Initial Upper Paleolithic

The Initial Upper Paleolithic (also IUP, c. 50,000–40,000 BP) covers the first stage of the Upper Paleolithic, during which modern human populations expanded throughout Eurasia following the initial migration out of Africa.

Technology, art and distribution

The Initial Upper Paleolithic period is characterized by a broadly shared material culture and tools associated with an early modern human dispersal >45kya. These IUP tools are characterized by a combination of elements of the Levallois technique (faceted platforms, hard hammer percussion, flat-faced cores). There are broadly two major IUP-affiliated types: 'microlithic blades' (or microblades) and 'core & flakes' (or CAF assemblages). While most archaeologists agree on the existence of a shared set of traits, it remains unclear how much those can be related to a single demic diffusion event, or be explained by cultural transmission or convergence.[2][3][4] </mapframe>

The dispersal of IUP-affiliated material culture into Europe, Central Asia and Siberia as well as Northwest China may stem from a distinct migration wave than the dispersal of IUP-affiliated material culture into the South, Southeast and East Asian region as well as Oceania.[2][5] While the IUP types in Europe, Central Asia and Siberia, such as the Bacho Kiro, Ust'-Ishim, and Kara-Bom sites, are primarily affiliated with microblades, the IUP-types in South, Southeast, and East Asia, as well as Oceania, such as the Tianyuan site, are primarily affiliated with core and flake tools. A distinct type of IUP-affiliated technology has also been found in Nwya Devu, a Paleolithic site on the Tibetan plateau.[6][5]

In Eastern Asia the Initial Upper Paleolithic corresponds to the spread of 'core & flakes'. Although there is a sharp border between core/flake-based tools in Northern China and nearby blade-based tools in Mongolia, the Shuidonggou site displays both types, pointing to a period of contact or adaption.[6] The 'core & flake' tools may be associated with the major source of ancestry for modern Eastern Asians, having arrived in East Asia via a southern route through South Asia into Southeast Asia and subsequently rapidly expanding northwards.[7][8][9]

In Europe and Central Asia, the Initial Upper Paleolithic corresponds to the spread of a particular techno-complex in Eurasia,[10] to which possibly relates the European Châtelperronian.[11] The European IUP-affiliated Aurignacian complex (Protoaurignacian and Early Aurignacian) with its famous Cave art seems to correspond to another, later, human wave which spread through the Levant area.[10] In effect Aurignacian (42,000-28,000 BP) layers generally postdate late Mousterian and Initial Upper Paleolithic assemblages.[12] Aurignacian seems to have emerged out of the Initial Upper Paleolithic around 43,000 to 42,000 cal BP, in a process that is yet to be determined.[13]

Archaeogenetics

See also: Ancient East Eurasians

The Initial Upper Palaeolithic was marked by the divergence between the ancestors of modern non-African human populations, with a 2024 study estimating the split between the East Eurasian branch (ancestral to modern East and Southeast Asians, Siberians and Native Americans) and West Eurasian branch (ancestral to modern Europeans and Middle Easterners) around 46,000 years ago.[14] Tianyuan man from northern China, who unambiguously belongs to the East Eurasian branch dates to the end of the IUP, around 40,000 years ago. However, many sequenced individuals from the Initial Upper Palaeolithic belong to now extinct branches of the out of Africa population that are not closely related or ancestral to modern non-African groups.[15]

The Neanderthal admixture event shared by all modern non-Africans is suggested to have occurred during the Initial Upper Palaeolithic, with several IUP individuals such as Oase 1 from Romania and several from Bacho Kiro Cave in Bulgaria showing evidence of distinct subsequent Neanderthal admixture events that had occurred relatively few generations prior to their lifetime.[15]

Among the earliest modern humans which have been directly dated to this period are:[16]

These individuals (except Tianyuan)[19] did not contribute substantially to modern humans, although showing some similarities with modern Siberian people, but from around 37,000 a new wave of modern humans emerged, creating a single founder population, which became ancestral to modern Europeans, exemplified by individuals such as Kostenki-14.[20]

Other studies suggest that some IUP-affiliated populations contributed some ancestry to later Upper Paleolithic Europeans associated with the Aurignacian culture and to a lesser extent, the Gravettian culture.[21][22][23]

References

  1. ^ Hajdinjak, Mateja; Mafessoni, Fabrizio (April 2021). "Initial Upper Palaeolithic humans in Europe had recent Neanderthal ancestry". Nature. 592 (7853): 253–257. Bibcode:2021Natur.592..253H. doi:10.1038/s41586-021-03335-3. ISSN 1476-4687. PMC 8026394. PMID 33828320.
  2. ^ a b Zwyns, Nicolas (20 June 2021). "The Initial Upper Paleolithic in Central and East Asia: Blade Technology, Cultural Transmission, and Implications for Human Dispersals". Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology. 4 (3) 19. Bibcode:2021JPalA...4...19Z. doi:10.1007/s41982-021-00085-6. ISSN 2520-8217.
  3. ^ "Across steppes and mountains: the Initial Upper Paleolithic in Eurasia". SpringerLink. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  4. ^ Kuhn, Steven L.; Zwyns, Nicolas (9 October 2014). "Rethinking the initial Upper Paleolithic". Quaternary International. 347: 29–38. Bibcode:2014QuInt.347...29K. doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2014.05.040.
  5. ^ a b YANG, JIN, WANG, and ZHANG, Ziyi, Yingshuai, Shejiang and Xiaoling (2023). "Discovery and research review of knapped lithics of the South Asian subcontinent". 人类学学报. 42 (3). doi:10.16359/j.1000-3193/AAS.2023.0019.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ a b Zhang, Peiqi; Haas, Randall; Paine, Clea; Zhang, Xiaoling; Zwyns, Nicolas (30 April 2024). "A Cold Habitat: Mapping Blade Assemblages Between the Siberian Altai and the Tibetan Plateau During MIS 3". Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology. 7 (1): 11. doi:10.1007/s41982-024-00175-1. ISSN 2520-8217.
  7. ^ Bennett, E. Andrew; Liu, Yichen; Fu, Qiaomei (3 December 2024). "Reconstructing the Human Population History of East Asia through Ancient Genomics". Elements in Ancient East Asia. doi:10.1017/9781009246675. ISBN 978-1-009-24667-5. ... ancient and modern genomic studies appear to favor a southern route into East Asia for the majority of genetic diversity present there today. ... If these East Asian IUP sites were to be linked to populations related to Ust' Ishim it would appear these people left no detectable genetic legacy in modern East Asia. It may also be found that the material at some of these IUP sites was created by populations derived from East Asian lineages linked to or branching from Tianyuan.
  8. ^ Abood, Steven; Oota, Hiroki (14 February 2025). "Human dispersal into East Eurasia: ancient genome insights and the need for research on physiological adaptations". Journal of Physiological Anthropology. 44 (1): 5. doi:10.1186/s40101-024-00382-3. ISSN 1880-6805. PMC 11829451. PMID 39953642. The results indicated that all modern East Asians, Northeast Asians, and Native Americans, including this Jomon individual, are descendants of populations that reached the eastern side of the Eurasian continent via the southern route.
  9. ^ "Following Pleistocene road signs of human dispersals across Eurasia". ResearchGate. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 22 February 2025.
  10. ^ a b Hublin, Jean-Jacques; Sirakov, Nikolay (11 May 2020). "Initial Upper Palaeolithic Homo sapiens from Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria" (PDF). Nature. 581 (7808): 299–302. Bibcode:2020Natur.581..299H. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-2259-z. PMID 32433609. S2CID 218592678. Archaeological and palaeontological evidence strongly suggest that the initial modern colonization of eastern Europe and central Asia should be related to the spread of techno-complexes assigned to the Initial Upper Palaeolithic. This first expansion may have started as early as 48 ka cal BP. The earliest phases of the Aurignacian complex (Protoaurignacian and Early Aurignacian) seem to represent another modern wave of migrations, starting in the Levant area. The expansion of this techno-complex throughout Europe completed the modern colonization of the continent.
  11. ^ Zwyns, Nicolas (20 June 2021). "The Initial Upper Paleolithic in Central and East Asia: Blade Technology, Cultural Transmission, and Implications for Human Dispersals". Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology. 4 (3) 19. Bibcode:2021JPalA...4...19Z. doi:10.1007/s41982-021-00085-6. ISSN 2520-8217. S2CID 237661736.
  12. ^ Tryon, Christian A. (12 December 2015). "The Aurignacian Viewed from Africa". Palethnologie. Archéologie et sciences humaines (7). doi:10.4000/palethnologie.693. ISSN 2108-6532. In many parts of Europe and the Levant, Aurignacian strata postdate a complex array of regionally specific late Mousterian and Initial Upper Paleolithic assemblages variably attributed to Neanderthals and H. sapiens that likely record an interval of profound behavioral and demographic changes
  13. ^ Haws, Jonathan A. (2020). "The early Aurignacian dispersal of modern humans into westernmost Eurasia". PNAS. 117 (41): 25414–25422. Bibcode:2020PNAS..11725414H. doi:10.1073/pnas.2016062117. PMC 7568277. PMID 32989161. At some point, around 43 to 42 ka cal BP, the regional variants of the Initial Upper Paleolithic coalesced into the Aurignacian technocomplex, appearing synchronously across western Eurasia
  14. ^ Vallini, Leonardo; Zampieri, Carlo; Shoaee, Mohamed Javad; Bortolini, Eugenio; Marciani, Giulia; Aneli, Serena; Pievani, Telmo; Benazzi, Stefano; Barausse, Alberto; Mezzavilla, Massimo; Petraglia, Michael D.; Pagani, Luca (25 March 2024). "The Persian plateau served as hub for Homo sapiens after the main out of Africa dispersal". Nature Communications. 15 (1): 1882. Bibcode:2024NatCo..15.1882V. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-46161-7. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 10963722. PMID 38528002. ... and the split between EEC and WEC, with the former leaving the Hub18, 46 kya (allowing the time for them to reach Ust'Ishim and Bacho Kiro by ~45 kya).
  15. ^ a b Sümer, Arev P.; Rougier, Hélène; Villalba-Mouco, Vanessa; Huang, Yilei; Iasi, Leonardo N. M.; Essel, Elena; Bossoms Mesa, Alba; Furtwaengler, Anja; Peyrégne, Stéphane; de Filippo, Cesare; Rohrlach, Adam B.; Pierini, Federica; Mafessoni, Fabrizio; Fewlass, Helen; Zavala, Elena I. (20 February 2025). "Earliest modern human genomes constrain timing of Neanderthal admixture". Nature. 638 (8051): 711–717. doi:10.1038/s41586-024-08420-x. ISSN 0028-0836. PMC 11839475. PMID 39667410.
  16. ^ a b Prüfer, Kay; Posth, Cosimo (June 2021). "A genome sequence from a modern human skull over 45,000 years old from Zlatý kůň in Czechia". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 5 (6): 820–825. Bibcode:2021NatEE...5..820P. doi:10.1038/s41559-021-01443-x. ISSN 2397-334X. PMC 8175239. PMID 33828249. A female individual from Zlatý kůň, Czechia. We found that she belonged to a population that appears to have contributed genetically neither to later Europeans nor to Asians. (...) A complete genome has been produced from the ~45,000-year-old remains of Ust'-Ishim, a Siberian individual who showed no genetic continuity to later Eurasians. This contrasts with the ~40,000-year-old East Asian individual from Tianyuan whose genome is more closely related to many present-day Asians and Native Americans than to Europeans. From Europe, only the partial genome of an individual called Oase 1 and dated to ~40 ka has been recovered, and this showed no evidence of shared ancestry with later Europeans
  17. ^ Hajdinjak et al. 2021, p. 253, "They have been directly radiocarbon-dated to between 45,930 and 42,580 calibrated years before present (cal. BP), and their mitochondrial genomes are of the modern human type, suggesting that they are the oldest Upper Palaeolithic modern humans that have been recovered in Europe.".
  18. ^ a b Fu, Qiaomei (2016). "The genetic history of Ice Age Europe". Nature. 534 (7606): 200–205. Bibcode:2016Natur.534..200F. doi:10.1038/nature17993. PMC 4943878. PMID 27135931. Ust'-Ishim and Oase1, which predate GoyetQ116-1 and Kostenki14, do not show any distinctive affinity to later Europeans
  19. ^ Villalba-Mouco, Vanessa; van de Loosdrecht, Marieke S.; Rohrlach, Adam B.; Fewlass, Helen; Talamo, Sahra; Yu, He; Aron, Franziska; Lalueza-Fox, Carles; Cabello, Lidia; Cantalejo Duarte, Pedro; Ramos-Muñoz, José; Posth, Cosimo; Krause, Johannes; Weniger, Gerd-Christian; Haak, Wolfgang (April 2023). "A 23,000-year-old southern Iberian individual links human groups that lived in Western Europe before and after the Last Glacial Maximum". Nature Ecology & Evolution. 7 (4): 597–609. Bibcode:2023NatEE...7..597V. doi:10.1038/s41559-023-01987-0. ISSN 2397-334X. PMC 10089921. PMID 36859553.
  20. ^ Fu, Qiaomei (2016). "The genetic history of Ice Age Europe". Nature. 534 (7606): 200–205. Bibcode:2016Natur.534..200F. doi:10.1038/nature17993. PMC 4943878. PMID 27135931. Whereas the earliest modern humans in Europe did not contribute substantially to present-day Europeans, all individuals between ~37,000 and ~14,000 years ago descended from a single founder population which forms part of the ancestry of present-day Europeans." (...) "First, at least some of the initial modern humans to appear in Europe, exemplified by Ust'-Ishim and Oase1, failed to contribute appreciably to the current European gene pool. Only from around 37,000 years ago do all the European individuals analyzed share ancestry with present-day Europeans
  21. ^ Massilani, Diyendo; Skov, Laurits; Hajdinjak, Mateja; Gunchinsuren, Byambaa; Tseveendorj, Damdinsuren; Yi, Seonbok; Lee, Jungeun; Nagel, Sarah; Nickel, Birgit; Devièse, Thibaut; Higham, Tom; Meyer, Matthias; Kelso, Janet; Peter, Benjamin M.; Pääbo, Svante (30 October 2020). "Denisovan ancestry and population history of early East Asians". Science. 370 (6516): 579–583. doi:10.1126/science.abc1166. PMID 33122380.
  22. ^ Vallini, Leonardo; Marciani, Giulia; Aneli, Serena; Bortolini, Eugenio; Benazzi, Stefano; Pievani, Telmo; Pagani, Luca (10 April 2022). "Genetics and Material Culture Support Repeated Expansions into Paleolithic Eurasia from a Population Hub Out of Africa". Genome Biology and Evolution. 14 (4) evac045. doi:10.1093/gbe/evac045. PMC 9021735. PMID 35445261.
  23. ^ Vallini, Leonardo; Zampieri, Carlo; Shoaee, Mohamed Javad; Bortolini, Eugenio; Marciani, Giulia; Aneli, Serena; Pievani, Telmo; Benazzi, Stefano; Barausse, Alberto; Mezzavilla, Massimo; Petraglia, Michael D.; Pagani, Luca (25 March 2024). "The Persian plateau served as hub for Homo sapiens after the main out of Africa dispersal". Nature Communications. 15 (1): 1882. Bibcode:2024NatCo..15.1882V. doi:10.1038/s41467-024-46161-7. ISSN 2041-1723. PMC 10963722. PMID 38528002.

Sources

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