Modern human incursion into Neanderthal territories 54,000 years ago at Mandrin, France

Abstract

Determining the extent of overlap between modern humans and other hominins in Eurasia, such as Neanderthals and Denisovans, is fundamental to understanding the nature of their interactions and what led to the disappearance of archaic hominins. Apart from a possible sporadic pulse recorded in Greece during the Middle Pleistocene, the first settlements of modern humans in Europe have been constrained to ~45,000 to 43,000 years ago. Here, we report hominin fossils from Grotte Mandrin in France that reveal the earliest known presence of modern humans in Europe between 56,800 and 51,700 years ago. This early modern human incursion in the Rhône Valley is associated with technologies unknown in any industry of that age outside Africa or the Levant. Mandrin documents the first alternating occupation of Neanderthals and modern humans, with a modern human fossil and associated Neronian lithic industry found stratigraphically between layers containing Neanderthal remains associated with Mousterian industries.

Environmental changes in SW France during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition from the pollen analysis of an eastern North Atlantic deep-sea core

“…However, Talamo et al (2020), using another agemodeling approach (IntCal 13, Reimer et al, 2013, andOxCal, Ramsey, 2009) obtained an age for Isturitz that is younger than our model, and, in this case, Homo sapiens would have arrived in SE France before before farther west. Their scenario is consistent with the recent dating of the Proto-Aurignacian at Mandrin Cave, the beginning of which is dated between 43.3-42.2 ka (Slimak et al, 2022).…”

Optimal linear estimation models predict 1400–2900 years of overlap between Homo sapiens and Neandertals prior to their disappearance from France and northern Spain

“…The term 'unsuccessful' has been used as these initial groups appear to have left no visible genetic contributions to present-day populations in Europe 3,7 . Recently published evidence from Grotte Mandrin, south-eastern France, may however extend this initial migration to as far back as ~ 54,000 years ago 10 . At this site, a deciduous molar attributed to Homo sapiens was recovered from an archaeological layer bearing a distinctive IUP-type stone tool industry and dating to somewhere between 58 and 51,000 years ago (ibid.).…”

Following the evolution of Homo sapiens across Africa using a uniparental genetic guide

“…Ultimately, the rate of assimilation or displacement depends on the amount of resources available. Thus, there is archaeological evidence that Neanderthals displaced less evolved erectus groups across Europe and archaic humans in the Middle East [40]; that in turn, modern humans displaced less adapted erectus groups in East and Southeast Asia [41], and Neanderthals in Europe [42,43]. Furthermore, again aDNA studies have demonstrated the extinction of several Neanderthal [44] and modern human populations [45,46] along its recent evolutionary history.…”