South and Southeast Asia: Links with Africa After 100,000Kya Based on DNA Studies
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South and Southeast Asia: Links with Africa after 100,000kya based on DNA studies Southern expansion from East Africa to Southwest and South Asia, circa 100,000 - 80,000 to 60,000 ya Petraglia et al. 2010, Annals of Human Biology - Later branching and expansion of M and U haplogroups between 60,000 and 40,000 ya Rohri – Sindh, Pakistan – open air quarry site, Late Lower Palaeolithic, (500,000 ya) Middle Palaeolithic, (100,000 ya) Upper Palaeolithic, (30,000 -10,000 ya) Hathnora, central India- Narmada River Valley site, hominid skull identified as archaic Homo sapiens, 400,000 YA, though some would suggest that it is Homo erectus? Darra-i-Kur , Afghanistan - Middle/Upper Palaeolithic-circa 29,050 B.C. temporal bone of archaic H. sapiens. Similar to the skull of Skhul Cave in the Levant - lowest levels “hearths”, Mousterian type stone tools Hunted Wild goat/sheep and possibly cattle. Aq Kuprukian Tradition sites Gar-i-Mar (Snake Cave, AKI and Gar-i-Asp (Horse Cave, AK II) and open air site called Aq Kupruk (AK III) The importance of these sites is that they are located in an area between West Asian centers of domestication and South Asia Aq-Kupruk, 20,000-15,000YA (C14 date- 14,665 B.C.) - blade tools, points, burins scrapers, bone point, numerous faunal remains - wild sheep/goat (88%), cattle (6.5%) , horse, dog/wolf; The major subsistence indicator is animal bone Ovix/Capra (sheep/goat) - 88% Cervus elephas/ Bos (cattle)- 6.5% Equus (horse) - 1 Canis - 1 Vulpes - 1 Some of these species become domesticated eventually and domestic species are found in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic levels at these sites and other sites in the region , dating as early as 8566 B.C. to 6500 B.C. Aq Kupruk – open air site Gar-i-Mar and Gar-i-Asp Caves, Afghanistan- Upper Palaeolithic - Kuprukian A, B from 20,000-15000 B.C., 14,665 B.C. -wide range of tools suggesting that many activities took place at the sites. Gar-i-Asp, carved pebble with human feline face? Some bone tools, possibly for basketry or weaving, small incised bone dart that looks more ornamental than functional. Stone tools indicate a focus on hunting, we can assume that some of the food was vegetable - wild grain, nuts, berries all would have been abundant seasonally in this region Peninsular Subcontinent– Upper Palaeolithic General dates are from 30,000 to 12,000 B.P. Bhimbetka, W. India – upper Palaeolithic occupation in cave, many painted rock shelters in area, some probably dating to the Upper Palaeolithic, the rest show a continuity through the Mesolithic to the Historical period. Mesolithic - Neolithic -feeding pigs Hunting scenes Mesolithic Xray art Bhimbetka Cave, central India - lower levels have late Acheulian handaxes and flake tools, 400,000 -100,000 YA - Upper Palaeolithic levels date to 30,000-10,000 ya, some caves are painted Khaimur Range, Pleistocence mega-fauna replaced by large modern game such as Gaur, Tiger Baghor I, Central India- Late Upper Palaeolithic, dated to about 11,000 B.P., short term occupation site, rubble floors, manufacturing waste from tool manufacture, inverse indirect percussion technique, many varieties of backed blades and geometric microliths, grinding stones, ring stones, stone platform with unique triangular stone in center, interpreted as a ritual structure. Baghor I overview of excavations Modern hut with rubble floor , and ancient Baghor I hut floor and hearth. Microlith distributions Rubble platform Artifact distributions Heat Treated cores, and Inverse Indirect Percussion, to make blades and other retouched tools. Exotic raw materials and finished blades were traded over great distances. Inayat Hussain, master bead maker using same technique, Khambhat, India Hunting with barbed points, Mesolithic cave painting from Bhimbetka Baghor I Platform, as excavated and reconstructed Baghor I, stone platform - unique triangular stone with red ochre in center, interpreted as a ritual structure - possible fertility shrine Modern shrine to the Goddess made with identical stones Belan Valley, Upper Palaeolithic gravels, Carved bone harpoon point or possible mother goddess figure Chandravati, Gujarat, carved stone core - Mesolithic-Chalcolithic Men as hunters and women as gatherers Geometric designs on cave paintings are probably for ritual purposes. They continue to be used today by women to protect the home. Palaeolithic in East Asia Jinniushan, Liaoning N. E. China, 200,000 ya, H.s.s., robust female? fossil but no stone tools Dali Site, China, 209,000 ya, archaic H. s. , fossil found in association with some stone tools, scrapers Zhoukoudian, China, 300,000 H. Zhoukoudian erectus, and 18,000-10,000 ya H. sapiens foragers Ngandong - Java- Homo erectus, recently re-dated to around 143,000 years ago - latest evidence for H. erectus in Southeast Asia, Niah Ngandong stone tools, bone and antler tools Denisova cave, Siberia 50,000-30,000 ya –diverged from H. sapiens and Neanderthals, DNA taken from a female individual –no match with most modern populations, may represent an Asian lineage that has since been obscured, but 6 % of the DNA of some individuals in Melanesia and Papua New Guinea seem to match Niah Cave, Sarawak, Borneo- H. s. sapiens 45,000 -39,000 ya – And in 2003 the discovery of miniature Hobbit-like Homo floresiensis in Indonesia - 95,000-12,000 YA - 1 meter tall, used stone tools AUSTRALIA-NEW GUINEA Sahul shelf - Three major periods when the land bridge was passable are around 50,000, 35,000 and 17,000 Niah B.P. Cave - had to cross 80 to 100 kilometers of ocean - accomplished by Ngandong significant populations before 30,000 and possibly as early as 50,000 B.P at a new site Warratyi discovered in 2016 and 65,000 based on Lake Mungo new dates from the site Madjedbebe in 2017. Kow Swamp Madjedbebe, excavated in 2012 and 2014, dated to 37,000 BP but now with new OSL dating it is thought to be around 65,000 BP - mica and hematite for painting and ground stone tools Lake Mungo, West N.S. Wales - 25,000 to 28,000 B.P. to 32,000 or 42,000 BP. cremated remains of humans. Female, with modern skull shape, thin cranial bones, Male, modern skull and post- cranial bones, not cremated, buried with red ochre. Kow Swamp, S. Australia - 15,000-9000 YA , more robust population, thicker skulls, receding forehead, low brow and heavy jaws possible evidence for intentional skull deformation Devil's Lair, W. Australia- engraved stone plaques and broken human incisors, dated from 29,000 to 4,000 B.P. Human Expansion into the Beringia New World - Beringia land bridge was exposed from 75,000 to 45,000 B.P. and then again between 25,000 and 11,000 B.P. With periodic fluctuations, it is thought that it was passable as late as 10,000 B.P. Environmental pressures Dyuktai on animals related to snow fall and availability of fodder lead animals and human foragers to the east Avoidance of in-breeding also leads to expansion and linkages to new and more distant communities, eventually resulting in migration up to the Bering straits and along the coasts Dyuktai Dyuktai populations in Siberia cannot be earlier than 30,000, and it is probable that groups passed to the New World between 25,000 and 12,000 B.P. using both land and sea routes Following migrating herds of woolly Mammoth, Rhino, Bear, Sloth, etc Ushki sites in Kamchatka Peninsula date to between 13,500-11,000 years ago - similar to sites in Alaska Dyuktai and Ushki culture (30,000-11,000 ya) in Siberia is similar to the Paleo- Arctic of Alaska/Canada Dyuktai cores and bifaces Ushki microblade cores Nenana Complex sites in Alaska 12,000 to 11,000 B. P. used small bifacial points for hunting, Moose Creek site, Chindadn points with rounded base and sub-triangular with flat base Denali Complex - 11-10,000 BP - wedge shaped cores, microblades, lanceolate points etc. closely linked to Siberian Dyuktai culture Major North American sites : Clovis Clovis point Complex sites in Texas circa 11,000 and B.P. - used larger fluted points detachable foreshaft Folsom points Paleo-Indians emerged into a pristine environment with no other humans and after circa 12000 BP rapidly spread from Alaska to Tierra Del Fuego Distribution of Paleo- Indian points in Wisconsin Skare Site Clayton and Attig Skare, circa 11,600 BP 1997 Fluted point locations Hearths and burned areas have high conductivity Paleoindian Points (surface finds) Fluted Paleo-Indian point from Skare site, discovered in 2001 by Prof. Sissel Schroeder Meadowcroft Rockshelter, Penn. - 19,600 BP - fire pits, ash and charcoal, stone tools, refuse and storage areas,earliest human occupation in N. America. Dating is inconsistent with Alaskan and Siberian dates. Monte Verde, Chile - 12,800-11,800 BP - hunter- gatherer camp, tent-like structure, hearths, stone tools, nuts, berries and seaweed. - sites have also been reported in the Amazon .