Humans thrived in South Africa through the Toba eruption about 74,000 years ago

Autor: Zenobia Jacobs, Erich C. Fisher, Curtis W. Marean, Thalassa Matthews, Jayne Wilkins, Naomi Cleghorn, Minghua Ren, Panagiotis Karkanas, Deborah L. Keenan, Racheal Johnsen, Amber Ciravolo, Christine Lane, Simen Oestmo, Shelby Fitch, Jacob A. Harris, Eugene I. Smith
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature. 555:511-515
ISSN: 1476-4687
0028-0836
Popis: Youngest Toba Tuff glass shards found together with evidence of human occupation at two archaeological sites from the southern coast of South Africa indicate that early modern humans thrived in this region despite the eruption of the Toba supervolcano about 74,000 years ago. The eruption of the Toba supervolcano in Sumatra about 74,000 years ago was one of the most destructive events of the past two million years. There has been much debate about how (or whether) this eruption affected the fortunes of modern humans, who were beginning to appear in eastern Asia at the time. Curtis Marean and colleagues show that the effects of the Toba eruption were felt much further afield. They report evidence of Toba-related cryptotephra (microscopic fragments of volcanic ejecta) at two sites in South Africa that also bear evidence of human occupation during the Toba 'winter' (if it indeed occurred). The human population at those sites used advanced microlith technology and the first composite tools (hafted arrows), with more abundant and innovative production after the Toba eruption than before. This seems to be the first evidence of Toba-related ejecta in a well-studied and well-dated context. Approximately 74 thousand years ago (ka), the Toba caldera erupted in Sumatra. Since the magnitude of this eruption was first established, its effects on climate, environment and humans have been debated1. Here we describe the discovery of microscopic glass shards characteristic of the Youngest Toba Tuff—ashfall from the Toba eruption—in two archaeological sites on the south coast of South Africa, a region in which there is evidence for early human behavioural complexity. An independently derived dating model supports a date of approximately 74 ka for the sediments containing the Youngest Toba Tuff glass shards. By defining the input of shards at both sites, which are located nine kilometres apart, we are able to establish a close temporal correlation between them. Our high-resolution excavation and sampling technique enable exact comparisons between the input of Youngest Toba Tuff glass shards and the evidence for human occupation. Humans in this region thrived through the Toba event and the ensuing full glacial conditions, perhaps as a combined result of the uniquely rich resource base of the region and fully evolved modern human adaptation.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz: