Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Interesting paper: The Three waves. Rethinking the structure of the first Upper Paleolithic in Western Eurasia

Published in PLoS ONE (2023, DOI: 10. 1731/journal.pone. 0277444. Published 3 May 2023 by Ludovic Slimak of the CNRS and University of Toulouse III, France.

A tooth found in a large cave in France Grotte Mandrin looked to be homo sapiens but it was not possible to extract DNA to prove that. However the style of the work on flints proved to be a duplicate to the style in another site in the Middle East - Ksar Akil in Lebanon located within this site. Because of that particular skill set the earliest date of Homo sapiens migration in Europe has been postulated to 54,000 years before the present. Fascinating really as this is thousands of year before the Last Glacial Maximum 12,000 to 15,000 years before the present. It would help to explain why very quickly following the retreat of the glaciers formed during the Ice Age hunter gatherers moved towards the north and the west out of these areas where they had wintered. Granted the herds upon which they fed would also have been headed towards the best grasslands it does take time for these grasslands to return and be abundant once again. Interesting really as it gives an historical memory that brought these people on their journey perhaps. Since there isn't a collection of early stories of the peoples of Europe as much as there is here in the Western Hemisphere, I wonder what was lost. I know my grandfather always talked about his family living in the Andover, Hampshire, England area for ever which is a common type of statement from very ancient peoples I think as it does occur here as well in the Western Hemisphere. One wonders what can be found in those mountains in Scotland that we traveled through. The British Isles sat under as much as a kilometre of ice during the Last Glacial Maximum. There is much for the youth of the world to discover and write about - valuable life history.

Always fascinating this study of yDNA and migrations for sure. I enjoy my one name Blake study for that although the actual project is still not as large as this surname could lead it to; nevertheless there are several nice sized groups to look at with regard to migration studies. Does my brain itch to be part of all of that? In my 60s I toyed with it a little but life was busy with the traveling as Edward loved to travel about. Now in my 70s I prefer just to plug away on my own studies and read the literature of the youth which shows me they are there; looking at migrations and using the DNA when they can. The testing companies have very valuable databases of the DNA found in these area and perhaps one day they will let researchers use their databases to observe the migration patterns of the many peoples of the world. 

Must keep cleaning. I came up with a slightly revised style in the basement. I used to move all the stuff back to where it normally sits. This last time. I left it at the one end and this time it will move back to where it normally sits and I repeat the next time it goes in a sort of flat pile at the back after I have dusted it. Doesn't look as pretty but I seldom spend time in the basement except to clean it!

No comments: