Periodic Reporting for period 1 - DENI-CESTOR (DENIsovan anCESTORs in Sahul: deciphering human evolution through molecular techniques)
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-09-30 bis 2024-09-29
Modern humans dispersed out of Africa and reached most corners of Eurasia between 100-40ka, occupying diverse environments from the forests of western Europe to the steppes of northern Asia and to the rainforests of southern Asia. It is during this period that they met and occasionally interbred with several indigenous archaic hominin groups living in these regions. These include Neanderthals and Denisovans, for which we now have strong genetic evidence of close interactions and repeated interbreeding events. The history and dispersal of hominins in Island Southeast Asia (ISEA), the focus of this project, reveals a unique fossil record during the Pleistocene that includes Homo erectus, H. floresiensis, and H. luzonensis. Genetic evidence also suggests that multiple Denisovan populations were living in ISEA, however, a dearth of human fossils in general, and a complete lack of fossil evidence for Denisovans, in ISEA and Sahul leaves a range of important questions, such as anatomy, culture, and behaviour, unanswered. The aim of this project was to rectify this situation by identifying new human fossils from Papua New Guinea and provide detailed taxonomic, chronological, and isotopic information on these remains. This project examined the paleontological record of Papua New Guinea (PNG), a severely understudied but geographically relevant region for understanding hominin dispersal in Sahul.
DENI-CESTOR comes at an important point in time when the application of biomolecular methodologies can harvest significant information from previously excavated material. The lack of human fossils from the Asian and ISEA Pleistocene and early Holocene record is a big limitation to furthering our understanding of human evolution and dispersal outside of Africa and into ISEA, Australia, and Oceania. This project provides crucial new insights in the spatio-temporal spread and genetic history of hominins inhabiting ISEA, with particular reference to multiple Denisovan introgressions in Papua New Guinea. This work has an impact on the larger field of human evolution but also on the society of modern-day people. The results have an influential impact on hypotheses regarding human dispersal into Australia and Oceania. This, coupled with archaeological and paleoenvironmental records from ISEA, PNG, and Australia, have implications for our understanding of hominin sea-faring abilities and island migration. The project is the first of its kind using ZooMS to search for hominin fossils in tropical island environments of ISEA and forms a framework for future scientific studies in the region.
The overall objectives of this project include:
1) To discover new hominin fossils in highland Papua New Guinea sites using ZooMS (collagen mass peptide fingerprinting) on unidentified fragmented archaeological bone from Yuku and Kiowa.
2) To establish the chronology of the new fossils and archaeological context.
3) To identify shifts in diet through stable isotopic analysis of the hominin fossils and fauna remains.
4) To determine the ancestry of the new fossils through ancient DNA analysis.
5) To combine chronologic, stable isotopic, and aDNA data to understand human dispersal in Sahul.
DENI-CESTOR comes at an important point in time when the application of biomolecular methodologies can harvest significant information from previously excavated material. The lack of human fossils from the Asian and ISEA Pleistocene and early Holocene record is a big limitation to furthering our understanding of human evolution and dispersal outside of Africa and into ISEA, Australia, and Oceania. This project provides crucial new insights in the spatio-temporal spread and genetic history of hominins inhabiting ISEA, with particular reference to multiple Denisovan introgressions in Papua New Guinea. This work has an impact on the larger field of human evolution but also on the society of modern-day people. The results have an influential impact on hypotheses regarding human dispersal into Australia and Oceania. This, coupled with archaeological and paleoenvironmental records from ISEA, PNG, and Australia, have implications for our understanding of hominin sea-faring abilities and island migration. The project is the first of its kind using ZooMS to search for hominin fossils in tropical island environments of ISEA and forms a framework for future scientific studies in the region.
The overall objectives of this project include:
1) To discover new hominin fossils in highland Papua New Guinea sites using ZooMS (collagen mass peptide fingerprinting) on unidentified fragmented archaeological bone from Yuku and Kiowa.
2) To establish the chronology of the new fossils and archaeological context.
3) To identify shifts in diet through stable isotopic analysis of the hominin fossils and fauna remains.
4) To determine the ancestry of the new fossils through ancient DNA analysis.
5) To combine chronologic, stable isotopic, and aDNA data to understand human dispersal in Sahul.
Sampling for unidentified bone fragments from Yuku and Kiowa, curated at the University of Otago, New Zealand was undertaken and bones ~ 2 cm in size were targeted. Laboratory analyses for ZooMS, radiocarbon dating, stable isotopes, and aDNA were all undertaken at the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, University of Vienna.
The key activities preformed include:
1) sampling and analyses of 1600 unidentified bone fragments for ZooMS with taxonomic identifications of fauna and humans
2) Identification of 211 human bones from the New Guinea Highland sites of Yuku and Kiowa
3) Radiocarbon dating of 100 human bones and 20 cassowary bones to understand chronology. Ages of humans range from ~11000 to 2000 years BP.
4) Sampling of 48 human bones for aDNA analyses undertaken together with colleagues.
Each of my research objectives was achieved and I was able to advance my knowledge and training in ZooMS, radiocarbon dating, stable isotopes, and aDNA.
The key activities preformed include:
1) sampling and analyses of 1600 unidentified bone fragments for ZooMS with taxonomic identifications of fauna and humans
2) Identification of 211 human bones from the New Guinea Highland sites of Yuku and Kiowa
3) Radiocarbon dating of 100 human bones and 20 cassowary bones to understand chronology. Ages of humans range from ~11000 to 2000 years BP.
4) Sampling of 48 human bones for aDNA analyses undertaken together with colleagues.
Each of my research objectives was achieved and I was able to advance my knowledge and training in ZooMS, radiocarbon dating, stable isotopes, and aDNA.
The combined biomolecular results of ZooMS, dating, and dietary isotopes on the human bones show several human individuals at each of the sites, with a shift in diet from C3 in the early Holocene to a mixed C3/C4 diet in the mid to late Holocene period. Highland populations appear to have a heavy plant diet mixed with terrestrial animals such as macropods and cassowaries, with occasional freshwater fish. This is in line with the zooarchaeological record, and shows direct evidence that humans were occupying these sites and depositing food refuse, using cooking hearths, but also burying their dead for over 10,000 years.
These results show the successful use of ZooMS as a method to identify new human remains even in tropical regions where preservation is poor. In addition, direct dating of the human bones shows the oldest directly dated human in New Guinea at Yuku ~ 11,000 cal BP. Combined with the eventual aDNA results from these bones, an understanding of the ancestry and movement of populations in the New Guinea highlands, and wider PNG, ISEA and Oceania will be possible. Linking this data to determine the presence of Denisovans in the region will be a significant contribution to our understanding of human evolution and migration in ISEA.
This research is the start to determining how different populations adapted to changes in environments and if Denisovans in New Guinea were the last of the archaic humans to survive. A key component of this research stems from the analyses of the faunal remains. These remains provide key information regarding changing subsistence behaviours over the Late Pleistocene to early Holocene transition (from cold/dry grasslands to montane rainforests) and reveal specific shifts occurring for particular taxa (e.g. macropods, cassowaries, and pigs). The combination of the morphological remains with the unidentified fragmented material (ZooMS identified) allows for a more robust coverage of the zooarchaeological record.
Future research on other legacy archaeological material from the New Guinea Highlands, as well as new excavations of sites, will no doubt provide further data to piece together when Denisovans and modern humans were present in the region, and how their behaviour and culture changed over time. The impact of changing environments is continued to be seen in the archaeological record and future studies on both the human remains, as well as the faunal assemblages of various highlands sites can shed more light on complex human culture and behaviours. In particular, focusing on exploring the variety of ancient human subsistence practices and changing human-environmental interactions that occur in prehistory.
These results show the successful use of ZooMS as a method to identify new human remains even in tropical regions where preservation is poor. In addition, direct dating of the human bones shows the oldest directly dated human in New Guinea at Yuku ~ 11,000 cal BP. Combined with the eventual aDNA results from these bones, an understanding of the ancestry and movement of populations in the New Guinea highlands, and wider PNG, ISEA and Oceania will be possible. Linking this data to determine the presence of Denisovans in the region will be a significant contribution to our understanding of human evolution and migration in ISEA.
This research is the start to determining how different populations adapted to changes in environments and if Denisovans in New Guinea were the last of the archaic humans to survive. A key component of this research stems from the analyses of the faunal remains. These remains provide key information regarding changing subsistence behaviours over the Late Pleistocene to early Holocene transition (from cold/dry grasslands to montane rainforests) and reveal specific shifts occurring for particular taxa (e.g. macropods, cassowaries, and pigs). The combination of the morphological remains with the unidentified fragmented material (ZooMS identified) allows for a more robust coverage of the zooarchaeological record.
Future research on other legacy archaeological material from the New Guinea Highlands, as well as new excavations of sites, will no doubt provide further data to piece together when Denisovans and modern humans were present in the region, and how their behaviour and culture changed over time. The impact of changing environments is continued to be seen in the archaeological record and future studies on both the human remains, as well as the faunal assemblages of various highlands sites can shed more light on complex human culture and behaviours. In particular, focusing on exploring the variety of ancient human subsistence practices and changing human-environmental interactions that occur in prehistory.