WASHINGTON: Dental remains from two different sites in Italy indicate that modern humans were responsible for the Protoaurignacian culture that arose in Europe more than 40,000 years ago, according to a study published in Science magazine.
The discovery helps resolve a debate over the identity of the creators of the precursor to the Aurignacian culture, whose rise coincided with the demise of Neanderthals in the region, the authors said.
Researchers had wondered whether the Protoaurignacian culture, characterized by simple ornaments, was the work of Homo sapiens or Neanderthals.
A team led by University of Vienna anthropologist Stefano Benazzi analyzed two 41,000-year-old incisors from two Italian sites.
One of the teeth contained mitochondrial DNA, which was compared with that of present-day humans, ancient modern humans, Neanderthals, Denisovans, of a yet-to-be-classified hominid who lived in Spain and of chimpanzees.
The researchers concluded that the Protoaurignacian teeth were related to Aurignacian remains.
Given that Neanderthals disappeared from Western Europe around 39,260 years ago, Benazzi suggested that the arrival of modern humans caused the decline of the Neanderthals.
The Aurignacian culture -named after the site of Aurignac in southern France – replaced the Mousterian culture in southwestern Europe at the start of the Upper Paleolithic, about 38,000 years ago.
