Descrizione del progetto
Come i cambiamenti ambientali hanno influenzato il declino dei Neanderthal e le loro prede
La transizione dal Paleolitico medio al Paleolitico superiore in Europa avvenuta circa tra i 57 000 e i 35 000 anni fa è stata un momento importante nell’evoluzione umana poiché copre il periodo in cui gli esseri umani anatomicamente moderni (i primi umani moderni) hanno sostituito i Neanderthal in via di estinzione dopo una breve coesistenza. Il progetto EnvINExt, finanziato dall’UE, esplorerà i cambiamenti ambientali nel tempo, per colmare il divario di conoscenze tra i cambiamenti climatici globali e il loro impatto su scala locale sul comportamento degli umani del passato e delle loro prede. A tal fine, studierà l’ecologia alimentare delle specie di prede ungulate, consumate sia dai Neanderthal che dai primi umani moderni, a partire da 10 siti archeologici nell’Iberia settentrionale durante tale transizione. Verranno eseguite analisi dei denti degli ungulati per determinare informazioni fisiologiche, ecologiche e climatiche che rispecchiano gli ambienti del passato.
Obiettivo
The Middle-Upper Paleolithic (MP-UP) transition is a key period for human evolution, as it corresponds to late Neanderthal’s disappearance and their replacement by Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH), after both species briefly co-occurred. This multifactorial event happened at different spatial and temporal scales across Europe. Climate constitutes a strong driver of species evolution. For Neanderthal, there is no consensus regarding the impact of climate on its disappearance, although it happened during the Marine Isotopic Stage 3, characterized by abrupt and rapid climatic oscillations. In order to track climate changes at the time of the Neanderthal’ demise and the evolutionary success of AMH, ecological proxies filling the gap between local environmental conditions and global climate changes are mandatory. Herbivore teeth are robust traps for physiological, ecological and climatic information and thus mirror past environments. EnvINExt implements three complementary ecological proxies on ungulates preyed by both human species from 10 archeological sites covering the MP-UP transition in North Iberia. Combined Dental Microwear Texture, Enamel Carbon and Oxygen stable Isotope and Molar Mesowear Analyses provide ecological information at three temporal scales, for a global overview of the paleoecology and paleoenvironment of preys and humans. EnvINExt has four objectives: (i) Exploring the ecology of ungulates, key preys for human populations, before, during and after the MP-UP transition, (ii) drawing paleoenvironmental inferences at the scale of the territories exploited by Neanderthals and AMH, (iii) thus, linking global climate changes with local environmental changes and asynchronous disappearances of Neanderthals through north Iberia during the MP-UP transition. Finally, (iv) to confront these results for northern Iberia, a refuge area, with what is obtained in southwestern France (Berlioz’s current postdoctoral work).
Campo scientifico
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
- HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Main Programme
Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European FellowshipsCoordinatore
39005 Santander
Spagna