Fossil hominins in the central Balkans and their implications for human evolution in Europe

最近在Mala Balanica（塞尔维亚）发现的一个下颌骨（BH-1），没有衍生的尼安德特人特征，一组与早更新世下颌骨标本相当的原始特征状态，出人意料地产生了113 +72-43 ka的年轻辐射测定日期，这得到了动物和地质考古数据的证实。原始形态和上更新世时代的结合表明，在解剖学上的现代人（AMH）到来之前，欧洲的古人类进化可能遵循多线性而不是线性模型，尼安德特人与更原始的古人类种群共享巴尔干半岛。作为“生物多样性的热点”（Griffiths et al ., 2004; Lesbarreres, 2008），巴尔干地区正在成为古生物学研究的一个日益重要的地区，也是冰川时期保留了大量遗迹生物群的保护区（Randi, 2007）。在这个阶段，来自该地区的任何更新世古人类化石都必然是相关的，但更重要的是，与尼安德特人和AMH人相比，这个保存相对完好的半下颌骨显示出许多原始特征。与其他更新世标本相比，它与早更新世标本聚集在一起，远离尼安德特人，后者作为一个独特的群体聚集在一起。虽然与早更新世人类的直接生物学联系不太可能，但BH-1显然代表了一个古老的非尼安德特人群体的个体，其一系列特征落在变异范围的原始末端。

A recent discovery of a mandible (BH-1) from Mala Balanica (Serbia), with no derived Neandertal traits and a set of primitive character states comparable to Early Pleistocene mandibular specimens, produced an unexpectedly young radiometric date of 113 +72-43 ka, corroborated by faunal and geoarchaeological data. The combination of primitive morphology and an Upper Pleistocene age suggests that hominin evolution in Europe, prior to the arrival of the anatomically modern humans (AMH), could have followed a multilinear rather than a unilinear model and that Neandertals shared the Balkan Peninsula with a more primitive hominin population. The Balkans is emerging as an increasingly important area for paleontological study as a "hotspot of biodiversity" (Griffiths et al, 2004; Lesbarreres, 2008), and a refugial area during glaciations that retained substantial relic biota (Randi, 2007). At this stage, any Pleistocene hominin fossil from the region is bound to be relevant but even more importantly, this relatively well preserved semi-mandible, displays a number of primitive traits in comparison to both Neandertals and AMH. When compared to other Pleistocene specimens it clusters with Early Pleistocene ones and far from Neandertals, which cluster as a distinct group. While a direct biological connection to the Early Pleistocene hominins is unlikely, BH-1 clearly represents an individual from an archaic, non-Neandertal population with a suite of features falling at the primitive end of variational ranges.