Paleolithic archeology in Turkey

Kuhn, Steven L.

doi:10.1002/evan.10033

Cited by 72 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…This observation is consistent with accumulating evidence that Neandertals and early modern humans were capable of similar manipulative behaviors (53) and made similar types of artifacts, in both Middle Paleolithic and initial Upper Paleolithic contexts (54)(55)(56)(57). In addition, the archeological record for a number of localities in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East shows a behavioral continuum for many of the subsistence activities practiced by Middle and early Upper Paleolithic humans (58)(59)(60)(61)(62)(63)(64)(65)(66).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Reciprocal evolution of the cerebellum and neocortex in fossil humans

Weaver

2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

177

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Human brain evolution involved both neurological reorganization and an increase in overall brain volume relative to body mass. It is generally difficult to draw functional inferences about the timing and nature of brain reorganization, given that superficial brain morphology recorded on fossil endocasts is functionally ambiguous. However, the cerebellum, housed in the clearly delineated posterior cranial fossa, is functionally and ontologically discrete. The cerebellum is reciprocally connected to each of 14 neocortical regions important to human cognitive evolution. Cerebellar volume varies significantly relative to overall brain volume among mammalian orders, as well as within the primate order. There is also significant diachronic variation among fossil human taxa. In the australopithecines and early members of the genus Homo, the cerebral hemispheres were large in proportion to the cerebellum, compared with other hominoids. This trend continued in Middle and Late Pleistocene humans, including Neandertals and CroMagnon 1, who have the largest cerebral hemispheres relative to cerebellum volume of any primates, including earlier and Holocene humans. In recent humans, however, the pattern is reversed; the cerebellum is larger with respect to the rest of the brain (and, conversely, the cerebral hemispheres are smaller with respect to the cerebellum) than in Late Pleistocene humans. The cerebellum and cerebral hemispheres appear to have evolved reciprocally. Cerebellar development in Holocene humans may have provided greater computational efficiency for coping with an increasingly complex cultural and conceptual environment.human evolution ͉ Plio-Pleistocene hominins ͉ Upper Paleolithic transition P aleoneurologists agree that increased encephalization is an important dynamic of human brain evolution. However, brain evolution involved more than brain expansion. It also involved reorganization to support specific, uniquely human cognitive tasks, including those involved in linguistic processing and a highly developed facility for manufacturing and manipulating tools. Nevertheless, despite more than a century of effort, there is little consensus about how and when such reorganization occurred.One approach to exploring functional reorganization of the brain in humans has been the analysis of impressions of the brain's surface convolutions (sulci and gyri) on the inner table of the endocranium. However, endocranial markings are notoriously difficult to identify reliably (1, 2). Even where the impressions are fairly clear, taphonomic processes may distort the evidence. In addition, the functional correlates of the brain's surface convolutions, especially in fossils, are literally superficial. Cognitive functions occur through internal connections among brain regions, as well as through the distribution of neuroreceptors that cannot be detected by examining the surface of the brain, let alone from endocranial markings. Therefore, functional inferences based on sulcal patterns are problematic.Another approach to endocran...

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

Reciprocal evolution of the cerebellum and neocortex in fossil humans

Weaver

2005

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

177

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“…Given this situation, I have suggested (Zilhão 2007 ) that the chronology of this technocomplex be anchored to the terminus post quem provided by the sequence of IUP (or Emiran) levels of the southern Turkish site of Üçağizli (Kuhn 2002(Kuhn , 2003Kuhn et al 2001Kuhn et al , 2009, where the Early Ahmarian overlies the IUP (as is always the case in the region when both are present, namely at Ksar' Akil). This approach implies a time of emergence for the Early Ahmarian no earlier than ~40.0-41.5 ka cal BP, in the range of the European Protoaurignacian.…”

Section: Early Ahmarian: Kebaramentioning

confidence: 99%

Neandertal-Modern Human Contact in Western Eurasia: Issues of Dating, Taxonomy, and Cultural Associations

Zilhão

2013

Dynamics of Learning in Neanderthals and Modern Humans Volume 1

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Supporting Assimilation views of Neandertal/modern human interaction, chronostratigraphic reasoning indicates that the "transitional" industries of Europe predate modern human immigration, in agreement with their association with Neandertals in the Châtelperronian at the Grotte du Renne and St.-Césaire. Supporting the Neandertals' species separateness and less developed cognition, those industries are alternatively claimed to relate to pioneer groups of modern humans; the latter would have been the true makers of the precocious instances of symbolic material culture that, under Assimilation, are assigned to the Neandertals. However, the taxonomy of the Kent's Cavern and Grotta del Cavallo dental remains is uncertain, and their poor stratigraphic context precludes dating by association. The opposite happens at the Grotte du Renne, whose stratigraphic integrity is corroborated by both taphonomy and dating. Not questioning that the Early Ahmarian is a cultural proxy for modern humans and a source for the Protoaurignacian of Europe, its claimed emergence ~46-49 ka ago at Kebara refl ects the dating of Middle Paleolithic charcoal-to be expected, because the Early Ahmarian units at the back of the cave are made up of reworked Middle Paleolithic sediments derived from the entrance. The dating of inherited material also explains the old results for the Aurignacian of Willendorf II and Geissenklösterle. At the latter, the dates on anthropically modifi ed samples of the hunted taxa (reindeer and horse) place its Aurignacian occupations in the same time range as elsewhere in Europe, after ~40 ka ago. The hypothesis that Neandertal/modern human contact in Europe resulted in a process of assimilation in connection with the spread of the Protoaurignacian ~41.5 ka ago remains unfalsifi ed.

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“…Presence of modern humans in Anatolia is attested since the upper Palaeolithic. 1 This region was also suggested to be a refuge during the Last Glacial Maximum, 2 at the end of which an improving climate allowed the coastal hunter-gatherers to venture inland, where they established temporary camps in search of game and flint. 3 Anatolia is also considered as an area through which the 'Neolithic revolution' spread into Europe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitochondrial analysis of a Byzantine population reveals the differential impact of multiple historical events in South Anatolia

Ottoni¹,

Ricaut²,

Vanderheyden³

et al. 2011

Eur J Hum Genet

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The archaeological site of Sagalassos is located in Southwest Turkey, in the western part of the Taurus mountain range. Human occupation of its territory is attested from the late 12th millennium BP up to the 13th century AD. By analysing the mtDNA variation in 85 skeletons from Sagalassos dated to the 11th–13th century AD, this study attempts to reconstruct the genetic signature potentially left in this region of Anatolia by the many civilizations, which succeeded one another over the centuries until the mid-Byzantine period (13th century BC). Authentic ancient DNA data were determined from the control region and some SNPs in the coding region of the mtDNA in 53 individuals. Comparative analyses with up to 157 modern populations allowed us to reconstruct the origin of the mid-Byzantine people still dwelling in dispersed hamlets in Sagalassos, and to detect the maternal contribution of their potential ancestors. By integrating the genetic data with historical and archaeological information, we were able to attest in Sagalassos a significant maternal genetic signature of Balkan/Greek populations, as well as ancient Persians and populations from the Italian peninsula. Some contribution from the Levant has been also detected, whereas no contribution from Central Asian population could be ascertained

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Paleolithic archeology in Turkey

Cited by 72 publications

References 58 publications

Reciprocal evolution of the cerebellum and neocortex in fossil humans

Reciprocal evolution of the cerebellum and neocortex in fossil humans

Neandertal-Modern Human Contact in Western Eurasia: Issues of Dating, Taxonomy, and Cultural Associations

Mitochondrial analysis of a Byzantine population reveals the differential impact of multiple historical events in South Anatolia

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