Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards

John Lowe; Nick Barton; Simon Blockley; Christopher Bronk Ramsey; Victoria L. Cullen; William Davies; Clive Gamble; Katharine Grant; Mark Hardiman; Rupert Housley; Christine S. Lane; Sharen Lee; Mark Lewis; Alison MacLeod; Martin Menzies; Wolfgang Müller; Mark Pollard; Catherine Price; Andrew P. Roberts; Eelco J. Rohling; Chris Satow; Victoria C. Smith; Chris B. Stringer; Emma L. Tomlinson; Dustin White; Paul Albert; Ilenia Arienzo; Graeme Barker; Dušan Borić; Antonio Carandente; Lucia Civetta; Catherine Ferrier; Jean Luc Guadelli; Panagiotis Karkanas; Margarita Koumouzelis; Ulrich C. Müller; Giovanni Orsi; Jörg Pross; Mauro Rosi; Ljiljiana Shalamanov-Korobar; Nikolay Sirakov; Polychronis C. Tzedakis

doi:10.1073/pnas.1204579109

Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards

John Lowe^*, Nick Barton, Simon Blockley, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Victoria L. Cullen, William Davies, Clive Gamble, Katharine Grant, Mark Hardiman, Rupert Housley, Christine S. Lane, Sharen Lee, Mark Lewis, Alison MacLeod, Martin Menzies, Wolfgang Müller, Mark Pollard, Catherine Price, Andrew P. Roberts, Eelco J. RohlingChris Satow, Victoria C. Smith, Chris B. Stringer, Emma L. Tomlinson, Dustin White, Paul Albert, Ilenia Arienzo, Graeme Barker, Dušan Borić, Antonio Carandente, Lucia Civetta, Catherine Ferrier, Jean Luc Guadelli, Panagiotis Karkanas, Margarita Koumouzelis, Ulrich C. Müller, Giovanni Orsi, Jörg Pross, Mauro Rosi, Ljiljiana Shalamanov-Korobar, Nikolay Sirakov, Polychronis C. Tzedakis

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

174 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Marked changes in human dispersal and development during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have been attributed to massive volcanic eruption and/or severe climatic deterioration. We test this concept using records of volcanic ash layers of the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption dated to ca. 40,000 y ago (40 ka B.P.). The distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite has been enhanced by the discovery of cryptotephra deposits (volcanic ash layers that are not visible to the naked eye) in archaeological cave sequences. They enable us to synchronize archaeological and paleoclimatic records through the period of transition from Neanderthal to the earliest anatomically modern human populations in Europe. Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe. We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	13532-13537
Number of pages	6
Journal	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume	109
Issue number	34
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1204579109
Publication status	Published - 21 Aug 2012

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Lowe, J., Barton, N., Blockley, S., Ramsey, C. B., Cullen, V. L., Davies, W., Gamble, C., Grant, K., Hardiman, M., Housley, R., Lane, C. S., Lee, S., Lewis, M., MacLeod, A., Menzies, M., Müller, W., Pollard, M., Price, C., Roberts, A. P., ... Tzedakis, P. C. (2012). Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(34), 13532-13537. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1204579109

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title = "Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards",

abstract = "Marked changes in human dispersal and development during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have been attributed to massive volcanic eruption and/or severe climatic deterioration. We test this concept using records of volcanic ash layers of the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption dated to ca. 40,000 y ago (40 ka B.P.). The distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite has been enhanced by the discovery of cryptotephra deposits (volcanic ash layers that are not visible to the naked eye) in archaeological cave sequences. They enable us to synchronize archaeological and paleoclimatic records through the period of transition from Neanderthal to the earliest anatomically modern human populations in Europe. Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe. We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters.",

author = "John Lowe and Nick Barton and Simon Blockley and Ramsey, {Christopher Bronk} and Cullen, {Victoria L.} and William Davies and Clive Gamble and Katharine Grant and Mark Hardiman and Rupert Housley and Lane, {Christine S.} and Sharen Lee and Mark Lewis and Alison MacLeod and Martin Menzies and Wolfgang M{\"u}ller and Mark Pollard and Catherine Price and Roberts, {Andrew P.} and Rohling, {Eelco J.} and Chris Satow and Smith, {Victoria C.} and Stringer, {Chris B.} and Tomlinson, {Emma L.} and Dustin White and Paul Albert and Ilenia Arienzo and Graeme Barker and Du{\v s}an Bori{\'c} and Antonio Carandente and Lucia Civetta and Catherine Ferrier and Guadelli, {Jean Luc} and Panagiotis Karkanas and Margarita Koumouzelis and M{\"u}ller, {Ulrich C.} and Giovanni Orsi and J{\"o}rg Pross and Mauro Rosi and Ljiljiana Shalamanov-Korobar and Nikolay Sirakov and Tzedakis, {Polychronis C.}",

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Lowe, J, Barton, N, Blockley, S, Ramsey, CB, Cullen, VL, Davies, W, Gamble, C, Grant, K, Hardiman, M, Housley, R, Lane, CS, Lee, S, Lewis, M, MacLeod, A, Menzies, M, Müller, W, Pollard, M, Price, C, Roberts, AP, Rohling, EJ, Satow, C, Smith, VC, Stringer, CB, Tomlinson, EL, White, D, Albert, P, Arienzo, I, Barker, G, Borić, D, Carandente, A, Civetta, L, Ferrier, C, Guadelli, JL, Karkanas, P, Koumouzelis, M, Müller, UC, Orsi, G, Pross, J, Rosi, M, Shalamanov-Korobar, L, Sirakov, N & Tzedakis, PC 2012, 'Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards', Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 109, no. 34, pp. 13532-13537. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1204579109

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AU - Lowe, John

AU - Barton, Nick

AU - Blockley, Simon

AU - Ramsey, Christopher Bronk

AU - Cullen, Victoria L.

AU - Davies, William

AU - Gamble, Clive

AU - Grant, Katharine

AU - Hardiman, Mark

AU - Housley, Rupert

AU - Lane, Christine S.

AU - Lee, Sharen

AU - Lewis, Mark

AU - MacLeod, Alison

AU - Menzies, Martin

AU - Müller, Wolfgang

AU - Pollard, Mark

AU - Price, Catherine

AU - Roberts, Andrew P.

AU - Rohling, Eelco J.

AU - Satow, Chris

AU - Smith, Victoria C.

AU - Stringer, Chris B.

AU - Tomlinson, Emma L.

AU - White, Dustin

AU - Albert, Paul

AU - Arienzo, Ilenia

AU - Barker, Graeme

AU - Borić, Dušan

AU - Carandente, Antonio

AU - Civetta, Lucia

AU - Ferrier, Catherine

AU - Guadelli, Jean Luc

AU - Karkanas, Panagiotis

AU - Koumouzelis, Margarita

AU - Müller, Ulrich C.

AU - Orsi, Giovanni

AU - Pross, Jörg

AU - Rosi, Mauro

AU - Shalamanov-Korobar, Ljiljiana

AU - Sirakov, Nikolay

AU - Tzedakis, Polychronis C.

PY - 2012/8/21

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N2 - Marked changes in human dispersal and development during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have been attributed to massive volcanic eruption and/or severe climatic deterioration. We test this concept using records of volcanic ash layers of the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption dated to ca. 40,000 y ago (40 ka B.P.). The distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite has been enhanced by the discovery of cryptotephra deposits (volcanic ash layers that are not visible to the naked eye) in archaeological cave sequences. They enable us to synchronize archaeological and paleoclimatic records through the period of transition from Neanderthal to the earliest anatomically modern human populations in Europe. Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe. We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters.

AB - Marked changes in human dispersal and development during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have been attributed to massive volcanic eruption and/or severe climatic deterioration. We test this concept using records of volcanic ash layers of the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption dated to ca. 40,000 y ago (40 ka B.P.). The distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite has been enhanced by the discovery of cryptotephra deposits (volcanic ash layers that are not visible to the naked eye) in archaeological cave sequences. They enable us to synchronize archaeological and paleoclimatic records through the period of transition from Neanderthal to the earliest anatomically modern human populations in Europe. Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe. We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters.

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DO - 10.1073/pnas.1204579109

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SN - 0027-8424

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JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

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ER -

Volcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards

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