NEANDER-TALe · Origins and Evolution of the Neanderthal Cranial Morphology
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2021-02-01 → 2023-01-31
- EU contribution
- €184,708
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Origins and Evolution of the Neanderthal Cranial Morphology
The NEANDER-TALe project taims to understand the evolutive model of the derived cranial morphological trait acquisition in Neanderthals, by studying and describing the remains from the site that has provided higher number of Neanderthals from MIS 7 and MIS 6, Abri Suard. Neanderthals were the human group that lived mostly in Eurasia for 200 thousand years at the same time that the modern humans lived in Africa. The overall anatomy of Neanderthals significantly differs from that of modern humans, and the cranium shows a distinct morphology that helps to characterise this group. The origin of these humans, including both the time of divergence between the Neanderthal and modern human lineages and their evolution mode have been a matter of intense debate for the scientific community for decades now. In addition, due to their chronological overlap, these two groups had several interactions and admixture events between them that shaped their genetic diversity. These events have implications today regarding modern human genetic diversity. While the fossil record of "classic" Neanderthals (those that lived between 100,000 to 40,000 years ago) is relatively rich, the fossil record of the first representatives of Neanderthals is not as complete, and therefore the knowledge of their morphology is scarcely known. Abri Suard is one of the archaeological sites present in the "La Chaise-de-Vouthon" cave in Charente (France). This site that was excavated during the 1950s by Pierre David, and then again from the 1960s to the 1980s by André Débenath, has provided the archaeological community with one of the richest human fossil collection corresponding to the first Neanderthals, with 52 fossil remains corresponding to different individuals. NEANDER-TALe has as objective to by combining classical morphological studies and Virtual Anthropology Techniques, to describe the cranial morphology of the fossils from Abri Suard, and then using their context compare them to the available Neanderthal fossils to try to describe the form of the evolution of the distinctive Neanderthal cranial morphological traits. For this, two main areas were selected to be analysed: the bony labyrinth situated in the inner ear, and the cranial vault.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Neandertals inhabited Eurasia for around 200 thousand years (between c 250ky and 50 ky ago), in very different ecosystems, in a period with changing climates. They are probably the most studied extinct human group due to the richness of its fossil record, their chronological overlap with modern humans, and because the admixture between both groups has important implications regarding modern human genetic diversity. Their overall anatomy significantly differs from that of modern humans, and concretely the cranium shows a distinct morphology that help to characterise this group. Nevertheless, the way that this human lineage evolved and the origin of this specific morphology is a matter of intense debate in the field of Human Evolution. In this sense, the cranial morphology of the first Neandertals sensu stricto (Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 7-6, late MP) has barely been described using state-of-the-art techniques.Centered on the study of the Abri Suard site (Charente, France) cranial remains, this project aims to study the first Neandertal representatives from a key region. Their cranial morphology will be analysed using cutting edge Virtual Imaging Techniques (VIT). This will allow us, for the very first time, to determine the tempo and mode of apparition of the typical Neanderthal cranial features.The fellow will receive training on multi-disciplinary state-of-the-art Paleoanthropological and Virtual Imaging Techniques. In turn, he will transfer his expertise in physical and forensic anthropology, as well as in Prehistoric Western Europe human groups. He will expand the analyses VITs to periods not previously explored by the host. In addition, he will foster new collaborations with academic (secondments) and non-academic partners (museums, heritage associations). Altogether, this project guarantees the two-way transfer of knowledge and represents a solid investment of funds from which the fellow, the host institutions and the European society will largely benefit.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITE DE BORDEAUX · BordeauxCoordinatorFrance
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union