Pleistocene sediment DNA reveals hominin and faunal turnovers at Denisova Cave
▲ 作者：Elena I. Zavala, Zenobia Jacobs, Benjamin Vernot, Michael V. Shunkov, Maxim B. Kozlikin, Anatoly P. Derevianko, Elena Essel, Cesare de Fillipo, Sarah Nagel, Julia Richter, Frédéric Romagné, Anna Schmidt, Bo Li, Kieran O’Gorman, Viviane Slon, Janet Kelso, Svante Pääbo, Richard G. Roberts & Matthias Meyer
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03675-0
▲ 摘要
西伯利亚南部的丹尼索瓦洞穴是尼安德特人亲缘关系的古人类类群丹尼索瓦人的类型地点。从这些沉积物中发现的十几具古人类遗骸还包括尼安德特人、尼安德特人和丹尼索瓦人的后代，这表明丹尼索瓦洞穴是这些古人类之间的接触带。然而，这些类群在遗址上出现的顺序、古人类居住的时间和环境背景，以及特定的古人类类群与考古组合之间的联系仍不确定。作者报告了728个沉积物样本的DNA分析，这些样本以网格状方式从更新世地层中收集。他们分别从685和175个样本中提取了古代动物群和古人类线粒体mtDNA。人类mtDNA最早的证据来自丹尼索瓦人，与旧石器时代中期早期的石器有关，这些石器大约存放于25万到17万年前；尼安德特人的mtDNA最早出现在这一时期的末期。研究者发现丹尼索瓦人的线粒体DNA发生了变化，这与动物区系mtDNA组成的变化相一致。他们还发现丹尼索瓦人和尼安德特人重复地占据着这个地方——可能一直到或在至少4.5万年前的最初旧石器时代晚期开始，当时现代人类的mtDNA首次被记录在沉积物中。
▲ Abstract
Denisova Cave in southern Siberia is the type locality of the Denisovans, an archaic hominin group who were related to Neanderthals. The dozen hominin remains recovered from the deposits also include Neanderthals and the child of a Neanderthal and a Denisovan7, which suggests that Denisova Cave was a contact zone between these archaic hominins. However, uncertainties persist about the order in which these groups appeared at the site, the timing and environmental context of hominin occupation, and the association of particular hominin groups with archaeological assemblages. Here we report the analysis of DNA from 728 sediment samples that were collected in a grid-like manner from layers dating to the Pleistocene epoch. We retrieved ancient faunal and hominin mitochondrial (mt)DNA from 685 and 175 samples, respectively. The earliest evidence for hominin mtDNA is of Denisovans, and is associated with early Middle Palaeolithic stone tools that were deposited approximately 250,000 to 170,000 years ago; Neanderthal mtDNA first appears towards the end of this period. We detect a turnover in the mtDNA of Denisovans that coincides with changes in the composition of faunal mtDNA, and evidence that Denisovans and Neanderthals occupied the site repeatedly—possibly until, or after, the onset of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic at least 45,000 years ago, when modern human mtDNA is first recorded in the sediments.
