Articlegold2020

Isotopic evidence for initial coastal colonization and subsequent diversification in the human occupation of Wallacea

Patrick Roberts · Julien Louys · Jana Zech · Ceri Shipton · Shimona Kealy · Sofía Samper Carro +7 more

111 citations0/0 files storedNature Communications

No readable copy stored yet — this record is metadata only.

Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology Archaeology and ancient environmental studies Pacific and Southeast Asian Studies

Abstract

The resource-poor, isolated islands of Wallacea have been considered a major adaptive obstacle for hominins expanding into Australasia. Archaeological evidence has hinted that coastal adaptations in Homo sapiens enabled rapid island dispersal and settlement; however, there has been no means to directly test this proposition. Here, we apply stable carbon and oxygen isotope analysis to human and faunal tooth enamel from six Late Pleistocene to Holocene archaeological sites across Wallacea. The results demonstrate that the earliest human forager found in the region c. 42,000 years ago made significant use of coastal resources prior to subsequent niche diversification shown for later individuals. We argue that our data provides clear insights into the huge adaptive flexibility of our species, including its ability to specialize in the use of varied environments, particularly in comparison to other hominin species known from Island Southeast Asia.

Citations in this library

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 111 citations exist upstream.

References

2011The cultural niche: Why social learning is essential for human adaptation 1996Dental Anthropology 2011Denisova Admixture and the First Modern Human Dispersals into Southeast Asia and Oceania 2019A late Middle Pleistocene Denisovan mandible from the Tibetan Plateau 2011Pelagic Fishing at 42,000 Years Before the Present and the Maritime Skills of Modern Humans 2005Further evidence for small-bodied hominins from the Late Pleistocene of Flores, Indonesia 2019Earliest hunting scene in prehistoric art 1999Isotopic Evidence for the Diet of an Early Hominid, Australopithecus africanus

Cited by

2020Environmental drivers of megafauna and hominin extinction in Southeast Asia 2020Pleistocene Water Crossings and Adaptive Flexibility Within the Homo Genus 2025A submerged landscape at the entrance of Sahul 2021Fishhooks, Lures, and Sinkers: Intensive Manufacture of Marine Technology from the Terminal Pleistocene at Makpan Cave, Alor Island, Indonesia 2022Framing Australian Pleistocene coastal occupation and archaeology 2025

Imported from OpenAlex (CC0) — nothing here is generated.