Neanderthals were a species of human that resided in Europe and Asia in between about 200,000 and 30,000 years earlier. They are known for their distinctive physical characteristics, such as a stocky develop, a large nose, and an extending lower jaw. Regardless of being carefully associated to modern human beings, Neanderthals eventually went extinct, perhaps due to a combination of elements consisting of competitors with modern-day humans and changes in the climate.
This discovery is vital for studying the evolutionary model of hominins during the Middle Pleistocene duration in Europe.
Jorge Rivera, a scientist and specialist from the University of Sevilles GRS Radioisotopes department, has made a significant discovery in Europe involving hominin footprints found in Matalascañas. The group used optically-stimulated luminescence techniques at the University of Sevilles Centre for Research, Technology, and Innovation (CITIUS) and CENIEH, to figure out that the footprints are 200,000 years older than previously believed, dating back to 295,800 years back in the Middle Pleistocene duration.
This recommends that pre-Neanderthals resided in the Doñana location throughout this time. The research study, led by Professor of Paleontology Eduardo Mayoral at the University of Huelva, was recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The strategy
Optically-stimulated luminescence is an approach utilized to find the absolute age of sediments that have actually been completely exposed to sunlight.
Scientific milestone
The discovery in June 2020 of hominin footprints more than 106,000 years old next to El Asperillo (Matalascañas, Huelva) was a transformation for the scientific world, so much so that it was thought about one of the most important discoveries of that year. Now, the publication of this new paper has actually validated what some specialists believed at the time: those footprints were much older and are in reality 200,000 years older than previously believed. While it was formerly positioned in the Upper Pleistocene, the evidence now points plainly to the Middle Pleistocene, and to its being 295,800 years old, making it a distinct record in Europe, considering that there is no much better site worldwide in terms of number, age and area than that of the El Asperillo beach for hominin fossil footprints.
After collecting samples from the various levels, and another 2 later to compare the very first outcomes, the age of the fossil stays was established and points to the Middle Pleistocene, a turning point in between different climatic phases, between a warm duration, MIS 9 (360,000-300,000 years ago), in shift to MIS 8 (300,000-240,000 years ago), in which a significant glaciation took location.
The age is therefore specified at 295,800 years, with a margin of error of 17,800 years, according to the data gathered from the four samples of sedimentary levels in the cliffs of El Asperillo where the site was found, initially 87 footprints, which now has a record of more than 300 footprints, of which 10% are thought about unspoiled. With the exception of those from Matalascañas, it is kept in mind that no other hominin footprints are understood in between the weather stages MIS9 and MIS 8 of the Middle Pleistocene. That is why it is questioned whether they belong to Neanderthals.
But are they Neanderthals?
Initially, they were believed to be Neanderthals, however that is now in doubt. The primary hypothesis among the researchers is that they are people of the Neanderthal lineage, among which Homo heidelbergensis and Homo neanderthalensis have been associated. The hypothesis that they are pre-neanderthal hominins is feasible.
Precisely for this reason, the Matalascañas footprints are now more important due to their contribution to the fossil records of hominins in the Middle Pleistocene, which is really bad in Europe because of the shortage of deposits with footprints. Previously, according to the paper, footprints this duration have just been found at Terra Amata and Roccamonfina (Italy), which were dated to in between 380,000 and 345,000 years earlier, with records of Homo heidelbergensis.
They are the only ones older than that at Huelva in this age. After these, Biache-Vaast (France) and Theopetra (Greece) websites, from 236,000 to 130,000 years back, are attributed to Homo neanderthalensis. In this context, the length variety of all the footprints discovered at Matalascañas, from 14 to 29 centimeters, is comparable to that discovered at European websites, such as Theopetra (14-15 centimeters), Roccamonfina (24-27 cm) and Terra Amata (24 cm).
In any case, the professionals highlight the singularity of the Matalascañas discovery, whose brand-new dating has actually questioned the existing paradigms and has needed a deep analysis before accepting its conclusions.
The brand-new chronology now develops a modification in the situation that then dominated on the coast of the Gulf of Cádiz, with human settlements in a more temperate and damp climate than in the rest of Europe, with high water tables and abundant plant life.
Because exact same period, the water level would have had to do with 60 meters listed below its present level. This implies that the coast would be more than 20 kilometers from where it is today, which is how there would have been an excellent coastal plain, with large flood-prone areas, in which the footprints found in mid-2020 would have been made.
The websites new dating also affects the vertebrate animals discovered, considering that the hominin traces there also consisted of footprints of big mammals such as straight-tusked elephants, enormous bulls (aurochs), and boars. It was the fauna that lived in Doñana 300,000 years back and not 100,000 years ago, as other investigations stated.
Recommendation: “New dating of the Matalascañas footprints provides new proof of the Middle Pleistocene (MIS 9-8) hominin paleoecology in southern Europe” by Eduardo Mayoral, Jérémy Duveau, Ana Santos, Antonio Rodríguez Ramírez, Juan A. Morales, Ricardo Díaz-Delgado, Jorge Rivera-Silva, Asier Gómez-Olivencia and Ignacio Díaz-Martínez, 19 October 2022, Scientific Reports.DOI: 10.1038/ s41598-022-22524-2.
Neanderthals were a species of human that lived in Europe and Asia between about 200,000 and 30,000 years ago. The discovery in June 2020 of hominin footprints more than 106,000 years old next to El Asperillo (Matalascañas, Huelva) was a transformation for the scientific world, so much so that it was considered one of the most important discoveries of that year. Now, the publication of this brand-new paper has validated what some professionals presumed at the time: those footprints were much older and are in truth 200,000 years older than previously thought. While it was formerly placed in the Upper Pleistocene, the proof now points plainly to the Middle Pleistocene, and to its being 295,800 years old, making it a special record in Europe, given that there is no much better site in the world in terms of number, age and area than that of the El Asperillo beach for hominin fossil footprints.
The age is thus defined at 295,800 years, with a margin of error of 17,800 years, according to the data gathered from the four samples of sedimentary levels in the cliffs of El Asperillo where the website was found, at first 87 footprints, which now has a record of more than 300 footprints, of which 10% are considered well-preserved.
