Hominin Adaptability and Patterns of Faunal Turnover in the Early to Middle Pleistocene Transition in the Levant

Abstract

The Levant is one of the key regions to document hominin dispersal from Africa into Eurasia. The number of dispersals, continuity of populations within the region, and the role of the region as a corridor or as a ‘cul de sac’ are focal questions in understanding the scenario of early hominin adaptability in the Lower Paleolithic, and specifically, during the transition between the Early and Middle Pleistocene. Mammalian taxa differ in their ability to respond to ecological change. While some have a low threshold for climatic and environmental change, others can tolerate a wide range of habitats. Humans are highly adaptable to a wide range of habitats. Nonetheless, local distribution of populations and settlement patterns may be affected by environmental change. To understand transitional patterns in early hominin populations, we must place them within the context of the environment in which they lived. This paper describes the faunal turnovers that occurred during the Early to Middle Pleistocene transition of the Levant and discusses the relationship between these changes and the distribution of human populations in the region. The presence-absence of fauna at ten Levantine archaeological sites was analyzed using the range through method. A sharp faunal turnover is apparent at the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary (0.78 Ma). Minor turnover events may be present at the Jaramillo paleomagnetic episode (1.1 Ma) and at the mid-Brunhes climate event (0.43 Ma). Despite variability in lithic assemblages among sites, all Early Pleistocene lithic traditions are within a similar cultural milieu (Levantine Acheulean). However, following the faunal turnover of 0.78 Ma, there is an appearance of a novel cultural tradition, which is associated with a new dispersal event out of Africa and the local disappearance of earlier Levantine Paleolithic cultures. This suggests that while local populations of hominins were able to withstand small level climate shift (i.e., the Jaramillo and Mid-Brunhes), populations may not have adapted as well to the environmental changes that coincided with the Matuyama-Brunhes Boundary faunal turnover. This study exemplifies how early hominins may have tolerated low and medium level environmental changes but not larger ones. The continued presence of hominins in the Levant during the early Pleistocene was a process of several dispersal events, rather than a long continuous occupation.