Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
6446177 | Quaternary Science Reviews | 2014 | 10 Pages |
Abstract
Understanding the structure and variation of Homo sapiens populations in Africa is critical for interpreting multiproxy evidence of their subsequent dispersals into Eurasia. However, there is no consensus on early H. sapiens demographic structure, or its effects on intra-African dispersals. Here, we show how a patchwork of ecological corridors and bottlenecks triggered a successive budding of populations across the Sahara. Using a temporally and spatially explicit palaeoenvironmental model, we found that the Sahara was not uniformly ameliorated between â¼130 and 75 thousand years ago (ka), as has been stated. Model integration with multivariate analyses of corresponding stone tools then revealed several spatially defined technological clusters which correlated with distinct palaeobiomes. Similarities between technological clusters were such that they decreased with distance except where connected by palaeohydrological networks. These results indicate that populations at the Eurasian gateway were strongly structured, which has implications for refining the demographic parameters of dispersals out of Africa.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Geology
Authors
Eleanor M.L. Scerri, Nick A. Drake, Richard Jennings, Huw S. Groucutt,