Dating the skull from Broken Hill, Zambia, and its position in human evolution

Grün, Rainer; Pike, Alistair; McDermott, Frank; Eggins, Stephen; Mortimer, Graham; Aubert, Maxime; Kinsley, Lesley; Joannes‐Boyau, Renaud; Rumsey, Michael S.; Denys, Christiane; Brink, James S.; Clark, Tara R.; Stringer, Chris

doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2165-4

Cited by 64 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…The contemporaneity between the age of Arago (G level) and that of SH fossils does not fit well with their evolution degree in terms of neandertal apomorphies and raises the issue of one or two coeval human species. We find the same type of comparison in Africa with Kabwe skull recently dated by U-series (LA-MC-ICPMS, TIMS, Gamma-spectrometry) directly on the skull and bones and on calcitic crust yielding an age of 300 ka (Grün et al, 2020), similar to that obtained on Jebel Irhoud human remains (Richter et al, 2017) though they are morphologically different.…”

Section: / the Middle Pleistocene Periodsupporting

confidence: 79%

The first human settlements out africa into Europe: A chronological perspective

Falguères

2020

Quaternary Science Reviews

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A reliable chronology for the oldest settlements of Europe from the Early to the beginning of the Middle Pleistocene is an important requirement for understanding human evolution and especially the routes used to reach Western Europe from Africa. The paucity of sites, plus the limited number of available samples for dating, and the many contexts which do not favor the use of particular dating methods, further complicate the picture. This contribution addresses several questions: Which dating methods are relevant for establishing the chronology of the main sites? Are the first settlements older than the Jaramillo event? Which routes were used to enter Europe? Were the earliest human occupations intermittent or continuous?

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Section: / the Middle Pleistocene Periodsupporting

confidence: 79%

The first human settlements out africa into Europe: A chronological perspective

Falguères

2020

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…Genomic analysis of ancient human remains in Africa reveal deep population splits and complex admixture patterns among populations well before the coalescence of modernity in the fossil record [9,10]. At the same time, reanalysis of archaic fossils in Africa [11] point to the extended presence of multiple hominins on this continent, with the possibility of 'super-archaic' admixture [12,13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fine-grained temporal mapping of derived high-frequency variants supports the mosaic nature of the evolution of Homo sapiens

Andirkó

Moriano

Vitriolo

et al. 2021

Preprint

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As our knowledge about the history of the sapiens lineage becomes increasingly complex, large-scale estimations of the time of emergence of derived variants become essential to be able to offer more precise answers to time-sensitive hypotheses concerning human evolution. Using an open repository of genetic variant age estimations recently made available, we offer here a temporal evaluation of various evolutionarily relevant datasets, such as sapiens-specific variants, high-frequency variants found in genetic windows under positive selection, introgressed variants from extinct human species, as well as putative regulatory variants in various brain regions. We find a recurrent bimodal distribution of high-frequency variants, but also evidence for specific enrichments of gene categories in various time windows, which brings into prominence the 300-500k time slice. We also find evidence for very early mutations impacting the facial phenotype, and much more recent molecular events linked to specific brain regions such as the cerebellum or the precuneus. Additionally, we present a case study of an evolutionarily relevant gene, BAZ1B, and its targets, to emphasize the importance of applying temporal data to specific evolutionary questions. Overall, we present a unique resource that informs and complements our previous knowledge of sapiens evolution using publicly available data, and reinforce the case for the mosaic, temporally very extended nature of the evolutionary trajectory of our species.

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“…Biostratigraphic data suggest it is similar in age to Bodo and Elandsfontein (~800–600 kya). A recent study (published while this paper was in review) suggest a date of 299 ± 25 thousand years 142 …”

Section: What Is a Human?mentioning

confidence: 82%

“…A recent study (published while this paper was in review) suggest a date of 299 ± 25 thousand years. 142 There were also several bone tools reported. 137 These tools were noted by White in his 1908 description of the materials.…”

Section: What Do "Modern" Humans Look Like?mentioning

confidence: 99%

The ripples of modernity: How we can extend paleoanthropology with the extended evolutionary synthesis

Kissel

Fuentes

2021

Evolutionary Anthropology

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Contemporary understandings of paleoanthropological data illustrate that the search for a line defining, or a specific point designating, “modern human” is problematic. Here we lend support to the argument for the need to look for patterns in the paleoanthropological record that indicate how multiple evolutionary processes intersected to form the human niche, a concept critical to assessing the development and processes involved in the emergence of a contemporary human phenotype. We suggest that incorporating key elements of the Extended Evolutionary Synthesis (EES) into our endeavors offers a better and more integrative toolkit for modeling and assessing the evolution of the genus Homo. To illustrate our points, we highlight how aspects of the genetic exchanges, morphology, and material culture of the later Pleistocene complicate the concept of “modern” human behavior and suggest that multiple evolutionary patterns, processes, and pathways intersected to form the human niche.

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Dating the skull from Broken Hill, Zambia, and its position in human evolution

Cited by 64 publications

References 54 publications

The first human settlements out africa into Europe: A chronological perspective

The first human settlements out africa into Europe: A chronological perspective

Fine-grained temporal mapping of derived high-frequency variants supports the mosaic nature of the evolution of Homo sapiens

The ripples of modernity: How we can extend paleoanthropology with the extended evolutionary synthesis

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