Makers of the early Aurignacian of Europe

Despite intensive study and a number of remarkable discoveries in the last two decades of the 20th century, our understanding of the cultural and biol ogical processes that resulted in the emergence of the Upper Paleolithic an d the establishment of modem humans in Interpleniglacial Europe remains far from complete. There is active debate concerning the timing and location o f the origins of the Aurignacian, the nature of the origins of Initial Uppe r Paleolithic industries (whether by autochthonous development or through a cculturation by Aurignacian peoples), the timing of the appearance of early modern humans and the disappearance of the Neandertals, and the relationsh ip of archeologically defined cultures to these different types of hominids . Frustrating our attempts to address these latter two questions is a gener al paucity of taxonomically diagnostic human fossil material from early Upp er Paleolithic contexts. We undertake here a review of the human fossil rec ord of Interpleniglacial Europe, and its archeological and chronological co ntext, to clarify to the extent possible the nature of the relationship bet ween hominid groups and the earliest Upper Paleolithic artifact industries, particularly the early Aurignacian. Although substantial difficulties invo lved in interpreting the fossil, archeological, and geochronological record s of this time period prohibit making any definitive statements, a number o f observations are suggested by the current data: 1) the Middle Paleolithic of Europe appears to have been made exclusively by Neandertals; 2) Initial Upper Paleolithic industries (with the exception of the Bachokirian) appea r to have their roots in the late Middle Paleolithic industries of their re spective regions; 3) all of the human fossils yet recovered from Initial Up per Paleolithic (except the Bachokirian) contexts for which any diagnostic morphology is present have their greatest morphological affinities with Nea ndertals and not early modern humans; 4) modern humans were almost certainl y established in Europe by ca. 32 ky BP, with a strong possibility that the y were there by ca. 36 ky BP. Claims for an appearance before 36 ky BP cann ot be substantiated with currently available evidence; 5) the hypothesis th at modern humans are uniquely associated with the Aurignacian cannot yet be refuted. Aurignacian-associated human fossils (including those from the Ba chokirian) for which any diagnostic morphology is present have their greate st affinities with early modern Europeans and not Neandertals; and 6) Neand ertals and modern humans coexisted in Europe for at least 2,000-4,000 years , and perhaps for 8,000-10,000 years or longer. The overall picture is one of an extended period of cultural contact, involving some degree of genetic exchange, between Neandertals and early modern Europeans. Yrbk Phys Anthro pol 43:61-115, 2000. (C) 2000 Wiley-Liss, Inc.