Simple Summary Studies of human fossils, and the DNA extracted from them, reveal a complex history of interbreeding between various human lineages over the last one hundred thousand years. Of particular interest is the nature of the population interactions between the Neandertals of Ice Age Europe and western Asia and the modern humans that eventually replaced them. Here, we used six measurements of the facial skeleton, in samples of Neandertal and early modern human fossils, in an exploratory study aimed at trying to identify geographic regions (from the Near East to western Europe) where interbreeding may have been prevalent enough to have left a signal in the facial morphology of the early modern humans of those regions. Although fossil sample sizes were in some cases very small, the results are consistent with the Near East having played an important role in the introduction of Neandertal genes into the genomes of living humans. Abstract Ancient DNA from, Neandertal and modern human fossils, and comparative morphological analyses of them, reveal a complex history of interbreeding between these lineages and the introgression of Neandertal genes into modern human genomes. Despite substantial increases in our knowledge of these events, the timing and geographic location of hybridization events remain unclear. Six measures of facial size and shape, from regional samples of Neandertals and early modern humans, were used in a multivariate exploratory analysis to try to identify regions in which early modern human facial morphology was more similar to that of Neandertals, which might thus represent regions of greater introgression of Neandertal genes. The results of canonical variates analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis suggest important affinities in facial morphology between both Middle and Upper Paleolithic early modern humans of the Near East with Neandertals, highlighting the importance of this region for interbreeding between the two lineages.

/pdf/midfacial-morphology-and-neandertal-modern-human-2ltwm92b.pdf

Midfacial Morphology and Neandertal–Modern Human Interbreeding

In this article, I first provide an overview of the Neandertals by recounting their initial discovery and subsequent interpretation by scientists and by discussing our current understanding of the temporal and geographic span of these hominins and their taxonomic affiliation. I then explore what progress we have made in our understanding of Neandertal lifeways and capabilities over the past decade in light of new technologies and changing perspectives. In the process, I consider whether these advances in knowledge qualify as so-called Black Swans, a term used in economics to describe events that are rare and unpredictable and have wide-ranging consequences, in this case for the field of paleoanthropology. Building on this discussion, I look at ongoing debates and focus on Neandertal extinction as a case study. By way of discussion and conclusion, I take a detailed look at why Neandertals continue to engender great interest, and indeed emotion, among scientists and the general public alike. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Anthropology, Volume 52 is October 2023. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

Rethinking Neandertals

American Journal of Biological AnthropologyVolume 180, Issue 2 p. 245-251 LETTER TO THE EDITOR The human remains found in 1967 in Axlor: Still not convincingly Neandertals: A reply to González-Urquijo et al Asier Gómez-Olivencia, Corresponding Author Asier Gómez-Olivencia asier.gomezo@ehu.eus orcid.org/0000-0001-7831-3902 Department of Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU). Barrio Sarriena s/n, Bilbao, Spain Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain Correspondence Asier Gómez-Olivencia, Department of Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU). Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Bilbao, Spain. Email: asier.gomezo@ehu.eus Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorDiego López-Onaindia, Diego López-Onaindia orcid.org/0000-0002-5266-6416 UMR 5199, PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Pessac Cedex, France Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorNohemi Sala, Nohemi Sala orcid.org/0000-0002-0896-1493 Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain Contribution: ​Investigation (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorAntoine Balzeau, Antoine Balzeau orcid.org/0000-0002-4226-611X Département Homme et Environnement, Équipe de Paléontologie Humaine, UMR 7194, CNRS, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France Department of African Zoology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium Contribution: ​Investigation (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorAna Pantoja-Pérez, Ana Pantoja-Pérez orcid.org/0000-0001-9302-1756 Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain Contribution: ​Investigation (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorIgnacio Arganda-Carreras, Ignacio Arganda-Carreras orcid.org/0000-0003-0229-5722 Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain Contribution: ​Investigation (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorMikel Arlegi, Mikel Arlegi orcid.org/0000-0001-5665-9275 Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Tarragona, Spain Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain Contribution: ​Investigation (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorJoseba Rios-Garaizar, Joseba Rios-Garaizar orcid.org/0000-0001-8474-2156 Independent researcher, Aretxabaleta, Spain Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorAida Gómez-Robles, Aida Gómez-Robles orcid.org/0000-0002-8719-2660 Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this author Asier Gómez-Olivencia, Corresponding Author Asier Gómez-Olivencia asier.gomezo@ehu.eus orcid.org/0000-0001-7831-3902 Department of Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU). Barrio Sarriena s/n, Bilbao, Spain Sociedad de Ciencias Aranzadi, Donostia-San Sebastian, Spain Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain Correspondence Asier Gómez-Olivencia, Department of Geología, Facultad de Ciencia y Tecnología, Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea (UPV/EHU). Barrio Sarriena s/n, 48940 Bilbao, Spain. Email: asier.gomezo@ehu.eus Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorDiego López-Onaindia, Diego López-Onaindia orcid.org/0000-0002-5266-6416 UMR 5199, PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Pessac Cedex, France Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorNohemi Sala, Nohemi Sala orcid.org/0000-0002-0896-1493 Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain Contribution: ​Investigation (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorAntoine Balzeau, Antoine Balzeau orcid.org/0000-0002-4226-611X Département Homme et Environnement, Équipe de Paléontologie Humaine, UMR 7194, CNRS, Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, France Department of African Zoology, Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren, Belgium Contribution: ​Investigation (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorAna Pantoja-Pérez, Ana Pantoja-Pérez orcid.org/0000-0001-9302-1756 Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana (CENIEH), Burgos, Spain Centro UCM-ISCIII de Investigación sobre Evolución y Comportamiento Humanos, Madrid, Spain Contribution: ​Investigation (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorIgnacio Arganda-Carreras, Ignacio Arganda-Carreras orcid.org/0000-0003-0229-5722 Department of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain Ikerbasque, Basque Foundation for Science, Bilbao, Spain Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), Donostia, Gipuzkoa, Spain Contribution: ​Investigation (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorMikel Arlegi, Mikel Arlegi orcid.org/0000-0001-5665-9275 Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES-CERCA), Tarragona, Spain Departament d'Història i Història de l'Art, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain Contribution: ​Investigation (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorJoseba Rios-Garaizar, Joseba Rios-Garaizar orcid.org/0000-0001-8474-2156 Independent researcher, Aretxabaleta, Spain Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this authorAida Gómez-Robles, Aida Gómez-Robles orcid.org/0000-0002-8719-2660 Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, UK Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK Contribution: Conceptualization (equal), ​Investigation (equal), Writing - original draft (equal), Writing - review & editing (equal)Search for more papers by this author First published: 28 October 2022 https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.24633 Funding information: Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea, Grant/Award Number: GIU19/027; Eusko Jaurlaritza, Grant/Award Number: Research Group IT1418-19; H2020 European Research Council, Grant/Award Numbers: 949330 (DEATHREVOL), MSC Actions Individual Fellowship (Project N°8957; Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación, Grant/Award Numbers: Proyecto PID2021-122355NB-C31 financiado por MCIN/, RYC2020-029656-I, Ramón y Cajal fellowship (RYC-2017-22558) Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat Volume180, Issue2February 2023Pages 245-251 RelatedInformation 

The human remains found in 1967 in Axlor: Still not convincingly Neandertals: A reply to
 González‐Urquijo
 et al

Maxillary second molar from the Rozhok I Micoquian site (Azov Sea region): Another link between Eastern Europe and Siberia.

The Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in France and northern Spain reflects the transition from Neandertals to Homo sapiens and the emergence of novel cultural entities and standardised laminar technologies between ~50 and 40 thousand years ago. The Châtelperronian stone tool industry sits at the centre of this period, and is commonly considered as representing a geographically isolated archaeological entity produced by late Neandertals. However, debate as to the makers and origin of this industry has long persisted. Fuel has recently been thrown onto this discussion through the formulation of a hypothesis in which the Châtelperronian directly originates from the Northern Early Ahmarian industry of the Levant. This model proposes that the Châtelperronian is in fact indicative of a direct migration of a population of Homo sapiens from the Levant to France around 44-40 thousand years ago – potentially via the crossing (or series of crossings) of the Mediterranean Sea. Such a scenario would have significant implications for how we interpret this key portion of recent human evolutionary history. In this paper, we highlight some of the prospects and pitfalls of an intrusive origin model for the emergence of the Châtelperronian industry in western Europe - taking into account technological, chronological, geographic, and stratigraphic perspectives. To frame this discussion, we review the state of understanding on the Châtelperronian and provide a detailed, synthetic review of Châtelperronian lithic technology. Our review reinforces the distinctive and fully ‘Upper Palaeolithic’ character of this industry, and we subsequently suggest a few avenues of research which, in our opinion, may help shed progressively clearer light on the demographic and cultural processes operating during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in western Europe.

Prospects and pitfalls of an intrusive model for the Châtelperronian stone tool industry during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in France and northern Spain

The morphology of the Late Pleistocene hominin remains from the site of La Cotte de St Brelade, Jersey (Channel Islands).

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The morphology of the Late Pleistocene hominin remains from the site of La Cotte de St Brelade, Jersey (Channel Islands).