Abrupt onset of intensive human occupation 44,000 years ago on the threshold of Sahul.
Journal
Nature communications
ISSN: 2041-1723
Titre abrégé: Nat Commun
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101528555
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
22 May 2024
22 May 2024
Historique:
received:
14
07
2023
accepted:
30
04
2024
medline:
23
5
2024
pubmed:
23
5
2024
entrez:
22
5
2024
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
Archaeological evidence attests multiple early dispersals of Homo sapiens out of Africa, but genetic evidence points to the primacy of a single dispersal 70-40 ka. Laili in Timor-Leste is on the southern dispersal route between Eurasia and Australasia and has the earliest record of human occupation in the eastern Wallacean archipelago. New evidence from the site shows that, unusually in the region, sediment accumulated in the shelter without human occupation, in the window 59-54 ka. This was followed by an abrupt onset of intensive human habitation beginning ~44 ka. The initial occupation is distinctive from overlying layers in the aquatic focus of faunal exploitation, while it has similarities in material culture to other early Homo sapiens sites in Wallacea. We suggest that the intensive early occupation at Laili represents a colonisation phase, which may have overwhelmed previous human dispersals in this part of the world.
Identifiants
pubmed: 38778054
doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-48395-x
pii: 10.1038/s41467-024-48395-x
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Historical Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
4193Informations de copyright
© 2024. The Author(s).
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