一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，從法國Grotte du Renne考古遺址發(fā)掘出的尼安德特人殘骸可能比被認為處于同一時期的有趣的精密人工制品更古老。在Grotte du Renne,，通常與具有現(xiàn)代解剖結構的人類有關的裝飾品和工具是在與石化的尼安德特人牙齒同樣深度的地方發(fā)掘出來的，這引發(fā)了關于尼安德特人是否制造了這些人工制品或者模仿了正在出現(xiàn)的現(xiàn)代人的行為的爭論,。
然而,，這兩種假象情境都假定這些牙齒和工具是同時代的。Thomas F.G. Higham及其同事利用碳測年的新進展檢查了Grotte du Renne的6個關鍵的考古層的骨,、鹿角和人工制品,，并報告說這些化石的分布方式可能讓基于這個遺址的年代順序的考古學推論變得無效。這組作者說,，加速質(zhì)譜儀測年表明一些化石的年代與發(fā)現(xiàn)它們的地質(zhì)層的年代不符,，這導致了很難肯定把尼安德特人與這些精密的人工制品聯(lián)系起來的理論。這組作者警告說,，在尼安德特人行為模型方面,，來自Grotte du Renne遺址的證據(jù)應該謹慎考慮。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦英文摘要：
PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.1007963107
Chronology of the Grotte du Renne (France) and implications for the context of ornaments and human remains within the Chatelperronian
Thomas Highama,1, Roger Jacobib,c,2, Michèle Juliend, Francine Davidd, Laura Basella, Rachel Wooda, William Daviese, and Christopher Bronk Ramseya
There is extensive debate concerning the cognitive and behavioral adaptation of Neanderthals, especially in the period when the earliest anatomically modern humans dispersed into Western Europe, around 35,000–40,000 B.P. The site of the Grotte du Renne (at Arcy-sur-Cure) is of great importance because it provides the most persuasive evidence for behavioral complexity among Neanderthals. A range of ornaments and tools usually associated with modern human industries, such as the Aurignacian, were excavated from three of the Chatelperronian levels at the site, along with Neanderthal fossil remains (mainly teeth). This extremely rare occurrence has been taken to suggest that Neanderthals were the creators of these items. Whether Neanderthals independently achieved this level of behavioral complexity and whether this was culturally transmitted or mimicked via incoming modern humans has been contentious. At the heart of this discussion lies an assumption regarding the integrity of the excavated remains. One means of testing this is by radiocarbon dating; however, until recently, our ability to generate both accurate and precise results for this period has been compromised. A series of 31 accelerator mass spectrometry ultrafiltered dates on bones, antlers, artifacts, and teeth from six key archaeological levels shows an unexpected degree of variation. This suggests that some mixing of material may have occurred, which implies a more complex depositional history at the site and makes it difficult to be confident about the association of artifacts with human remains in the Chatelperronian levels.
