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Approximately 74,000 years ago, Mount Toba on the island of Sumatra experienced the largest supereruption in Earth’s history, potentially causing massive disruption to the world’s climate.
some scientists I suspect that there will be a volcanic winter due to eruptions. This change was large enough to wipe out most of the early humans, with genetic evidence suggesting a rapid decline in human populations. However, this time, cutting-edge research on ruins in northwestern Ethiopia, where early modern humans once lived, reveals that added to growing evidence That suggests that the event may not have been so apocalyptic.
Instead, the new study shows that humans at the site, known as Simfa Metema 1, adapted to the arid conditions brought about by the volcanic eruption, facilitating a significant migration of humans from Africa to other parts of the world. It turned out that it was possible.
Microscopic shards of volcanic glass, found along with stone tools and animal carcasses in the same layer of sediment at the Sinfa Metema 1 site near the Sinfa River in Ethiopia, were found before and after the eruption of a volcano more than 4,000 miles away. This indicates that humans occupied the area.
“These fragments are smaller than the diameter of a human hair. No matter how small they are, still “It’s large enough to analyze chemistry and trace elements,” said John Kappelman, professor of anthropology and geological sciences at the University of Texas at Austin and lead author of the study. Published in Nature magazine on Wednesday.
By piecing together clues from fossils and artifacts found at the site, along with geological and molecular analyses, the team determined that humans lived there despite the climate changes that the volcanic cataclysm may have caused. I started to understand how things were moving forward.
John Kappelman and Marcia Miller
Excavations at the Simfa Metema 1 site reveal that human populations survived the eruption of the Mount Toba supervolcano 74,000 years ago.
To understand the climate at the time of the eruption, Kappelman and his colleagues analyzed isotopes of oxygen and carbon, variations of the same elements, in ostrich eggshells and fossilized mammal teeth. The study revealed water intake and revealed that the animals were eating plants that were more likely to grow in drier conditions.
“The isotope gets incorporated into the hard tissues. So in mammals, we look at the teeth, the enamel of the teeth, but we also find it in the shell of an ostrich egg,” he said. .
Analysis of the flora and fauna at the site also found large amounts of fish remains in the aftermath of the eruption. The discovery is perhaps not surprising given how close the site was to a river, but fish are rare at other Stone Age sites from the same period, the study notes.
“With the arrival of Toba, people start increasing the proportion of fish in their diets. They are catching and processing almost four times as much fish (as before the eruption),” he said.
“We think the reason is that if Toba is actually creating more dryness, that means the wet season will be shorter and the dry season will be longer.”
The researchers theorized that, counterintuitively, a drier climate explains the increased reliance on fish. As rivers shrank, fish became trapped in waterholes and shallow streams, making them easier targets for hunters.
Fish-rich waterholes could potentially have created what the researchers described as a “blue corridor,” along which early humans migrated north from Africa after fish were depleted. This theory contradicts most other models, which suggest that the main migration of humans out of Africa occurred along a “green corridor” during humid periods.
“This research… highlights the remarkable plasticity of Homo sapiens populations and their ability to easily adapt to all types of environments, both humid and hyper-arid, including during catastrophic events such as the Toba super-explosion. It’s a demonstration of their abilities.” Ludovic Slimak, a researcher at France’s National Center for Scientific Research and the University of Toulouse, said in an email. Slimak was not involved in the study.
The study authors were also able to examine the geology of the ancient riverbed, suggesting that river flows at that time were slower and lower than they are today.
“You can do that just by looking at the cobblestones,” Kappelman said. “Very active rivers can move larger rocks and cobbles than less active rivers. The ones found in ancestral rivers (cobbles) are smaller than in today’s rivers.”
Lawrence C. Todd
The excavation team was able to get a detailed picture of what happened at the Ethiopian site some 74,000 years ago.
Researchers also discovered the remains of several small trig points. These interestingly rank among the earliest examples of the use of archery, providing clues that the inhabitants of this place may have used bows and arrows to hunt fish and other larger game. do.
Slimak, who has studied similar dots found in France dating back 50,000 years, agreed with the new study’s assessment of the artifacts.
“The authors also highlight very clear evidence that suggests archery existed here 74,000 years ago,” Slimak said. “Thus, these ancient Homo sapiens were already highly technologically advanced, largely freed from natural and climatic constraints, and their subsequent migration across all continents and latitudes is understandable. There is good reason to think that this is an important factor for
Although ancient species of humans are thought to have left Africa multiple times, archaeologists and geneticists believe that the most significant dispersal of our own species, Homo sapiens, was the one that eventually brought modern humans to the far corners of the Earth. It is generally agreed that the 1970s occurred between about 70,000 and 50,000 years ago. Before.
Chris Stringer, a professor and leader in human evolution research at the Natural History Museum in London, said the new study does not exclude previous theories, but suggests other potential explanations for how this dispersal occurred. He called the study an “interesting paper,” saying that it presents a scenario that
“While we are confident that each of these proposals will stimulate debate among relevant experts, the authors provide plausible (though not conclusive) evidence for each scenario they propose,” Stringer said. I think so,” he said in an email.
“Of course, this new study does not mean that the wet corridor was not an important conduit for dispersal from Africa, but this study does not mean that the wet corridor was not an important conduit for dispersal from Africa, but it does suggest that the wetter corridor was not an important conduit for dispersal from Africa, but it does suggest that the wetter corridor was not an important conduit for dispersal from Africa, but it does suggest that a Add sex.”
