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HEIndividual fellowship2022–2024

EnvINExt · Environmental contexts during the Iberian Neanderthal Extinction: Insight from the ecology of ungulate preys - EnvINExt

Horizon Europe — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Duration
2022-09-01 → 2024-08-31
EU contribution
€181,153
Participants
1
Scheme
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF

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Results in brief

Environmental contexts during the Iberian Neanderthal Extinction: Insight from the ecology of ungulate preys - EnvINExt

The Marine Isotopic Stage 3 (MIS3- 57,000 to 27,000 cal. BP [before present]) is characterised by abrupt and rapid climatic oscillations between glacial and interglacial phases. The Middle-Upper Paleolithic (MP-UP) transition, occurring during the MIS3, is one of the key periods for human evolution, as it corresponds to the time when the last Homo neanderthalensis (Neanderthal) were replaced by Homo sapiens (our species) after both species co-occurred in Europe for less than 7,000 years. It is now accepted that it was a multifactor event happening at different spatial and temporal scales across Europe. For example, in north Iberia, there is a temporal difference in Neanderthal decline, with the late evidence in the North-West Iberia at 48-45,000 cal. BP and around 42,000 year cal. BP in North-East Iberia. There is currently no consensus regarding the impact of global climatic oscillations on this disappearance. Could climate-induced local environmental differences, by modifying the ecology of these human species' herbivore preys, have led to changes in their subsistence strategies in response? Could this explain the asynchronous timing of Neanderthal disappearance across Europe? Therefore, EnvINExt's main goal was to investigate the impact of climatic factors on Neanderthal and Sapiens ecosystems and subsistence strategies and on their disappearance at the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition. To do this, the spatial and temporal variations in the ecology of ungulates (which account for over 50% of these humans' daily food intake) were explored using a combination of cutting-edge methods. Due to a long history of Paleolithic Archeology in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, this area is rich in well-documented and dated sites covering the period of interest. For these reasons, EnvINExt focused on northern Iberia, a unique framework to explore these questions.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union

Project objective

The Middle-Upper Paleolithic (MP-UP) transition is a key period for human evolution, as it corresponds to late Neanderthal’s disappearance and their replacement by Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH), after both species briefly co-occurred. This multifactorial event happened at different spatial and temporal scales across Europe. Climate constitutes a strong driver of species evolution. For Neanderthal, there is no consensus regarding the impact of climate on its disappearance, although it happened during the Marine Isotopic Stage 3, characterized by abrupt and rapid climatic oscillations. In order to track climate changes at the time of the Neanderthal’ demise and the evolutionary success of AMH, ecological proxies filling the gap between local environmental conditions and global climate changes are mandatory. Herbivore teeth are robust traps for physiological, ecological and climatic information and thus mirror past environments. EnvINExt implements three complementary ecological proxies on ungulates preyed by both human species from 10 archeological sites covering the MP-UP transition in North Iberia. Combined Dental Microwear Texture, Enamel Carbon and Oxygen stable Isotope and Molar Mesowear Analyses provide ecological information at three temporal scales, for a global overview of the paleoecology and paleoenvironment of preys and humans. EnvINExt has four objectives: (i) Exploring the ecology of ungulates, key preys for human populations, before, during and after the MP-UP transition, (ii) drawing paleoenvironmental inferences at the scale of the territories exploited by Neanderthals and AMH, (iii) thus, linking global climate changes with local environmental changes and asynchronous disappearances of Neanderthals through north Iberia during the MP-UP transition. Finally, (iv) to confront these results for northern Iberia, a refuge area, with what is obtained in southwestern France (Berlioz’s current postdoctoral work).

Original text from CORDIS.

Participants

  • UNIVERSIDAD DE CANTABRIA · SANTANDERCoordinatorSpain

Links

Data: CORDIS, © European Union