Compound-specific radiocarbon dating and mitochondrial DNA analysis of the Pleistocene hominin from Salkhit Mongolia

Thibaut Devièse (), Diyendo Massilani (), Seonbok Yi, Daniel Comeskey, Sarah Nagel, Birgit Nickel, Erika Ribechini, Jungeun Lee, Damdinsuren Tseveendorj, Byambaa Gunchinsuren, Matthias Meyer, Svante Pääbo and Tom Higham
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Thibaut Devièse: Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford
Diyendo Massilani: Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Seonbok Yi: Seoul National University, Gwanak-ro 1, Gwanak-gu
Daniel Comeskey: Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford
Sarah Nagel: Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Birgit Nickel: Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Erika Ribechini: Università di Pisa
Jungeun Lee: Seoul National University, Gwanak-ro 1, Gwanak-gu
Damdinsuren Tseveendorj: Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Byambaa Gunchinsuren: Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Matthias Meyer: Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Svante Pääbo: Max-Planck-Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Tom Higham: Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract A skullcap found in the Salkhit Valley in northeast Mongolia is, to our knowledge, the only Pleistocene hominin fossil found in the country. It was initially described as an individual with possible archaic affinities, but its ancestry has been debated since the discovery. Here, we determine the age of the Salkhit skull by compound-specific radiocarbon dating of hydroxyproline to 34,950–33,900 Cal. BP (at 95% probability), placing the Salkhit individual in the Early Upper Paleolithic period. We reconstruct the complete mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) of the specimen. It falls within a group of modern human mtDNAs (haplogroup N) that is widespread in Eurasia today. The results now place the specimen into its proper chronometric and biological context and allow us to begin integrating it with other evidence for the human occupation of this region during the Paleolithic, as well as wider Pleistocene sequences across Eurasia.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-08018-8

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