Early dispersal of modern humans in Europe and implications for Neanderthal behaviour

Stefano Benazzi (), Katerina Douka, Cinzia Fornai, Catherine C. Bauer, Ottmar Kullmer, Jiří Svoboda, Ildikó Pap, Francesco Mallegni, Priscilla Bayle, Michael Coquerelle, Silvana Condemi, Annamaria Ronchitelli, Katerina Harvati and Gerhard W. Weber
Additional contact information
Stefano Benazzi: University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14
Katerina Douka: Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Dyson Perrins Building
Cinzia Fornai: University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14
Catherine C. Bauer: Paleoanthropology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Rümelnstrasse 23
Ottmar Kullmer: Senckenberg Research Institute Frankfurt, Senckenberganlage 25
Jiří Svoboda: Institute of Archaeology, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Královopolská 147
Ildikó Pap: Hungarian Natural History Museum, Ludovika tér 2-6
Francesco Mallegni: University of Pisa, Via S. Maria 53
Priscilla Bayle: UMR 5199 PACEA, Université Bordeaux 1, avenue des Facultés
Michael Coquerelle: Paleoanthropology group, C/ José Gutiérrez Abascal 2
Silvana Condemi: UMR 6578 CNRS/Aix Marseille/EFS, Laboratoire d’Anthropologie Bioculturelle, Faculté de Médecine/Secteur Nord, CS80011 Bd Pierre Dramard 13344
Annamaria Ronchitelli: U.R. Prehistoric Ecology, University of Siena, via T. Pendola 62
Katerina Harvati: Paleoanthropology, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Rümelnstrasse 23
Gerhard W. Weber: University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14

Nature, 2011, vol. 479, issue 7374, 525-528

Abstract: Early arrivals in Europe Anatomically modern humans are thought to have arrived in Europe 44,000–42,000 years ago. Physical evidence for early humans is scarce, and these dates are based largely on studies of stone tool assemblages. Two papers published this week use the latest radiocarbon dating and morphological analysis techniques to reassess museum hominid samples. Higham et al. examine a human maxilla from the Aurignacian site at Kent's Cavern in the United Kingdom, discovered in 1927 and previously dated at around 35,000 years old, and arrive at an age of 44,200–41,500 years. The dental morphology of the jawbone indicates that its attribution as early human, rather than Neanderthal, is reliable. Benazzi et al. reanalyse two teeth from the Uluzzian site Grotta del Cavallo in southern Italy and conclude that they are definitively modern, not Neanderthal, and date to 45,000–43,000 years old. A further conclusion from this work is that the Uluzzian culture of southern Europe — always found stratigraphically below the Aurignacian signature culture of the modern humans — may represent the earliest modern humans in Europe rather than the last Neanderthals.

Date: 2011
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DOI: 10.1038/nature10617

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