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Obsidian Age Part

Obsidian Age Part

Early SW Asian Homo sapiens sites

The increase in annual rainfall and warmer temperatures during the oxygen isotope stage 5e [ca 128-120 Ka] transformed the landscape of north Africa and  SW Asia.There were extensive new grasslands and adequate sources of fresh water for grazing animal herds.The Sahara and Arabian deserts became habitable and Homo sapiens hunter-gatherers followed wild game to the new pastures.The Eriteria site on the Red Sea coast was utilized ca 125 Ka.The Jebej Faya I rock shelter in the United Arab Emirates of eastern Arabia yielded a stone tool assemblage from the basal level C,which has been provisionally dated to ca 125 Ka.It was comprised of small hand axes,thick bifacial foliates,hammer blades and centripetal cores.which are characterized by platform faceting and a number of Levallois components.This technology has some affinitieswith a broadly coeval lithic industry in east Africa [J Rose,2010 and S Armitage,2011].C Stringer [2011] contends that the stone implements in layer C at Jebel Faya I do not resemble those at the Skhul and Qafzeh caves in the Levant [ca 125-75? Ka?].The implies that at least two separate bands of modern humans migrated from Africa to Asia during OIS 5e.

The presence of at least two groups of Homo sapiens in SW Asia ca 125-75 Ka "might" provide an explanation for the discovery of stone tools at the Jwalapurra River valley site in southern modern day India,which is associated with the Toba volcanic eruption ca 74 Ka.Electronpoebe micro-analysis of obsidian from Jwalapurra tephra at locality 3  identified a 2.55m ash layer from the Toba eruption.This ash deposit is positioned between two horizons of cultural material.Opitical measurements for these two archaeological assemblages provided ages of 77 +/-6 and 74 +/- 3 Ka.The pre-Toba inventory contained 251 artifacts and a piece of red ochre with strictions from use. M Petroglia [2007] reported that the tool types had affinities with Late Pliestocene assemblages in India and that there were no dramatic variations between the pre- and post- Toba ash inventories.He stated [2010] that a seven year research programme had located new sites in India,which testified to occupation before and after the Toba eruption.The cultural material at these sites did not differ appreciably from those at Jwalapurra locality 3 The above indicates that Homo sapiens[?] in India survived the Toba eruption.Analysis of three mtDNA branches of macro-haplogroup M by A Merriwether [2005] infers an age of 73.5 +/-7.4Ka for the combined individual components of macro-haplogroup M [ibid].This genetic time estimate is compatible with the archaeological research by M Petrolia et al.

Qafzeh cave,Isreal, yielded 16 partial early Homo sapiens remains,with a diversity of modern and archaic features.TL dating implies that the cave was used sporadically from ca 120-90 Ka.Abundant ochre was applied to the corpses.The ten Homo sapiens at Skhul cave,Mount Carmel,Israel,appear on average to have more primitive features than those of the Qafzeh troglodytes.The ESR,TL,and U series age determinations,that were obtained at Skhul cave,are deemed to be tenuous [R Gunn,2001].The interments "may" date between 125 and 75? Ka.The partial Skhul remains also have a diversity of  cranial and post cranial characteristics.Skhul 9 and to a lesser degree Skhul 5 overlap the Neanderthal range of variations.Skhul 9 was originally classified as a Neanderthal [D Johanson,1996] B Arensberg [1998] theorized that the presence of archaic features,common with Neanderthals,in Skhul 9 and Qafzeh 9,could reflect a genetically inherent human variability.[This statement pre-dates the discovery of Neanderthal genes in modern humans].The Neanderthals in the Levant tend to be taller ,with a number of more modern traits than the "classic Neanderthals" in SW France.Qafzeh 9 and Skhul 9 may not have been radically different in appearance from a number of the more modern looking Levant Neanderthals.There is no definitive evidence that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals co-existed in modern day Israel between 125-95 Ka.ESR and U series analysis of a tooth,that "might" be Neanderthal from the Tabun cave,Isreal, yielded an equivocal age of 92-82 +/-14 Ka [ A Coppa,2005].Skhul 5 was buried with the mandible of  a feral  pig,which is ca 105 Ka old. [C Stringer,2001].

Comparisons between the 4-5 year old infant Skhul 5 and Krapina  I,a 6-7 year old Neanderthal child,revealed that the formers features largely conformed to Homo sapiens and that there were no obvious Neanderthal type characteristics.Most of Krapina I's cranial features fell within the European Neanderthal range [Maugh-Purvis,1998].Kebara cave was utilized intermittently from ca 60-48 Ka by Neanderthals The Mousterian tools,which were recovered from the cave,are similar to the older Mousterian assemblages at Qafzeh cave.The life styles of the Levant Neanderthals were not dissimilar to the early Homo sapiens that lived in the Qafzeh/Skhul caves [D Henry,2004]The male Neanderthal Kebara II was ca 20cm taller than the average "classic Neanderthal".His mandible lacks a chin and he has a Neanderthal type retro-molar space.His post-cranial bones more closely resemble modern humans ,than his counter parts in SW Europe.This 25-30 year old had a modern hyroid  bone supporting the larynx and could utter a wider range of sounds than earlier Neanderthals [J Arsuaga,2003].

The fate of the Qafzeh/Skhul cave dwellers is conjectural.They could have become extinct,migrated further afield,returned to Africa or merged with the Neanderthals.M Schillaci [2008] examined 28 extant and prehistoric populations.Qafzeh/Skhul  Homo sapiens were deemed to have closer affinities to Neanderthal,Early Indonesian, Australian and New Guinea fossils than to the later  wave of Homo sapiens to enter Asia from Africa ca 80-50? Ka.The latter usually had more modern features.

Analysis of the 6092x chromosomes from the six inhabited continents revealed an early admixture [ca 9%] between non-African Homo sapiens and Neanderthals prior to the latter's major expansion throughout the world.Structurally distinct haplotype B006,with only 4 derived alleles,is relatively common outside of Africa and is virtually absent in the sub-Sahara of Africa.The B006 derived alleles,that are shared with Neanderthals,occur at a 0.75 or higher frequency on the background of the extended B006 haplotype.,which is compatible with a recent segment of Neanderthal origin.B006 has been identified among indigenous Australians in the centre of the island continent,which suggests early admixture between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens [V Yotova,2011].The above results are generally compatible with the study of Neanderthal/non-African Homo sapiens admixture by R E Green,2010.

There is no diagnostic evidence of a Neanderthal presence in the Levant post 46 Ka or of Homo sapiens cultural material pre-49 Ka.Although these two species may have fraternized in the Levant ca 49-46 Ka,it is unlikely that any of their offspring contributed to the Neanderthal genes,that are harboured by native Australians,who utilized the Carpentars Gap site in Western Australia ca 46.4 +/-1.4 Ka [cal'07].The Neanderthal genes among the first Australians "may" have their roots in the Arabian peninsula.There is insufficient data to establish that these genes were relayed to Australia by the descendants of the Jebel  Faya I site via India [eg:the Jwalapurra River valley].Future archaeological research and genetics studies "might" provide more definitive information that can be used to reconstruct prehistoric migration paths with "some" degree of certainty.

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