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New evidence on the role of climate in Neanderthal extinction
September 13, 2007The mystery of what killed the Neanderthals has moved a step closer to resolution after an international study led by the University of Leeds has ruled out one of the competing theories - catastrophic climate change - as the most likely cause.
The bones of more than 400 Neanderthals have been found since the first discoveries were made in the early 19th century. The finds suggest the Neanderthals, named after the Neander Valley near Düsseldorf, where they were first recognized as an extinct kind of archaic humans, inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia for more than 100,000 years.
The causes of their extinction have puzzled scientists for years - with some believing it was due to competition with modern humans, while others blamed deteriorating climatic conditions. But a new study published today in Nature has shown that the Neanderthal extinction did not coincide with any of the extreme climate events that punctuated the last glacial period.
The research was led by Professor Chronis Tzedakis, a palaeoecologist at the University of Leeds, who explained: "Until now, there have been three limitations to understanding the role of climate in the Neanderthal extinction: uncertainty over the exact timing of their disappearance; uncertainties in converting radiocarbon dates to actual calendar years; and the chronological imprecision of the ancient climate record."
The team's novel method - mapping radiocarbon dates of interest directly onto a well-dated palaeoclimate archive - circumvented the last two problems, providing a much more detailed picture of the climate at the possible times of the Neanderthal disappearance.
The researchers applied the new method to three alternative sets of dates for the timing of the Neanderthal extinction from Gorham's Cave, Gibraltar, a site which is thought to have been occupied by some of the latest surviving Neanderthals:
* a set of generally accepted but older dates (around 30-32,000 radiocarbon years ago)
* newly-suggested younger dates (around 28,000 radiocarbon years ago)
* more contentious dates (around 24,000 radiocarbon years ago).
The team showed that during the first two sets of dates, Europe was experiencing conditions similar to the general climatic instability of the last glacial period - conditions the Neanderthals had already proved able to survive.
The much more controversial date of around 24,000 radiocarbon years ago placed the last Neanderthals just before a large expansion of ice sheets and the onset of cold conditions in northern Europe. "But at that time, Gibraltar's climate remained relatively unaffected, perhaps as a result of warm water from the subtropical Atlantic entering the western Mediterranean," explained palaeoceanographer Isabel Cacho of the University of Barcelona.
"Our findings suggest that there was no single climatic event that caused the extinction of the Neanderthals," concludes palaeonthropologist Katerina Harvati of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "Only the controversial date of 24,000 radiocarbon years for their disappearance, if proven correct, coincides with a major environmental shift. Even in this case, however, the role of climate would have been indirect, by promoting competition with other human groups."
The work also has wider implications for other studies, as paleoclimatologist Konrad Hughen of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explained: "Our approach offers the huge potential to unravel the role of climate in critical events of the recent fossil record as it can be applied to any radiocarbon date from any deposit."
University of Leeds
The research was led by Professor Chronis Tzedakis, a palaeoecologist at the University of Leeds, who explained: "Until now, there have been three limitations to understanding the role of climate in the Neanderthal extinction: uncertainty over the exact timing of their disappearance; uncertainties in converting radiocarbon dates to actual calendar years; and the chronological imprecision of the ancient climate record."
The team's novel method - mapping radiocarbon dates of interest directly onto a well-dated palaeoclimate archive - circumvented the last two problems, providing a much more detailed picture of the climate at the possible times of the Neanderthal disappearance.
The researchers applied the new method to three alternative sets of dates for the timing of the Neanderthal extinction from Gorham's Cave, Gibraltar, a site which is thought to have been occupied by some of the latest surviving Neanderthals:
* a set of generally accepted but older dates (around 30-32,000 radiocarbon years ago)
* newly-suggested younger dates (around 28,000 radiocarbon years ago)
* more contentious dates (around 24,000 radiocarbon years ago).
The team showed that during the first two sets of dates, Europe was experiencing conditions similar to the general climatic instability of the last glacial period - conditions the Neanderthals had already proved able to survive.
The much more controversial date of around 24,000 radiocarbon years ago placed the last Neanderthals just before a large expansion of ice sheets and the onset of cold conditions in northern Europe. "But at that time, Gibraltar's climate remained relatively unaffected, perhaps as a result of warm water from the subtropical Atlantic entering the western Mediterranean," explained palaeoceanographer Isabel Cacho of the University of Barcelona.
"Our findings suggest that there was no single climatic event that caused the extinction of the Neanderthals," concludes palaeonthropologist Katerina Harvati of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. "Only the controversial date of 24,000 radiocarbon years for their disappearance, if proven correct, coincides with a major environmental shift. Even in this case, however, the role of climate would have been indirect, by promoting competition with other human groups."
The work also has wider implications for other studies, as paleoclimatologist Konrad Hughen of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution explained: "Our approach offers the huge potential to unravel the role of climate in critical events of the recent fossil record as it can be applied to any radiocarbon date from any deposit."
University of Leeds
Neanderthal Current Events and Neanderthal News RSSStudy shows competition, not climate change, led to Neanderthal extinction
In a recently conducted study, a multidisciplinary French-American research team with expertise in archaeology, past climates, and ecology reported that Neanderthal extinction was principally a result of competition with Cro-Magnon populations, rather than the consequences of climate change.
Britain's last Neanderthals were more sophisticated than we thought
An archaeological excavation at a site near Pulborough, West Sussex, has thrown remarkable new light on the life of northern Europe's last Neanderthals. It provides a snapshot of a thriving, developing population - rather than communities on the verge of extinction.
Ancient DNA reveals that some Neanderthals were redheads
Ancient DNA retrieved from the bones of two Neanderthals suggests that at least some of them had red hair and pale skin, scientists report this week in the journal Science.
Inconsistencies with Neanderthal genomic DNA sequences
Were Neanderthals direct ancestors of contemporary humans or an evolutionary side branch that eventually died out?
Gendered division of labor gave modern humans advantage over Neanderthals
Diversified social roles for men, women, and children may have given Homo sapiens an advantage over Neanderthals, says a new study in the December 2006 issue of Current Anthropology.
Genetic study of Neanderthal DNA reveals early split between humans and Neanderthals
In the most thorough study to date of the Neanderthal genome, scientists suggest an early human-Neanderthal split. The two species have a common ancestry, say the authors, but do not share much else after evolving their separate ways.
Neanderthal Genome Sequencing Yields Surprising Results and Opens a New Door to Future Studies
The veil of mystery surrounding our extinct hominid cousins, the Neanderthals, has been at least partially lifted to reveal surprising results.
Meet the Earliest Baby Girl ever Discovered!
3.3 million years ago, a three year old girl died in present day Ethiopia, in an area called Dikika. Though a baby, she provides researchers with a unique account of our past, as would a grandmother. Her completeness, antiquity, and age at death combine make this find unprecedented in the history of paleoanthropology and open many new research avenues to investigate into the infancy of early human ancestors.
Neanderthals were as good at hunting as early modern humans
The disappearance of Neanderthals is frequently attributed to competition from modern humans, whose greater intelligence has been widely supposed to make them more efficient as hunters.
Neanderthal teeth grew no faster than comparable modern humans
Recent research suggested that ancient Neanderthals might have had an accelerated childhood compared to that of modern humans but that seems flawed.
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