A team of researchers from Ohio University has identified Griven, Romania, unequivocal signs of human activities dating back to approximately 1.95 million years ago. This discovery, published on Nature Communicationsmoved the presence of Hominini in Europe back half of million years, making Grurteanu the oldest site with certain tests of this activity on the continent.
Grurteanu is located in the Olteţ river valley, inside the formation of Tetoiu, and is placed in a bio-cronological context that dates back to the late Villafranchiano, between 2.2 and 1.9 million years ago. This place, characterized by an environment of Forest and Steppahas returned a variety of faunal remains that confirm a temperate and seasonal climate, ideal for supporting animal and human life.
So far, the oldest findings of Hominine activity outside Africa were those of Dmanisi, in Georgia, dated between 1.85 and 1.77 million years ago. However, Grurteanu managed to break this record, providing reliable and detailed tests of an even more remote presence of Hominini in Europe.
Cutting signs and accurate dates
The researchers analyzed 4,524 faunal remains coming from GRANRANCANU, looking for changes on the surface of the bones. Through the use of advanced technologieslike 3D optical profiles, have been identified 20 finds with anthropogenic changesincluding Seven bones with highly reliable cutting signs.
These signs, found on Tibie and animal jaws, have been attributed to slaughter techniques for the removal of the meat. Their analysis made it possible to distinguish them clearly from the damage caused by carnivores, trampling or modern excavations.
To determine the exact age of the finds, the researchers used the U-PB dating to high precision on seven dentine samples coming from Grurteanu and two from nearby sites. The results returned an age between 2.01 and 1.87 million yearswith an average of about 1.95 million years. These dates are aligned with previous bio-cronological estimates based on faunal remains.
The isotopic analyzes conducted on a horse molar offered details on the climate of the time: an environment of Mixed woods and meadowscharacterized by mild winters and abundant seasonal rainfall, much higher than today. Among the animal remains, species such as larchs, pangolini It is an ancient European monkey, which indicate conditions favorable to life also for species adapted to hot climates.
These data suggest that hominini have exploited the periods interglacialwhen the temperatures were more mild, to expand to Eurasia. The ability to adapt to an environment temperate and seasonal He demonstrates an extraordinary ecological flexibility, a fundamental feature for the first dispersions outside Africa.
The discovery of Grurteanu questioned the hypothesis that the arrival of the hominini in Eurasia has been closely linked to the Georgian website of Dmanisi. On the contrary, it suggests that these first human beings have explored a much wider range of environments and in a very previous period than it was believed.
This discovery not only rewrites the chronology of hominine activity in Europe, but offers a new perspective on adaptive potential of the first human populations, capable of surviving in diversified and complex climates.
