The onset of the Neanderthal world: Exploring ecological niche dynamics and technological variability across Marine Isotope Stages 12, 11 and 10
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Following the intense MIS 12 glacial is situated an important period of human evolution contemporaneous with the appearance of Neanderthal anatomical features, around 430,000 years ago, that is commonly described as a threshold for behavioural change in Western Europe. Specifically, we observe an increase in the number of well-preserved archaeological occupations, the appearance of technological innovations, and new subsistence behaviours in certain regions of Europe. This pattern suggests the emergence of regional cultural traditions, although the factors behind the appearance of certain technological innovations, such as the Levallois method, during this period of climatic amelioration remain unexplored. We employ ecological niche modelling tools to examine Western Europe’s archaeological record across Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 12–10. Specifically, using ellipsoid models, we estimate basal Neanderthal ecological niches and their potential geographic ranges for each MIS, and two intervals within MIS 11. With these results, we evaluate the relationship between ecological niche characteristics, niche dynamics, environmental suitability and lithic technological variability. We find that the hominin ecological niche is spatiotemporally dynamic across the entire study period and exhibits a relatively large increase in volume for phases that follow MIS 12 — MIS 11 (split into MIS 11c and MIS11ab) and MIS 10. We find few clear relationships between environmental suitability and lithic technologies or innovations. Rather, early Neanderthals maintained a variety of lithic reduction methods within their behavioural repertoire and achieved culturally adaptive flexibility by employing varying combinations of them.
Source: Research Square
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G1816324116, G2038104832, G2769865488, G288263039, G2941347746, G3215865098, G3461529875, G3476662984, G3576887439, G3910908113, G5190933361, Understanding a threshold in Human evolution at 450-350 ka through the roots of Neanderthal behavior., G5852091828, G6656126374, G8522095481, G8712258549
OpenAlex ID: W7214339000