasian-remaining L3 lineages into the M and N lineages in the outside-of-Africa context, and a second Eurasian global expansion by 60 kya, most probably, out of southeast Asia. Climatic conditions and the presence of Neanderthals and other hominins might have played significant roles in these human movements. Moreover, recent studies based on ancient DNA and whole-genome sequencing are also compatible with this hypothesis.

Project description:For a long time, Neanderthals were considered hunters of large mammals, whereas the diversification of the exploited faunal spectrum to include smaller taxa, including birds, was assumed to be specific to anatomically modern humans. In recent decades, archaeozoological analyses of faunal remains from layers associated with Middle Palaeolithic lithic industries have revealed traces of human manipulation of small taxa, indicating the exploitation of a wider range of animals than previously thought, including small or fast-moving animals such as molluscs, leporids and birds. These new data have challenged the view that Neanderthals did not exploit small animals, thereby narrowing the behavioral gap with anatomically modern humans. Nevertheless, the information currently available comes almost exclusively from southern Europe and the nature of Neanderthal small fauna exploitation in northern Europe remains largely unknown. The present study aims to fill this gap by applying archaeozoological methods, including detailed taphonomic and traceological analyses, to 118 bird remains recovered from levels containing Middle Palaeolithic industries at Scladina cave, southern Belgium. Analyses of proteomics were applied to clarify the taxonomic identity of two morphologically non-diagnostic elements. Compared to mammal remains, bird bones, most of which belong to the order Galliformes, are scarce at Scladina Cave. This is likely due to conservation bias. Traces of non-human predators or scavengers, suggest that mammalian carnivores are responsible for accumulating a considerable portion of the avian assemblage. In total, seven bird bones exhibit anthropogenic traces, and one element presents questionable traces. Various Galliformes and a cormorant were exploited likely for their meat, during MIS 5 and/or 6 and MIS 6. The terminal posterior phalanx (talon) of a raptor of the size of a pomarine eagle displays intense polishing that could be linked to human manipulation of this element (MIS 5 and/or 6), although in the absence of tool marks this remains hypothetical at this stage. On the radius of a Western capercaillie, two deep incisions may indicate bone working, and intense use-wear on one of the fractured ends indicates that the bone has been utilized, potentially on soft organic material (MIS 6). This study provides the first evidence of the exploitation of birds during the Middle Palaeolithic in Belgium and constitutes the only detailed archaeozoological analysis of bird material in northwestern Europe. The likely transformation and use of a bird bone is only the second example recovered from Neanderthal occupations. The novel taxa identified as Neanderthal prey highlight the plasticity of Neanderthal ecological behavior, adapting to different landscapes and climates and exploiting the full spectrum of locally available prey.

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An ecological niche shift for Neanderthal populations in Western Europe 70,000 years ago.

Publications

An ecological niche shift for Neanderthal populations in Western Europe 70,000 years ago.

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