A Middle Pleistocene Homo from Nesher Ramla, Israel

Israel Hershkovitz; Hila May; Rachel Sarig; Ariel Pokhojaev; Dominique Grimaud-Hervé; Emiliano Bruner; Cinzia Fornai; Rolf Quam; Juan Luis Arsuaga; Viktoria A. Krenn; Maria Martinón-Torres; José María Bermúdez De Castro; Laura Martín-Francés; Viviane Slon; Vball Lou Albessard-; Amélie Vialet; Tim Schüler; Giorgio Manzi; Antonio Profico; Fabio Di Vincenzo; Gerhard W. Weber; Yossi Zaidner

doi:10.1126/science.abh3169

A Middle Pleistocene Homo from Nesher Ramla, Israel

Israel Hershkovitz^*, Hila May^*, Rachel Sarig, Ariel Pokhojaev, Dominique Grimaud-Hervé, Emiliano Bruner, Cinzia Fornai, Rolf Quam, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Viktoria A. Krenn, Maria Martinón-Torres, José María Bermúdez De Castro, Laura Martín-Francés, Viviane Slon, Vball Lou Albessard-, Amélie Vialet, Tim Schüler, Giorgio Manzi, Antonio Profico, Fabio Di VincenzoGerhard W. Weber, Yossi Zaidner

^*Corresponding author for this work

Institute of Archaeology

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

33 Scopus citations

Abstract

It has long been believed that Neanderthals originated and flourished on the European continent. However, recent morphological and genetic studies have suggested that they may have received a genetic contribution from a yet unknown non-European group. Here we report on the recent discovery of archaic Homo fossils from the site of Nesher Ramla, Israel, which we dated to 140,000 to 120,000 years ago. Comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analyses of the parietal bones, mandible, and lower second molar revealed that this Homo group presents a distinctive combination of Neanderthal and archaic features. We suggest that these specimens represent the late survivors of a Levantine Middle Pleistocene paleodeme that was most likely involved in the evolution of the Middle Pleistocene Homo in Europe and East Asia.

Original language	American English
Pages (from-to)	1424-1428
Number of pages	5
Journal	Science
Volume	372
Issue number	6549
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abh3169
State	Published - 25 Jun 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was funded by grants from the Dan David Foundation; the Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute; the Leakey Foundation; the Care Archaeological Foundation; the LabEx Sciences Archéologiques de Bordeaux (LaScArBx ANR-10-LABX-52); the Dirección General de Investigación of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, grant nos. PGC2018-093925-B-C31 and C33 (MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE); and the Israel Science Foundation (1936/18, 1773/15). C.F. and V.A.K. were financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant nos. 31003A_156299/1 and 31003A_176319). V.S. acknowledges funding from the Alon Fellowship.

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved.

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Hershkovitz, I., May, H., Sarig, R., Pokhojaev, A., Grimaud-Hervé, D., Bruner, E., Fornai, C., Quam, R., Arsuaga, J. L., Krenn, V. A., Martinón-Torres, M., De Castro, J. M. B., Martín-Francés, L., Slon, V., Lou Albessard-, V., Vialet, A., Schüler, T., Manzi, G., Profico, A., ... Zaidner, Y. (2021). A Middle Pleistocene Homo from Nesher Ramla, Israel. Science, 372(6549), 1424-1428. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abh3169

@article{b912aae2aab24238a09c2e643c1281e7,

title = "A Middle Pleistocene Homo from Nesher Ramla, Israel",

abstract = "It has long been believed that Neanderthals originated and flourished on the European continent. However, recent morphological and genetic studies have suggested that they may have received a genetic contribution from a yet unknown non-European group. Here we report on the recent discovery of archaic Homo fossils from the site of Nesher Ramla, Israel, which we dated to 140,000 to 120,000 years ago. Comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analyses of the parietal bones, mandible, and lower second molar revealed that this Homo group presents a distinctive combination of Neanderthal and archaic features. We suggest that these specimens represent the late survivors of a Levantine Middle Pleistocene paleodeme that was most likely involved in the evolution of the Middle Pleistocene Homo in Europe and East Asia.",

author = "Israel Hershkovitz and Hila May and Rachel Sarig and Ariel Pokhojaev and Dominique Grimaud-Herv{\'e} and Emiliano Bruner and Cinzia Fornai and Rolf Quam and Arsuaga, {Juan Luis} and Krenn, {Viktoria A.} and Maria Martin{\'o}n-Torres and {De Castro}, {Jos{\'e} Mar{\'i}a Berm{\'u}dez} and Laura Mart{\'i}n-Franc{\'e}s and Viviane Slon and {Lou Albessard-}, Vball and Am{\'e}lie Vialet and Tim Sch{\"u}ler and Giorgio Manzi and Antonio Profico and {Di Vincenzo}, Fabio and Weber, {Gerhard W.} and Yossi Zaidner",

note = "Funding Information: This work was funded by grants from the Dan David Foundation; the Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute; the Leakey Foundation; the Care Archaeological Foundation; the LabEx Sciences Arch{\'e}ologiques de Bordeaux (LaScArBx ANR-10-LABX-52); the Direcci{\'o}n General de Investigaci{\'o}n of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovaci{\'o}n y Universidades, grant nos. PGC2018-093925-B-C31 and C33 (MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE); and the Israel Science Foundation (1936/18, 1773/15). C.F. and V.A.K. were financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant nos. 31003A_156299/1 and 31003A_176319). V.S. acknowledges funding from the Alon Fellowship. Publisher Copyright: Copyright {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = jun,

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doi = "10.1126/science.abh3169",

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Hershkovitz, I, May, H, Sarig, R, Pokhojaev, A, Grimaud-Hervé, D, Bruner, E, Fornai, C, Quam, R, Arsuaga, JL, Krenn, VA, Martinón-Torres, M, De Castro, JMB, Martín-Francés, L, Slon, V, Lou Albessard-, V, Vialet, A, Schüler, T, Manzi, G, Profico, A, Di Vincenzo, F, Weber, GW & Zaidner, Y 2021, 'A Middle Pleistocene Homo from Nesher Ramla, Israel', Science, vol. 372, no. 6549, pp. 1424-1428. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abh3169

TY - JOUR

T1 - A Middle Pleistocene Homo from Nesher Ramla, Israel

AU - Hershkovitz, Israel

AU - May, Hila

AU - Sarig, Rachel

AU - Pokhojaev, Ariel

AU - Grimaud-Hervé, Dominique

AU - Bruner, Emiliano

AU - Fornai, Cinzia

AU - Quam, Rolf

AU - Arsuaga, Juan Luis

AU - Krenn, Viktoria A.

AU - Martinón-Torres, Maria

AU - De Castro, José María Bermúdez

AU - Martín-Francés, Laura

AU - Slon, Viviane

AU - Lou Albessard-, Vball

AU - Vialet, Amélie

AU - Schüler, Tim

AU - Manzi, Giorgio

AU - Profico, Antonio

AU - Di Vincenzo, Fabio

AU - Weber, Gerhard W.

AU - Zaidner, Yossi

N1 - Funding Information: This work was funded by grants from the Dan David Foundation; the Shmunis Family Anthropology Institute; the Leakey Foundation; the Care Archaeological Foundation; the LabEx Sciences Archéologiques de Bordeaux (LaScArBx ANR-10-LABX-52); the Dirección General de Investigación of the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, grant nos. PGC2018-093925-B-C31 and C33 (MCI/AEI/FEDER, UE); and the Israel Science Foundation (1936/18, 1773/15). C.F. and V.A.K. were financially supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant nos. 31003A_156299/1 and 31003A_176319). V.S. acknowledges funding from the Alon Fellowship. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved.

PY - 2021/6/25

Y1 - 2021/6/25

N2 - It has long been believed that Neanderthals originated and flourished on the European continent. However, recent morphological and genetic studies have suggested that they may have received a genetic contribution from a yet unknown non-European group. Here we report on the recent discovery of archaic Homo fossils from the site of Nesher Ramla, Israel, which we dated to 140,000 to 120,000 years ago. Comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analyses of the parietal bones, mandible, and lower second molar revealed that this Homo group presents a distinctive combination of Neanderthal and archaic features. We suggest that these specimens represent the late survivors of a Levantine Middle Pleistocene paleodeme that was most likely involved in the evolution of the Middle Pleistocene Homo in Europe and East Asia.

AB - It has long been believed that Neanderthals originated and flourished on the European continent. However, recent morphological and genetic studies have suggested that they may have received a genetic contribution from a yet unknown non-European group. Here we report on the recent discovery of archaic Homo fossils from the site of Nesher Ramla, Israel, which we dated to 140,000 to 120,000 years ago. Comprehensive qualitative and quantitative analyses of the parietal bones, mandible, and lower second molar revealed that this Homo group presents a distinctive combination of Neanderthal and archaic features. We suggest that these specimens represent the late survivors of a Levantine Middle Pleistocene paleodeme that was most likely involved in the evolution of the Middle Pleistocene Homo in Europe and East Asia.

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U2 - 10.1126/science.abh3169

DO - 10.1126/science.abh3169

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AN - SCOPUS:85108662924

SN - 0036-8075

VL - 372

SP - 1424

EP - 1428

JO - Science

JF - Science

IS - 6549

ER -

A Middle Pleistocene Homo from Nesher Ramla, Israel

Abstract

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