Institut für Naturwissenschaftliche Archäologie, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, Universität Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
PLoS One. 2019 May 2;14(5):e0215172. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215172. eCollection 2019.
The loss of Neanderthal groups across Western and Central Europe during Oxygen Isotope Stage (OIS) 3 has held the attention of archaeologists for decades. The role that climatic change, genetic interbreeding, and interspecies competition played in the extinction of Neanderthal groups is still debated. Hohle Fels is one of several important Middle and Upper Paleolithic sites from the Ach Valley in southwestern Germany which documents the presence of Neanderthals and modern humans in the region. Chronological and stratigraphic records indicate that these two groups occupied the site with little to no overlap or interaction. This provides the opportunity to examine the behavioural variability of Swabian Neanderthal populations without the complication of cross-cultural influence. In this study we contribute a terrestrial paleoenvironmental record derived from the small mammal material from Hohle Fels Cave to the ever-growing archaeological record of this period. By reconstructing the climate and landscape of the Ach Valley during this time we can identify the effect that the OIS 3 environment had on the presence of Neanderthals in the region. Based on indicator taxa and the habitat weighing method, the small mammal record, which includes rodents, insectivores, and bats, from Hohle Fels shows that the earliest Neanderthal occupation took place on a landscape characterized by substantial woodland and forest, rivers and ponds, as well as moist meadows and grasslands. A gradual increase in cold tundra and arctic environments is clear towards the end of the Middle Paleolithic, extending to the end of the early Aurignacian which may correlate with the onset of the Heinrich 4 event (~42,000 kya). Our taphonomic analysis indicates the material was accumulated primarily by opportunistic predators such as the great grey owl, snowy owl, and European eagle owl, and therefore reflects the diversity of landscapes present around the site in the past. Importantly, at the time Neanderthals abandoned the Ach Valley we find no indication for dramatic climatic deterioration. Rather, we find evidence of a gradual cooling of the Swabian landscape which may have pushed Neanderthal groups out of the Ach Valley prior to the arrival of modern human Aurignacian groups.
尼安德特人在整个西欧和中欧的消失一直是考古学家关注的焦点。几十年来，气候变化、基因杂交和物种间竞争在尼安德特人灭绝中所起的作用仍存在争议。霍勒费尔斯是德国西南部阿赫河谷的几个重要中石器时代和旧石器时代晚期遗址之一，记录了尼安德特人和现代人在该地区的存在。年代学和地层记录表明，这两个群体很少有重叠或相互作用地占据了该遗址。这为研究斯瓦比亚尼安德特人群的行为变异性提供了机会，而不会受到跨文化影响的复杂性的干扰。在这项研究中，我们从霍勒费尔斯洞穴的小型哺乳动物材料中提供了一个大陆古环境记录，以补充这一时期不断增长的考古记录。通过重建阿赫河谷在这段时间的气候和景观，我们可以确定 OIS 3 环境对该地区尼安德特人存在的影响。基于指示物和栖息地加权法，霍勒费尔斯的小型哺乳动物记录，包括啮齿动物、食虫动物和蝙蝠，表明最早的尼安德特人居住在以大片林地和森林、河流和池塘以及潮湿的草地和草原为特征的景观中。从中石器时代晚期开始，寒冷的冻原和北极环境逐渐增加，一直延伸到早期阿努瓦克时期的结束，这可能与海因里希 4 事件（约 42000 年前）的开始有关。我们的埋藏学分析表明，这些材料主要是由机会主义捕食者积累的，如大灰猫头鹰、雪鸮和欧洲雕鸮，因此反映了过去该遗址周围存在的各种景观的多样性。重要的是，在尼安德特人离开阿赫河谷时，我们没有发现气候急剧恶化的迹象。相反，我们发现斯瓦比亚景观逐渐降温的证据，这可能在现代人类阿努瓦克人到来之前就将尼安德特人赶出了阿赫河谷。
