Lower Third Premolar Rotation in the Krapina Dental Sample

This paper presents some new observations on the Krapina Neandertal dental sample. A number of lower third premolars from this site are rotated in comparison to their expected position relative to the other teeth. We developed a method for accurately describing the rotation for teeth, whether they are in mandibles, included in dental sets or isolated. We compare the frequencies of rotated P3s in the Krapina sample with those observed in a modern human population and in the available Neandertal population specimens. It appears that the two latter have comparable frequencies of P3 rotation whereas rotations found in the Krapina sample have a much higher frequency, whether in relation to the total number of teeth or the number of individuals. Bootstrapping in the comparative samples shows that the probabilities of finding the frequencies of rotated P3s observed at Krapina within the modern and Neandertal lineage groups are very low, below the significance threshold. The Krapina sample thus appears to be unique in its proportion of rotated P3s. After rejecting a mechanical hypothesis (i. e. lack of space) for explaining this condition, we propose a genetic origin for this condition. We discuss the implications of related individuals utilizing the cave over a long period of time

Un cas médiéval d’abrasion dentaire singulière : un possible témoignage d’activités para-masticatrices ?

Plusieurs stigmates d’abrasions particulières ont été observés sur la denture d’un squelette découvert lors de la fouille d’un cimetière médiéval à Clarensac (Gard, France). Leur nature se distingue de l’attrition normale. L’absence d’exemple semblable référencé pour la même période nous a conduit à nous intéresser à leur étiologie. Une observation macroscopique puis microscopique des dents a été réalisée afin de comprendre ces atteintes. L’étude de la nature et de l’orientation de différents sillons présents sur les dents permet d’émettre des hypothèses sur l’origine des abrasions.Several peculiar abrasions have been observed on the teeth of a skeleton discovered during the excavation of a medieval cemetery in Clarensac (Gard, France). They are distinguishable from the normal attrition due to mastication. Absence of a similar referenced example for the same period led us to investigate their aetiology. Macroscopic and microscopic examination of the teeth was carried out in order to determine the origin of this attrition. The study of the nature and orientation of the furrows on the teeth enables us to present various hypotheses for the origin of the abrasions

Les dents inférieures du néandertalien Regourdou 1 (site de Regourdou, commune de Montignac, Dordogne) : analyses métriques et comparatives

Les principaux restes humains du Paléolithique moyen du site de Regourdou (commune de Montignac, Dordogne) ont été mis au jour en 1957. Plusieurs travaux leur ont été consacrés mais la publication de ceux de Piveteau (1959, 1963, 1964 et 1966) a été interrompue. Ainsi les diamètres et modules des couronnes des dents de Regourdou 1 n’étaient disponibles que sous la forme de diagrammes.A partir d’une nouvelle étude originale du spécimen, nous proposons un travail comparatif uni- et multivarié sur les dimensions dentaires mandibulaires pour tenter de mettre en évidence les similitudes et les différences qui caractérisent Regourdou 1 en particulier, vis-à-vis des autres Néandertaliens würmiens. Ce fossile présente des dents plutôt de petite taille. Sa première prémolaire gauche a un diamètre mésio-distal qui l’exclut de 95 % de la variabilité néandertalienne, ce que nous interprétons comme un caractère individuel original.The Middle Palaeolithic main human remains from the Regourdou site (commune of Montignac, Dordogne) were discovered in 1957. Several studies have been carried out but the publication of the Piveteau researches on these remains has never been totally finished (Piveteau 1959, 1963, 1964, 1966). Metric features of this dental sample were available only through approximations from diagrams.In this paper, uni- and multivariate analyses of the complete mandibular dental arcade are presented, based on a new original study of Regourdou 1. Discussion focuses on the similarities and differences between these teeth and a sample of Würm-age Neandertals. The Regourdou 1 teeth are quite small; the mesio-distal diameter of the left first premolar, for example, is outside of the 95% range of variability of this comparative sample. We interpret this as an unusual individual trait

Sur un trait inédit des incisives déciduales supérieures de trois néandertaliens immatures : apport de l’imagerie virtuelle

En 2006, l’étude des germes dentaires du périnatal néandertalien Le Moustier 2 (Dordogne) nous permet d’observer un trait non documenté sur trois de ses quatre germes des incisives déciduales supérieures : l’ouverture, au niveau de la face linguale et de la chambre pulpaire, d’un possible canal traversant de la partie minéralisée du germe. Cette ouverture se situe a) au niveau du quadrant apico-distal de la couronne ; b) au sommet d’un petit relief sur la face linguale et, lorsqu’il est prés..

The evolutionary history of Neanderthal and Denisovan Y chromosomes

Ancient DNA has provided new insights into many aspects of human history. However, we lack comprehensive studies of the Y chromosomes of Denisovans and Neanderthals because the majority of specimens that have been sequenced to sufficient coverage are female. Sequencing Y chromosomes from two Denisovans and three Neanderthals shows that the Y chromosomes of Denisovans split around 700 thousand years ago from a lineage shared by Neanderthals and modern human Y chromosomes, which diverged from each other around 370 thousand years ago. The phylogenetic relationships of archaic and modern human Y chromosomes differ from the population relationships inferred from the autosomal genomes and mirror mitochondrial DNA phylogenies, indicating replacement of both the mitochondrial and Y chromosomal gene pools in late Neanderthals. This replacement is plausible if the low effective population size of Neanderthals resulted in an increased genetic load in Neanderthals relative to modern humans.Q.F. was supported by funding from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91731303, 41925009, 41630102). A.R. was funded by Spanish government (MICINN/ FEDER) (grant number CGL2016-75109-P). The reassessment of the Spy collection by H.R., I.C., and P.S. was supported by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO 2004-2007, MO/36/0112). M.V.S., M.B.K., and A.P.D. were supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR 17-29-04206). This study was funded by the Max Planck Society and the European Research Council (grant agreement number 694707)

A Neanderthal from the Central Western Zagros, Iran. Structural reassessment of the Wezmeh 1 maxillary premolar

Wezmeh Cave, in the Kermanshah region of Central Western Zagros, Iran, produced a Late Pleistocene faunal assemblage rich in carnivorans along with a human right maxillary premolar, Wezmeh 1, an unerupted tooth from an 8 ± 2 year-old individual. Uranium-series analyses of the fauna by alpha spectrometry provided age estimates between 70 and 11 ka. Crown dimensions place the tooth specimen at the upper limits of Late Pleistocene human ranges of variation. Wezmeh 1 metameric position (most likely a P3) remains uncertain and only its surficial morphology has been described so far. Accordingly, we used micro-focus X-ray tomography (12.5 μm isotropic voxel size) to reassess the metameric position and taxonomic attribution of this specimen. We investigated its endostructural features and quantified crown tissue proportions. Topographic maps of enamel thickness (ET) distribution were also generated, and semilandmark-based geometric morphometric analyses of the enamel-dentine junction (EDJ) were performed. We compared Wezmeh 1 with unworn/slightly-moderately worn P3 and P4 of European Neanderthals, Middle Paleolithic modern humans from Qafzeh, an Upper Paleolithic premolar, and Holocene humans. The results confirm that Wezmeh 1 represents a P3. Based on its internal conformation and especially EDJ shape, Wezmeh 1 aligns closely with Neanderthals and is distinct from the fossil and extant modern human pattern of our comparative samples. Wezmeh 1 is thus the first direct evidence of Neanderthal presence on the western margin of the Iranian Plateau

Survival of Late Pleisticene Hunter-gatherer ancestry in the Iberian Peninsula

The Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe represents an important test case for the study of human population movements during prehistoric periods. During the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), the peninsula formed a periglacial refugium for hunter-gatherers (HGs) and thus served as a potential source for the re-peopling of northern latitudes. The post-LGM genetic signature was previously described as a cline from Western HG (WHG) to Eastern HG (EHG), further shaped by later Holocene expansions from the Near East and the North Pontic steppes. Western and central Europe were dominated by ancestry associated with the 14,000-year-old individual from Villabruna, Italy, which had largely replaced earlier genetic ancestry, represented by 19,000-15,000-year-old individuals associated with the Magdalenian culture. However, little is known about the genetic diversity in southern European refugia, the presence of distinct genetic clusters, and correspondence with geography. Here, we report new genome-wide data from 11 HGs and Neolithic individuals that highlight the late survival of Paleolithic ancestry in Iberia, reported previously in Magdalenian-associated individuals. We show that all Iberian HGs, including the oldest, a 19,000-year-old individual from El Mirón in Spain, carry dual ancestry from both Villabruna and the Magdalenian-related individuals. Thus, our results suggest an early connection between two potential refugia, resulting in a genetic ancestry that survived in later Iberian HGs. Our new genomic data from Iberian Early and Middle Neolithic individuals show that the dual Iberian HG genomic legacy pertains in the peninsula, suggesting that expanding farmers mixed with local HGs

The evolutionary history of Neandertal and Denisovan Y chromosomes

Ancient DNA has allowed the study of various aspects of human history in unprecedented detail. However, because the majority of archaic human specimens preserved well enough for genome sequencing have been female, comprehensive studies of Y chromosomes of Denisovans and Neandertals have not yet been possible. Here we present sequences of the first Denisovan Y chromosomes (Denisova 4 and Denisova 8), as well as the Y chromosomes of three late Neandertals (Spy 94a, Mezmaiskaya 2 and El Sidrón 1253). We find that the Denisovan Y chromosomes split around 700 thousand years ago (kya) from a lineage shared by Neandertal and modern human Y chromosomes, which diverged from each other around 370 kya. The phylogenetic relationships of archaic and modern human Y chromosomes therefore differ from population relationships inferred from their autosomal genomes, and mirror the relationships observed on the level of mitochondrial DNA. This provides strong evidence that gene flow from an early lineage related to modern humans resulted in the replacement of both the mitochondrial and Y chromosomal gene pools in late Neandertals. Although unlikely under neutrality, we show that this replacement is plausible if the low effective population size of Neandertals resulted in an increased genetic load in their Y chromosomes and mitochondrial DNA relative to modern humans.Q.F. was supported by funding from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (XDB26000000), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91731303, 41925009,41630102). A.R. was funded by Spanish government (MICINN/FEDER), grant number CGL2016-75109-P. The reassessment of the Spy collection by H.R., I.C. and P.S. was supported by the Belgian Science Policy Office (BELSPO 2004-2007, MO/36/0112). M.S., M.K. and A.D. were supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR 17-29-04206). This study was funded by the Max Planck Society and the European Research Council (grant agreement number 694707).N

The ecology, subsistence and diet of ~45,000-year-old Homo sapiens at Ilsenhöhle in Ranis, Germany

Recent excavations at Ranis (Germany) identified an early dispersal of Homo sapiens into the higher latitudes of Europe by 45,000 years ago. Here we integrate results from zooarchaeology, palaeoproteomics, sediment DNA and stable isotopes to characterize the ecology, subsistence and diet of these early H. sapiens. We assessed all bone remains (n = 1,754) from the 2016-2022 excavations through morphology (n = 1,218) or palaeoproteomics (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (n = 536) and species by proteome investigation (n = 212)). Dominant taxa include reindeer, cave bear, woolly rhinoceros and horse, indicating cold climatic conditions. Numerous carnivore modifications, alongside sparse cut-marked and burnt bones, illustrate a predominant use of the site by hibernating cave bears and denning hyaenas, coupled with a fluctuating human presence. Faunal diversity and high carnivore input were further supported by ancient mammalian DNA recovered from 26 sediment samples. Bulk collagen carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data from 52 animal and 10 human remains confirm a cold steppe/tundra setting and indicate a homogenous human diet based on large terrestrial mammals. This lower-density archaeological signature matches other Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician sites and is best explained by expedient visits of short duration by small, mobile groups of pioneer H. sapiens. [Abstract copyright: © 2024. The Author(s).