Roger Lee
Fri, Jan-12-07, 17:17
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6253121.stm
>
> Clues found for early Europeans Artefacts found at Kostenki
> (CU-Boulder) The researchers looked bone and ivory artefacts
> found at Kostenki An archaeological find in Russia has shed
> light on the migration of modern humans into Europe.
>
> Artefacts uncovered at the Kostenki site, south of
> Moscow, suggest modern humans were at this spot about
> 45,000 years ago.
>
> The first moderns may have entered Europe through a
> different route than was previously thought, the
> international team reports.
>
> The research is published in the journal Science.
>
> "Until now, it appeared as though the earliest presence of
> modern humans in Europe was in south central Europe, in
> places like Bulgaria and Greece," explained John Hoffecker,
> author on the paper and a research scientist at the
> University of Colorado at Boulder, US.
>
> "This reflects an entry from the Levant (eastern shores of
> the Mediterranean) just before 44,000 years ago."
>
> Missing Neanderthals
>
> But the team believes it has now found an alternative and
> possibly earlier entry route into the continent.
>
> The researchers examined tools, personal ornaments and
> carved ivory discovered under a layer of ancient volcanic
> ash at the site, which lies along the Don River.
>
> The artefacts most likely belonged to modern humans and
> dated to about as early as 45,000 years ago, said Professor
> Hoffecker. However they were dissimilar to artefacts found
> at the other European sites, he added.
>
> Map showing location of Kostenki
>
> "This suggests we have a not very closely related group of
> people at Kostenki, suggesting at the very least that we
> have an alternate route for modern humans into Europe -
> perhaps this being the earliest one," he told the BBC News
> website.
>
> Professor Hoffecker said he was surprised to have found such
> early evidence of modern humans at Kostenki.
>
> "It is arguably the coolest and driest part of mid-latitude
> Europe. It is the last place we would expect to see them
> first," he added.
>
> A possible reason to migrate to these harsher conditions may
> have been the lack of Neanderthals present in this area at
> this time.
>
> "The absence of Neanderthals meant there were no competitors
> to deal with for resources," Professor Hoffecker said.
>
> Possible routes
>
> Fossil records suggest modern humans emerged in sub-Saharan
> Africa about 200,000 years ago, but their dispersal is
> thought to have begun between 60,000 and 50,000 years ago.
>
> The earliest evidence of modern humans appears in Australia,
> dating to about 50,000 years ago.
>
> Professor Hoffecker said it was difficult to say exactly
> where the modern humans found in Kostenki would have
> come from.
>
> One possible route, some researchers believe, is from
> western Asia via the Caucasus Mountains, which lie between
> the Caspian and Black Seas.
>
> South African skull (Luci Betti-Nash) A skull found in South
> Africa has been linked to modern humans
>
> He added that modern humans might have migrated into central
> Asia, but then turned back on themselves to make the move
> into Europe.
>
> Another paper, published in the same journal, reveals that
> a skull found in South Africa appears to represent an
> ancestor of the modern humans that eventually migrated to
> Europe and Asia.
>
> Professor Chris Stringer of the department of palaeontology
> at the Natural History Museum, London, said: "These papers
> are interesting from an anthropological and archaeological
> point of view, and confirm some of the things we have
> thought on this subject.
>
> "I think we will see increasing evidence of these ancestral
> modern people and their behaviour in western Asia, and at an
> even earlier date, in Africa."
>
> Clues found for early Europeans Artefacts found at Kostenki
> (CU-Boulder) The researchers looked bone and ivory artefacts
> found at Kostenki An archaeological find in Russia has shed
> light on the migration of modern humans into Europe.
>
> Artefacts uncovered at the Kostenki site, south of
> Moscow, suggest modern humans were at this spot about
> 45,000 years ago.
>
> The first moderns may have entered Europe through a
> different route than was previously thought, the
> international team reports.
>
> The research is published in the journal Science.
>
> "Until now, it appeared as though the earliest presence of
> modern humans in Europe was in south central Europe, in
> places like Bulgaria and Greece," explained John Hoffecker,
> author on the paper and a research scientist at the
> University of Colorado at Boulder, US.
>
> "This reflects an entry from the Levant (eastern shores of
> the Mediterranean) just before 44,000 years ago."
>
> Missing Neanderthals
>
> But the team believes it has now found an alternative and
> possibly earlier entry route into the continent.
>
> The researchers examined tools, personal ornaments and
> carved ivory discovered under a layer of ancient volcanic
> ash at the site, which lies along the Don River.
>
> The artefacts most likely belonged to modern humans and
> dated to about as early as 45,000 years ago, said Professor
> Hoffecker. However they were dissimilar to artefacts found
> at the other European sites, he added.
>
> Map showing location of Kostenki
>
> "This suggests we have a not very closely related group of
> people at Kostenki, suggesting at the very least that we
> have an alternate route for modern humans into Europe -
> perhaps this being the earliest one," he told the BBC News
> website.
>
> Professor Hoffecker said he was surprised to have found such
> early evidence of modern humans at Kostenki.
>
> "It is arguably the coolest and driest part of mid-latitude
> Europe. It is the last place we would expect to see them
> first," he added.
>
> A possible reason to migrate to these harsher conditions may
> have been the lack of Neanderthals present in this area at
> this time.
>
> "The absence of Neanderthals meant there were no competitors
> to deal with for resources," Professor Hoffecker said.
>
> Possible routes
>
> Fossil records suggest modern humans emerged in sub-Saharan
> Africa about 200,000 years ago, but their dispersal is
> thought to have begun between 60,000 and 50,000 years ago.
>
> The earliest evidence of modern humans appears in Australia,
> dating to about 50,000 years ago.
>
> Professor Hoffecker said it was difficult to say exactly
> where the modern humans found in Kostenki would have
> come from.
>
> One possible route, some researchers believe, is from
> western Asia via the Caucasus Mountains, which lie between
> the Caspian and Black Seas.
>
> South African skull (Luci Betti-Nash) A skull found in South
> Africa has been linked to modern humans
>
> He added that modern humans might have migrated into central
> Asia, but then turned back on themselves to make the move
> into Europe.
>
> Another paper, published in the same journal, reveals that
> a skull found in South Africa appears to represent an
> ancestor of the modern humans that eventually migrated to
> Europe and Asia.
>
> Professor Chris Stringer of the department of palaeontology
> at the Natural History Museum, London, said: "These papers
> are interesting from an anthropological and archaeological
> point of view, and confirm some of the things we have
> thought on this subject.
>
> "I think we will see increasing evidence of these ancestral
> modern people and their behaviour in western Asia, and at an
> even earlier date, in Africa."