Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards
Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1204579109
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发表时间：
2012-08-21
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Tzedakis, Polychronis C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Lowe, John;Barton, Nick;Tzedakis, Polychronis C.
旧石器时代中晚期过渡期间人类分布和发展的显着变化归因于大规模火山喷发和/或严重的气候恶化。我们使用大约可追溯至公元 100 年的坎帕尼亚 Ignimbrite 喷发的火山灰层记录来测试这个概念。 40,000 年前（40 ka B.P.）。在考古洞穴序列中发现的隐石沉积物（肉眼不可见的火山灰层）增强了坎帕尼亚熔凝灰岩的分布。它们使我们能够同步从尼安德特人到欧洲最早的解剖学现代人类群体过渡时期的考古和古气候记录。我们的研究结果证实，大规模火山喷发和严重气候变冷的综合影响未能对欧洲的尼安德特人或早期现代人类产生持久影响。我们推断，事实证明，现代人类对土著居民的竞争威胁比自然灾害更大。
Marked changes in human dispersal and development during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have been attributed to massive volcanic eruption and/or severe climatic deterioration. We test this concept using records of volcanic ash layers of the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption dated to ca. 40,000 y ago (40 ka B.P.). The distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite has been enhanced by the discovery of cryptotephra deposits (volcanic ash layers that are not visible to the naked eye) in archaeological cave sequences. They enable us to synchronize archaeological and paleoclimatic records through the period of transition from Neanderthal to the earliest anatomically modern human populations in Europe. Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe. We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters.