Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-qxdb6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T07:11:28.362Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

O Menino do Lapedo

Lagar Velho 1 and perceptions of the Neandertals1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2009

Erik Trinkaus ,
João Zilhão  and
Cidália Duarte
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The emergence of modern humans during the Late Pleistocene and the phylogenetic fate of the northwestern Eurasian Neandertals have been closely linked to our perceptions of the behavior and abilities of those late archaic humans, the Neandertals. In the past several years, several lines of evidence, including radiometric dating of archeological assemblages, taphonomic analyses of faunal remains, stable isotope analysis of Neandertal remains, the dating of late Neandertal remains, considerations of initial Upper Paleolithic associations and chronologies, and reassessments of Neandertal to early modern human phylogenetic relationships have tended to minimise the perceived behavioral differences between the Neandertals and early modern humans across Europe. Into this context, the discovery of an earlier Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian) early modern human child's skeleton at the Abrigo do Lagar Velho, Lapedo Valley, Portugal with distinctive Neandertal features provides further support for the de-dehumanising of the Neandertals. Its anatomical evidence for population blending when early modern humans spread into southern Iberia after 30,000 B.P. indicates that the behavioral differences between the local Neandertals and in-dispersing early modern humans were subtle and did not preclude them from regarding each other as human.

Keywords

Neandertalsearly modern humansUpper PaleolithicLate Pleistocene
Type
Notes
Information
Archaeological Dialogues , Volume 8 , Issue 1 , September 2001 , pp. 49 - 69
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2001

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adcock, G.J., Dennis, E.S., Easteal, S., Huttley, G.A., Jermiin, L.S., Peacock, J. and Thorne, A., 2001: Mitochondrial DNA sequences in ancient Australians. Implications for modern human origins, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 98, 537–542.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Aldhouse-Green, S. and Pettitt, P.B., 1998: Paviland Cave. Contexualizing the ‘Red Lady’, Antiquity 72, 756–772.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bader, O., 1998: Upper Palaeolithic site Sungir (graves and environment), Moscow.Google Scholar
Beaumont, P.B. and Vogel, J.C., 1972: On a new radiocarbon chronology for Africa south of the equator, African studies 31, 65–89, 155–182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Binford, L.R., 1989: Isolating the transition to cultural adaptations. An organizational approach, in Binford, L.R. (ed.), Debating archaeology, New York, 464–481.Google Scholar
Bischoff, J.L., Soler, N., Maroto, J. and Julià, R., 1989: Abrupt Mousterian/Aurignacian boundary at c.40 ka B.P. Accelerator C-14 dates from l'Abreda Cave (Catalunya, Spain), Journal of archaeological science 16, 563–576.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bocherens, H., Billiou, D., Mariotti, A., Patou-Mathias, M., Otte, M., Bonjean, D. and Toussaint, M., 1999: Palaeoenvironmental and palaeodietary implications of isotopic biogeochemistry of last interglacial Neanderthal and mammal bones in Scladina Cave (Belgium), Journal of archaeological science 26, 99–607.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boule, M., 1911: L'homme fossile de La Chapelle-aux-Saints, Annales de paléontologie 6, 111–172.Google Scholar
Boule, M., 1912: L'homme fossile de La Chapelle-aux-Saints, Annales de paléontologie 7, 21–56, 85–192.Google Scholar
Boule, M., 1913: L'homme fossile de La Chapelle-aux-Saints, Annales de paléontologie 8, 1–70.Google Scholar
Bräuer, G., 1984: A craniological approach to the origin of anatomically modern Homo sapiens in Africa and implications for the appearance of modern Europeans, in Smith, F.H. and Spencer, F. (eds.), The origins of modern humans, New York, 327–410.Google Scholar
Breuil, H., 1912: Les subdivisions du Paléolithique supérieur et leur signification, Congrès international d'anthropologie et d'archéologie préhistoriques 14, 1–238.Google Scholar
Cabrera, V. and Bischoff, J.L., 1989: Accelerator C-14 dates for Early Upper Paleolithic (Basal Aurignacian) at El Castillo Cave (Spain), Journal of archaeological science 16, 577–584.Google Scholar
Cann, R.L., Stoneking, M. and Wilson, A.C., 1987: Mitochondrial DNA and human evolution, Nature 325, 31–36.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chilardi, S., Frayer, D.W., Giola, P., Macchiarelli, R. and Mussi, M., 1996: Fontana Nuova di Ragusa (Sicily, Italy). Southernmost Aurignacian site in Europe, Antiquity 70, 553–563.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Churchill, S.E. and Smith, F.H., 2000: Makers of the early Aurignacian of Europe, Yearbook of physical anthropology 43, 61–115.3.0.CO;2-3>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Condemi, S., 1991: Some considerations concerning Neandertal features and the presence of Neandertals in the Near East, Rivista di antropologia 69, 27–38.Google Scholar
Day, M.H. and Stringer, C.B., 1982: A reconsideration of the Omo Kibish remains and the erectus-sapiens transition, in de Lumley, H. (ed.), L'Homo erectus et la place de l'homme de Tautavel parmi les hominidés, Paris, 814–846.Google Scholar
d'Errico, F., Zilhão, J., Julien, M., Baffier, D. and Pelegrin, J., 1998: Neanderthal acculturation in western Europe? A critical review of the evidence and its interpretation, Current anthropology 39, 1–44.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duarte, C., Maurício, J., Pettitt, P.B., Souto, P., Trinkaus, E., van der Plicht, H. and Zilhão, J., 1999: The early Upper Paleolithic human skeleton from the Abrigo do Lagar Velho (Portugal) and modern human emergence in Iberia, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 96, 7604–7609.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Farizy, C., David, F. and Jaubert, J., 1994: Hommes et bisons du Paléolithique moyen à Mauran (Haute-Garonne), Paris.Google Scholar
Ferembach, D., 1976: Les restes humains de la Grotte de Dar-es-Soltane 2 (Maroc) Campagne 1975, Bulletin et mémoires de la Société d'Anthropologie de Paris 13(3), 183–193.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fizet, M., Mariotti, A., Bocherens, H., Lange-Badré, B., Vandermeersch, B., Borel, J. and Bellon, G., 1995: Effect of diet, physiology and climate on carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of collagen in late Pleistocene anthropic palaeoecosystem: Marillac, Charente, France, Journal of archaeological science 22, 67–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frayer, D.W., 1978: Evolution of the dentition in Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic Europe, University of Kansas publications in anthropology 10, 1–201.Google Scholar
Frayer, D.W, Wolpoff, M.H., Smith, F.H., Thorne, A.G. and Pope, G.G., 1993: The fossil evidence for modern human origins, American anthropologist 95, 14–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gagneux, P., Wills, C., Gerloff, U., Tautz, D., Morin, P.A., Boesch, C., Fruth, B., Hohmann, G., Ryder, O.A. and Woodruff, D.S., 1999: Mitochondrial sequences show diverse evolutionary histories of African hominoids, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 96, 5077–5082.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gamble, C., 1986: The Paleolithic settlement of Europe, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Gaudzinski, S. and Roebroeks, W., 2000: Adults only: Reindeer hunting at the Middle Palaeolithic site Salzgitter-Lebenstedt, northern Germany, Journal of human evolution 38, 497–521.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giacobini, G., 1999: Les sépultures du Paléolithique supérieur d'Italie, in Sacchi, D. (ed.), Les faciès leptolithiques du nord-ouest méditerranéen: milieux naturels et culturels, Carcassonne, 29–39.Google Scholar
Hawks, J., Hunley, K., Lee, S.H. and Wolpoff, M., 2000: Population bottlenecks and Pleistocene human evolution, Molecular biology and evolution 17, 2–22.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heim, J.L., 1976: Les hommes fossiles de La Ferrassie I, Archives de l'Institut de Paléontologie Humaine 35, 1–331.Google Scholar
Heim, J.L., 1982: Les hommes fossiles de La Ferrassie II, Archives de l'Institut de Paléontologie Humaine 38, 1–272.Google Scholar
Holden, C., 1999: Ancient child burial uncovered in Portugal, Science 283, 169.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holliday, T.W., 1997: Body proportions in Late Pleistocene Europe and modern human origins, Journal of human evolution 32, 423–447.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hublin, J.J., 1978: Le Torus occipital transverse et les structures associées. Évolution dans le genre Homo, Thèse de Docteur de Troisième Cycle, Université de Paris VI.Google Scholar
Hublin, J.J., 1990: Les peuplements paléolithiques de l'Europe. Un point de vue paléobioéo-graphique, in Farizy, C. (ed.), Paléolithique moyen récent et paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe, mémoires du Musée de Préhistoire de l'Ile de France 3, 29–37.Google Scholar
Hublin, J.J., 2000: Modern-nonmodern hominid interactions. A Mediterranean perspective, in Bar-Yosef, O. and Pilbeam, D. (eds), The geography of Neandertals and modern humans in Europe and the greater Mediterranean. Peabody Museum bulletin 8, 157–182.Google Scholar
Hublin, J.J., Ruiz, C. Barroso, Lara, P. Medina, Fontugne, M. and Reyss, J.L., 1995: The Mousterian site of Zafarraya (Andalucia, Spain). Dating and implications on the Palaeolithic peopling process of western Europe, Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris 321, 931–937.Google Scholar
Hublin, J.J., Spoor, F., Braun, M., Zonneveld, F. and Condemi, S., 1996: A late Neanderthal associated with Upper Palaeolithic artefacts, Nature 381, 224–226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jaubert, J., Lorblanchet, M., Laville, H., Slott-Moller, R., Turq, A. and Brugal, J.P., 1990: Les chasseurs d'Aurochs de La Borde. Un site du Paléolithique Moyen (Livernon, Lot), Paris.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Keith, A., 1915: The antiquity of man, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klein, R.G., 1989: The human career, Chicago.Google Scholar
Krings, M., Capelli, C., Tschentscher, F., Geisert, H., Meyer, S., von Haeseler, A., Grossschmidt, K., Possnert, G., Paunović, M. and Pääbo, S., 2000: A view of Neandertal genetic diversity, Nature genetics 26, 144–146CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krings, M., Stone, A., Schmitz, R., Krainitzki, H., Stoneking, M. and Pääbo, S., 1997: Neandertal DNA sequences and the origin of modern humans, Cell 90, 19–30.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lévêque, F. and Vandermeersch, B., 1980: Découverte de restes humains dans un niveau castelperronien à Saint-Césaire (Charente-Maritime), Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences de Paris 291, 187–189.Google Scholar
Marean, C.W. and Kim, S.Y., 1998: Mousterian large-mammal remains from Kobeh Cave. Behavioral implications for Neanderthals and early modern humans, Current anthropology 39, 79–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellars, P., 1996: The Neanderthal legacy, Princeton.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordborg, M., 1998: On the probability of Neanderthal ancestry, American journal of human genetics 63, 1237–1240.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ovchinnikov, I., Götherström, A., Romanova, G.P., Kharitonov, V.M., Lidén, K. and Goodwin, W., 2000: Molecular analysis of Neandertal DNA from the northern Caucasus, Nature 404, 490–493.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patou-Mathis, M., 1993: Etude taphonomique et palethnographique de la faune de l'abri des Canalettes, in Meignan, L. (ed.), L'abri des Canalettes. Un habitat moustérien sur les grands Causses (Nant, Aveyron), Paris, 199–237.Google Scholar
Rak, Y., Kimbel, W.H. and Hovers, E., 1994: A Neandertal infant from Amud Cave, Israel, Journal of human evolution 26, 313–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Relethford, J.H., 2001a: Ancient DNA and the origin of modern humans, Proceedings of the national academy of sciences USA 98, 390–391.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Relethford, J.H., 2001b: Regional affinities of Neandertal DNA with living humans do not reject multiregional evolution, American journal of physical anthropology 115, 95–98.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richards, M.P., Pettitt, P.B., Trinkaus, E., Smith, F.H., Paunović, M. and Karavanić, I., 2000: Neanderthal diet at Vindija and Neanderthal predation. The evidence from stable isotopes, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 97, 7663–7666.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ruff, C.B., Trinkaus, E., Walker, A. and Larsen, C.S., 1993: Postcranial robusticity in Homo, I. Temporal trends and mechanical interpretations, American journal of physical anthropology 91, 21–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, F.H., 1976: The Neandertal remains from Krapina, Department of anthropology, University of Tennessee, report of investigations 15, 1–359.Google Scholar
Smith, F.H., and Spencer, F. (eds), 1984: The origins of modern humans, New York.Google Scholar
Smith, F.H., and Trinkaus, E., 1991: Les origines de l'homme moderne en Europe centrale. Un cas de continuité, in Hublin, J.J. and Tillier, A.M. (eds), Aux origines d'Homo sapiens. Nouvelle encyclopédie Diderot. Paris, 251–290.Google Scholar
Smith, F.H., Trinkaus, E., Pettitt, P.B., Karavanić, I. and Paunović, M., 1999: Direct radiocarbon dates for Vindija G1 and Velika Pećina Late Pleistocene hominid remains, Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA 96, 12281–12286.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Speth, J.D. and Tchernov, I., 1998: The role of hunting and scavenging in Neandertal procurement strategies, in Akazawa, T., Aoki, K. and Bar-Yosef, O. (eds), Neandertals and modern humans in western Asia, New York, 223–239.Google Scholar
Stiner, M.C., 1994: Honour among thieves. A zooarchaeological study of Neandertal ecology, Princeton.Google Scholar
Stringer, C.B., 1974a: A multivariate study of cranial variation in middle and Upper Pleistocene human populations, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Bristol.Google Scholar
Stringer, C.B., 1974b: Population relationships of later Pleistocene hominids. A multivariate study of available crania, Journal of archaeological science 1, 317–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stringer, C.B., 1987: A numerical cladistic analysis for the genus Homo, Journal of human evolution 16, 135–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stringer, C.B. and Andrews, P., 1988: Genetics and the fossil evidence for the origin of modern humans, Science 239, 1263–1268.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stringer, C.B. and Gamble, C., 1993: In search of the Neanderthals, London.Google Scholar
Stringer, C.B., Hublin, J.J. and Vandermeersch, B., 1984: The origin of anatomically modern humans in western Europe, in Smith, F.H. and Spencer, F. (eds), The origins of modern humans, New York, 51–135.Google Scholar
Svoboda, J., Ložek, V. and Vlček, E., 1996: Hunters between east and west, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thoma, A., 1984: Morphology and affinities of the Nazlet Khater man, Journal of human evolution 13, 287–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tillier, A.M., 1999: Les enfants moustériens de Qafzeh, Paris.Google Scholar
Trinkaus, E., 1975: A functional analysis of the Neandertal foot, Ph.D. Thesis, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
Trinkaus, E., 1981: Neanderthal limb proportions and cold adaptation, in Stringer, C.B. (ed.), Aspects of human evolution, London, 187–224.Google Scholar
Trinkaus, E., 1983a: The Shanidar Neandertals, New York.Google Scholar
Trinkaus, E., 1983b: Neandertal postcrania and the adaptive shift to modern humans, in Trinkaus, E. (ed.), The Mousterian legacy. Human biocultural change in the Upper Pleistocene, Oxford (BAR International Series 164), 165–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trinkaus, E., 1984: Western Asia, in Smith, F.H. and Spencer, F. (eds.), The origins of modern humans, New York, 251–293.Google Scholar
Trinkaus, E., 1986: The Neandertals and modern human origins, Annual review of anthropology 15, 193–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trinkaus, E., 1995: Near Eastern late archaic humans, Paléorient 21, 9–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trinkaus, E., 2000: The ‘robusticity transition’ revisited, in Stringer, C., Barton, R.N.E., and Finlayson, J.C. (eds), Neanderthals on the edge, Oxford, 227–236.Google Scholar
Trinkaus, E., Ruff, C.B., Churchill, S.E. and Vandermeersch, B., 1998: Locomotion and body proportions of the Saint-Césaire 1 Châtelperronian Neandertal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 95, 5836–5840.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trinkaus, E., and Shipman, P., 1993: The Neandertals. Changing the image of mankind, New York.Google Scholar
Trinkaus, E., Stringer, C.B., Ruff, C.B., Hennessy, R.J., Roberts, M.B. and Parfitt, S.A., 1999: Diaphyseal cross-sectional geometry of the Boxgrove 1 Middle Pleistocene human tibia, Journal of human evolution 37, 1–25.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Trinkaus, E. and Zilhão, J., 1999: Lagar Velho FAQs (Frequently asked questions regarding the Lagar Velho 1 human skeleton) http://www.ipa.min-cultura.pt/news/noticias/lapedo/lapedofaq, Instituto Português de Arqueologia.Google Scholar
Trinkaus, E., Zilhão, J. and Duarte, C., 1999: The Lapedo child. Lagar Velho 1 and our perceptions of the Neandertals, Mediterranean prehistory online (http://www.med.abaco-mac.it/articles/doc/013.htm).Google Scholar
Vandermeersch, B., 1981: Les hommes fossiles de Qafzeh (Israël), Paris.Google Scholar
Vandermeersch, B., 1995: Homo sapiens sapiens: ce que disent les fossiles. La recherche 26, 614–620.Google Scholar
Toscano, L.G. Vega, 1990: La fin du Paléolithique moyen au sud de l'Espagne: Ses implications, in Farizy, C. (ed.), Paléolithique moyen récent et Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe, Nemours, mémoires du Musée de Préhistoire de l'Ile de France 3, 169–176.Google Scholar
Villaverde, V. and Fumanal, M.P., 1990: Relations entre le Paléolithique moyen et le Paléolithique supérieur dans le versant Méditerranéen espagnol, in Farizy, C. (ed.), Paléolithique moyen récent et Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Europe, mémoires du Musée de Préhistoire de l'Ile de France 3, 177–183.Google Scholar
Wall, J.D., 2000: Detecting ancient admixture in humans using sequence polymorphism data, Genetics 154, 1271–1279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wendorf, F., Laury, R.L., Albritton, C.C., Schild, R., Haynes, C.V., Damon, P.E., Shafiqullah, M. and Scarborough, R., 1975: Dates for the Middle Stone Age of east Africa, Science 187, 740–742.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolpoff, M.H., Hawks, J., Frayer, D.W. and Hunley, K., 2001: Modern human ancestry at the peripheries. A test of the replacement theory, Science 291, 293–297.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolpoff, M.H., Wu, X.Z. and Thorne, A.G., 1984: Modern Homo sapiens origins. A general theory of hominid evolution involving the fossil evidence from east Asia, in Smith, F.H. and Spencer, F. (eds), The origins of modern humans, New York, 411–483.Google Scholar
Zilhão, J., 1993: Le passage du Paléolithique moyen au Paléolithique supérieur dans le Portugal, in Cabrera, V. (ed.), El orígen del hombre moderno en el Suroeste de Europa, Madrid, 127–145.Google Scholar
Zilhão, J., 1997: O Paleolítico Superior da Estremadura Portuguesa, Lisboa.Google Scholar
Zilhão, J., 1998: The extinction of Iberian Neandertals and its implications for the origins of modern humans in Europe, in Facchini, F., di Cesnola, A. Palma, Piperno, M., and Peretto, C. (eds), XIII International congress of prehistoric and protohistoric sciences 2, 299–312.Google Scholar
Zilhão, J., 2000: The Ebro frontier. A model for the late extinction of Iberian Neanderthals, in Stringer, C., Barton, R.N.E., and Finlayson, J.C. (eds), Neanderthals on the edge, Oxford, 111–121.Google Scholar
Zilhão, J., Duarte, C. and Araújo, A.C., 1999: A sepultura infantil do Paleolítico superior inicial do Abrigo do Lagar Velho (Lapedo, Leiria) http://www.ipa.min-cultura.pt/news/noticias/lapedo/lagarvelho, Instituto Português de Arqueologia.Google Scholar
Zilhão, J. and d'Errico, F., 1999: The chronology and taphonomy of the earliest Aurignacian and its implications for the understanding of Neandertal extinction, Journal of world prehistory 13, 1–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zilhão, J. and Trinkaus, E., 1999: An early Upper Paleolithic burial from the Abrigo do Lagar Velho, Portugal, Anthropologie (Brno) 37, 98.Google Scholar