Search results for "FOSSILS"
showing 10 items of 159 documents
Late Pleistocene Human Evolution in Sicily: Comparative morphometric analysis of grotta di San Teodoro craniofacial remains.
2007
Late Pleistocene human evolution in Sicily: comparative morphometric analysis of Grotta di San Teodoro craniofacial remains. D'Amore G, Di Marco S, Tartarelli G, Bigazzi R, Sineo L. Source Laboratorio di Archeoantropologia, Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Toscana, Via dei Rossi 26/A, 50018 Scandicci, Firenze, Italy. Abstract The paleoanthropological remains from Grotta di San Teodoro near Acquedolci (province of Messina, Italy) represent the oldest and largest skeletal collection yet found documenting human settlement of Sicily. The sample, attributed to the Late Epigravettian (between 14,000 and 10,000 years B.P.), consists of seven variously complete adult individuals (San Te…
Coping with arid environments: A critical threshold for human expansion in Europe at the Marine Isotope Stage 12/11 transition? The case of the Iberi…
2020
Abstract Archaeological remains have highlighted the fact that the interglacial Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 11 was a threshold from the perspective of hominin evolution in Europe. After the MIS 12 glaciation, considered one of the major climate-driven crises experienced by hominins, the archaeological records show an increasing number of occupations, evidence of new subsistence behaviors, and significant technical innovations. Here, we used statistical and geographic techniques to analyze the amphibian- and reptile-based paleoclimate and habitat reconstructions generated from a large data set of the Iberian Peninsula to (1) investigate if temperature, precipitation, and/or forest cover may h…
Prediction of alkaline earth elements in bone remains by near infrared spectroscopy.
2016
An innovative methodological approach has been developed for the prediction of the mineral element composition of bone remains. It is based on the use of Fourier Transform Near Infrared (FT-NIR) diffuse reflectance measurements. The method permits a fast, cheap and green analytical way, to understand post-mortem degradation of bones caused by the environment conditions on different skeletal parts and to select the best preserved bone samples. Samples, from the Late Roman Necropolis of Virgen de la Misericordia street and En Gil street located in Valencia (Spain), were employed to test the proposed approach being determined calcium, magnesium and strontium in bone remains and sediments. Coef…
Exotic foods reveal contact between South Asia and the Near East during the second millennium BCE
2020
Aunque el papel clave del comercio a larga distancia en la transformación de las cocinas en todo el mundo está bien documentado desde al menos la época romana, la prehistoria del comercio de alimentos euroasiático es menos visible. Con el fin de arrojar luz sobre la transformación de las cocinas del Mediterráneo oriental durante la Edad del Bronce y la Edad del Hierro Temprana, analizamos los microrestos y las proteínas conservadas en el cálculo dental de individuos que vivieron durante el segundo milenio a. Nuestros resultados proporcionan evidencia clara del consumo de alimentos básicos esperados, como cereales (Triticeae), sésamo ( Sesamum ) y dátiles ( Phoenix ). Además, informamos evid…
Calcareous nannofossil surface sediment assemblages from the SicilyChannel (central Mediterranean Sea): palaeoceanographic implications.
2008
Quantitative analysis of 67 calcareous nannofossil assemblages from surface sediments recovered in a wide area across the Sicily Channel has been carried out in order to improve the interpretation of palaeontological data based on this planktonic group in a key area for Mediterranean palaeoceanographic studies. The investigation focused on three case studies that demonstrate the high potentiality of such a combined approach, taking into account the recent distribution of taxa or groups of taxa on the sea floor and the palaeontological record. The distribution of reworked specimens over the northern Sicily Channel sea floor validates the role of southern Sicily as a source region for reworke…
Microbial deposits in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction: A diverging case from the Mineral Mountains (Utah, USA)
2015
40 pages; International audience; The Lower Triassic Mineral Mountains area (Utah, USA) preserves diversified Smithian and Spathian reefs and bioaccumulations that contain fenestral-microbialites and various benthic and pelagic organisms. Ecological and environmental changes during the Early Triassic are commonly assumed to be associated with numerous perturbations (productivity changes, acidifica-tion, redox changes, hypercapnia, eustatism and temperature changes) post-dating the Permian–Triassic mass extinction. New data acquired in the Mineral Mountains sediments provide evidence to decipher the relationships between depositional environments and the growth and distribution of microbial …
A detailed analysis of the spatial distribution of Schöningen 13II-4 'Spear Horizon' faunal remains
2021
The Middle Pleistocene Schöningen 13II-4 'Spear Horizon' (Germany) is a key site for the study of human evolution, most notably for the discovery of Paleolithic wooden weaponry and evidence for developed hunting strategies. On the other hand, the 'Spear Horizon' offers an excellent opportunity to approach hominin spatial behavior, thanks to the richness of the archeological assemblage, its exceptional preservation, and the vast expanse of the excavated surface. Analyzing how space was used is essential for understanding hominin behavior at this unique open-air site and, from a wider perspective, for approaching how humans adapted to interglacial environments. In this article, we present an …
A Revised Timescale for Human Evolution Based on Ancient Mitochondrial Genomes
2013
Summary Background Recent analyses of de novo DNA mutations in modern humans have suggested a nuclear substitution rate that is approximately half that of previous estimates based on fossil calibration. This result has led to suggestions that major events in human evolution occurred far earlier than previously thought. Results Here, we use mitochondrial genome sequences from ten securely dated ancient modern humans spanning 40,000 years as calibration points for the mitochondrial clock, thus yielding a direct estimate of the mitochondrial substitution rate. Our clock yields mitochondrial divergence times that are in agreement with earlier estimates based on calibration points derived from e…
The Neanderthalian molar from Hunas, Germany
2005
Abstract In this paper, we present a well-preserved isolated human molar found in 1986 in the Hunas cave ruin, south-east Bavaria. The tooth was located at the bottom of layer F2, which belongs to a long stratigraphic sequence comprising faunal remains as well as archaeological levels (Mousterian). A stalagmite from layer P at the base of the stratigraphic sequence was recently dated to 79.373±8.237 ka (base) and 76.872±9.686 ka (tip) by TIMS-U/Th (Stanford University). We identified the tooth as a right (possibly third) mandibular molar. Characteristic parameters such as crown and root morphology, fissure pattern, enamel thickness, occlusal and interproximal wear, dental dimensions and ind…
New insights into non-avian dinosaur reproduction and their evolutionary and ecological implications: linking fossil evidence to allometries of extan…
2013
It has been hypothesized that a high reproductive output contributes to the unique gigantism in large dinosaur taxa. In order to infer more information on dinosaur reproduction, we established allometries between body mass and different reproductive traits (egg mass, clutch mass, annual clutch mass) for extant phylogenetic brackets (birds, crocodiles and tortoises) of extinct non-avian dinosaurs. Allometries were applied to nine non-avian dinosaur taxa (theropods, hadrosaurs, and sauropodomorphs) for which fossil estimates on relevant traits are currently available. We found that the reproductive traits of most dinosaurs conformed to similar-sized or scaled-up extant reptiles or birds. The …