Adaptive foraging behaviours in the Horn of Africa during Toba supereruption

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Kappelman, John; Todd, Lawrence C.; Davis, Christopher A.; Cerling, Thure E.; Feseha, Mulugeta; Getahun, Abebe; Johnsen, Racheal; Kay, Marvin; Kocurek, Gary A.; Nachman, Brett A.; Negash, Agazi; Negash, Tewabe; O'Brien, Kaedan; Pante, Michael; Ren, Minghua; Smith, Eugene I.; Tabor, Neil J.; Tewabe, Dereje; Wang, Hong; Yang, Deming; Yirga, Solomon; Crowell, Jordan W.; Fanuka, Matthew F.; Habtie, Teshager; Hirniak, Jayde N.; Klehm, Carla; Loewen, Natalia D.; Melaku, Sahleselasie; Melton, Sierra M.; Myers, Timothy S.; Millonig, Sarah; Plummer, Megan C.; Riordan, Keenan J.; Rosenau, Nicholas A.; Skinner, Anne; Thompson, Abraham K.; Trombetta, Lindsey M.; Witzel, Adrienne; Assefa, Ephrem; Bodansky, Maria; Desta, Ayenachew A.; Campisano, Christopher J.; Dalmas, Daniel; Elliott, Connor; Endalamaw, Metasebia; Ford, Nicholas J.; Foster, Frederick; Getachew, Tomas; Haney, Yibai Li; Ingram, Brittney H.; Jackson, Jonayah; Marean, Curtis W.; Mattox, Sissi; de la Cruz Medina, Karla; Mulubrhan, Gebretsadkan; Porter, Keri; Roberts, Alexis; Santillan, Perla; Sollenberger, Alaric; Sponholtz, Julia; Valdes, Jessica; Wyman, Lani; Yadeta, Meklit; Yanny, Sierra
• 署名单位: University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin; University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin; University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin; Utah System of Higher Education; University of Utah; Addis Ababa University; Addis Ababa University; Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE); University of Nevada Las Vegas; University of Arkansas System; University of Arkansas Fayetteville; Colorado State University System; Colorado State University Fort Collins; Utah System of Higher Education; University of Utah; Utah System of Higher Education; University of Utah; Southern Methodist University; Beijing Normal University; University of Gondar; Arizona State University; Arizona State University-Tempe; Williams College; Bahir Dar University; Iowa State University; Rutgers University System; Rutgers University New Brunswick; Universite de Poitiers; Nelson Mandela University
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-5932
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07208-3
• 发表日期: 2024-04-11
• 页码: 365-+
• 关键词: percussion marks; stable-isotopes; volcanic winter; 40ar/39ar age; east-africa; lake malawi; middle; ethiopia; bones; fractionation

摘要

Although modern humans left Africa multiple times over 100,000 years ago, those broadly ancestral to non-Africans dispersed less than 100,000 years ago(1). Most models hold that these events occurred through green corridors created during humid periods because arid intervals constrained population movements(2). Here we report an archaeological site-Shinfa-Metema 1, in the lowlands of northwest Ethiopia, with Youngest Toba Tuff cryptotephra dated to around 74,000 years ago-that provides early and rare evidence of intensive riverine-based foraging aided by the likely adoption of the bow and arrow. The diet included a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic animals. Stable oxygen isotopes from fossil mammal teeth and ostrich eggshell show that the site was occupied during a period of high seasonal aridity. The unusual abundance of fish suggests that capture occurred in the ever smaller and shallower waterholes of a seasonal river during a long dry season, revealing flexible adaptations to challenging climatic conditions during the Middle Stone Age. Adaptive foraging along dry-season waterholes would have transformed seasonal rivers into 'blue highway' corridors, potentially facilitating an out-of-Africa dispersal and suggesting that the event was not restricted to times of humid climates. The behavioural flexibility required to survive seasonally arid conditions in general, and the apparent short-term effects of the Toba supereruption in particular were probably key to the most recent dispersal and subsequent worldwide expansion of modern humans.