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

Zanolli, Clément; Biglari, Fereidoun; Mashkour, Marjan; Abdi, Kamyar; Monchot, Hervé; Debue, Karyne; Mazurier, Arnaud; Bayle, Priscilla; Luyer, Mona Le; Rougier, Hélène; Trinkaus, Erik; Macchiarelli, Roberto

doi:10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.102643

Cited by 28 publications

(34 citation statements)

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“…Neanderthals distribution records were found from two sources; (1) Physical remains of the Neanderthal skeleton in Azokh in Armenia 41 , Shanidar in Iraqi-Kurdistan 42 , 43 , Wezmah Cave 44 , Bisetun Cave 45 , Bawa Yawan Rockshelter 18 , all located in Kermanshah region. (2) Surveyed and excavated sites associated with the Middle Palaeolithic assemblages including specific Mousterian artefacts 14 , 15 , 17 , 18 , 46 , 47 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species distribution models advance our knowledge of the Neanderthals’ paleoecology on the Iranian Plateau

Yousefi

Heydari‐Guran

Kafash

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) were distributed across a vast region from europe to western and central Asia. the neanderthals' paleoecology and distribution has been extensively studied in europe where the species originated. However, very little is known about their paleoecology in southwestern Asia. Here, we employed species distribution modelling and 45 Middle Palaeolithic (c. 200,000-40,000 years BCE) sites location associated with fossil and/or lithic artefacts made by the neanderthals to examine the expansion of the neanderthals on the iranian plateau in southwestern Asia. We estimated the niche overlap between neanderthals and wild goat, wild sheep and persian gazelle by modelling their past distribution using 200, 143 and 110 occurrence records respectively. the results show that neanderthals had highest niche overlap with wild goat in the study area. this analysis revealed that the most suitable neanderthals' habitats in southwestern Asia were located in the Zagros Mountains stretches from northwestern and western and some isolated patches in the central parts of the iranian plateau. the annual precipitation and maximum temperature of the warmest month were the most important predictor of the species' distribution. This finding shows that the southern edge of the neanderthals distribution was limited by warm summer. our results provide important information for future field investigations and excavations in the area. Our closest relative, Neanderthals, separated from the modern human lineage around 800,000-1,200,000 years ago 1 and became extinct around 40 kya 2. During that time, Neanderthals were distributed across Europe and Asia (ibid) and experienced several glacial and interglacial periods. Besides of the questions concerning their coexistence with Homo sapiens and replacement, there are still many other basic questions which are not fully answered such as Neanderthals' expansions and their adaptation capabilities in different environments. Despite Neanderthals being extensively studied across Europe 3-10 and in the Levant 11-13 , very little is known about its paleoecology on the Iranian Plateau. Knowing Neanderthals paleoecology promotes deciphering the drivers of Neanderthal range expansion, their extinction and identifying the Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens contact zone and understanding our own species past ecology. The Iranian Plateau, the southern east-most expansion of the Neanderthals, is located in southwestern Asia and has been recognized as an important dispersal corridor for Pleistocene hominin species and played a prominent role in their evolution 14-16. Over the past decades, Middle Palaeolithic (c. 200,000-40,000 years BCE) occupations have been discovered in a number of different Palaeolithic sites in the Iranian Plateau 15-19 , but no study was performed to determine the species paleo-distribution and identify abiotic drivers of its distribution, both of which are necessary in understanding the Middle Palaeolithic species paleoecology. Recently, Species Distribution...

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species distribution models advance our knowledge of the Neanderthals’ paleoecology on the Iranian Plateau

Yousefi

Heydari‐Guran

Kafash

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…However, so far, the Late Pleistocene human remains in Iran (Trinkaus and Biglari, 2006;Zanolli et al, 2019) are scarce. On the contrary, considerable lithic assemblages associated to the Middle Palaeolithic (Zagros Mousterian; Dibble, 1984) and Upper Palaeolithic (Zagros Aurignacian: Olszewski and Dibble, 1994;Baradostian: Solecki, 1958;Rostamian: Conard and Ghasidian, 2011 ) are known to be concentrated in the Zagros foothills (mainly in caves and rock shelters) (e.g., Biglari, 2001;Otte et al, 2007;Shidrang et al, 2016;Bazgir et al, 2017;Heydari-Guran and Ghasidian, 2017).…”

Section: Mirak Open-air Site In a Prehistorical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do Bayesian methods lead to more precise chronologies? ‘BayLum’ and a first OSL-based chronology for the Palaeolithic open-air site of Mirak (Iran)

Heydari

Guérin

Kreutzer

et al. 2020

Quaternary Geochronology

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Bayesian inference has been applied extensively to chronologies in archaeological science since it provides several advantages over the (classic) frequentist approach. One of the most important aspects of applying Bayesian methods is their capacity to consider the stratigraphic relationship in the final ages. More specifically, in luminescence dating, a crucial motivation for applying Bayesian modelling is the ability to address the systematic shared uncertainty. The recently deployed R package 'BayLum' was developed to ameliorate luminescence-based chronologies by employing Bayesian modelling. Our contribution aims at estimating the impact of stratigraphic order and systematic shared uncertainty on the age results. In this paper, for the first time, we present a comprehensive luminescence-based chronology for the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic site of Mirak. The open-air site is located in the northern fringes of the Iranian Central Desert, which is considered to be one of the dispersal corridors for hominins (Neanderthal and modern human) living across Western and Central Asia. We compare chronologies derived by frequentist and Bayesian methods to discuss the effect of stratigraphic order and addressing the correlation between samples due to systematic shared

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“…Commonly used to infer durophagy and considered as a proxy of the dietary niches exploited by extinct species (e.g., Constantino et al, 2011, 2012; Lucas, Constantino, Wood, & Lawn, 2008; Martin, Olejniczak, & Maas, 2003; Schwartz, 2000; Teaford, 2007; Teaford & Ungar, 2015; Vogel et al, 2008), it is intimately related to dietary abrasiveness and selectively responsive to lifetime dental wear resistance (Pampush et al, 2013; Rabenold & Pearson, 2011). Despite some degree of plasticity of enamel thickness, it is still considered an important indicator of taxonomy, phylogeny, and dietary signals in extant and fossil primates (e.g., Alba et al, 2013; Kono, Zhang, Jin, Takai, & Suwa, 2014; Lockey, Alemseged, Hublin, & Skinner, 2020; Macchiarelli, Bayle, Bondioli, Mazurier, & Zanolli, 2013; Pan et al, 2016; Skinner, Alemseged, Gaunitz, & Hublin, 2015; Smith, Tafforeau, Pouech, & Begun, 2019; Thiery, Guy, & Lazzari, 2019; Thiery, Lazzari, Ramdarshan, & Guy, 2017; Zanolli et al, 2017; Zanolli, Biglari, et al, 2019; Zanolli, Kullmer, et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…During the past two decades, an increasing number of micro‐CT‐based studies were presented to elucidate and compare enamel thickness pattern in taxonomically broad samples, including fossil hominins (e.g., Becam & Chevalier, 2019; Fornai et al, 2014; Olejniczak, Smith, Feeney, et al, 2008; Olejniczak, Smith, Skinner, et al, 2008; Skinner et al, 2015; Smith, Harvati, et al, 2009; Smith, Olejniczak, et al, 2009; Smith, Olejniczak, et al, 2012; Zanolli, Biglari, et al, 2019), fossil hominoids (e.g., Alba, Fortuny, & Moya‐Sola, 2010; Kono et al, 2014; Olejniczak, Smith, Wang, et al, 2008; Smith et al, 2019; Zanolli et al, 2016; Zanolli, Kullmer, et al, 2019), extant hominoids (e.g., Kono & Suwa, 2008; Olejniczak, Tafforeau, Feeney, & Martin, 2008; Smith et al, 2011; Smith, Kupczik, Machanda, Skinner, & Zermeno, 2012), and extant cercopithecoids (e.g., Beaudet et al, 2016; Kato et al, 2014; Olejniczak, Tafforeau, et al, 2008). Moreover, efforts have been extended from 2D to 3D analysis (e.g., Buti et al, 2017; Guy, Lazzari, Gilissen, & Thiery, 2015; Hu & Zhao, 2015; Martín Francés et al, 2018; Pan et al, 2016; Zanolli, Kullmer, et al, 2019; Zhang & Zhao, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…. Despite some degree of plasticity of enamel thickness, it is still considered an important indicator of taxonomy, phylogeny, and dietary signals in extant and fossil primates (e.g., Alba et al, 2013;Kono, Zhang, Jin, Takai, & Suwa, 2014;Lockey, Alemseged, Hublin, & Skinner, 2020;Macchiarelli, Bayle, Bondioli, Mazurier, & Zanolli, 2013;Pan et al, 2016;Skinner, Alemseged, Gaunitz, & Hublin, 2015;Smith, Tafforeau, Pouech, & Begun, 2019;Thiery, Guy, & Lazzari, 2019;Thiery, Lazzari, Ramdarshan, & Guy, 2017;Zanolli et al, 2017;Zanolli, Biglari, et al, 2019;Zanolli, Kullmer, et al, 2019).…”

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confidence: 99%

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A robust alternative to assessing three‐dimensional relative enamel thickness for the use in taxonomic assessment

Liao

Zanolli

et al. 2020

American J Phys Anthropol

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Objective: Three-dimensional relative enamel thickness (3DRET) is important for assessing hypotheses about taxonomy, phylogeny, and dietary reconstruction for primates. However, its weaknesses have not been thoroughly investigated. Here, we analyze its weaknesses and propose an index aiming at better taxonomic discrimination. Materials and Methods: The dimensionless 3D index, ratio of enamel-thickness to dentine-thickness (3DRED), which is defined as the cubic root of the ratio of 3D average enamel thickness (3DAET) to 3D average dentine thickness (3DADT), is proposed here. To compare 3DRET and 3DRED and their sensitivity to voxel size, a fossil orangutan molar was scanned 14 times with different resolutions ranging from 10 to 50 μm. Enamel thickness analysis was carried out for each resultant digital model. In addition, enamel thickness measurements of 179 mandibular permanent molars (eight genera) were analyzed, followed by investigating the relationship between 3DRET and 3DAET and between 3DRED and 3DAET. Results: Regarding sensitivity, 3DRED is more robust than 3DRET. In addition, 3DRET is correlated with 3DAET by linear curve with regression coefficients approximating or larger than 0.8 in most cases, while 3DRED shows less correlation with 3DAET. Furthermore, there are clear separations between different taxa in the bivariate plot of 3DRED against 3DAET, indicative of the taxonomic value of 3DRED. Conclusion: Under certain conditions, 3DRED promises to be a robust and reliable alternative to 3DRET in taxonomic study. K E Y W O R D S enamel/dentine thickness ratio, hominid teeth, relative enamel thickness, taxonomic assessment, voxel size sensibility 1 | INTRODUCTION Primate enamel thickness variation stems from an evolutionary interplay between functional/adaptive constraints (ecology) and strict control mechanisms of the morphogenetic program (Horvath et al., 2014;

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

Abstract: The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record.

Cited by 28 publications

References 59 publications

Species distribution models advance our knowledge of the Neanderthals’ paleoecology on the Iranian Plateau

Species distribution models advance our knowledge of the Neanderthals’ paleoecology on the Iranian Plateau

Do Bayesian methods lead to more precise chronologies? ‘BayLum’ and a first OSL-based chronology for the Palaeolithic open-air site of Mirak (Iran)

A robust alternative to assessing three‐dimensional relative enamel thickness for the use in taxonomic assessment

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