Abstract
The spread of Homo sapiens into new habitats across Eurasia ~45,000 years ago and the concurrent disappearance of Neanderthals represents a critical evolutionary turnover in our species’ history. ‘Transitional’ technocomplexes, such as the Lincombian–Ranisian–Jerzmanowician (LRJ), characterize the European record during this period but their makers and evolutionary significance have long remained unclear. New evidence from Ilsenhöhle in Ranis, Germany, now provides a secure connection of the LRJ to H. sapiens remains dated to ~45,000 years ago, making it one of the earliest forays of our species to central Europe. Using many stable isotope records of climate produced from 16 serially sampled equid teeth spanning ~12,500 years of LRJ and Upper Palaeolithic human occupation at Ranis, we review the ability of early humans to adapt to different climate and habitat conditions. Results show that cold climates prevailed across LRJ occupations, with a temperature decrease culminating in a pronounced cold excursion at ~45,000–43,000 cal bp. Directly dated H. sapiens remains confirm that humans used the site even during this very cold phase. Together with recent evidence from the Initial Upper Palaeolithic, this demonstrates that humans operated in severe cold conditions during many distinct early dispersals into Europe and suggests pronounced adaptability.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 578-588 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Nature Ecology and Evolution |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 31 Jan 2024 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Mar 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The re-excavation of Ilsenhöhle in Ranis was conducted by the TLDA and the MPI-EVA. We thank the TLDA and the State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology Saxony-Anhalt—State Museum of Prehistory (LDA) for the opportunity to study the Ranis faunal material. In particular, we thank R. Hülshoff (LDA) and I. Widany (LDA) for assistance in accessing the LDA collections. We thank M. Kaniecki, L. Klausnitzer, S. Hesse and P. Dittmann (MPI-EVA) for technical assistance during stable isotope and radiocarbon sample preparation. S. Steinbrenner is thanked for technical assistance with thermal conversion elemental analysis isotope ratio mass spectrometry (TC/EA)-IRMS maintenance and EA-IRMS measurements. Thanks are also due to E. Schulz-Kornas (University of Leipzig) for assistance with identifying equid tooth positions and S. Tüpke (MPI-EVA) for conducting high-resolution photography of equid tooth specimens. We express our gratitude to J. Krause (MPI-EVA) for support during the H. sapiens specimen identification work conducted by H.R., J.O. and H.D. The stable isotope work and radiocarbon dating was funded by the Max Planck Society as part of the PhD and postdoctoral project of S.P. and by the German Research Foundation (DFG) as part of the PALÄODIET Project (378496604) awarded to K.J. and T.T. S.P. is supported by a German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina postdoctoral fellowship (LPDS 2021-13). K.B. is supported by a Philip Leverhulme Prize from The Leverhulme Trust (PLP-2019-284). G.M.S. received funding from the European Union Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Programme under Marie Skłodowska–Curie Grant Agreement 101027850. J.M. received funding from the DFG (Project 505905610). D.M. received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement 861389 - PUSHH.