Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, Germany.
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
Nature. 2019 Jan;565(7741):640-644. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0870-z. Epub 2019 Jan 30.
Denisova Cave in the Siberian Altai (Russia) is a key site for understanding the complex relationships between hominin groups that inhabited Eurasia in the Middle and Late Pleistocene epoch. DNA sequenced from human remains found at this site has revealed the presence of a hitherto unknown hominin group, the Denisovans, and high-coverage genomes from both Neanderthal and Denisovan fossils provide evidence for admixture between these two populations. Determining the age of these fossils is important if we are to understand the nature of hominin interaction, and aspects of their cultural and subsistence adaptations. Here we present 50 radiocarbon determinations from the late Middle and Upper Palaeolithic layers of the site. We also report three direct dates for hominin fragments and obtain a mitochondrial DNA sequence for one of them. We apply a Bayesian age modelling approach that combines chronometric (radiocarbon, uranium series and optical ages), stratigraphic and genetic data to calculate probabilistically the age of the human fossils at the site. Our modelled estimate for the age of the oldest Denisovan fossil suggests that this group was present at the site as early as 195,000 years ago (at 95.4% probability). All Neanderthal fossils-as well as Denisova 11, the daughter of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan-date to between 80,000 and 140,000 years ago. The youngest Denisovan dates to 52,000-76,000 years ago. Direct radiocarbon dating of Upper Palaeolithic tooth pendants and bone points yielded the earliest evidence for the production of these artefacts in northern Eurasia, between 43,000 and 49,000 calibrated years before present (taken as AD 1950). On the basis of current archaeological evidence, it may be assumed that these artefacts are associated with the Denisovan population. It is not currently possible to determine whether anatomically modern humans were involved in their production, as modern-human fossil and genetic evidence of such antiquity has not yet been identified in the Altai region.
西伯利亚阿尔泰山的丹尼索瓦洞穴（俄罗斯）是了解中更新世和晚更新世期间居住在欧亚大陆的人类群体之间复杂关系的关键地点。从该地点发现的人类遗骸中提取的 DNA 揭示了一个迄今未知的人类群体——丹尼索瓦人，而尼安德特人和丹尼索瓦人的高覆盖率基因组则提供了这两个种群之间混合的证据。如果我们要了解人类互动的性质以及他们的文化和生存适应的各个方面，那么确定这些化石的年龄很重要。在这里，我们展示了该地点晚中更新世和上新世地层的 50 个放射性碳测定值。我们还报告了三个人类化石的直接日期，并获得了其中一个的线粒体 DNA 序列。我们应用了一种贝叶斯年龄建模方法，该方法结合了计时学（放射性碳、铀系列和光学年龄）、地层学和遗传数据，以概率计算该地点人类化石的年龄。我们对最古老的丹尼索瓦人化石年龄的建模估计表明，该群体早在 195,000 年前（在 95.4%的概率下）就已经存在于该地点。所有的尼安德特人化石——以及尼安德特人和丹尼索瓦人的女儿丹尼索瓦 11——的年代都在 80,000 至 140,000 年前。最年轻的丹尼索瓦人的年代为 52,000-76,000 年前。对上新世牙齿吊坠和骨头点的直接放射性碳测年提供了在欧亚大陆北部制造这些人工制品的最早证据，其年代在距今 43,000 至 49,000 校准年前（公元 1950 年）。根据目前的考古证据，可以假设这些人工制品与丹尼索瓦人有关。目前尚无法确定现代人类是否参与了这些人工制品的制作，因为在阿尔泰山地区尚未发现如此古老的现代人类化石和遗传证据。
