Pleistocene chronology and history of hominins and fauna at Denisova Cave
Abstract Denisova Cave in southern Siberia is the only site known to have been occupied by Denisovans, Neanderthals and modern humans. The cave consists of three chambers (Main, East and South), with the archaeological assemblages and remains of hominins, fauna and flora recovered from Main and East...
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Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60140-6 |
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| author | Zenobia Jacobs Elena I. Zavala Bo Li Kieran O’Gorman Michael V. Shunkov Maxim B. Kozlikin Anatoly P. Derevianko Vladimir A. Uliyanov Paul Goldberg Alexander K. Agadjanian Sergei K. Vasiliev Frank Brink Stéphane Peyrégne Viviane Slon Svante Pääbo Janet Kelso Matthias Meyer Richard G. Roberts |
| author_facet | Zenobia Jacobs Elena I. Zavala Bo Li Kieran O’Gorman Michael V. Shunkov Maxim B. Kozlikin Anatoly P. Derevianko Vladimir A. Uliyanov Paul Goldberg Alexander K. Agadjanian Sergei K. Vasiliev Frank Brink Stéphane Peyrégne Viviane Slon Svante Pääbo Janet Kelso Matthias Meyer Richard G. Roberts |
| author_sort | Zenobia Jacobs |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Denisova Cave in southern Siberia is the only site known to have been occupied by Denisovans, Neanderthals and modern humans. The cave consists of three chambers (Main, East and South), with the archaeological assemblages and remains of hominins, fauna and flora recovered from Main and East Chambers being the most thoroughly investigated to date. Here we report the results of analyses of the Palaeolithic artefacts, faunal remains and hominin and mammalian mitochondrial (mt) DNA recovered from renewed excavations in South Chamber. We construct a calendar-year time scale for the stratified Pleistocene deposits from optical dating of the sediments. The timing of hominin occupation and major turnovers in the mtDNA of Denisovans and large mammals largely accords with the patterns detected in Main and East Chambers. Time gaps in those sequences are partly filled by the South Chamber data and the sediment DNA record of Denisovans after 80,000 years ago is more than doubled in size. We combine the sediment dating and DNA records for all three chambers to reveal the whole-of-cave history of this unique site and the climatic conditions experienced by hominins and fauna over the past 300,000 years, including potential changes in habitat suitability for Denisovans and Neanderthals. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-efd03d216d4d47e9966043d3b4f339cd |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-efd03d216d4d47e9966043d3b4f339cd2025-08-20T03:48:19ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-05-0116111910.1038/s41467-025-60140-6Pleistocene chronology and history of hominins and fauna at Denisova CaveZenobia Jacobs0Elena I. Zavala1Bo Li2Kieran O’Gorman3Michael V. Shunkov4Maxim B. Kozlikin5Anatoly P. Derevianko6Vladimir A. Uliyanov7Paul Goldberg8Alexander K. Agadjanian9Sergei K. Vasiliev10Frank Brink11Stéphane Peyrégne12Viviane Slon13Svante Pääbo14Janet Kelso15Matthias Meyer16Richard G. Roberts17Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Science, University of WollongongMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyCentre for Archaeological Science, School of Science, University of WollongongCentre for Archaeological Science, School of Science, University of WollongongInstitute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian BranchInstitute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian BranchInstitute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian BranchLomonosov Moscow State UniversityCentre for Archaeological Science, School of Science, University of WollongongBorissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of SciencesInstitute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Russian Academy of Sciences, Siberian BranchCentre for Advanced Microscopy, Australian National UniversityMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyMax Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyCentre for Archaeological Science, School of Science, University of WollongongAbstract Denisova Cave in southern Siberia is the only site known to have been occupied by Denisovans, Neanderthals and modern humans. The cave consists of three chambers (Main, East and South), with the archaeological assemblages and remains of hominins, fauna and flora recovered from Main and East Chambers being the most thoroughly investigated to date. Here we report the results of analyses of the Palaeolithic artefacts, faunal remains and hominin and mammalian mitochondrial (mt) DNA recovered from renewed excavations in South Chamber. We construct a calendar-year time scale for the stratified Pleistocene deposits from optical dating of the sediments. The timing of hominin occupation and major turnovers in the mtDNA of Denisovans and large mammals largely accords with the patterns detected in Main and East Chambers. Time gaps in those sequences are partly filled by the South Chamber data and the sediment DNA record of Denisovans after 80,000 years ago is more than doubled in size. We combine the sediment dating and DNA records for all three chambers to reveal the whole-of-cave history of this unique site and the climatic conditions experienced by hominins and fauna over the past 300,000 years, including potential changes in habitat suitability for Denisovans and Neanderthals.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60140-6 |
| spellingShingle | Zenobia Jacobs Elena I. Zavala Bo Li Kieran O’Gorman Michael V. Shunkov Maxim B. Kozlikin Anatoly P. Derevianko Vladimir A. Uliyanov Paul Goldberg Alexander K. Agadjanian Sergei K. Vasiliev Frank Brink Stéphane Peyrégne Viviane Slon Svante Pääbo Janet Kelso Matthias Meyer Richard G. Roberts Pleistocene chronology and history of hominins and fauna at Denisova Cave Nature Communications |
| title | Pleistocene chronology and history of hominins and fauna at Denisova Cave |
| title_full | Pleistocene chronology and history of hominins and fauna at Denisova Cave |
| title_fullStr | Pleistocene chronology and history of hominins and fauna at Denisova Cave |
| title_full_unstemmed | Pleistocene chronology and history of hominins and fauna at Denisova Cave |
| title_short | Pleistocene chronology and history of hominins and fauna at Denisova Cave |
| title_sort | pleistocene chronology and history of hominins and fauna at denisova cave |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-60140-6 |
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