Soressi M, Jones H L, Rink W J, Maureille B, Tillier A-M
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Dept. of Human Evolution, Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
J Hum Evol. 2007 Apr;52(4):455-66. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2006.11.006. Epub 2006 Dec 10.
The Pech-de-l'Azé I skull and mandible are included in the juvenile Neandertal remains from Europe. However, some preserved features in the cranial skeleton seem to distinguish the specimen from other Neandertal children. Unfortunately, the stratigraphic position and dating of this child has never been clear. Our recent work on unpublished archives show that the Pech-de-l'Azé I Neandertal child was discovered at the bottom of layer 6, attributed to the Mousterian of Acheulean tradition type B. These skull and mandible are the first diagnostic human remains (aside from an isolated tooth) attributed to the Mousterian of Acheulian tradition (MTA) type B. Consequently, we confirm that Neandertals were the makers of this Mousterian industry, which is characterized by unusual high frequencies of Upper Paleolithic type tools, elongated blanks and blades. We were able to date the context of the hominid remains by dating layer 6 and the layers above and beneath it using ESR, coupled ESR/(230)Th/(234)U (coupled ESR/U-series), and AMS (14)C. Coupled ESR/U-series results on 16 mammalian teeth constrain the age of the uppermost layer 7 to 41-58ka, and layer 6 to 37-51ka. The wide spread in each age estimate results mainly from uncertainties in the gamma-dose rate. These ages are concordant with AMS (14)C ages of two bones coming from the top of layer 6, which provide dates of about 41.7-43.6ka cal BP. A combination of stratigraphic arguments and dating results for layers 6 and 7 show that the Neandertal child cannot be older than 51ka or younger than 41ka. The lowermost layer 4 is shown to be older than 43ka by the principle of superposition and ESR dating in the immediately overlying layer 5. This study shows that the MTA type B had been manufactured by Neandertals before the arrival of anatomically modern humans in the local region. Additionally, by providing a firm chronological framework for the specific morphometric the features of Pech-de-l'Azé I Neandertal child, this study is a new step toward the understanding of temporal and spatial changes in the ontogenesis of Neandertals in south-western Europe during oxygen isotope stages 5-3.
佩什德阿泽I号头骨和下颌骨属于欧洲的尼安德特人幼年遗骸。然而，颅骨骨骼中保存的一些特征似乎将该标本与其他尼安德特儿童区分开来。不幸的是，这个孩子的地层位置和年代测定一直不明确。我们最近对未发表档案的研究表明，佩什德阿泽I号尼安德特儿童是在第6层底部发现的，该层属于阿舍利传统B型莫斯特文化层。这些头骨和下颌骨是首次归因于阿舍利传统莫斯特文化（MTA）B型的诊断性人类遗骸（除了一颗孤立的牙齿）。因此，我们证实尼安德特人是这种莫斯特文化工业的创造者，其特点是旧石器时代晚期类型工具、细长毛坯和刀片的出现频率异常高。我们通过使用电子自旋共振（ESR）、耦合电子自旋共振/钍-230/铀-234（耦合ESR/铀系）和加速器质谱（AMS）碳-14对第6层及其上下层进行测年，从而确定了人类遗骸的年代背景。对16颗哺乳动物牙齿的耦合ESR/铀系测年结果将最上层第7层的年龄限制在41 - 58千年前，第6层的年龄限制在37 - 51千年前。每个年龄估计值的广泛分布主要是由于伽马剂量率的不确定性。这些年龄与来自第6层顶部的两块骨头的AMS碳-14年龄一致，AMS碳-14年龄提供了约41.7 - 43.6千年校正年前的年代。对第6层和第7层的地层学论证和测年结果相结合表明，尼安德特儿童的年龄不可能大于51千年前或小于41千年前。根据叠覆原理以及紧邻的上层第5层的ESR测年结果，最下层第4层显示比43千年前更古老。这项研究表明，在解剖学上现代人类到达该地区之前，阿舍利传统莫斯特文化B型是由尼安德特人制造的。此外，通过为佩什德阿泽I号尼安德特儿童的特定形态特征提供一个可靠的年代框架，这项研究朝着理解氧同位素阶段5 - 3期间欧洲西南部尼安德特人个体发育的时空变化迈出了新的一步。
