Mezmaiskaya cave
Мезмайская пещера | |
Republic of Adygea, North Caucasus, Russia | |
Altitude | 1,310 m (4,298 ft)[1] |
---|---|
Type | limestone karst |
History | |
Periods | Paleolithic |
Associated with | Homo neanderthalensis |
Mezmaiskaya Cave (
Archaeology
Neanderthal
Initial excavations in the Mezmaiskaya cave recovered
Three Neanderthal individuals were recovered from the cave. The first, Mezmaiskaya 1, was recovered in 1993 and is an almost complete skeleton in a well preserved state due to
Additionally, 24 skull fragments of a 1- to 2-year-old Neanderthal child - Mezmaiskaya 2 - were found in 1994.[1] A recovered tooth was assigned to Mezmaiskaya 3.[8] Mezmaiskaya 2 was recovered from Layer 2, the youngest Late Middle Paleolithic layer, and directly dated to around 44,600-42,960 cal BP. DNA analysis reveals that Mesmaiskaya 2 was male.[1]
Archaeogenetics
Mezmaiskaya 2 is genetically closer to other late European Neanderthals, including Neanderthals from
Modern humans and Ust'-Ishim man share more alleles with all other Neanderthals, including Mezmaiskaya 1, than with the Altai Neanderthal from Denisova Cave, which shows that the introgression event from Neanderthals into humans likely took place after the split of the lineage of the Altai Neanderthal from that of other Neanderthals, but before the split of the lineage of Mezmaiskaya 1 and that of other Neanderthals.[1]
Fauna
(Rangifer tarandus) remains were encountered for the first time in the Caucasus.Although most of the smaller vertebrate remains appear to have been accumulated by nonhuman processes (for example, owl predation), the majority of the ungulate remains probably represent animals hunted by the occupants of the Mousterian culture.[10][11]
Analysis of the animal bones found in the Mezmaiskaya Cave revealed that during the middle and late Paleolithic four kinds of buffalo lived in the area.[12]
Description
The cave entrance is a hole in the cliff several meters high, behind which the course is narrowed to a few meters, but almost all along remains quite high. Within a few tens of meters of the entrance to the cave, the floor is transformed from rocky to clay.
Geology
Evidence recovered from the cave suggests that the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption around 40,000 years ago may have been a setback for the Neanderthal, with an as yet only postulated eruption contributing to their demise about 29,000 years ago.[13][14]
See also
- Archaic human admixture with modern humans
- Neanderthal genome project
References
- ^ PMID 29562232.
- ^ L. V. Golovanova, John F. Hoffecker, V. M. Kharitonov and G. P. Romanova, Mezmaiskaya Cave: A Neanderthal Occupation in the Northern Caucasus Current Anthropology Vol. 40, No. 1 (February 1999), pp. 77-86.
- ^ John Hawks and Milford H. Wolpoff, Brief Communication: Paleoanthropology and thePopulation Genetics of Ancient Genes AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 114:269–272 (2001) page 269-272.
- ^ L. V. Golovanova, John F. Hoffecker, V. M. Kharitonov, and G. P. Romanova, Mezmaiskaya Cave: A Neanderthal Occupation in the Northern Caucasus, Current Anthropology Volume 40, Number 1 | February 1999 73.
- ^ Есть вопросы? 21 февраля петербуржцы смогут задать их нашим Экспертам лично.
- ^ Скелет новорожденного неандертальца проливает свет на эволюцию рода Homo.
- ^ mtDNA of Okladnikov Neandertal PNAS February 11, 2014 vol. 111 no. 6.
- ^ Timothy D. Weaver, Hélène Coqueugniot, Liubov V. Golovanova, Vladimir B. Doronichev, Bruno Maureille, and Jean-Jacques Hublin "Neonatal postcrania from Mezmaiskaya, Russia, and Le Moustier, France, and the development of Neandertal body form" PNAS 2016, 113 (23) 6472-6477; published ahead of print May 23, 2016, doi:10.1073/pnas.1523677113
- S2CID 3101375.
- .
Over 6000 large mammal and numerous small vertebrate remains have been recovered from preliminary excavations at Mezmaiskaya Cave
- S2CID 143377072.
- ^ Ни о каких контактах неандертальцев и сапиенсов в Европе говорить не приходится.
- S2CID 144299365.
Significance of Ecological Factors in the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Transition
- ^ Bruce Bower (October 23, 2010). "Neandertals blasted out of existence, archaeologists propose". Science News Vol.178 #9. p. 12. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2011.
Modern humans may have thrived thanks to geographic luck, not wits