Abstract

The timing of the first arrival of Homo sapiens in East Asia from Africa and the degree to which they interbred with or replaced local archaic populations is controversial. Previous discoveries from Tam Pà Ling cave (Laos) identified H. sapiens in Southeast Asia by at least 46 kyr. We report on a recently discovered frontal bone (TPL 6) and tibial fragment (TPL 7) found in the deepest layers of TPL. Bayesian modeling of luminescence dating of sediments and U-series and combined U-series-ESR dating of mammalian teeth reveals a depositional sequence spanning ~86 kyr. TPL 6 confirms the presence of H. sapiens by 70 ± 3 kyr, and TPL 7 extends this range to 77 ± 9 kyr, supporting an early dispersal of H. sapiens into Southeast Asia. Geometric morphometric analyses of TPL 6 suggest descent from a gracile immigrant population rather than evolution from or admixture with local archaic populations.

Here the authors report new human fossils from Tam Pà Ling cave, Laos, consisting of a cranial and a tibial fragment, dated to 68–86 thousand years ago. This find confirms that Homo sapiens were present in Southeast Asia by this time and the shape of the fossils indicates they may have descended from non-local populations.

Details

Title
Early presence of Homo sapiens in Southeast Asia by 86–68 kyr at Tam Pà Ling, Northern Laos
Author
Freidline, Sarah E. 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Westaway, Kira E. 2   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Joannes-Boyau, Renaud 3   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Duringer, Philippe 4 ; Ponche, Jean-Luc 5 ; Morley, Mike W. 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Hernandez, Vito C. 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; McAllister-Hayward, Meghan S. 6   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; McColl, Hugh 7   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zanolli, Clément 8   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Gunz, Philipp 9   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Bergmann, Inga 9 ; Sichanthongtip, Phonephanh 10 ; Sihanam, Daovee 10 ; Boualaphane, Souliphane 10 ; Luangkhoth, Thonglith 10 ; Souksavatdy, Viengkeo 10 ; Dosseto, Anthony 11   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Boesch, Quentin 4 ; Patole-Edoumba, Elise 12 ; Aubaile, Françoise 13 ; Crozier, Françoise 14 ; Suzzoni, Eric 15 ; Frangeul, Sébastien 15 ; Bourgon, Nicolas 16   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Zachwieja, Alexandra 17 ; Dunn, Tyler E. 18 ; Bacon, Anne-Marie 19 ; Hublin, Jean-Jacques 20 ; Shackelford, Laura 21   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Demeter, Fabrice 22   VIAFID ORCID Logo 

1  University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Howard Phillips Hall, Department of Anthropology, Orlando, USA (GRID:grid.170430.1) (ISNI:0000 0001 2159 2859); Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Origins, Leipzig, Germany (GRID:grid.419518.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2159 1813) 
2  Macquarie University, School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Sydney, Australia (GRID:grid.1004.5) (ISNI:0000 0001 2158 5405) 
3  Southern Cross University, Geoarchaeology and Archaeometry Research Group (GARG), Lismore, Australia (GRID:grid.1031.3) (ISNI:0000000121532610); Centre for Anthropological Research, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa (GRID:grid.412988.e) (ISNI:0000 0001 0109 131X) 
4  Ecole et Observatoire des Sciences de la Terre, Institut de Physique du Globe de Strasbourg (IPGS), UMR 7516 CNRS, Université de Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France (GRID:grid.11843.3f) (ISNI:0000 0001 2157 9291) 
5  Université de Strasbourg, Laboratoire Image, Ville Environnement, Strasbourg, France (GRID:grid.11843.3f) (ISNI:0000 0001 2157 9291) 
6  Flinders University, Flinders Microarchaeology Laboratory, Archaeology, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences, Adelaide, Australia (GRID:grid.1014.4) (ISNI:0000 0004 0367 2697) 
7  Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark (GRID:grid.5254.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 0674 042X) 
8  Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, PACEA, UMR 5199, Pessac, France (GRID:grid.503132.6) (ISNI:0000 0004 0383 1969) 
9  Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Origins, Leipzig, Germany (GRID:grid.419518.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2159 1813) 
10  Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, Vientiane, Laos (GRID:grid.419518.0) 
11  University of Wollongong, Wollongong Isotope Geochronology Laboratory, School of Earth, Atmospheric & Life Sciences, Wollongong, Australia (GRID:grid.1007.6) (ISNI:0000 0004 0486 528X) 
12  Muséum d’Histoire naturelle de La Rochelle, La Rochelle, France (GRID:grid.11843.3f) 
13  Eco-anthropologie (EA), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France (GRID:grid.511721.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 0370 736X) 
14  IRD, DIADE, Montpellier, France (GRID:grid.503155.7) 
15  Spitteurs Pan, Technical Cave Supervision and Exploration, La Chapelle en Vercors, France (GRID:grid.503155.7) 
16  Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Origins, Leipzig, Germany (GRID:grid.419518.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2159 1813); Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenberg University, Applied and Analytical Palaeontology, Mainz, Germany (GRID:grid.5802.f) (ISNI:0000 0001 1941 7111) 
17  University of Minnesota Medical School, Department of Biomedical Sciences, Duluth, USA (GRID:grid.17635.36) (ISNI:0000000419368657) 
18  Oregon Health & Sciences University, Anatomical Sciences Education Center, Portland, USA (GRID:grid.5288.7) (ISNI:0000 0000 9758 5690) 
19  Université Paris Cité, BABEL CNRS UMR, Paris, France (GRID:grid.508487.6) (ISNI:0000 0004 7885 7602) 
20  Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Origins, Leipzig, Germany (GRID:grid.419518.0) (ISNI:0000 0001 2159 1813); Chaire de Paléoanthropologie, CIRB (UMR 7241–U1050), Collège de France. 11, Place Marcelin-Berthelot, Paris, France (GRID:grid.462887.7) 
21  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Anthropology, Urbana, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Carle Illinois College of Medicine, Urbana, USA (GRID:grid.35403.31) (ISNI:0000 0004 1936 9991) 
22  Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark (GRID:grid.5254.6) (ISNI:0000 0001 0674 042X); Eco-anthropologie (EA), Dpt ABBA, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, CNRS, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France (GRID:grid.511721.1) (ISNI:0000 0004 0370 736X) 
Pages
3193
Publication year
2023
Publication date
2023
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20411723
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38715-y
ProQuest document ID
2825595660
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2023. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.