Around 45,000 years ago, the first modern humans arrived in Europe during the last Ice Age, marking the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic period. These early human groups settled across Europe and continued to live there through harsh climatic conditions, including the Last Glacial Maximum around 25,000 years ago, when glaciers covered much of northern and central Europe. For a long time, archaeologists have debated how these extreme environmental changes impacted the hunter-gatherer populations of the time. Due to the scarcity of well-preserved fossils, it has been difficult to determine how climate factors influenced population migrations, growth, decline, and even extinction.
Dr. Hannes Rathmann and his team from the Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment at the University of Tübingen have taken a new approach to this question. Instead of relying on the limited and often poorly preserved ancient DNA from prehistoric individuals, the researchers focused on analyzing fossilized teeth, which are the hardest tissue in the human body and are commonly found at archaeological sites. This approach allowed the team to collect an unprecedented dataset, comprising dental information from 450 prehistoric individuals from across Europe, covering a period between 47,000 and 7,000 years ago.
The team studied specific “morphological” dental traits, such as the number and shape of cusps on the crown, the patterns of ridges and grooves on the chewing surface, and the presence or absence of wisdom teeth. These traits are inherited and can be used to trace genetic relationships between Ice Age humans, even without well-preserved ancient DNA. By examining historical photographs of fossils, the researchers were also able to include data from important specimens that have been lost or destroyed, such as those lost during World War II.
The study’s findings revealed that between 47,000 and 28,000 years ago, during the Middle Pleniglacial period, populations in Western and Eastern Europe were genetically connected. This aligns with previous archaeological evidence, showing widespread similarities in stone tools, hunting weapons, and even portable art across these regions. During this time, Europe was predominantly characterized by open steppe landscapes that could support large herds of mammals, the primary food source for hunter-gatherers. These favorable conditions likely facilitated connections between populations.
However, during the Late Pleniglacial period, from 28,000 to 14,700 years ago, the researchers found no genetic connections between Western and Eastern Europe. Both regions experienced significant population declines, leading to a loss of genetic diversity. This drastic demographic shift was likely caused by massive climate changes, as temperatures dropped to their lowest during the Upper Paleolithic, culminating in the Last Glacial Maximum. The harsh climate led to changes in vegetation, from steppe to tundra, impacting the habitats of prey animals and the hunter-gatherers who depended on them.
The study suggests that Western European populations went extinct during the transition from the Middle to the Late Pleniglacial and were replaced by new groups migrating from Eastern Europe. As the Ice Age ended and temperatures gradually rose, the glaciers retreated, and steppe and forest vegetation returned, allowing populations to increase and migrations between regions to resume.
The researchers employed a new machine-learning algorithm called Pheno-ABC, which enabled them to reconstruct complex prehistoric demographic events using morphological data. This innovative method could revolutionize the analysis of fossil skeletal morphology, offering new insights into the profound impacts of climate and environmental changes on prehistoric human life. Dr. Rathmann and his colleagues emphasize the importance of learning from the past to address the environmental challenges of the future.
SOURCES
Hannes Rathmann et al., Human population dynamics in Upper Paleolithic Europe inferred from fossil dental phenotypes. Sci. Adv. 10, eadn8129(2024). DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adn8129
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