Search

Determining the age of late Middle and Late Pleistocene (MIS 8-MIS 3) Neanderthal sites can be difficult as radiometry has limitations. Biostratigraphic methods can be used to overcome these difficulties. A species useful in these analyses is Alexandromys oeconomus (Pallas, 1776), which has a wide modern geographical distribution in the Northern Hemisphere. During the Pleistocene, its range significantly increased, occurring in large numbers both in interglacials and glacials. We distinguished Middle Pleistocene from Late Pleistocene and modern populations of this species based on temporal variation in the morphological structure of the first lower molar (m1) occlusion surface, and the relative proportions of the typical “oeconomus” and atypical “gud,” “nivalis,” and “malei” morphotypes. Our results showed that the mean values of metric parameters of the occlusion surface m1 of A. oeconomus varied over time. We found that this variation distinguisheed between populations of species from the late Middle Pleistocene (MIS 8-MIS 6) and early Late Pleistocene (MIS 5) from those from the Late Pleistocene (MIS 4-MIS 2), and some measurements and coefficients were correlated with climate-environmental changes. Using variation in A. oeconomus m1 morphology can be used as a tool in biostratigraphy requires further research including, among others, studies on how morphology varies between regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence of mobiliary art and body augmentation are associated with the cultural innovations introduced by Homo sapiens at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. Here, we report the discovery of the oldest known human-modified punctate ornament, a decorated ivory pendant from the Paleolithic layers at Stajnia Cave in Poland. We describe the features of this unique piece, as well as the stratigraphic context and the details of its chronometric dating. The Stajnia Cave plate is a personal 'jewellery' object that was created 41,500 calendar years ago (directly radiocarbon dated). It is the oldest known of its kind in Eurasia and it establishes a new starting date for a tradition directly connected to the spread of modern Homo sapiens in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a widespread belief that the abrupt warming at 14.7 ka had a profound impact on the environment. However, the direct correlation between the global climatic event and changes in local environments is not obvious. We examined faunal succession in an intra-mountain basin of the Western Carpathians to assess the potential influence of the climatic change between Greenland Stadial-2a and Greenland Interstadial-1e on the local environment. We investigated three vertebrate assemblages (total number of identified specimens = 18,745; minimum number of individuals = 7515; 138 taxa) from Obłazowa Cave (western entrance) and a Rock overhang in Cisowa Rock, radiocarbon dated to the period before and after the global warming, between ca. 17.0 and 14.0 ka. Our data revealed that the major abrupt warming that occurred 14.7 ka had little impact on the local environment, which could suggest that ecosystems in Central Europe were resilient to the abrupt global climate changes. The increase in fauna population sizes and species diversities in local biotopes was gradual and began long before the temperature increase. This was supported by the analysis of ancient DNA of Microtus arvalis, which showed a gradual increase in effective population size after 19.0 ka. The results of palaeoclimatic reconstruction pointed out that the compared sites were characterized by similar climatic conditions. According to our calculations, the differences in the annual mean temperatures did not exceed 0.5 °C and mean annual thermal amplitude changed from 22.9 to 22.4 °C. The environmental changes before 14.7 ka had no impact on the activity of Final Palaeolithic hunters in the studied area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mikolaj Urbanowski disagrees with this Author Correction. Correction to: I Scientific Reports i https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-71504-x, published online 08 September 2020 Marjolein D. Bosch was omitted from the author list in the original version of this Article. The Author contributions section now reads: "W.N., A.N. and S.T. designed research; A.P., M.H., W.N., S.B., M.U., A.M., H.F., M.D.B., P.S., K.S., M.Z., A.W., A.N. and S.T. performed research; A.P., M.H., W.N., S.B., M.U., A.M., H.F., M.D.B., P.S., K.S., M.Z., A.W., A.N. and S.T. analysed data; A.P., M.H., S.T., W.N. and S.B. wrote the paper with the collaboration of all the co-authors.". [Extracted from the article]

The Author contributions section now reads: "S.T. W.N. and A.N. conceived the project; S.T., W.N., A.P., M.B., S.C., M.D., H.F., A.M., M.D. B., D.P., M.P.R., C.M.R., V.S-M., G.M.S., P.S., M.S., K.S., A.V., F.W., H.W., A.W., M.Z., S.B., A.N., J-J. H., performed research; S.T., A.P., W.N., M.B., M.D.B., S.C., M.D., H.F., A.M., D.P., M.P.R., C.M.R., V.S-M., G.M.S., P.S., M.S., K.S., A.V., F.W., H.W., A.W., M.Z., S.B., A.N., J-J. H. analysed all archaeological data; S.T. and A.P. wrote the paper with the collaboration of all the co-authors." Correction to: I Scientific Reports i https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01221-6, published online 25 November 2021 The original version of this Article contained errors in the author list where Marjolein D. Bosch was omitted from the author list, and Mikolaj Urbanowski was incorrectly listed as an author of the original Article, and has subsequently been removed. The original article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01221-6. [Extracted from the article]

The Micoquian is the broadest and longest enduring cultural facies of the Late Middle Palaeolithic that spread across the periglacial and boreal environments of Europe between Eastern France, Poland, and Northern Caucasus. Here, we present new data from the archaeological record of Stajnia Cave (Poland) and the paleogenetic analysis of a Neanderthal molar S5000, found in a Micoquian context. Our results demonstrate that the mtDNA genome of Stajnia S5000 dates to MIS 5a making the tooth the oldest Neanderthal specimen from Central-Eastern Europe. Furthermore, S5000 mtDNA has the fewest number of differences to mtDNA of Mezmaiskaya 1 Neanderthal from Northern Caucasus, and is more distant from almost contemporaneous Neanderthals of Scladina and Hohlenstein-Stadel. This observation and the technological affinity between Poland and the Northern Caucasus could be the result of increased mobility of Neanderthals that changed their subsistence strategy for coping with the new low biomass environments and the increased foraging radius of gregarious animals. The Prut and Dniester rivers were probably used as the main corridors of dispersal. The persistence of the Micoquian techno-complex in South-Eastern Europe infers that this axis of mobility was also used at the beginning of MIS 3 when a Neanderthal population turnover occurred in the Northern Caucasus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]