Tools reveal patterns of Neandertal extinction in the Iberian Peninsula
Study finds evidence of local extinction and replacement even before Homo sapiens arrived

Date:
March 30, 2022
Source:
PLOS
Summary:
Neandertal populations in the Iberian Peninsula were experiencing
local extinction and replacement even before Homo sapiens arrived,
according to a new study.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Neandertal populations in the Iberian Peninsula were experiencing local extinction and replacement even before Homo sapiens arrived, according
to a study published March 30, 2022 in the open-access journal PLOS
ONE by Joseba Rios-Garaizar of the Archaeological Museum of Bilbao,
Spain and colleagues.


========================================================================== Neandertals disappeared around 40,000 years ago, but many details of
their extinction remain unclear. To elucidate the situation, it is useful
to explore how Neandertal populations were changing during their final millennia. In this study, researchers examined the distribution of a tool complex known as the Cha^telperronian, which is thought to be unique to
certain populations of Neandertals in France and the Iberian Peninsula.

The researchers examined over 5,000 remains of Cha^telperronian tools from
a site called Aranbaltza II in Barrika, in the Northern Iberian Peninsula, dating to around 45,500 years ago. Comparing this site with other nearby Neandertal tool sites, they document that the Cha^telperronian system does
not overlap in time with older Neandertal technologies in this region, suggesting that Cha^telperronian tools were not developed from earlier
Iberian technology, but instead originated elsewhere before migrating
into the region. They also found that Cha^telperronian tools appear
earlier than the first Homo sapiens tools in the Iberian Peninsula.

Based on this evidence, the authors suggest that older Iberian Neandertal populations disappeared, taking their tool styles with them, and were
replaced by different Neandertal groups using Cha^telperronian tools,
likely migrating from France, and these populations were in turn replaced
by Homo sapiens. The researchers propose that these patterns of local Neandertal extinction and replacement will be an important area of future study, as they might have played a significant role in the decline and
ultimate demise of Neandertals.

The authors add: "Neandertals with Cha^telperronian technology occupied
the Northern Iberian Peninsula ca. 43,000 years ago. This territory was unoccupied at the time, following the earlier disappearance of local
Neandertal groups, along with their Mousterian technology."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by PLOS. Note: Content may be edited
for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Joseba Rios-Garaizar, Eneko Iriarte, Lee J. Arnold, Laura Sa'nchez-
Romero, Ana B. Mari'n-Arroyo, Aixa San Emeterio, Asier
Go'mez-Olivencia, Carflos Pe'rez-Garrido, Martina Demuro,
Isidoro Campan~a, Laurence Bourguignon, Alfonso Benito-Calvo,
Mari'a J. Iriarte, Arantza Aranburu, Amaia Arranz-Otaegi,
Diego Garate, Mari'a Silva-Gago, Christelle Lahaye, Illuminada
Ortega. The intrusive nature of the Cha^telperronian in the
Iberian Peninsula. PLOS ONE, 2022; 17 (3): e0265219 DOI: 10.1371/
journal.pone.0265219 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/03/220330141403.htm

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