Transitions or turnovers? Climatically-forced extinctions of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals in the east Mediterranean Levant
Transitions or turnovers? Climatically-forced extinctions of Homo sapiens and Neanderthals in the east Mediterranean Levant
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DOI：
10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.08.015
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发表时间：
2008
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
J. Shea
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
J. Shea
东地中海黎凡特是更新世晚期人类种群进化连续性争论的焦点。黎凡特旧石器时代中晚期考古记录的变化几乎总是用适应性转变和行为转变来描述，而不是用古人类种群的变化来描述。本文研究了黎凡特 130 至 25ka 期间古人类进化连续性的证据。根据最近发现的气候快速变化和环境恶化的证据，对两个拐点进行了检查，一个在旧石器时代中期约 75ka，另一个在旧石器时代中期和晚期之间约 45ka。有人认为，这两个时期都标志着区域性灭绝和古人类种群的更替。第一个发生在早期智人中，第二个发生在尼安德特人中。每次事件发生后，古人类群体都会从邻近地区分散到黎凡特。旧石器时代中期和晚期智人在黎凡特的长期成功的差异可能反映了最近演变的应对快速气候变化和寒冷干旱栖息地的策略。
The East Mediterranean Levant is a focal point for debate about evolutionary continuity among Late Pleistocene hominin populations. Changes in the Levantine Middle and Upper Palaeolithic archaeological records are almost invariably described in terms of adaptive shifts and behavioural transitions, rather than as changes in hominin populations. This paper examines evidence for hominin evolutionary continuity in the Levant between 130 and 25ka. Two inflection points, one within the Middle Palaeolithic ca 75ka and the other between the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic ca 45ka, are examined in light of recently-discovered evidence for rapid climate change and environmental deterioration. It is proposed that both periods mark regional extinctions and turnovers of hominin populations. The first of these occurred among early Homo sapiens, the second among Neanderthals. Each event was followed by dispersal of hominin populations into the Levant from adjacent regions. Differences in Middle vs. Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens’ long-term success in the Levant may reflect recently-evolved strategies for coping with rapid climate change and with colder arid habitats.