Early human species benefited from food diversity in steep mountainous terrain

 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Institute for Basic Science

 

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Map of Africa and Eurasia showing sites with evidence of human occupation. The inset shows a magnified view of Europe.

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Credit: Institute for Basic Science

A new study published in the journal Science Advances [1] by researchers at the IBS Center for Climate Physics (ICCP) at Pusan National University in South Korea shows that the patchwork of different ecosystems found in mountainous regions played a key role in the evolution of humans.

A notable feature of the archeological sites of early humans, members of the genus Homo known as hominins, is that they are often found in and near mountain regions. Using an extensive dataset of hominin fossils and artifacts, along with high-resolution landscape data and a 3-million-year-long simulation of Earth’s climate, the team of scientists from ICCP have provided a clearer picture of how and why early humans adapted to such rugged landscapes. In other words, they have helped explain why so many of our evolutionary relatives preferred being “steeplanders” as opposed to “flatlanders.”

Mountainous regions have enhanced biodiversity because the changes in elevation result in shifts of the climate, providing a range of environmental conditions under which different plant and animal species can thrive. The authors showed that steep regions usually exhibit a larger variety and density of ecosystems and vegetation types, known as biomes. Such biome diversity was a draw for early humans, as it provided increased food resources and resilience to climate change, an idea known as the Diversity Selection Hypothesis [2].

“When we analyzed the environmental factors that controlled where human species lived, we were surprised to see that terrain steepness was standing out as the dominant one, even more than local climate factors, such as temperature and precipitation.“ said Elke Zeller, PhD student from the IBS Center for Climate Physics and lead author of the study.

On the other hand, steep regions are more difficult to navigate than flatter terrain and require more energy to traverse. Hominins needed to gradually adapt to the challenges of rougher terrain in order to take advantage of the increased resources. The ICCP researchers examined how, over time, human adaptations changed the cost-benefit balance of living in rugged environments.

The adaptation towards steeper environments (Figs. 1 and 2) is visible for the earliest human species Homo habilis, Homo ergaster, and Homo erectus until about 1 million years ago, after which the topographic signal disappears for about 300,000 years. It reemerges again around 700,000 years ago with the advent of better adapted and more culturally advanced species such as Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis. These groups, which were able to control fire, also exhibited a much higher tolerance for colder and wetter climates.

“The decrease in topographic adaptation around 1 million years ago roughly coincides with large-scale reorganizations in our climate system, known as the Mid-Pleistocene Transition. It also lines up with evolutionary events such as a recently discovered ancestral genetic bottleneck, which drastically reduced human diversity, and the timing of the chromosome 2 merger in hominins. Whether this is all a coincidence, or whether the intensifying glacial climate shifts contributed to the genetic transitions in early humans, remains an open question,” said Axel Timmermann, Director of the IBS Center of Climate Physics and co-author of the study.

How humans have evolved over the past 3 million years and adapted to emerging environmental challenges is a hotly-debated research topic. The results of the South Korean research team provide a new piece in the puzzle of human evolution. Averaged over hundreds of thousands of years, across different species and continents, the data clearly show that our ancestors were “steeplanders.”

“Our results clearly show that over time hominins adapted to steep terrain and that this trend was likely driven by the regionally increased biodiversity. Our analysis suggests that it was beneficial for early human groups to populate mountainous regions, despite the increased energy consumption needed to scale these environments,” said Elke Zeller in summary.

 

[1] The evolving 3-dimensional landscape of human adaptation, Elke Zeller, Axel Timmermann, Science Advances, doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adq3613, (2024)

[2] Human adaptation to diverse biomes over the past 3 million years, Elke Zeller, Axel Timmermann, Kyung-Sook Yun, Pasquale Raia, Karl Stein and Jiaoyang Ruan, Science, vol. 380, 6645, pp. 604-608, doi: 10.1126/science.abq1288 (2023)

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Journal

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adp2809 

Insights into early modern human activity in the jungles of Southeast Asia

Studying microscopic layers of dirt dug from the Tam Pà Ling cave site in northeastern Laos has provided a team of Flinders University archaeologists and their international colleagues further insights into some of the earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in mainland Southeast Asia.

The site, which has been studied for the past 14 years by a team of Laotian, French, American and Australian scientists, has produced some of the earliest fossil evidence of our direct ancestors in Southeast Asia.

Now a new study, led by PhD candidate Vito Hernandez and Associate Professor Mike Morley from the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, has reconstructed the ground conditions in the cave between 52,000 and 10,000 years ago.

“Using a technique known as microstratigraphy at the Flinders Microarchaeology Laboratory, we were able to reconstruct the cave conditions in the past and identify traces of human activities in and around Tam Pà Ling,” says Hernandez.

“This also helped us to determine the precise circumstances by which some of the earliest modern human fossils found in Southeast Asia were deposited deep inside.”

Microstratigraphy allows scientists to study dirt in its smallest detail, enabling them to observe structures and features that preserve information about past environments and even traces of human and animal activity that may have been overlooked during the excavation process due to their minuscule size.

The human fossils discovered at Tam Pà Ling were deposited in the cave between 86,000–30,000 years ago but until now, researchers had not conducted a detailed analysis of the sediments surrounding these fossils to gain an understanding of how they were deposited in the cave or the environmental conditions at the time.

Published in Quaternary Science Reviews, the findings reveal conditions in the cave fluctuated dramatically, going from a temperate climate with frequent wet ground conditions to becoming seasonally dry.

“This change in environment influenced the cave’s interior topography and would have impacted how sediments, including human fossils, were deposited within the cave,” says Associate Professor Morley.

“How early Homo sapiens came to be buried deep within the cave has long been debated, but our sediment analysis indicates that the fossils were washed into the cave as loose sediments and debris accumulating over time, likely carried by water from surrounding hillsides during periods of heavy rainfall.”

The team also identified preserved micro-traces of charcoal and ash in the cave sediments, suggesting that either forest fires occurred in the region during the drier periods, or that humans visiting the cave may have used fire, either in the cave or near the entrance.

“This research has allowed our team to develop unprecedented insights into the dynamics of our ancestors as they dispersed through the ever-changing forest covers of Southeast Asia, and during periods of variable regional climate instability,” says study co-author Assistant Professor Fabrice Demeter, palaeoanthropologist from the University of Copenhagen, who has been leading the team of international researchers studying Tam Pàn Ling since 2009.

The paper ‘Late Pleistocene–Holocene (52–10 ka) microstratigraphy, fossil taphonomy and depositional environments from Tam Pa Ling cave (northeastern Laos)’ by VC Hernandez, MW Morley, AM Bacon, P Duringer, KE Westaway, R Joannes-Boyau, JL Ponche, C Zanolli, P Sichanthongtip, S Boualaphane, T Luangkhoth, JJ Hublin, F Demeter is published in Quaternary Science Reviews. DOI to come.

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Journal

Quaternary Science Reviews

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Late Pleistocene–Holocene (52–10 ka) microstratigraphy, fossil taphonomy and depositional environments from Tam Pa Ling cave (northeastern Laos)

Skill and technique in Bronze Age spear combat

 

Researchers study marks on spearheads creating reference data to understand fighting in past

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Göttingen

 

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Experiment with experienced fighters who spar freely using different styles. From top to bottom: one-handed spear and shield, two-handed spear with binding, two-handed spear strike

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Credit: Valerio Gentile, available via cc licence from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2024.106044

How can we tell whether and how a prehistoric weapon was used? How can we better understand the dexterity and combat skills involved in Bronze Age spear fighting? A research team including Göttingen University present a new approach to answering these questions: they simulated the actual fight step-by-step to get new insights into fighting styles and the formation of marks on the weapons. In addition, they took into account how these marks change over time. Their findings were published in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

Studying Bronze Age spear fighting helps researchers better understand battle strategies and the development of weapons. Experimental methods can be used to investigate how spears interact with different materials as well as how the marks form and what they mean. For this reason, the team constructed replicas of Bronze Age spears and used them in realistic combat scenarios to see how the spearheads reacted against metal blades, wooden shafts and shields. The researchers also used animal tissues to mimic the human body. The team used knowledge pooled from previous research to develop this reliably repeatable method to better understand the dynamics of combat and the formation of marks on the weapons. These experiments make it possible to examine the type and frequency of collisions in spear fighting and, for the first time, show how impact marks on spears develop over time. The tests provided clues to the skills required for various fighting techniques and produced precious information for the reconstruction of combat encounters from the marks that the weapons bear on their surface. In fact, the experimentally generated marks successfully mirrored those found on weapons in many archaeological finds: this means that it is now possible to reconstruct if and how Bronze Age spears in museum collections were used.

“Our experiments will benefit future research, because we have created a useful guide to recognize and understand the wear and tear on Bronze Age weapons.  This information source will enable researchers and museum curators to study the objects already in their samples and collections with a fresh perspective. They can compare the marks they find with the ones we have documented and made freely available,” explains Dr Valerio Gentile, who carried out the study as part of his PhD studies at the University of Leiden and is now conducting similar research in the Department of Prehistory and Early History at the University of Göttingen. “Our findings show how weapons were used and what techniques were employed. We may also be able to use our research to find out whether the Bronze Age weapons were used in large-scale battles or in duels. This is important for understanding the nature and intensity of conflicts in the past.”

Original publication: Valerio Gentile et al. Multi-stage experiments in Bronze Age spear combat: insights on wear formation, trauma, and combat contexts. Journal of Archaeological Science 2024. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106044

Tartessos culture’s sustainable constructions skills

 

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Helsinki

 

image: 

1. Casas del Turuñuelo archaeological site. (A) Location of the site in the context of the Iberian peninsula
(Digital Terrain Model from OpenStreetMaps, QGIS version 3.4.6); (B) Map of the settlement of the Middle Guadiana Valley during the sixth/fifth centuries BC (DTM from Instituto Geográfico Nacional de España, QGIS version 3.4.6); (C) Aerial view of the Casas del Turuñuelo tumulus, 2017.

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Credit: Credit: Proyecto Construyendo Tarteso

An international team of researchers have conducted groundbreaking research at the Casas del Turuñuelo site in Guareña, Badajoz, Spain. This archaeological site stands as the best-preserved earthen building in the western Mediterranean. Thanks to its remarkable state of preservation, a team of researchers from the Universities of Helsinki and Murcia, alongside the Institute of Archaeology (CSIC – Junta de Extremadura), has successfully reconstructed the construction process of this monumental edifice. Esther Rodrigues Gonzales and Sebastian Celestino Perez, CSIC, have been in charge of the excavation of this amazing site since since 2014.

Marta Lorenzon from the University of Helsinki, a key member of the research team, explains:

“Our goal was to understand how the earthen materials were processed and used, the organization of labor, and the skill levels of the community involved in the construction. We aimed to shed light on the construction methods, environmental exploitation, and the socio-political structures that enabled the creation of such monumental architecture.”

According to one of the co-writers of the research, Benjamín Cutillas Victoria, the Tartessians' use of earthen construction was a highly adapted and sustainable approach, particularly in local environmental contexts. The fact that they thrived using this form of architecture adds a new dimension to the story of their building skills and culture, one that has not been emphasized much in previous research.

This achievement not only highlights the advanced architectural skills of the Tartessians, but also underscores their sustainable approach to building in harmony with their local environment.

“This research can help us better understand sustainable building practices from the past that might inspire modern construction. The use of local, natural resources in a coordinated manner could offer ideas for eco-friendly building approaches today”, Lorenzon states.

Additionally, understanding how ancient societies organized labor and resource management can provide lessons for modern-day project management and workforce coordination.

“The ability to reconstruct these ancient techniques provides invaluable insights into how this protohistoric culture thrived and adapted, offering a new dimension to our understanding of their ingenuity and resilience”, Lorenzon concludes.
 

Contact information in Helsinki

Dr Marta Lorenzon, FSA
Academy Research Fellow
Docent in Archaeology, University of Helsinki
Vice-Leader Team 3, Centre of Excellence in Ancient Near Eastern Empires
Homepage: www.helsinki.fi/anee 
+358 503198409
marta.lorenzon@helsinki.fi
X: @MartaLorenzon

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Journal

Nature

DOI

10.1038/s41598-024-70374-x 

The Vikings were part of a global network trading in ivory from Greenland

Peer-Reviewed Publication

University of Copenhagen - The Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences

 

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Walrus living in Svalbard

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Credit: Morten Tange Olsen

In Medieval Europe and the Middle East, merchants from faraway places traded in rare, precious commodities. One of the most popular commodities was ivory, which came from places few could have imagined.

Because when the Crusades temporarily prevented trade in ivory from elephants, walrus ivory became a popular commodity, and seeing as walruses only live in icy-cold parts of the world, it must have been brought to European markets from faraway places.

New research from the University of Copenhagen shows that the Vikings were (the first) part of a network that supplied not just Europe and the Middle East, but probably also East Asia with walrus ivory.

“Our study shows that the Vikings regularly travelled the around 6,000 kilometres to Pikialasorsuaq in Northwest Greenland, an area characterised by harsh climatic conditions. And they probably didn’t do it for the thrill of it, but to obtain this precious commodity, which they brought to Northern Europe and other parts of the world,” says Associate Professor Morten Tange Olsen from the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen, who is one of the authors of the new study.

The researchers conducted DNA analyses, which show that the Vikings covered a greater distance than previously believed in their search for walruses.

The study is a collaboration between researchers at the University of Copenhagen, the University of Lund in Sweden and the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and international partners from Greenland, Iceland and Canada.

Trade and exchange of hunting techniques

To prove that the Vikings did indeed cover such a great distance, the researchers studied fragments of walrus skulls mainly, obtained from excavations of Viking villages in Europe and settlements in Greenland and Canada.

“DNA sequences from these fragments provided us with a genetic map of the place of origin of various Arctic walrus populations at the time of the Vikings. This enabled us to show in which part of the Arctic the animals were caught,” says Morten Tange Olsen.

The study also demonstrates that the Vikings probably had more dealings with indigenous Arctic populations than previously assumed, including the Thule and Dorset cultures.

“Our research shows that the Vikings were extremely well-travelled and had a well-established network that covered a larger area than previously believed and which in time and place must have overlapped with early Greenlandic and Canadian cultures,” says Morten Tange Olsen, who is a marine mammal biologist and geneticist. He believes the cross-disciplinary collaboration between archaeologists, biologists and geneticists is what has made the study a success.

The new study once again shows that the Vikings had a remarkable ability to navigate and survive in harsh climatic conditions, and that they helped create a global trade network that reached beyond the borders of Europe.

“Now, for the first time ever, we have a clear genetic map of Arctic walrus populations, which tells us where the Norsemen went to obtain the precious commodity, ivory.”

Morten Tange Olsen and his colleagues hope the study will open our eyes to the Vikings’ complex and extensive trade network and interaction with other cultures.

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 [M1]Eller menes der, at de var mere aktive inden for handel med elfenben?

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Journal

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adq4127 

Evidence for European presence in the Americas in ad 1021

 Transatlantic exploration took place centuries before the crossing of Columbus. Physical evidence for early European presence in the Americas can be found in Newfoundland, Canada. However, it has thus far not been possible to determine when this activity took place. 

In this study researcher provided evidence that the Vikings were present in Newfoundland in ad 1021. The researchers overcome the imprecision of previous age estimates by making use of the cosmic-ray-induced upsurge in atmospheric radiocarbon concentrations in ad 993 . 

The new date lays down a marker for European cognisance of the Americas, and represents the first known point at which humans encircled the globe. It also provides a definitive tie point for future research into the initial consequences of transatlantic activity, such as the transference of knowledge, and the potential exchange of genetic information, biota and pathologies.

• Nature Video
• 22 October 2021

Vikings were living in North America exactly a thousand years ago

Twice as many women as men were buried in the megalithic necropolis of Panoria

 

 

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Megalithic necropolis of Panoria (Spain)

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Credit: University Of Granada

A multidisciplinary research team led by the Archaeometry research group of the University of Tübingen and the GEA research group of the University of Granada made a surprising discovery in the megalithic necropolis of Panoría (Granada, Spain): twice as many women as men were buried, a bias that is even more pronounced among the juvenile population, where the ratio is 10 females for every male.

The necropolis of Panoría is located at the easternmost end of Sierra Harana, in the town of Darro (Granada). It consists of at least 19 graves, 9 of which have been excavated between 2015 and 2019. They are collective burials from which more than 55,000 human skeletal remains were recovered. The dating of these remains shows that the first burials took place 5600 years ago with a discontinuous funerary use until 4100 years ago.

In a recent study published in the prestigious journal Scientific Reports, the use of new bioarchaeological methods has allowed the identification of chromosomal sex from the study of DNA and the analysis of a protein known as Amelogenin present in the tooth enamel. In this way, it has been possible, for the first time, to obtain a precise demographic profile of the biological sex of the people who were buried in these megalithic monuments. Surprisingly, the result is a clear bias in favour of female burials, twice that of male burials, a bias that is even more pronounced among juvenile individuals with a ratio of 10 females for every male individual. This ratio is far from the usual composition of human populations, which is approximately one to one. Only in exceptional circumstances, e.g. conflicts, wars or intense migration processes, does this ratio break down in favour of one of the sexes.

What circumstances could have led to such a pronounced bias in the population buried at Panoría? The bias in favour of female burials appears in all the analysed graves, in all age groups and throughout the time of use of the necropolis. This allows us to confirm that this was a very persistent and determining social decision over time affecting the different social groups buried within the graves. Therefore, extraordinary or unpredictable events can been ruled out as the cause of the bias found in Panoría.

If sex bias was a social decision, but what are the reasons for this over-representation of women in funerary rituals? Considering that biological kinship relations are the main criterion to be buried in the different structures, the over-representation of female individuals could indicate funerary practices based primarily on matrilineal descent. This means that family relationships and social belonging are established through the maternal line. This would explain the bias in favour of women and the absence of young male individuals who could have joined other kin groups, a common practice known in anthropology as male exogamy. In any case, the over-representation of women would indicate a female-centred social structure, in which gender would have influenced funerary rituals and cultural traditions.

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Journal

Scientific Reports

DOI

10.1038/s41598-024-72148-x 

Method of Research

Observational study