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Research Articles

The spread of modern humans in Europe

John F. Hoffecker
  1. Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research, University of Colorado, 1560 30th Street, Campus Box 450, Boulder, CO 80309-0450

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PNAS September 22, 2009 106 (38) 16040-16045; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0903446106
John F. Hoffecker
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  • For correspondence: john.hoffecker@colorado.edu
  1. Edited by Richard G. Klein, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, and approved May 15, 2009 (received for review March 28, 2009)

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Abstract

The earliest credible evidence of Homo sapiens in Europe is an archaeological proxy in the form of several artifact assemblages (Bohunician) found in South-Central and possibly Eastern Europe, dating to ≤48,000 calibrated radiocarbon years before present (cal BP). They are similar to assemblages probably made by modern humans in the Levant (Emiran) at an earlier date and apparently represent a population movement into the Balkans during a warm climate interval [Greenland Interstadial 12 (GI 12)]. A second population movement may be represented by a diverse set of artifact assemblages (sometimes termed Proto-Aurignacian) found in the Balkans, parts of Southwest Europe, and probably in Eastern Europe, and dating to several brief interstadials (GI 11–GI 9) that preceded the beginning of cold Heinrich Event 4 (HE4) (≈40,000 cal BP). They are similar to contemporaneous assemblages made by modern humans in the Levant (Ahmarian). The earliest known human skeletal remains in Europe that may be unequivocally assigned to H. sapiens (Peçstera cu Oase, Romania) date to this time period (≈42,000 cal BP) but are not associated with artifacts. After the Campanian Ignimbrite volcanic eruption (40,000 cal BP) and the beginning of HE4, artifact assemblages assigned to the classic Aurignacian, an industry associated with modern human skeletal remains that seems to have developed in Europe, spread throughout the continent.

  • archaeology
  • Neanderthals
  • Homo sapiens
  • Western Eurasia

Footnotes

  • 1E-mail: john.hoffecker{at}colorado.edu
  • Author contributions: J.F.H. wrote the paper.

  • The author declares no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

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The spread of modern humans in Europe
John F. Hoffecker
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sep 2009, 106 (38) 16040-16045; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0903446106

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The spread of modern humans in Europe
John F. Hoffecker
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sep 2009, 106 (38) 16040-16045; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0903446106
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: 106 (38)
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  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Problems with the Human Fossil and Archaeological Record
    • Modern Humans as a Colonizing Species
    • South-Central Europe
    • Eastern Europe
    • Southwest Europe
    • Summary and Conclusions
    • Acknowledgments
    • Footnotes
    • References
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