The first Neanderthal remains from an open-air Middle Palaeolithic site in the Levant OPEN (original) (raw)
The late Middle Palaeolithic (MP) settlement patterns in the Levant included the repeated use of caves and open landscape sites. The fossil record shows that two types of hominins occupied the region during this period—Neandertals and Homo sapiens. Until recently, diagnostic fossil remains were found only at cave sites. Because the two populations in this region left similar material cultural remains, it was impossible to attribute any open-air site to either species. In this study, we present newly discovered fossil remains from intact archaeological layers of the open-air site 'Ein Qashish, in northern Israel. The hominin remains represent three individuals: EQH1, a nondiagnostic skull fragment; EQH2, an upper right third molar (RM 3); and EQH3, lower limb bones of a young Neandertal male. EQH2 and EQH3 constitute the first diagnostic anatomical remains of Neandertals at an open-air site in the Levant. The optically stimulated luminescence ages suggest that Neandertals repeatedly visited 'Ein Qashish between 70 and 60 ka. The discovery of Neandertals at open-air sites during the late MP reinforces the view that Neandertals were a resilient population in the Levant shortly before Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens populated the region. The Middle Palaeolithic (MP) of the southern Levant is a significant period for the study of human evolution because two types of hominins, Neandertals and Homo sapiens, occupied the region at that time (see, for example, refs 1 and 2). Diagnostic fossil remains of the two species have been found in the Mediterranean woodland region, but until recently, they were discovered only at cave sites (Fig. 1). The absolute chronology of the Levantine MP fossils indicates that H. sapiens existed there between 120 and 90 ka and again from 55 ka on; Neandertals existed in that region between ca. 80 and ca. 55 ka 3–16. The genomic evidence suggests gene flow from early H. sapiens to
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The late Middle Palaeolithic (MP) settlement patterns in the Levant included the repeated use of caves and open landscape sites. The fossil record shows that two types of hominins occupied the region during this period—Neandertals and Homo sapiens. Until recently, diagnostic fossil remains were found only at cave sites. Because the two populations in this region left similar material cultural remains, it was impossible to attribute any open-air site to either species. In this study, we present newly discovered fossil remains from intact archaeological layers of the open-air site ‘Ein Qashish, in northern Israel. The hominin remains represent three individuals: EQH1, a nondiagnostic skull fragment; EQH2, an upper right third molar (RM3); and EQH3, lower limb bones of a young Neandertal male. EQH2 and EQH3 constitute the first diagnostic anatomical remains of Neandertals at an open-air site in the Levant. The optically stimulated luminescence ages suggest that Neandertals repeatedly visited ‘Ein Qashish between 70 and 60 ka. The discovery of Neandertals at open-air sites during the late MP reinforces the view that Neandertals were a resilient population in the Levant shortly before Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens populated the region.
The first Neanderthal remains from an open-air Middle Palaeolithic site in the Levant
Scientific reports, 2017
The late Middle Palaeolithic (MP) settlement patterns in the Levant included the repeated use of caves and open landscape sites. The fossil record shows that two types of hominins occupied the region during this period-Neandertals and Homo sapiens. Until recently, diagnostic fossil remains were found only at cave sites. Because the two populations in this region left similar material cultural remains, it was impossible to attribute any open-air site to either species. In this study, we present newly discovered fossil remains from intact archaeological layers of the open-air site 'Ein Qashish, in northern Israel. The hominin remains represent three individuals: EQH1, a nondiagnostic skull fragment; EQH2, an upper right third molar (RM(3)); and EQH3, lower limb bones of a young Neandertal male. EQH2 and EQH3 constitute the first diagnostic anatomical remains of Neandertals at an open-air site in the Levant. The optically stimulated luminescence ages suggest that Neandertals repeat...
SAPIENS AND NEANDERTALS Rethinking the Levantine Middle Paleolithic Hominids
Neanderthals and Modern Humans in West Asia , 1998
The prevailing point of view, until quite recently, was that the Mousterian culture in Israel spanned the period between 75 ka BP (Tabun Cave) and 45 ka BP (Boker Tachtit). A 10 ka interval was posited between the earlier Tabun I skeleton and the later Skhul human remains (Oakley 1969; Masters 1982). This chronological scheme conceived of the alleged Neandertals from Israel as contemporaneous with Mousterian populations in Europe. A common pre-Neandertal origin, or a European-Neandertal migration to the Near East, were proposed as explanations for the morphometric similarities between these two synchronic groups (Vandermeersch 1981; Bar-Yosef 1988, 1989; Trinka us 1991 ). However, new dating techniques, additional information fu rnished by the resumed excavations at certain prehistoric sites, and, to no lesser degree, new approaches to the interpretation of human fossil morphology (Klein 1989; Bar-Yosef et al. 1992) make alternative views of the Levantine Middle Paleolithic more tenable. We present herein some data in support of the view that there is actually little evidence for the existence of a "Southwest Asiatic Neandertal population" in Israel during the Middle Paleolithic period.
The Middle and Upper Paleolithic Archeology of the Levant and Beyond
2018
The planned series of volumes will report the results of a major research project entitled "Replacement of Neanderthals by Modern Humans: Testing Evolutionary Models of Learning", offering new perspectives on the process of replacement and on interactions between Neanderthals and modern humans and hence on the origins of prehistoric modern cultures. The projected volumes will present the diverse achievements of research activities, originally designed to implement the project's strategy, in the fields of archaeology, paleoanthropology, cultural anthropology, population biology, earth sciences, developmental psychology, biomechanics, and neuroscience. Comprehensive research models will be used to integrate the discipline-specific research outcomes from those various perspectives. The series, aimed mainly at providing a set of multidisciplinary perspectives united under the overarching concept of learning strategies, will include monographs and edited collections of papers
New evidence for hominid presence in the Lower Pleistocene of the Southern Levant
Journal of Human Evolution, 2002
The site of 'Ubeidiya is located in the Jordan Valley, Israel and has been biochronologically dated to 1·5 m.y.a. It exhibits large lithic and faunal assemblages. Previous published hominid material includes a molar (UB 1701) and I 2 (UB 1700). A recent review of the faunal material from previous excavations has revealed a highly worn hominid right lateral lower incisor (UB 335). The tooth was found in situ in the Lower Pleistocene deposits of stratum I-26a, which is comprised of sand and conglomerates of flint, limestone and basalt indicative of a pebbled lakeshore environment. Taphonomic analysis of the macromammal assemblage indicates high-energy fluvial transport. Paleoecological reconstruction suggests a large woodland fauna with a small percent of open steppe species.
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