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Robert Kar
Sat, Jan-13-07, 06:16
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Science 12 January 2007: Vol. 315. no. 5809, pp. 223 -
226 DOI: 10.1126/science.1133376
=20

Early Upper Paleolithic in Eastern Europe and Implications for
the = Dispersal of Modern Humans=20
M. V. Anikovich,1 A. A. Sinitsyn,1 John F. Hoffecker,2* Vance
T. = Holliday,3 V. V. Popov,4 S. N. Lisitsyn,1 Steven L.
Forman,5 G. M. = Levkovskaya,1 G. A. Pospelova,6 I. E.
Kuz'mina,7 N. D. Burova,1 Paul = Goldberg,8 Richard I.
Macphail,9 Biagio Giaccio,10 N. D. Praslov1=20 Radiocarbon
and optically stimulated luminescence dating and magnetic =
stratigraphy indicate Upper Paleolithic occupation-probably
representing = modern humans-at archaeological sites on the
Don River in Russia 45,000 = to 42,000 years ago. The
oldest levels at Kostenki underlie a volcanic = ash horizon
identified as the Campanian Ignimbrite Y5 tephra that is =
dated elsewhere to about 40,000 years ago. The occupation
layers contain = bone and ivory artifacts, including
possible figurative art, and fossil = shells imported more
than 500 kilometers. Thus, modern humans appeared = on the
central plain of Eastern Europe as early as anywhere else
in = northern Eurasia.=20

1 Institute of the History of Material Culture, Russian
Academy of = Sciences, 191186 St. Petersburg, Russia. 2
Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of
Colorado, = Boulder, CO 80309, USA. 3 Departments of
Anthropology and Geosciences, University of Arizona, = Tucson,
AZ 85721, USA. 4 Kostenki Museum-Preserve, 396355 Kostenki,
Voronezh region, Voronezh, = Russia. 5 Luminescence Dating
Research Laboratory, Department of Earth and = Environmental
Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60607, USA. 6
Institute of Earth Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences,
123995 = Moscow, Russia. 7 Zoological Institute, Russian
Academy of Sciences, 199034 St. = Petersburg, Russia. 8
Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Boston, MA
02215, USA. 9 Institute of Archaeology, University College
London, London WC1H 0PY, = UK. 10 Istituto di Geologia
Ambientale e Geoingegneria-CNR, Consiglio = Nazionale delle
Ricerche, 00133 Rome, Italy.

Source: Science http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstrac-
t/315/5809/223?etoc

--=20 Posted by Robert Karl Stonjek

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<N><TABLE style=3D"WIDTH: 608px; HEIGHT: 63px" cellSpacing=3D0
= cellPadding=3D0 width=3D608=20 border=3D0> <TBODY> <TR>
<TD align=3Dleft> <P id=3Darticle-info><EM>Science</EM> 12
January 2007:<BR>Vol. =
315. no.=20 5809, pp. 223 - 226<BR>DOI:
10.1126/science.1133376</P></TD> <TD align=3Dright> <DIV
id=3Dpage-nav>&nbsp;</DIV></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<H2>Early Upper Paleolithic in Eastern Europe and Implications
for the = Dispersal=20 of Modern Humans </H2> <DIV
id=3DLegacyContent><STRONG></NOBR><NOBR>M. V. =
Anikovich,<SUP>1</SUP></NOBR>=20 <NOBR>A. A.
Sinitsyn,<SUP>1</SUP></NOBR> <NOBR>John F.=20
Hoffecker,<SUP>2</SUP><SUP>*</SUP></NOBR> <NOBR>Vance
T.=20 Holliday,<SUP>3</SUP></NOBR> <NOBR>V. V.
Popov,<SUP>4</SUP></NOBR> = <NOBR>S. N.=20
Lisitsyn,<SUP>1</SUP></NOBR> <NOBR>Steven L.
Forman,<SUP>5</SUP></NOBR> = <NOBR>G.=20
I. Levkovskaya,<SUP>1</SUP></NOBR> <NOBR>G. A. =
Pospelova,<SUP>6</SUP></NOBR>=20 <NOBR>I. E.
Kuz'mina,<SUP>7</SUP></NOBR> <NOBR>N. D. =
Burova,<SUP>1</SUP></NOBR>=20 <NOBR>Paul
Goldberg,<SUP>8</SUP></NOBR> <NOBR>Richard I.=20
Macphail,<SUP>9</SUP></NOBR> <NOBR>Biagio
Giaccio,<SUP>10</SUP></NOBR> = <NOBR>N.=20
J. Praslov<SUP>1</SUP></NOBR> </STRONG>
<K>Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating
and<SUP>=20 </SUP>magnetic stratigraphy indicate Upper
Paleolithic = occupation=97probably<SUP>=20
</SUP>representing modern humans=97at archaeological sites
on<SUP> = </SUP>the Don=20 River in Russia 45,000 to 42,000
years ago. The oldest<SUP> </SUP>levels = at=20 Kostenki
underlie a volcanic ash horizon identified<SUP> </SUP>as
the = Campanian=20 Ignimbrite Y5 tephra that is dated
elsewhere<SUP> </SUP>to about 40,000 = years=20 ago. The
occupation layers contain bone<SUP> </SUP>and ivory
artifacts,=20 including possible figurative art, and<SUP>
</SUP>fossil shells imported = more=20 than 500 kilometers.
Thus, modern<SUP> </SUP>humans appeared on the = central=20
plain of Eastern Europe as early<SUP> </SUP>as anywhere
else in northern =

Eurasia.<SUP> </SUP>
<L><FONT size=3D-1><SUP>1</SUP> Institute of the History of
Material = Culture,=20 Russian Academy of Sciences, 191186
St. Petersburg, = Russia.<BR><SUP>2</SUP>=20 Institute of
Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, =
Boulder, CO=20 80309, USA.<BR><SUP>3</SUP> Departments of
Anthropology and Geosciences, =

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.<BR><SUP>4</SUP>
Kostenki=20 Museum-Preserve, 396355 Kostenki, Voronezh region,
Voronezh,=20 Russia.<BR><SUP>5</SUP> Luminescence Dating
Research Laboratory, = Department of=20 Earth and
Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL =
60607,=20 USA.<BR><SUP>6</SUP> Institute of Earth Physics,
Russian Academy of = Sciences,=20 123995 Moscow,
Russia.<BR><SUP>7</SUP> Zoological Institute, Russian =
Academy of=20 Sciences, 199034 St. Petersburg,
Russia.<BR><SUP>8</SUP> Department of=20 Archaeology, Boston
University, Boston, MA 02215, USA.<BR><SUP>9</SUP> =
Institute=20 of Archaeology, University College London, London
WC1H 0PY, = UK.<BR><SUP>10</SUP>=20 Istituto di Geologia
Ambientale e Geoingegneria=96CNR, Consiglio = Nazionale
delle=20 Ricerche, 00133 Rome, Italy.</FONT></P>
<M><FONT face=3DGeorgia>Source: Science<BR></FONT><A=20 href=-
3D"http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/315/5809-
/223?etoc"=
><FONT=20
face=3DGeorgia>http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract-
/315/5809/22= 3?etoc</FONT></A></P>
<N><BR><FONT face=3DGeorgia>-- <BR>Posted by<BR>Robert Karl=20
Stonjek</FONT></P></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>

------=_NextPart_000_0018_01C73729.F610EE40--
John Roth
Sun, Jan-14-07, 17:16
Robert Karl Stonjek wrote:
> Science 12 January 2007: Vol. 315. no. 5809, pp. 223 - 226
> DOI: 10.1126/science.1133376
>
>
> Early Upper Paleolithic in Eastern Europe and Implications
> for the Dispersal of Modern Humans
> M. V. Anikovich,1 A. A. Sinitsyn,1 John F. Hoffecker,2*
> Vance T. Holliday,3 V. V. Popov,4 S. N. Lisitsyn,1 Steven
> L. Forman,5 G. M. Levkovskaya,1 G. A. Pospelova,6 I. E.
> Kuz'mina,7 N. D. Burova,1 Paul Goldberg,8 Richard I.
> Macphail,9 Biagio Giaccio,10 N. D. Praslov1 Radiocarbon
> and optically stimulated luminescence dating and magnetic
> stratigraphy indicate Upper Paleolithic
> occupation-probably representing modern humans-at
> archaeological sites on the Don River in Russia 45,000 to
> 42,000 years ago. The oldest levels at Kostenki underlie
> a volcanic ash horizon identified as the Campanian
> Ignimbrite Y5 tephra that is dated elsewhere to about
> 40,000 years ago. The occupation layers contain bone and
> ivory artifacts, including possible figurative art, and
> fossil shells imported more than 500 kilometers. Thus,
> modern humans appeared on the central plain of Eastern
> Europe as early as anywhere else in northern Eurasia.
>
> 1 Institute of the History of Material Culture, Russian
> Academy of Sciences, 191186 St. Petersburg, Russia. 2
> Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of
> Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA. 3 Departments of
> Anthropology and Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson,
> AZ 85721, USA. 4 Kostenki Museum-Preserve, 396355 Kostenki,
> Voronezh region, Voronezh, Russia. 5 Luminescence Dating
> Research Laboratory, Department of Earth and Environmental
> Sciences, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL 60607, USA. 6
> Institute of Earth Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences,
> 123995 Moscow, Russia. 7 Zoological Institute, Russian
> Academy of Sciences, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia. 8
> Department of Archaeology, Boston University, Boston, MA
> 02215, USA. 9 Institute of Archaeology, University College
> London, London WC1H 0PY, UK. 10 Istituto di Geologia
> Ambientale e Geoingegneria-CNR, Consiglio Nazionale delle
> Ricerche, 00133 Rome, Italy.
>
> Source: Science http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstr-
> act/315/5809/223?etoc
>
>
> --
> Posted by Robert Karl Stonjek

This looks like a very important paper. See Hawks' two
articles for some background and commentary:

http://johnhawks.net/weblog/reviews/archaeology/upper/vishnya-
tsky_2004_kostenki.html http://johnhawks.net/weblog/reviews/a-
rchaeology/upper/anikovich_2007_kostenki_date.html

John Roth
Day Brown
Mon, Jan-15-07, 06:16
Thanx for such informative posts and links. But I'd like to
see the climate data, like from the Greenland ice cores, added
to the mix. From what I already know, Glaciers would have come
down to cover the whole region or made it so damn cold,
without any significant summer to grow the grasses their
herbivorous prey depened on, that everyone, both man & beast,
would have been repeatedly driven out, then come back in again
during the warm spells.

And do so each time with people that are different, with
different customs and technologies. It aint like *continuous*
occupation was possible.

I'd also like to see the strategraphic data to know whether
the sites were subjected to the floods when the glaciers
melted. I can see where this could have added organic matter
to the sites making C-14 data unreliable. But if the sites
were all on high ground, then this wouldnt have been a
problem. But from what I have read, the Don valley is far
bigger than needed to carry the river it now has, but was
carved out by enormous floods of meltwater, that in turn,
filled the Euxine basin. Which Ryan & Peterson go into in
"Noah's Flood".

Another thing that strikes me is why this region around the
Black Sea was on the cutting edge of new technology far
longer than any other on Earth. The Chalcolithic flowering
along the riverine floodplains that drained into the west end
of the Black Sea must have been carried out by the
descendants of the innovative ice age peoples who lived along
the Don and/or Anatolia, and certainly along the shores of
the Euxine between them.

Allow me to be politically incorrect enough to point out that
there is a genetic factor here. The region pushed people
together and pulled them apart again just like the tectonic
forces were reshaping the land and the sea. From the Greenland
ice cores, it looks like there never was a period of more than
a few hundred years for people to live at any given location,
such as those in this thread, before the ice came back and
kicked them all out. Its telling that when the ice age ended,
*that* was then the human interaction with plants produced the
mutation of einkorn in the Taurus mountains that we now call
wheat. 10,000 years BP.

Alpine, Caucasoid, & Semite skulls have been found at Chatal
Hoyuk; indicative of this kind of hybridization that resulted
in a genetic line that still dominates far more than its fair
share of the planet, In sharp contrast to the Levant and
Africa, where the warrior class is *still* fighting over well
understood ecosystems and resource bases, this region of SE
Europe had continual changes that repeatedly pushed people
out. And every time they returned, conditions were different.
The more *adaptable* to ecosystem resource variations
survived. The relatively low population for so many eons
disempowered the warrior classes. I've read that the Mammoth
bone Longhouses along the Don were 100 miles apart. That's too
damn far to make the typical warrior tradition of 'rape,
pillage, & burn' economically useful. and absolutely
impossible during the long ice age winters.

I mean what are the implications of such low populations. What
do we have here? 17 habitation sites that mite have had a few
score of people each? Not all of which were occupied in the
same era? Are there many more such sites to be discovered, or
has this ground been gone over enough to suggest that these
few, these lucky few, are it? in the warmer regions, there are
now, and there have *always* been genocides like Rwanda. What
Joshua did to Caanan we now call genocide. There are "Constant
Battles" as LeBlanc put it in his book by that name. over
territory. But here, along the Don, they got territory up the
yin yang. A few hundred, or even a few thousand occupying, if
that's the word, an area the size of Texas.

If men dont fight with each other, they can listen to each
other. and thus we see the evolution going on in their tools
at a much faster rate than was going on in the lower
latitudes. We see the evolution of the climate in the ice
cores and dendochronology, and it makes perfect sense to me
that we'd see some kind of evolution in the DNA of the
hominids that had to cope with it all.