Not all cave ? was made by modern ????. ? technique dated cave ? as far as 64.8 ka ago in ??. Only Neanderthals were there at this time.
U-Th dating involves taking samples from the associated carbonates in cave ?. Scholars now able to get a dependable age range for cave ?.
Similar cave ? elsewhere in ?? may also be of Neanderthal origin. Neanderthals likely used symbolic expression before humans were in ??.
#U-ThDating places 3 Spanish cave art sites at >64K y/o, when only Neanderthals pop’d Iberia #PrehumanCaveArtConfirmed #NeanderArtists
Early cave art includes geometric designs & hand stencils in red pigment, w/ episodes over >25K yrs @Ardales #SymbolicBehavior #Tradition
Other similar cave art in W Europe may be by #NeanderArtists, prompting further research #KeepDating
Laurentide ice sheet falls into N. Atlantic, sudden pulse of freshwater floods Black Sea c.8300 BP. Sea levels ? 1.4m #byebyecontinentalshelf
Up to 145,000 Neolithic farmers displaced, move to Mediterranean coast / inland. Radiocarbon dating indicates sudden burst of farming sites.
Sudden migration = population pressure, social turmoil and cultural change, triggers onset of Neolithic in Europe. Lessons for today?
The Neolithic people migrated into Europe as a result of the rising sea level in the early Holocene age. Farmers in lower sea levels were more vulnerable to the flooding.
It is unclear if there was a causal effect, but at the same time that the Laurentide Ice Sheet collapsed, there was an expansion of Neolithic farmers migrating to Mesolithic hunter-gatherer territory.
Opposing ideas suggest the migration was a result of cultural diffusion, but there is significant evidence that the coastal flooding caused major migration shifts.
Getting tech-savvy w/ U-Th technique to reliably ⬆precision in dating without ruining the ? to date the earliest ?stencil. #TrustTheTech #DateTheCanvas
? from 3 ??caves dates cave ?@ ~64.8KYR when ✅Neanderthals in Iberia and ❌ moderns until ~45/40 KYR…implies that Neanderthals were artists. #NeanderthalAuthorship
#NoAccidentHere, meaningful placement of ?stencils shows antiquity of ?symbols. Neanderthals were capable of premeditated creation and symbolic behavior too.
Laurentide Ice Sheet = ❌causing the ?to ⬆ ?wide ➡ flooding the Black Sea, robbing early farmers of low level land
Neolithic farmers forced to migrate to Mesolithic hunter-gatherer land putting population pressure on neighboring regions
Holocene flooding gave way to Neolithic period as farming spread across Europe sparking cultural change on regional scale
Neolithic #euro farmers lived in vulnerable low-lying areas. Crisis! Laurentide ice sheet collapses 8740 yrs ago #ohno @dorrismccomics
Formerly fresh water Black Sea is breached by seawater. Ensuing flooding displaces up to 145000 ppl who look to Balkans and beyond
Radiocarbon dating maps spread of migrants who established new #organic #noGMO farms across Europe (a tradition that endures until today)
Statistical evidence shows Critical Slowing Down, suggests European Neolithic population collapse result of ⬇️ resilience after ? pop. ⬆️
Observed EWSs & ?let analysis support adaptive ? model (MII), whereby dynamic systems allow reversible regime shifts- model assoc. w/ CSD✅
Understanding EWS & impact on spatial/? scales may allow monitoring of dynamic human systems & prevention of disruptive shifts #yay4science
Radiocarbon dating of freshwater molluscs & marine sediments imply that raised sea levels (#RIP #LaurentideIceSheet) flooded the Black Sea.
On pause ⏸ during the flood and ▶️ afterwords was the expansion of Neolothic sites across Europe. Climate change showed little contribution.
Farmers migrated from the flooded Black Sea to recoup fertile land lost. W/o the Holocene?rise, how/when would Europe have learned 2 farm?
https://goo.gl/images/NSnqD6
#TheFinding: U-Th dating in 3 caves in Spain show there was cave ? before modern humans in Europe, which implies Neandertal origin
#TheImplication: Neandertals w/ vivid symbolic behavior (meaningful placement of ✋ stencils) that was well-rooted (Ardales ? over 25 ka)
#TheFuture: 1) Perhaps more Neandertal ? & ancient non-Neandertal symbolic behavior 2) Re-evaluation of transitional tech industries