Mid-Pleistocene aridity and landscape shifts promoted Palearctic hominin dispersals
Abstract Population expansions and contractions out of and into Africa since the early Pleistocene have influenced the course of human evolution. While local- and regional-scale investigations have provided insights into the drivers of Eurasian hominin dispersals, a continental-scale and integrated...
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| Format: | Article |
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Nature Portfolio
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54767-0 |
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| author | Jinbo Zan Julien Louys Robin Dennell Michael Petraglia Wenxiao Ning Xiaomin Fang Weilin Zhang Zhe Hu |
| author_facet | Jinbo Zan Julien Louys Robin Dennell Michael Petraglia Wenxiao Ning Xiaomin Fang Weilin Zhang Zhe Hu |
| author_sort | Jinbo Zan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Population expansions and contractions out of and into Africa since the early Pleistocene have influenced the course of human evolution. While local- and regional-scale investigations have provided insights into the drivers of Eurasian hominin dispersals, a continental-scale and integrated study of hominin-environmental interactions across Palearctic Eurasia has been lacking. Here, we report high-resolution (up to ∼5-10 kyr sample interval) carbon isotope time series of loess deposits in Central Asia and northwest China, a region dominated by westerly winds, providing unique paleoecological and paleoclimatic records for over ~3.6 Ma. These data, combined with further syntheses of Pleistocene paleontological and archaeological records and spatio-temporal distributions of Eurasian eolian deposits and river terraces, demonstrate a pronounced transformation of landscapes around the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition. Increased climate amplitude and aridity fluctuations over this period led to the widespread formation of more open habitats, river terraces, and desert-loess landscapes, pushing hominins to range more widely and find solutions to increasingly challenging environments. Mid-Pleistocene climatic and ecological transitions, and the formation of modern desert and loess landscapes and river networks, emerge as critical events during the dispersal of early hominins in Palearctic Eurasia. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e64bacd684fd45b88fe40b96c81b71a9 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-e64bacd684fd45b88fe40b96c81b71a92025-08-20T02:51:16ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232024-11-0115111310.1038/s41467-024-54767-0Mid-Pleistocene aridity and landscape shifts promoted Palearctic hominin dispersalsJinbo Zan0Julien Louys1Robin Dennell2Michael Petraglia3Wenxiao Ning4Xiaomin Fang5Weilin Zhang6Zhe Hu7State Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System and Resources Environment, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesAustralian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith UniversityDepartment of Archaeology, University of ExeterAustralian Research Centre for Human Evolution, Griffith UniversityState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System and Resources Environment, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System and Resources Environment, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System and Resources Environment, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesState Key Laboratory of Tibetan Plateau Earth System and Resources Environment, Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research, Chinese Academy of SciencesAbstract Population expansions and contractions out of and into Africa since the early Pleistocene have influenced the course of human evolution. While local- and regional-scale investigations have provided insights into the drivers of Eurasian hominin dispersals, a continental-scale and integrated study of hominin-environmental interactions across Palearctic Eurasia has been lacking. Here, we report high-resolution (up to ∼5-10 kyr sample interval) carbon isotope time series of loess deposits in Central Asia and northwest China, a region dominated by westerly winds, providing unique paleoecological and paleoclimatic records for over ~3.6 Ma. These data, combined with further syntheses of Pleistocene paleontological and archaeological records and spatio-temporal distributions of Eurasian eolian deposits and river terraces, demonstrate a pronounced transformation of landscapes around the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition. Increased climate amplitude and aridity fluctuations over this period led to the widespread formation of more open habitats, river terraces, and desert-loess landscapes, pushing hominins to range more widely and find solutions to increasingly challenging environments. Mid-Pleistocene climatic and ecological transitions, and the formation of modern desert and loess landscapes and river networks, emerge as critical events during the dispersal of early hominins in Palearctic Eurasia.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54767-0 |
| spellingShingle | Jinbo Zan Julien Louys Robin Dennell Michael Petraglia Wenxiao Ning Xiaomin Fang Weilin Zhang Zhe Hu Mid-Pleistocene aridity and landscape shifts promoted Palearctic hominin dispersals Nature Communications |
| title | Mid-Pleistocene aridity and landscape shifts promoted Palearctic hominin dispersals |
| title_full | Mid-Pleistocene aridity and landscape shifts promoted Palearctic hominin dispersals |
| title_fullStr | Mid-Pleistocene aridity and landscape shifts promoted Palearctic hominin dispersals |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mid-Pleistocene aridity and landscape shifts promoted Palearctic hominin dispersals |
| title_short | Mid-Pleistocene aridity and landscape shifts promoted Palearctic hominin dispersals |
| title_sort | mid pleistocene aridity and landscape shifts promoted palearctic hominin dispersals |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-54767-0 |
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