Complexity in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition in Peninsular Southern Europe and application of refugium concepts

Abstract

During the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in the Balkan, Italian and Iberian peninsulas of southern Europe, late Neanderthal and early Anatomically Modern Human (AMH) populations may have overlapped in some capacity. Many of the hypotheses and models for the transition interval suggest that Neanderthal populations remained in, or migrated to, refugial zones while AMHs colonized areas not suitable for, or abandoned by, Neanderthals. However, many hypotheses and models have not been conclusively tested due to general issues impeding a clear understanding of the relevant archeological record and because of a lack of specificity in defining and applying the term ‘refugium’. This paper briefly summarizes what is known about the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in southern European Peninsulas and discusses some new directions in the use of refugium concepts in the study of Neanderthal extinction and AMH dispersal. We highlight the complexity of the archeological record in each region and in the studies of refugia more generally. Finally, we make an appeal for generating local, multi‐proxy paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic records to address these complexities so that hypotheses and models integrating refugial concepts in explanations of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition can be properly formulated and tested.

Neanderthal coexistence with Homo sapiens in Europe was affected by herbivore carrying capacity

“…However, the factors that triggered these patterns and the specific regions that could maintain stable human populations throughout MIS3 have not been identified at the European scale. Opposing what is commonly thought, these regions with higher and more constant trophic resources are not exclusively located in the southern European peninsulas (36). Thus, some mid-latitude areas, such as the Danube or Rhône basins, featured a high and relatively constant NPP and herbivore CC throughout MIS3, which likely favored the rapid spread of H. sapiens and allowed their coexistence with Neanderthals.…”

The ‘Semi‐Sterile Mousterian’ of Riparo Bombrini: evidence of a late‐lasting Neanderthal refugium in Liguria

“…As the data in this paper indicate, the peculiar expression of the Mousterian in Liguria colloquially known as the ‘semi‐sterile Mousterian’ thus emerges as a biogeographical, behavioral and potentially chronological marker. That it might also reflect a dramatic decline in Neanderthal populations is a related possibility, but the perduration of Neanderthals precisely in that area would bring it back to the fact that, biogeographically, the region around the Balzi Rossi served as a taxon‐specific and ecologically stable in situ micro‐refugium for late Neanderthals (Carvalho and Bicho, 2022; Jones, 2022). Behaviorally, it is marked by a shift towards high mobility and a ‘hyperlocal turn’, whereby locally available resources were the immediate focus of exploitation; technologically, this is marked by the almost exclusive use of the Discoid method and, economically, by a contraction of the exploited range of raw material sources to focus almost exclusively on those available within a day's walk from the site.…”

An Overview of the Archaeological, Radiocarbonic and Palaeoclimatic Record at the Iberian Peninsula During the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition

“…The causes of the extinction of the Neanderthal populations in Iberia by 40,000 BP is a topic of intense debate in human evolution (Carvalho and Bicho 2022). Some interpretations attribute this extinction to competition with early anatomical modern humans (AMHs), which would present differences expressed for instance through more e cient exploitation of dietary resources, possibly related to differential cognitive, behavioural and cultural abilities, that could rest on life-history and ontogenetic differences Nonetheless, it is clear that there was contact between AMH and Neanderthals.…”

“…In all cases, environmental change has been considered as a potential important factor in the Neanderthal demise(Staubwasser, Drăgușin et al 2018), whether acting independently, or in combination with other previously-mentioned differences between the two hominines. Against this backdrop, the disappearance of Neanderthals and the arrival and spread of anatomically modern humans (AMH) in Eurasia, roughly coincident with the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition (MUPT), presents one of the most momentous transitions of cultural periods in human history, although concomitant circumstanceshave not yet been fully explained(Carvalho and Bicho 2022). In this context, the Iberian Peninsula occupies a particular position, since there is controversy on whether the MUPT proceeded spatially and temporally variable, which would enable a potential overlapping of several millennia between Middle and Upper Palaeolithic cultures(Zilhão 2021).…”