Cro-Magnon: Difference between revisions

It has been suggested that this article be merged with Cro-Magnon. (Discuss) Proposed since January 2018.

European early modern humans (EEMH) in the context of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe refers to the early presence of Homo sapiens in Europe, during the period of roughly 35,000 to 10,000 years ago, as opposed to the preceding Neanderthals.

The term is equivalent to Cro-Magnon (/kroʊˈmænjən/ ^ⓘ, US: /-ˈmæɡnən/; French: [kʁomaɲɔ̃]) in its wider sense (i.e. detached from the eponymous site in Dordogne). In literature published since the late 1990s, the term EEMH is geenrally preferred over the common name Cro-Magnon, which has no formal taxonomic status, as it refers neither to a species or subspecies nor to an archaeological phase or culture.^[1][2]

The earliest known remains of EEMH are radiocarbon dated to 43,000–45,000 years before present that have been discovered in Italy^[3] and Britain.^[4]

A number of finds in Europe are referable to early modern humans. These include the classical Cro-Magnon 1 and other skeletons found at the site, as well as the Grimaldi find from the rock shelters around the "Balzi Rossi" (the Red Cliff) near Ventimiglia in Italy.^[5] The oldest known finds of anatomically modern (as opposed to Neanderthals) are from Peștera cu Oase (the bones cave) near the Iron Gates in Romania, dated to at least 37,800 years old. The find combines a variety of archaic, derived early modern, and possibly Neanderthal features, however the modern attributes place it close to European early modern humans among Late Pleistocene samples.^[6] Genetic work on the Siberian finds that group with the early modern Europeans indicate the earliest modern people in Europe had a larger unbroken share of Neanderthal DNA than do modern peoples.^[7]

The term "early" when applied to modern European finds is usually restricted to finds from earlier than the Mesolithic, ending about 10,000 years ago.^[2] This coincides with the end of the last ice age, which also saw the end of the ice age megafauna. At this point the human population of the world switched from a culture of big game hunting to smaller game and later an early storage culture of grass seeds.^[8][9] With less demands for brute strength, people all over the world became less robust, resulting in the comparatively more gracile population of today.^[10] Thus, the early European modern humans are the big-game, more robustly built Ice-Age sample as opposed to the more gracile post-glacial (gracile) populations. The process leading to the development of smaller and more fine-boned humans seems to have begun at least 50,000–30,000 years ago.^[11]

Anatomically modern humans (AMHs) are believed to have first emerged in East Africa some 100,000 to 200,000 years ago. According to this theory, an exodus from Africa over the Arabian Peninsula around 60,000 years ago brought modern humans to Eurasia, with one group rapidly settling coastal areas around the Indian Ocean and one group migrating north to steppes of Central Asia.^[13] A mitochondrial DNA sequence of two Cro-Magnons from the Paglicci Cave, Italy, dated to 23,000 and 24,000 years old (Paglicci 52 and 12), identified the mtDNA as haplogroup N, typical of the descendants in Central Asia.^[14] The inland group is the founder of North and East Asians, Europeans, large sections of the Middle East, and North African populations. Migration from the Black Sea area into Europe started some 45,000 years ago, probably along the Danubian corridor.^{[citation needed]} By 20,000 years ago, modern humans had reached the western margin of the continent.

While anatomically modern humans from Europe contrast with their Neanderthal contemporaries, EEMH do not themselves constitute a homogeneous sample.

The older remains are mostly from Eastern Europe, and many show a combination of modern and archaic traits not seen in the newer material. None of these finds contain tools, making it hard to fit them into the traditional archaeological stratigraphy of Europe.

Finds associated with the Aurignacian and related cultures are somewhat later and shows anatomy similar to that of the original Cro-Magnon find.

At the very end of the Upper Palaeolithic, finds are associated with the Magdalenian culture, physically grading into the current European population.

Peștera cu Oase
The oldest modern human remains from Southeast Europe are the finds from Peștera cu Oase (the bones cave) near the Iron Gates in Romania. The site is situated in the Danubian corridor, which may have been the Cro-Magnon entry point into Central Europe. The cave appears to be a cave bear den; the human remains may have been prey or carrion. No tools are associated with the finds.

Oase 1 holotype is a robust mandible which combines a variety of archaic, derived early modern, and possibly Neanderthal features. The modern attributes place it close to European early modern humans among Late Pleistocene samples. The fossil is one of the few finds in Europe which could be directly dated and is at least 37,800 years old.^[6] The Oase 1 mandible was discovered on February 16, 2002. A nearly complete skull of a young male Oase 2 and fragments of another (Oase 3) were found in 2005, again with mosaic features, some of which are paralleled in the Oase 1 mandible. Later, during 2005, the Oase 3 fragments were assigned as being part of the same individual as Oase 2.^[15]

Peștera Muierilor
The Peștera Muierilor (Women's Cave) find is a single, fairly complete cranium of a woman with rugged facial traits and otherwise modern skull features, found in a lower gallery of "The Women's Cave" in Romania, among numerous cave bear remains. Radiocarbon dating yielded an age of 30,150 ± 800 years, making it one of the oldest Cro-Magnon finds. No associated tools were found.^[16]

Muierii Cave and the Cioclovina
Cioclovina 1 is a complete neurocranium from a robust individual lacking all facial bones. The find is from a cave bear den, Cioclovina Cave, Romania. It is dated at 29,000 ± 700 radiocarbon years.^[16][17]

Grotta del Cavallo
In November 2011, tests conducted at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit in England on what were previously thought to be Neanderthal baby teeth, which had been unearthed in 1964 from the Grotta del Cavallo in Italy. These were identified as the oldest anatomically modern remains ever discovered in Europe, dating from between 43,000 and 45,000 years ago.^[6] No tools were associated with the find.

Cro-Magnon site

The original Cro-Magnon find was discovered in a rock shelter at Les Eyzies, Dordogne, France. The type specimen from the site is Cro-Magnon 1, carbon dated to about 28,000 ¹⁴C years old.^[18] (27,680 ± 270 BP). Compared to Neanderthals, the skeletons showed the same high forehead, upright posture and slender (gracile) skeleton as modern humans. The other specimens from the site are a female, Cro-Magnon 2, and male remains, Cro-Magnon 3.

The condition and placement of the remains of Cro-Magnon 1, along with pieces of shell and animal teeth in what appear to have been pendants or necklaces, raises the question of whether they were buried intentionally. If Cro-Magnons buried their dead intentionally, it suggests they had a knowledge of ritual, by burying their dead with necklaces and tools, or an idea of disease and that the bodies needed to be contained.^[19]

Analysis of the pathology of the skeletons shows that the humans of this period led a physically difficult life. In addition to infection, several of the individuals found at the shelter had fused vertebrae in their necks, indicating traumatic injury; the adult female found at the shelter had survived for some time with a skull fracture. As these injuries would be life-threatening even today, this suggests that Cro-Magnons relied on community support and took care of each other's injuries.^[19] The Abri of Cro-Magnon is part of the UNESCO World Heritage of the "Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley".^[20]

Předmostí
A fossil site at Předmostí is located near Přerov in the Moravian region of what is today the Czech Republic. The site was discovered in the late 19th century. Excavations were conducted between 1884 and 1930. As the original material was lost during World War II, in the 1990s, new excavations were conducted.^[21]

The Předmostí site appear to have been a living area with associated burial ground with some 20 burials, including 15 complete human interments, and portions of five others, representing either disturbed or secondary burials. Cannibalism has been suggested to explain the apparent subsequent disturbance,^[22] though it is not widely accepted. The non-human fossils are mostly mammoth. Many of the bones are heavily charred, indicating they were cooked. Other remains include fox, reindeer, ice-age horse, wolf, bear, wolverine, and hare. Remains of three dogs were also found, one of which had a mammoth bone in its mouth.^[23]

The Předmostí site is dated to between 24,000 and 27,000 years old. The people were essentially similar to the French Cro-Magnon finds. Though undoubtedly modern, they had robust features indicative of a big-game hunter lifestyle. They also share square eye socket openings found in the French material.^[24]

Mladeč
Though younger than the Oase skull and mandible, the finds from Mladeč caves in Moravia (Czech Republic) is one of the oldest Cro-Magnon sites. The caves have yielded the remains of several individuals, but few artifacts. The artifacts found have tentatively been classified as Aurignacian. The finds have been radiocarbon dated to around 31,000 radiocarbon years (somewhat older in calendar years),^[25] Mladeč 2 is dated to 31,320 +410, -390, Mladeč 9a to 31,500 +420, -400 and Mladeč 8 to 30,680 +380, -360 ¹⁴C years.^[16]

Kent's Cavern The Kent's Cavern find is a prehistoric maxilla (upper jawbone) fragment was uncovered in the cavern during a 1927 excavation in Kents Cavern by the Torquay Natural History Society, and named Kent's Cavern 4. In 2011 the fossil was tested and redated to at least 41,500 years old and confirmed to be Cro-Magnon, making it the earliest anatomically modern human (AMH) fossil yet discovered in North-West Europe. Though the find is too fragmentary to compare the anatomy to the Cro-Magnon find, the associated tools are Aurignacian.^[26]

Les Roisà Mouthiers
There are diagnostic modern human remains associated with a later Aurignacian assemblage at Les Roisà Mouthiers, France. The date is likely not older than 32,000 radiocarbon years.^[16]

Red Lady of Paviland
Despite its name, the Red Lady of Paviland is a partial skeleton of a young male, lacking a skull. It was discovered in 1823 in a cave burial in Gower, South Wales, United Kingdom. The bones was stained with ochre, and was the first human fossil to have been found anywhere in the world. At 33,000 years old, it is still the oldest ceremonial burial of a modern human ever discovered anywhere in Western Europe.^[27] Associated finds were red ochre anointing, a mammoth skull, and personal decorations suggesting shamanism or other religious practice. Grave goods are considered late Aurignacian or Early Gravettian in appearance. Genetic analysis of mtDNA yielded the Haplogroup H, the most common group in Europe.^[28]

La Quina Aval
Consisting of a partial juvenile mandible, the find is also associated with early Augurinacal tools. The jaw have some archaic features, though is mainly modern.^[29] The find is dated to max 33,000 - 32,000 radiocarbon years.^[16]

Kostenki find

Dated at 32,600 ± 1,100 radio-carbon years, the find from Kostenki consists of a tibia and a fibula in a rich culture layer. The occupation layers contain bone and ivory artifacts, including possible figurative art, and fossil shells imported more than 500 kilometers.^[16][30]

Grimaldi
The Grimaldi Man is a find from the Ligurian Coast in Italy. The caves yielded several finds, among them two fairly complete skeletons in the lower Aurignacian layer. Though the age and accompanying tools suggests Cro-Magnon, the skeletons differ physically from the large and robust Cro-Magnons, being slender and rather short.^[31] The remains from one of the caves, the "Barma Grande", have in recent time been radiocarbon dated to 25 000 years old, which places it in the Upper Paleolithic.^[32]

Chancelade
The Chancelade man, a short and stocky older man buried in Chancelade, France, was found with Magdalenian tools.^[33] Several other more fragmentary finds, like the skeleton from Laugerie-Basse and the Duruthy cave near Sorde-l'Abbaye has traditionally been linked to the Chancelade man.^[34]

Lapedo child
The Lapedo child from Abrigo do Lagar Velho, Portugal, about 24,000 years old, a fairly complete and quite robust skeleton, possibly showing some Neanderthal traits.^[35]

Other sites, assemblages or specimens: La Rochette, Vogelherd, Hahnöfersand, St. Prokop, Velika Pećina.^[16]

The lineage of EEMH contributes substantially to the modern populations indigenous to Europe. EEMH populations during the Last Glacial Maximum were probably confined to refugia, associated with the Solutrean and Gravettian cultures. From there, Europe was re-peopled during the Holocene climatic optimum. The genetic contribution of these populations to modern Europeans is dubbed "West European Hunter-Gatherer" (WHG). The identification of the WHG component in modern populations is based on the analysis of the genome of a Mesolithic hunter-gatherer buried c. 8000 years ago in the Loschbour rock shelter in Müllerthal, near Heffingen, Luxembourg.^[36] The WHG populations mixed extensively with the expanding Early European Farmers (EEF) populations during the European Neolithic.^[37]

The oldest male Cro-Magnon remains for which Y-DNA haplogroups are known, dating from circa 45,000 to 35,000 years before present, belong to either haplogroup K2a* (K-M2308) or subclades of C1 (Haplogroup C-F3393).

These include the remains known as Ust'-Ishim man (modern west Siberia) K2a*,^{[dubious – discuss]} Oase 1 (Romania) K2a*, Kostenki 14 (south west Russia) C1b, and Goyet Q116-1 (Belgium) C1a.^[38][39]

A 2003 sequencing on the mitochondrial DNA of two Cro-Magnons (23,000-year-old Paglicci 52 and 24,720-year-old Paglicci 12) identified the mtDNA as Haplogroup N.^[14]

A 2015 study sequenced the genome of a 13,000 year old WHG from Switzerland Bichon. He belonged to Y DNA Haplogroup I2a and mtDNA haplogroup U5b1h.^[40]

Cro-Magnons were anatomically modern, straight limbed and tall compared to the contemporaneous Neanderthals. They are thought to have stood on average 1.66 to 1.71 m (5 ft 5 in to 5 ft 7 in) tall. They differ from modern-day humans in having a more robust physique and a slightly larger cranial capacity.^[41] The Cro-Magnons had fairly low skulls, with wide faces, robust mandibles, blunted chins, narrow noses,^[42] and moderate to no prognathism.^[24] A distinctive trait was the rectangular eye orbits, similar to those of modern Ainu people.^[43] Their vocal apparatus was like that of present-day humans and they could speak.^[44] Their brain capacity was about 1,600 cc (98 cu in), larger than the average for modern humans.^[45]

Mitochondrial DNA analysis places the early European population as sister group to the Asian groups, dating the divergence to some 50,000 years ago.^[46] The evidence suggests the very light skin tone found in modern Northern Europeans may be a relatively recent phenomenon,^[47] and may have appeared in the European line as recently as 6,000 – 12,000 years ago (10,000 – 4,000 BCE), indicating Cro-Magnons had dark skin,^[48] although further research is still needed.^[49] DNA sequencing of finds of the late post-ice-age hunter-gatherer populations in Europe indicate that some Cro-Magnons likely had blue eyes and dark hair, and a brown complexion.^[50][51] A small ivory bust of a man found at Dolní Věstonice and dated to 26,000 years indicates the Cro-Magnons had straight hair, though the somewhat later Venus of Brassempouy may show wavy or curly hair, possibly braided.

The flint tools found in association with the remains at Cro-Magnon have associations with the Aurignacian culture that Lartet had identified a few years before he found the first skeletons. The Aurignacian differ from the earlier cultures by their finely worked bone or antler points and flint points made for hafting, the production of Venus figurines and cave painting.^[52] They pierced bones, shells and teeth to make body ornaments. The figurines, cave-paintings, ornaments and the mysterious Venus figurines are a hallmark of Cro-Magnon culture, contrasting with the utilitarian culture of the Neanderthals.^[53] Unlike earlier cultures, the Aurignacian appear to have been developed in Europe, and to have spread in the wake of the Phlegraean eruption 37,000 years ago.^[54]

Like most early humans, the Cro-Magnons were primarily big-game hunters, killing mammoth, cave bears, horses, and reindeer.^[55] They hunted with spears, javelins, and spear-throwers. Archery had not yet been invented. They would have been nomadic or semi-nomadic, following the annual migration of their prey, and also have eaten plant materials. In Mezhirich village in Ukraine, several huts built from mammoth bones possibly representing semi-permanent hunting camps have been unearthed.^[44][56]

Finds of spun, dyed, and knotted flax fibers among Cro-Magnon artifacts in Dzudzuana shows they made cords for hafting stone tools, weaving baskets, or sewing garments.^[57] Apart from the mammoth bone huts mentioned, they constructed shelter of rocks, clay, branches, and animal hide/fur. These early humans used manganese and iron oxides to paint pictures and may have created one early lunar calendar around 15,000 years ago.^[58]