title: Archaeology. The makers of the Protoaurignacian and implications for Neandertal extinction.
abstract: The Protoaurignacian culture is pivotal to the debate about the timing of the arrival of modern humans in western Europe and the demise of Neandertals. However, which group is responsible for this culture remains uncertain. We investigated dental remains associated with the Protoaurignacian. The lower deciduous incisor from Riparo Bombrini is modern human, based on its morphology. The upper deciduous incisor from Grotta di Fumane contains ancient mitochondrial DNA of a modern human type. These teeth are the oldest human remains in an Aurignacian-related archaeological context, confirming that by 41,000 calendar years before the present, modern humans bearing Protoaurignacian culture spread into southern Europe. Because the last Neandertals date to 41,030 to 39,260 calendar years before the present, we suggest that the Protoaurignacian triggered the demise of Neandertals in this area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cultural Heritage, University of Bologna, Via degli Ariani 1, 48121 Ravenna, Italy. Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. stefano.benazzi@unibo.it.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benazzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Slon
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Talamo
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Antichità, Filosofia, Storia e Geografia, Università di Genova, Via Balbi 2, 16126 Genova, Italy.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Negrino
authors.affiliation: Sezione di Scienze Preistoriche e Antropologiche, Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, Corso Ercole I d'Este 32, Università di Ferrara, 44100 Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Peresani
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany. Center for the Study of Human Origins, Department of Anthropology, New York University, 25 Waverly Place, New York, NY 10003, USA.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Bailey
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sawyer
authors.affiliation: CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council, Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Panetta
authors.affiliation: Museo Archeologico del Finale, Chiostri di Santa Caterina, 17024 Finale Ligure Borgo, Italy.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vicino
authors.affiliation: Scuola di Scienze Umanistiche, Dipartimento di Studi Storici, Università di Torino, via S. Ottavio 20, 10124 Torino, Italy. Museo Preistorico Nazionale dei Balzi Rossi, Via Balzi Rossi 9, 18039 Ventimiglia, Italy.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Starnini
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Mannino
authors.affiliation: CNR Institute of Clinical Physiology, National Research Council, Via G. Moruzzi 1, 56124 Pisa, Italy.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Salvadori
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.affiliation: Department of Evolutionary Genetics, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pääbo
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Deutscher Platz 6, 04103 Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: J-J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Hublin
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001106:Archaeology; D001483:Base Sequence; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics; D003743:Dental Enamel / Q000737:chemistry; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D054629:Genome, Mitochondrial / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007180:Incisor / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D059125:Neanderthals / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics*; D010802:Phylogeny; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial