Kostyonki (palaeolithic site)

Kostyonki (Russian: Костёнки), is an archeological site near the modern settlement Kostyonki in Khokholsky District of Voronezh Oblast, Russia, located on western middle bank of the Don River. It is known for its high concentration of cultural remains of anatomically modern humans from the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic era.

Volcanic ash

A layer of Campanian volcanic ash from about 45,000 years ago has been found above some of the finds, showing that humans inhabited the site before this.[1][2]

The Campanian Ignimbrite eruption of the Phlegraean Fields volcano occurred about 39 kya. The explosion of 500 cubic kilometers (120 cu mi) ignimbrite was the largest in the last 200,000 years of European history[3]

Material culture

The assemblage below the volcanic CI tephra layer is associated to the nontransitional local Strelets culture, analogous to Upper Paleolithic cultures from central and western Europe such as the Szeletian culture. This initial cultural development might be attributable to local Neanderthals.[1]

Ornaments predating the volcanic eruption, found at Kostyonki 17 layer II, were apparently perforated by a hand-operated rotary drill or drills; these may suggest that the population was technologically capable of preparing for a volcanic winter.

Just above the ash layer sewing needles were found .[4]

Human remains

In the period around 40-24 kya, a latitudinal clinal pattern of modern/Neanderthal traits was indicated in Europe. The Kostyonki sites are located at the more modern eastward end.

The earliest directly dated human remains from this site are dated to 32,600 ± 1,100 14C years and consist of a tibia and a fibula, with traits classifying the bones as European early modern humans.[5]

In 2009, DNA was extracted from the remains of a male hunter-gatherer, known as Kostenki 12 who lived circa 30,000 BP and died aged 20–25. His maternal lineage was found to be mtDNA haplogroup U2. He was buried in an oval pit in a crouched position and covered with red ochre.[6] Kostenki 12 was later found to belong to the patrilineal Y-DNA haplogroup C1* (C-F3393).[7]

Kostenki 14, a male who lived approximately 35–40,000 BP, was also found to belong to mtDNA haplogroup U2. His Y-DNA haplogroup was C1b* (C-F1370).[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Anikovich, M. V.; et al. (2007-01-01). "Early Upper Paleolithic in Eastern Europe and implications for the dispersal of modern humans". Science. 315 (5809): 223–226. Bibcode:2007Sci...315..223A. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17218523. doi:10.1126/science.1133376.
  2. ↑ Retrieved from "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2014-11-21..
  3. ↑ De Vivo, B.; G. Rolandi; et al. (2001-11-01). "New constraints on the pyroclastic eruptive history of the Campanian volcanic Plain (Italy)". Mineralogy and Petrology. Springer Wien. 73 (1-3): 47–65. Bibcode:2001MinPe..73...47D. doi:10.1007/s007100170010. Retrieved 2008-09-20.
  4. ↑ Hoffecker, John F. (2007-01-12). BBC Science in Action, 12 January 2007.
  5. ↑ Higham, T.; et al. (Jan 2006). "Revised direct radiocarbon dating of the Vindija G1 Upper Paleolithic Neanderthals" (Free full text). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 103 (3): 553–557. Bibcode:2006PNAS..103..553H. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 1334669 Freely accessible. PMID 16407102. doi:10.1073/pnas.0510005103.
  6. ↑ "DNA analysed from early European". BBC. 2010-01-01. Retrieved 2010-05-08.
  7. ↑ Fu 2016.
  8. ↑ Seguin-Orlando 2014; Fu 2013; Krause 2010; Fu 2016; Mathieson 2017.

Bibliography

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