A04_02

Investigating the co-occurrence of Neanderthals and Modern Humans in Belgium through direct compound-specific radiocarbon dating

Devièse T^1,2,  Abrams G^3,4, Pirson S⁵, De Groote I^6,7, Flas D^8,9, Semal P¹⁰, Di Modica K^3,11, Higham T^12,2

¹Aix Marseille University, Aix en Provence, France, ²University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, ³Espace Muséal d’Andenne, Andenne, Belgium, ⁴Leiden University, Leiden, Netherlands, ⁵Agence wallonne du Patrimoine, Namur, Belgium, ⁶Ghent University, Gent, Belgium, ⁷Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, United Kingdom, ⁸University of Liège, Liège, Belgium, ⁹University Toulouse Jean-Jaurès, Toulouse, France, ¹⁰Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels, Belgium, ¹¹University of Namur, Namur, Belgium, ¹²University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

Determining the timing of the transition between Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans (AMHs) is crucial in archaeology and paleoanthropology. While there is increasing evidence of admixture and co-existence of the two hominin species in Central and Eastern Europe, Belgium might show a different scenario. This key area sits at the crossroads between Palaeolithic cultural facies with influences from eastern, western, and southern Europe intermingling during the Late Middle Palaeolithic and the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition.

Recent DNA analyses seem to indicate a hiatus in the occupation of the Belgian territory. However, this interpretation is based on a limited number of hominin specimens because of their scarcity in the archaeological record. Mousterian and Aurignacian industries, associated with Neanderthals and AMHs respectively, are present in much larger quantities. They can also be used to define the timing of both occupations.

In this presentation, we report new compound specific radiocarbon dates obtained on Neanderthal specimens from Spy, Engis and Fond-de-Forêt. We also reevaluate the chronology of the latest Mousterian and earliest Aurignacian evidence. This new data tends to confirm that there may have been a hiatus implying that Neanderthals and Anatomically Modern Humans did not co-exist in this region. These results also show how much sample preparation can impact on the AMS measurements when specimens have been heavily preserved with conservation materials (which is often the case for human remains) and their age is approaching the limit of radiocarbon dating.