The History of Hominin Occupation of Central Asia in Review

Glantz, Michelle M.

doi:10.1007/978-90-481-9094-2_8

Cited by 21 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Central Asia, located in the Eurasian heartland, is a hotspot for studying human evolutionary history. The paleoanthropological and archeological evidence suggests that Central Asia was occupied by ancient hominin since the early Pleistocene (800-900 ka) [39]. It was also inhabited by Neanderthals [40].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitochondrial genomes uncover the maternal history of the Pamir populations

Peng

Song

et al. 2017

Eur J Hum Genet

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The Pamirs, among the world's highest mountains in Central Asia, are one of homelands with the most extreme high altitude for several ethnic groups. The settlement history of modern humans on the Pamirs remains still opaque. Herein, we have sequenced the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genomes of 382 individuals belonging to eight populations from the Pamirs and the surrounding lowlands in Central Asia. We construct the Central Asian (including both highlanders and lowlanders) mtDNA haplogroup tree at the highest resolution. All the matrilineal components are assigned into the defined mtDNA haplogroups in East and West Eurasians. No basal lineages that directly emanate from the Eurasian founder macrohaplogroups M, N, and R are found. Our data support the origin of Central Asian being the result of East-West Eurasian admixture. The coalescence ages for more than 93% mtDNA lineages in Central Asians are dated after the last glacial maximum (LGM). The post-LGM and/or later dispersals/admixtures play dominant roles in shaping the maternal gene pool of Central Asians. More importantly, our analyses reveal the mtDNA heterogeneity in the Pamir highlanders, not only between the Turkic Kyrgyz and the Indo-European Tajik groups, but also among three highland Tajiks. No evidence supports positive selection or relaxation of selective constraints in the mtDNAs of highlanders as compared to that of lowlanders. Our results suggest a complex history for the peopling of Pamirs by multiple waves of migrations from various genetic resources during different time scales.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mitochondrial genomes uncover the maternal history of the Pamir populations

Peng

Song

et al. 2017

Eur J Hum Genet

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“…It has been assumed that Central Asian environments were harsh and probably inhospitable to hominins during much of the last two glacial periods, oxygen isotope stages (OIS) 4 and 2 (e.g. Vishnyatsky, ; Glantz, ). Existing biogeographical models emphasize either dispersals out of greater Central Asia (Ranov & Davis, ; Davis & Ranov, ) or to preferred biomes – possibly refugia – within the region during the coldest and driest phases of the last 100,000 years (Nat, ; Mangerud et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The fundamental hominin niche in late Pleistocene Central Asia: a preliminary refugium model

Beeton

Glantz

Trainer

et al. 2013

Journal of Biogeography

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Aim We examine hominin presence in Central Asia during the late Pleistocene in order to identify the abiotic characteristics that best predict site distribution during interglacial and glacial periods. Our goal is to build a preliminary framework for climate-mediated hominin dispersals in this understudied part of the Old World.Location Tajikistan, Uzbekistan.Methods We developed an ecological niche model using presence-only data to explain the spatial relationship of abiotic variables and hominin locations (n = 15) during glacial-interglacial transitions. The model was evaluated using the Cram er-von Mises goodness-of-fit statistic and empirical K-function.Results Hominin locations were spatially aggregated during both glacial and interglacial periods. Of the abiotic variables analysed on a small scale (30-m resolution), only distance to water differed significantly between glacial and interglacial periods, although most locations were within 5 km of water. At a coarse scale (5-km resolution), hominin locations appear to have been constrained by low temperatures during glacial periods, but not during interglacials.Main conclusions Hominin groups did not abandon Central Asia during colder periods. This suggests one of three possibly complementary scenarios: (1) late Pleistocene hominin groups had a more flexible behavioural repertoire than previously anticipated and were able to buffer climatic instability culturally; (2) our study area was not as hostile an environment as traditionally considered; and (3) the area examined here represents a refugium during late Pleistocene glaciations.

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“…The recent work on hominin remains from Obi‐Rakhmat, Anghilak caves, and Okladnikov highlights the difficulty of classifying the currently known Central Asian findings due to the fragmentary nature of the remains and the absence of diagnostic Neanderthal features in the available material (Glantz et al,2004,2008; Viola et al,2004; Bailey et al,2008). Moreover, the discovery of “the Denisovans,” a new fossil group for which only limited morphological information is currently known (Krause et al,2010; Reich et al,2010), adds yet another layer of complexity to the interpretation of the fossil record in Central Asia and hominin population dynamics (Otte,2007; Glantz,2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

The Mousterian child from Teshik‐Tash is a Neanderthal: A geometric morphometric study of the frontal bone

Gunz¹,

Булыгина²

2012

American J Phys Anthropol

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In the 1930s subadult hominin remains and Mousterian artifacts were discovered in the Teshik-Tash cave in South Uzbekistan. Since then, the majority of the scientific community has interpreted Teshik-Tash as a Neanderthal. However, some have considered aspects of the morphology of the Teshik-Tash skull to be more similar to fossil modern humans such as those represented at Skhūl and Qafzeh, or to subadult Upper Paleolithic modern humans. Here we present a 3D geometric morphometric analysis of the Teshik-Tash frontal bone in the context of developmental shape changes in recent modern humans, Neanderthals, and early modern humans. We assess the phenetic affinities of Teshik-Tash to other subadult fossils, and use developmental simulations to predict possible adult shapes. We find that the morphology of the frontal bone places the Teshik-Tash child close to other Neanderthal children and that the simulated adult shapes are closest to Neanderthal adults. Taken together with genetic data showing that Teshik-Tash carried mtDNA of the Neanderthal type, as well as its occipital bun, and its shovel-shaped upper incisors, these independent lines of evidence firmly place Teshik-Tash among Neanderthals.

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The History of Hominin Occupation of Central Asia in Review

Cited by 21 publications

References 29 publications

Mitochondrial genomes uncover the maternal history of the Pamir populations

Mitochondrial genomes uncover the maternal history of the Pamir populations

The fundamental hominin niche in late Pleistocene Central Asia: a preliminary refugium model

The Mousterian child from Teshik‐Tash is a Neanderthal: A geometric morphometric study of the frontal bone

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