Matt Ridley on Neanderthal hybridisation or no

Juist when it seemt that the question o modren hybridisation wi Neanderthals wis sattled, an Dienekes had come roon tae acceptin it - efter bein the yin commentator that peyed attention tae the possibeelity o it bein a statistical artefact - it's aa up in the air again wi a paper confirmin the viabeelity o the statistical explanation. Naethin new, really, nae new data or that. Bit there a guid summary o the discussion by Matt Ridley in the Wall Street Journal, 'Did Your Ancestor Date a Neanderthal?'

Dienekes has a series o technical posts discussin raicent papers in the field. As Dienekes pynts oot, the strangest argiement agin hybridisation is the wint o Neanderthal mitrochondrial DNA (i.e. a genetic contribution fae Neanderthal weemen) in modrens. The obvious answer is that the encounters o Neanderthal men wi modren weemen were casual, if no violent. Bit it's ay possible that the modren groups involved were matrilocal.

Neanderthal news

Widely reportit in the last twa-three days, Colin Shaw haes haed anither leuk at the over-developed Neanderthal richt erm, an strangly suggests it cam fae repetitive wark, sic as scrapin hides, raither nor intensive wark sic as huntin (the established view) - 'Neandertal humeri may reflect adaptation to scraping tasks, but not spear thrusting'. 

This fits in wi Bent Sørensen's views aboot Neanderthal claes. He haes a gey yuisefu approach tae reconstructin Neanderthal life in his airticle 'Energy use by Eem Neanderthals', publisht a couple o year syne, whaur he wirks oot whit it wad tak tae survive at different temperatures, an concludes that Neanderthal life nott weel-fittin claes, shuin, bedcovers, win-breaks, an some wey o preservin flesh (dryin?). There a guid review an discussion by Tim Jones here at Anthropology.net, includin a quote fae an interview Sørensen gied tae Discovery magazine: “Neanderthal tooth marks indicate chewing hides for softening, which is essential for clothes making.” (This is the wey Inuit tradeetionally prepared hides an aa.)

In anither new airticle, Erik Trinkaus pu's back fae his earlier nory that Neanderthals maun hae huntit by gettin in richt close tae their prey because their remains shaws injuries the like o rodeo riders - 'Neandertals, early modern humans, and rodeo riders'. It's aa up in the air again - turns oot the pattren o injuries in early modren humans is juist the same, an the daft idea that Neanderthals wisnae built for flingin things is oot the windae an aa.

Nae surprises, though yuisefu confirmation fae new data, in Karen Hardy et al., (£) 'Neanderthal medics? Evidence for food, cooking, and medicinal plants entrapped in dental calculus'  - Neanderthals cooked their mate, an yaised medeecinal herbs.

Mair nice stanes

As early as the Acheulian industry (Homo Erectus), fowk wis pickin up an hainin interestin stanes, the likes o fossils an crystals, accordin tae a thorough-gaun review o museum objecks by M.-H. Moncel et al ‘Non-utilitarian lithic objects from the European Paleolithic’, Archaeology Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 40/1 (2012) 24–40.

From the abstract: “The occurrence of non-utilitarian lithic objects, often modfied, in Middle Stone Age or Upper Paleolithic sites is now widely accepted as evidence of symbolic behavior associated with the appearance of Homo sapiens. However the occurrence of non-utilitarian and unusual objects in far earlier sites raises questions about their signficance.”

Sailing on the big blue wet thing

This news o seafarin Neanderthals, fae the New Scientist, comes oot at the ilk time as the announcement o new beuk Across Atlantic Ice be Dennis Stanford an Bruce Bradley. They've been pittin furth their idea for a whilie aboot an ice-corridor route tae the New Warld.

Neanderthal art

Excitin news that cave paintins haes been fund in Spain that micht, juist micht, be the haundiwark o Neanderthals. They shaw seals - they're raither elegant an stylised.

Gin the date fae the surroundins (43,500-42,300 year syne) is confirmed whan the pigments is analysed, it wad be verra likely that this wis the wark of Neanderthals raither nor modrens. No a muckle surprise - 200,000 year auld pigments haes been fund, and there haes aareadies been pigment finds at Neanderthal sites - John Hawks gies an overview here. 

There a bone objeck fae Slovenia that micht be a Neanderthal flute - guid summary (bit anonymous) o aa the argiements for an agin here.

Twa-three year syne, a stane objeck wis fund at a Neanderthal site in France that leuked a bit lik a face, bit verra crude an haurd tae tell fae a naitral objeck - it's a stane wi a bane ludgit through it, giein an effeck lik een. Bit there's been some haunlin o't tae shape it, sae maybe it wis some kinna idle playock. Descreeption o the find be J-C Marquet and M. Lorblanchet 'A Neanderthal face? The proto-figurine from La Roche-Cotard, Langeais (Indre-et-Loire, France)', an discussion be Paul B Pettitt, 'Is this the infancy of art? Or the art of an infant? A possible Neanderthal face from La Roche-Cotard, France'.

A mair convincin stane face wis fun be an amateur archaeologist in Hampshire in 2004 (though he's described here as a "retired fisherman"). Ah havenae been able for tae turn up ony further information aboot that ane.

Sae lang syne, we'll ne'er hae but a keethin sicht.

Man the hunter

Auld yin but a guid yin - theory that modrens had the edge as endurance rinners. Dennis M. Bramble & Daniel E. Lieberman. Endurance running and the evolution of Homo Nature 432, 345-352 (18 November 2004).

Modren admixture in Neanderthals

Dienekes passes on abstracts o papers fae a recent collogue o the American Association of Physical Anthropologists on Modren-Neanderthal admixter. He comments parteecularly on a paper be Fred H. Smith an Arika M. Ward, 'Vindija Neandertals as evidence for gene flow from early modern humans', leukin at the morphology o Neanderthal harnpans an chafts fae a late site in Croatia an giein  evidence o modren gene flow INTAE Neanderthals. Dienekes links back tae his ain speculations aboot this fae circumstantial evidence - bit this is the first hard evidence.

Neanderthal archaeology - watch this space

http://www.physorg.com/wire-news/87736163/weizmann-institute-and-max-planck-society-establish-a-joint-cent.html
Frae the press release:
The group at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot will mainly follow the research track entitled 'The Timing of Cultural Change.' Its goal: to shed new light on such fascinating aspects of human history as the spread of ideas, the changes in lifestyles, the different rates of development in various parts of the world and the migration of people from one geographical area to another. Traditionally, these questions have been explored by relative dating – that is, comparing changes in tools or pottery in different regions. However, absolute dating – determining the actual age of objects and strata – is needed in order to establish when a particular change occurred and how fast it spread throughout the region. To document the distribution of cultural changes in the last 50,000 years, the scientists will conduct much of the work in the field, performing a scientific analysis of findings at the archaeological site itself, to be followed up by laboratory studies. They will use high-resolution radiocarbon dating, which makes it possible to date specimens with a precision of 20 to 40 years, taking advantage of such advanced techniques as accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS—see below) analysis of radiocarbon content.

The group at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig will mainly conduct research along the track entitled 'Physical Anthropology through Bone and Tooth Structure-Function Studies.' Scientists in this group will investigate issues in recent human evolution, particularly those relating to the co-occurrence of Neanderthal and early modern human populations in the Levantine region, at the crossroads between Africa and Eurasia. The study of fossil remains of these two populations has been traditionally based on the shapes of bones and teeth, examined more recently with the help of 3D computer reconstructions. Scientists in this track will make use of high-resolution computer tomography both at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig and at the Weizmann Institute, a technology that makes it possible to perform such reconstructions down to the level of micron-sized details. The scientists will examine the relationship between structure and function in bones and teeth, which is essential for understanding evolutionary changes. Since this relationship is difficult to establish using fossils alone, the focus of the studies in the new Center will be on modern bones and teeth.

Particle Accelerator for the Study of the Past
The new AMS equipment is expected to have a major impact on archaeology research both locally and internationally, as the only machine of its kind in the entire Middle East. Designed especially for conducting mainly archaeological research, it will be installed at the Weizmann Institute in a designated laboratory in the Physics Faculty, in the end of 2012. Archaeological dating used to rely on counters tracking the decay of the radioactive carbon isotope called C-14, a time-consuming process that requires large quantities of material. In contrast, AMS performs direct measurements of C-14, by accelerating the carbon atoms to a high speed and separating out the C-14 even when it is present at the minute concentrations of one in a quadrillion (1 followed by 15 zeroes) carbon atoms. This approach makes it possible to perform the dating very fast and on minute quantities of material, such as a single lentil, a grain of wheat or a small trace of collagen in bones – an essential feature, since over thousands of years, organic matter on which radiocarbon dating is based tends to disappear.

Faces o early humans

This leuks weill worth seein:

Safari zum Urmenschen
Japanischen Palais,
Dresden-Neustadt

till 30 Aprile, fae Tuesday tae Sunday, 10am tae 6pm, closed Good Friday

Neanderthal reconstructions fae the exhibition, prentit be the Daily Mail.

This wabsteid is guid place tae fun oot aboot exhibitions, Atelier Daynes - this is the quine at daes a lot o museum feegures.

Nice stanes

It’s been suggestit that Modren humans had the edge ower the Neanderthals in social organisation. Yin aspeck o this is trade, sae it’s interestin tae see fae this article Multiple origins of Bondi Cave and Ortvale Klde (NW Georgia) obsidians and human mobility in Transcaucasia during the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic be François-Xavier Le Bourdonnec et al., that baith Neanderthals an Modrens in whit is noo Georgia (Transcaucasia) had access tae obsidian. Obsidian tuils wis fund in twa caves occupied be Neanderthals an later be Modrens. The authors haes identified yin o the places that the obsidian cam fae. It’s no a prohibitive distance (a maitter o 170 km), bit ither sources are twice that.

They cite seemilar recent results fae Hungary for obsidian and the Czech Republic for rock crystal, an note that “even greater distances are attested for flint in areas where artefact quality raw materials are absent or rare”.

There’s ay some doot whan tryin tae link objecks tae the fowk that made thaim, bit it daes leuk like the Neanderthals wis ontae the obsidian first an the Modrens learnt tae wirk it fae thaim: “Neanderthals and later Modern Humans apparently employed the same behaviour with regard to how they worked their obsidian, which raises the question of an eventual transmission of this tradition.”

Lalueza-Fox an Gilbert, “Paleogenomics of Archaic Hominins” (2011)

This article, Paleogenomics of Archaic Hominins, is a maist yuisefu an timeous summary o whit we’ve learned fae “palaeogenomics, a discipline that has begun to revolutionise the study of human evolution” by twa prominent researchers in the field, Carles Lalueza-Fox an M. Thomas P. Gilbert.

There a time line o recent findins, includin:

1997 first Neanderthal mitochondrial DNA sequence;
2006  Neanderthal nuclear DNA sequenced;
2007 Neanderthal FOXP2 gene (crucial tae langage) fund tae be identical tae that o modren humans; Neanderthals fund tae hae reid hair an fair skin;
2008 Neanderthals fund tae be O bluid group;
2010 draft o hale Neanderthal nuclear genome;
2011 detection o ancient hominin gene flow intae modren human genomes warldwide (i.e. Neanderthal in aabody ootside Africa, Denisovan in Australasians an Asians, unidentified ancients in Bushmen an Pygmies).

The authors spick aboot methods, includin the byordnar problems o retrievin relevant data fae the backgrun noise o bacterial DNA, an the risk o modren contamination. They summarise whit we ken fae paleontology o the Neanderthal phenotype, includin the wey the shape o the brain developed fae birth tae adult. (They touch briefly forbye on diet an tools.) They discuss whit we can deduce fae genetics aboot the Neanderthal phenotype, population dispersal an nummers, gene flow atween ancients an modrens, an Neanderthal group structure (a faimly group has been typed, an the males are closely relatit, suggestin a patrilocal social structure; on the ither haun, anither study fund continuity in mitochrondrial DNA ower thoosans o years in yae place). 

Researchers are ay siftin through the Neanderthal genome. “Ultimately, our knowledge of the differences between Neanderthals and us will depend on how well we understand the phenotypic effects of these genetic changes in living organisms.” Yaisin the chimpanzee as a reference pynt, researchers hiv leuked for genes whaur Neanderthals seem tae hae kept an aulder primate form an modrens hae diverged. “The list comprises genes associated with various functions, including metabolism, cranial development, pigmentation, skin physiology, cognition and even sperm movement.” Chynges speceefic tae Neanderthals are faur harder tae pin doon, especially wi a totty sample, sin they could ay be mirages caused be damage or error.

We can leuk forrat tae excitin findins as researchers in this field set aboot the “sequencing of genomes from anatomically modern human samples that date to the Upper Palaeolithic, although this approach will face substantial contamination issues.”

Ancient dalliances

Dienekes screives aboot the divergence o African populations an the lave, an whether it can be pit doon tae Neanderthal admixture. This is a yuisefu post wi links back tae his earlier screivins on the subjeck.

It was kinna surprisin, richt eneuch, whan the Neanderthal element turnt oot tae be richt through aa populations ootside Africa. Dienekes ootlines his ain theory - that (whether or no there's ony Neanderthal admixture as weill), the same data cud be pyntin tae somethin deifferent - somethin aboot Africans raither nor non-Africans - namely admixture wi yin or mair ancient human lineages in Africa. Dienekes' reference for this is Hammer et al's paper Genetic evidence for archaic admixture in Africa.

Essential tae Dienekes' interpretation is his ither norie: that modren humans originatit in an dispersed fae the Arabian Peninsula - in ither wirds INTAE Africa.

Neanderthal biggin

Mair evidence o Neanderthals yaisin mammoth bones tae bigg shelters. This paper describes a site in the Ukraine, the earliest fun up tae noo. 

Mammoth banes seems tae be a subsitute for wuid in steppe environments. We ken Neanderthals yaised wuid – hafts for stane tuils, obviously – bit it’s no a material ye’d expeck tae survive. Sae it’s fascinatin tae see this find fae a Barcelona site, a cast o a wuiden spatula, reconstructit by the archaeologists fae the Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social. Julien Riel-Salvatore pits it in context here.

Neanderthal hybrids

Ah believe this is the paper reportit in the press this week (e.g. in the Telegraph), though in a gey distortit wey. It’s ‘Modeling Human Ecodynamics and Biocultural Interactions in the Late Pleistocene of Western Eurasia’ by C. Michael Barton, Julian Riel-Salvatore et al, in the journal Human Ecology (online preview).

The take-away message for the journos seems tae be that the Neanderthals were awfa clever, an therefore parteecularly desirable as mates. Oor Neanderthal correspondent wadna dispute that, naiterally, bit whit the authors are sayin in fact, is juist that there nae need tae assume that the Neanderthals was in ony wey inferior tae the Modrens.

The study is in twa pairts. The first establishes (yaisin the evidence o stane tuils – it’s ingenious, bit Ah’ll no gang intae the details) that baith Neanderthals an Modrens chynged the wey they muved aboot “over the course of the Late Pleistocene”. Ower time, baith lots got less inclined tae flit their hale camp, an mair inclined tae sattle in yin place, sendin oot huntin baunds. Thir mobile pairties wis able tae cover a muckler area, drawin on wider resources, as the climate got harsher. The pynt is that this made it likelier that the twa lots wad rin intae ilk ither.

The saicont pairt o the study rins computer simulations tae see whit wad happen tae the smaaer population o Neanderthals as they interactit wi the muckler population o Modrens. Nae prizes for guessin. It’s extinction by hybridisation.

The authors daes briefly discuss the verra smaa proportion o Neanderthal genes in the Modren population. This cud come aboot simply by hybrids breedin back intae the larger Modren population. Bit they mention forbye that wi ither mammal species there aften a situation whaur hybrids is mair viable breedin back in yin direction nor in the ither. This is pretty much the scenario that Braken Fences envisages.

The Neanderthal Mind

Verra interestin an convincin airticle by Julia A. Sherman, ‘Evolutionary origin of bipolar disorder-revised:EOBD-R’ in the journal ‘Medical Hypotheses’ (2011). It turns oot that there a connection atween bipolar disorder (whit yist tae be cried manic depression), seasonal affective disorder, an a cauld-adaptit body shape. Aa thir is peened doon tae a certain gene (EOBD-R).

Circadian rhythms in folk wi bipolar disorder is seemilar tae rhythms in beasts that hibernate. Maist intriguin tae me is the norie that the relevant gene cud hae come fae the Neanderthals. It wad been an adaptation tae life in a cauld climate.

… the question is asked, “How could Neandertals survive the winters if they were all depressed? How could they go out to hunt if they were depressed?” … … bipolar individuals have the capacity to switch out of depression during emergencies. … … during the Pleistocene hunting during the winter was often a fruitless, life-threatening activity. Hunters were well advised to save their energy for a better day. Neandertals were known to store dried meat, but as anthropologists have described, during the winters Neandertals did often verge on starvation … The argument of the … hypothesis is that Neandertals would have been even worse off without the bipolar adaptations. Imagine the winter scenario for a group of people, not depressed, living in close quarters for several months. People would become bored and likely to fight over sex partners and food. Some would impulsively venture to the outside never to return. The increased energy expenditures, social conflict, and loss of life seem less adaptive than the scenario of winter depression.

In the mean time the search aye continues for somethin  special aboot the modren mind, somethin exceptional tae explain oor predominance an render it inevitable afore the event. At the Gene Expression blog on Discover Magazine, Razib Khan haes been chowin this ower, ever an anon. He questions whether there haes tae be a single 'point mutation' that made wis modren. An e'en gin there is somethin in oor genes that gied us the edge ower the Neanderthals, it michtna come oot in aabody, bit juist in the antrin charismatic leader or aff-the-wa genius. There's interestin discussion in the comments tae his posts an aa, wi a hantle fowk inclinet hae pit it doon tae demography - a creetical mass that allooed the transmeesion o knawledge, specialisation, an organisation.

In contrast tae Khan's thochtfu haunlin o the subjeck, there a gey dire airticle in the New Scientist (staundards haes been faain there for a whilie), 'Different minds' by Kate Ravilious. For maist fowk the story is that Neanderthals had forms o the ilk genes that causes autism an schizophrenia in modrens, genes that's aften associatit wi creativity an lateral thinkin. Some fowk, leukin tae heeze up the Neanderthals, has suggestit that we got thir genes fae the Neanderthals, an sae the Neolithic Revolution is doon tae hybrid vigour efter we mellit wi thaim. For Ravilious on the ither haun - yeukie tae haud doon the Neanderthals - the pynt is that

Neanderthals carried subtly different forms of the AUTS2, CADPS2 and NRG3 genes compared with modern humans

Whaur her airticle really faas doon, though, is the suggestion that modren humans war uniquely 'tolerant' o fowk tinged wi mad genius, an sae we cam tae dominate. There isnae a scart o evidence for this, an it sticks in ma thrapple as a blaud o preachy political correctness, shamelessly smearin an opponent as intolerant on the basis o naethin but self-congratulatory sanctimoniousness. Flame aff.

Clonin Neanderthals

Fact is catchin up fast on fiction - airticle here aboot the ethics o clonin Neanderthals - reckont tae be aboot ten year fae bein feasible. Bad, bad, idea. It wad be the Truman Show wi addit mental health probs.

Gruntin Neanderthals

A frein draws ma attention tae this story fae 2008 aboot Neanderthal speech. Robert McCarthy haes biggit a model o the Neanderthal vocal tract and synthesised the vowel ‘ee’. The New Scientist coverage o McCarthy’s conference paper quotes him as saying “They would have spoken a bit differently. They wouldn't have been able to produce these quantal vowels that form the basis of spoken language.” Later in the airticle this has become, “Though subtle, the linguistic difference would have limited Neanderthal speech.” The Telegraph picked up the story but drapt the New Scientist’s coverage o the discussion, in parteecular Erik Trinkaus’s view: "Ultimately what is important is not the anatomy of the mouth but the neuronal control of it."

Ah had tae gang an leuk up 'quantal vowels' (the abstract o this airticle be K. N. Stevens did the job) - apparently there aboot hauf a dizzen vowel souns that dinnae shaw muckle variation fae ane speaker tae anither (despite big differs in the vocal tract atween the sexes and accordin tae age). The idea is that thir are kinna calibration pyints for unnerstaunin speech.

Oor Neanderthal correspondent comments:

The idea that we have a prob with this is so much mammoth poo.

a) the scientists have synthesised one vowel so far - the rush to relegate us to football fan status on the basis of such fragmentary evidence is wholly typical of the prejudice against us, but we say, "Nya nya, sticks and stones," because we don't do victimhood;

b) there are modern languages that get by with two vowels, and some linguists argue there are languages with one (highly variable - uncalibrated!) vowel. Who needs vowels? We have more consonants than anybody!
c) we calibrate on a sliding scale - easy peasy - we have bigger brains than anybody!
d) and we wrestle woolly rhinos!