The environmental footprint of Holocene societies: a multi-temporal study of trails in the Judean Desert, Israel

The global distribution of footpaths and their inferred antiquity implies that they are widespread spatial and temporal anthropogenic landscape units. Arid environments are of special interest for investigating historically used footpaths, as older routes may preserve better due to minimal modern impact and slower pedogenic processes. Here we examine footpaths in the Judean Desert of the southern Levant, a human hotspot throughout the Holocene. We studied one modern and two archaeological footpaths (one attributed to the Early Bronze Age and one to the Roman period) using micromorphology, bulk samples laboratory analysis, and remote sensing. Field observations and color analysis indicate that footpaths in the studied arid limestone environment can result in brighter surface color than their non-path surroundings. Similar color changes are reflected using both laboratory analysis and high-resolution remote sensing, where the difference is also significant. Microscopically, the footpaths studied tend to be less porous and with fewer biogenic activities when compared to their non-path controls. However, the two ancient footpaths studied do exhibit minimal indicators of biogenic activities that are not detectable in the modern footpath sample. Our study shows that high-resolution remote sensing coupled with micromorphology, while using appropriate local modern analogies, can help to locate and assess both the environmental effect and the antiquity of footpaths

The environmental footprint of Holocene societies: a multi-temporal study of trails in the Judean Desert, Israel

The global distribution of footpaths and their inferred antiquity implies that they are widespread spatial and temporal anthropogenic landscape units. Arid environments are of special interest for investigating historically used footpaths, as older routes may preserve better due to minimal modern impact and slower pedogenic processes. Here we examine footpaths in the Judean Desert of the southern Levant, a human hotspot throughout the Holocene. We studied one modern and two archaeological footpaths (one attributed to the Early Bronze Age and one to the Roman period) using micromorphology, bulk samples laboratory analysis, and remote sensing. Field observations and color analysis indicate that footpaths in the studied arid limestone environment can result in brighter surface color than their non-path surroundings. Similar color changes are reflected using both laboratory analysis and high-resolution remote sensing, where the difference is also significant. Microscopically, the footpaths studied tend to be less porous and with fewer biogenic activities when compared to their non-path controls. However, the two ancient footpaths studied do exhibit minimal indicators of biogenic activities that are not detectable in the modern footpath sample. Our study shows that high-resolution remote sensing coupled with micromorphology, while using appropriate local modern analogies, can help to locate and assess both the environmental effect and the antiquity of footpaths

The first Neanderthal remains from an open-air Middle Palaeolithic site in the Levant

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 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).

Genome-scale sequencing and analysis of human, wolf, and bison DNA from 25,000-year-old sediment

Cave sediments have been shown to preserve ancient DNA but so far have not yielded the genome-scale information of skeletal remains. We retrieved and analyzed human and mammalian nuclear and mitochondrial environmental "shotgun" genomes from a single 25,000-year-old Upper Paleolithic sediment sample from Satsurblia cave, western Georgia:first, a human environmental genome with substantial basal Eurasian ancestry, which was an ancestral component of the majority of post-Ice Age people in the Near East, North Africa, and parts of Europe; second, a wolf environmental genome that is basal to extant Eurasian wolves and dogs and represents a previously unknown, likely extinct, Caucasian lineage; and third, a European bison environmental genome that is basal to present-day populations, suggesting that population structure has been substantially reshaped since the Last Glacial Maximum. Our results provide new insights into the Late Pleistocene genetic histories of these three species and demonstrate that direct shotgun sequencing of sediment DNA, without target enrichment methods, can yield genome-wide data informative of ancestry and phylogenetic relationships

Homo sapiens reached the higher latitudes of Europe by 45,000 years ago

The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Europe is associated with the regional disappearance of Neanderthals and the spread of Homo sapiens. Late Neanderthals persisted in western Europe several millennia after the occurrence of H. sapiens in eastern Europe1. Local hybridization between the two groups occurred2, but not on all occasions3. Archaeological evidence also indicates the presence of several technocomplexes during this transition, complicating our understanding and the association of behavioural adaptations with specific hominin groups4. One such technocomplex for which the makers are unknown is the Lincombian–Ranisian–Jerzmanowician (LRJ), which has been described in northwestern and central Europe5,6,7,8. Here we present the morphological and proteomic taxonomic identification, mitochondrial DNA analysis and direct radiocarbon dating of human remains directly associated with an LRJ assemblage at the site Ilsenhöhle in Ranis (Germany). These human remains are among the earliest directly dated Upper Palaeolithic H. sapiens remains in Eurasia. We show that early H. sapiens associated with the LRJ were present in central and northwestern Europe long before the extinction of late Neanderthals in southwestern Europe. Our results strengthen the notion of a patchwork of distinct human populations and technocomplexes present in Europe during this transitional period

Micromorphological analyses and site formation at the archaeological sites Schöningen, Grabow, and Blätterhöhle, Germany, and Varsche Rivier 003, South Africa

Die mikromorphologischen Untersuchungen an altpaläolithischen Fundplätzen in Schöningen, spätpaläolithischen Fundplätzen in Grabow, dem mesolithischem Fundplatz Blätterhöhle, und dem Middle Stone Age Fundplatz Varsche Rivier 003 haben zum Ziel die Entstehung der Fundplätze, die Genese der Schichten und der Befunde zu rekonstruieren. Diese Rekonstruktionen wurden dann in Bezug auf das menschliche Verhalten interpretiert. Als Untersuchungsmethode wurde die Mikromorphologie verwendet, die anhand der mikroskopischen Bestimmung von Komponenten, aber vor allem anhand der Untersuchung der Mikrostruktur von Sedimenten und Böden Formationsprozesse identifizieren und interpretieren kann. Dies gilt insbesondere für die Untersuchungen von Feuerstellen, die als Befunde eine eigene Ablagerung darstellen. In Schöningen 13 II-4, Schöninen13 II Obere Berme und Schöningen 12 II-4 wurde das unmittelbare Ablagerungsmilieu der archäologischen Hinterlassenschaften untersucht. Eine entscheidende Frage war hierbei der in situ Charakter der archäologischen Hinterlassenschaften, der mikromorphologisch nicht nachgewiesen worden konnten. Vielmehr konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass die fundführenden Schichten unter Wasser abgelagert wurden. Folglich werden alternative Formationsmodelle zu einer in situ Ablagerung diskutiert (z.B. Abfallentsorgung in den See, Jagen und Caching auf der gefrorenen Seeoberfläche, oder eine geogene Verlagerung der Materialien in den See durch Wellenaktivität oder Rutschungen). Eine ähnliche Frage bezüglich des primären oder sekundären Kontextes der archäologischen Funde stellte sich an dem Abri Varsche Rivier 003, wo zwischen verlagerten und bioturbierten Schichten am Hang und weniger gestörten Schichten innerhalb des Abris unterschieden werden konnte. Dies hat Auswirkungen auf räumliche Verhaltensinterpretationen und die ausgeführten OSL-Datierungen. In Grabow konnten die mikromorphologischen Untersuchungen Einzelheiten zu der Bodenbildung eines Fluvisols, in dem die archäologischen Fundplätze erhalten waren, beitragen und somit zur Umweltrekonstruktion. In Schöningen 13 II-4, der Blätterhöhle und Grabow waren im Feld mögliche Feuerstellen identifiziert worden und mikromorphologische Untersuchungen konnten diese wiederlegen (Schöningen), belegen (Grabow) und ihre Überprägung durch Bioturbation (Blätterhöhle) aufzeigen.Micromorphological analyses at Lower Paleolithic sites at Schöningen, Late Paleolithic sites at Grabow, the Mesolithic site Blätterhöhle, and the Middle Stone Age Site Varsche Rivier 003 are primarily intended to understand the formation of the sites, the layers and specific features. These reconstructions are then used to evaluate human behavior. To this aim, micromorphological analyses were conducted. Micromorphology can identify sedimentary components and most importantly the microstructure of depositional units, and is therefore a powerful tool to detect, analyze and interpret site formation processes. This is especially true for the analysis of hearth features, which represent a distinct depositional unit. Micromorphological analyses at Schöningen 13 II-4, Schöningen 13 II Upper Berm, and Schöningen 12 II-4 were directed at reconstructing the depositional environment of the archaeological remains. One of the key questions is whether the archaeological remains are in a primary context. The micromorphological analyses found no evidence that the deposits are in a primary context and instead revealed a subaqueous deposition of the find-bearing layers. Consequently, alternative site formation models are discussed (e.g. anthropogenic disposal of materials into the lake, a geological relocation of the artifacts by wave action or slumping, and hunting or caching on lake-ice). Similarly, at the abri Varsche Rivier 003 micromorphological analyses were able to differentiate between a secondary context on the slope and a more primary, less turbated context inside the abri. This has implications for behavioral interpretations and OSL dating. Micromorphological analyses on the fluvisol at Grabow, which contains the archaeological sites, confirmed and expanded data on soil formation and environmental reconstruction. At Schöningen 13 II-4, Blätterhöhle, and Grabow field observations of purported hearths were corrected (Schöningen), verified (Grabow) and their bioturbated character identified (Blätterhöhle) by micromorphological analyses