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February 15, 2021
from the Max Planck Society
The newly analyzed tooth of an approximately nine-year-old Neanderthal child, which was kept in a private collection for a long time, marks the southernmost known distribution area of the hominin. Analysis of the associated archaeological assemblage suggests that Neanderthals used the Nubian Levallois technology, which was previously believed to be restricted to Homo sapiens.
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With a high concentration of cave sites that contain clues about past populations and their behavior, the Levant is an important center for research into human origins. For over a century, archaeological excavations in the Levant have unearthed human fossils and stone tools that reveal landscapes inhabited by both Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, making this region a potential mixed field between populations. It is difficult to distinguish these populations by stone tool assemblages alone, but one technology, the distinct Nubian Levallois method, is said to have been made only by Homo sapiens.
In a new study published in Scientific Reports, Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History teamed up with international partners to re-examine the fossil and archaeological records of the Shukbah Cave. Their findings expand the southernmost known spectrum of Neanderthals, suggesting that our now-extinct relatives were using a technology that was previously considered a trademark of modern humans. This study marks the first time that the only human tooth has been examined in detail from the site, combined with a large comparative study examining the stone tool arrangement.
« Places where hominin fossils directly with stone tool- Assemblages are still a rarity. However, studying both fossils and tools is critical to understanding the hominin occupations in Shukbah Cave and in the larger area, « says lead author Dr. Jimbob Blinkhorn, formerly Royal Holloway, University of London and now with the Pan-African Evolution Research Group (Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History).
The Shukbah Cave was first excavated in the spring of 1928 by Dorothy Garrod. She reported a rich collection of Mousterian-style animal bones and stone tools cemented in breccia deposits, often concentrated in well-marked herds. She also identified a large, unique human molar tooth. However, the specimen was kept in a private collection for most of the 20th century, which forbade comparative studies using modern methods. The recent re-identification of the tooth at the Natural History Museum in London has led to new detailed work on the Shukbah collections.
« Professor Garrod saw immediately how distinctive this tooth is. We have the size, shape and both We examined the external and internal 3D structure of the tooth and compared it with Holocene and Pleistocene Homo sapiens and Neanderthal samples. This enabled us to clearly characterize the tooth as belonging to a nine-year-old Neanderthal, « says Dr. Clément Zanolli from the Université de Bordeaux. « Shukbah marks the southernmost expanse of the known Neanderthals, » adds Zanolli.
Although Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals shared the use of a wide range of stone tool technologies, it has recently been claimed that Nubian Levallois technology was used exclusively by Homo Sapiens . The argument was made particularly in Southwest Asia, where Nubian Levallois tools were used to track the spread of humans in the absence of fossils. « Images of Shukbah’s stone tool collections suggested the presence of Nubian Levallois technology, so we re-examined the collections for further investigation. In the end, we identified a lot more artifacts made by the Nubian Levallois methods than we expected, « says Blinkhorn. « This is the first time they have been found directly related to Neanderthal fossils, suggesting that we cannot make a straightforward connection between this technology and Homo sapiens. »
« Southwest Asia is a dynamic region in terms on hominin demographics, behavior and environmental changes and may be particularly important in studying the interactions between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, « adds Prof. Simon Blockley of Royal Holloway, University of London. « This study highlights the geographic reach of the Neanderthal populations and their behavioral flexibility, but also provides timely evidence that there are no direct links between certain hominins and certain stone tool technologies. »
« So far, there is no direct evidence of a Neanderthal presence in Africa, « said Prof. Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum. « But the southern location of Shukbah, only about 400 km from Cairo, should remind us that they sometimes even scattered to Africa. »
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Ref: https://phys.org
