Conference Presentations by Dr. Ralf Schmitz
: Stratigraphic sequence of the site. The Pleistocene slope debris (blue) is located between the ... more : Stratigraphic sequence of the site. The Pleistocene slope debris (blue) is located between the explosive debris (red) and the aeolian sands (green). Fig. 2: The flint arrowhead found during excavations in Oberkassel.
Liane Giemsch, Susanne C. Feine, Kurt W. Alt, Qiaomei Fu, Corina Knipper, Johannes Krause, Sarah ... more Liane Giemsch, Susanne C. Feine, Kurt W. Alt, Qiaomei Fu, Corina Knipper, Johannes Krause, Sarah Lacy, Olaf Nehlich, Constanze Niess, Svante Pääbo, Alfred Pawlik, Michael P. Richards, Verena Schünemann, Martin Street, Olaf Thalmann, Johann Tinnes, Erik Trinkaus & Ralf W. Schmitz.
Interdisciplinary investigations of the late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel
The late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel, with its unique combination of finds is one of the most important research sources for the Late Glacial in Central Europe. Due to the large number of questions concerning the find ensemble, late Palaeolithic humans in general, and also due to the approaching 100th anniversary of the discovery, the University of Bonn and the LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn has launched a complete scientific reinvestigation of the find complex. The anthropological studies of the human skeletons provided in addition to their sex and the attained age also answers to the questions of injuries and diseases of the two individuals. Stable isotope analyzes yielded answers to questions about nutrition and to determine the regions where the individuals grew up. With the help of a forensic facial reconstruction method we get an idea of the physical appearance of our ancestors from Oberkassel. The genetic studies on the human skeletons provide further information about their degree of relationship to each other and their phylogenetic position within the populations of Europe; they also help to date the expansion of modern humans out of Africa. Important questions regarding the domestication of wolves could be answered using mtDNA-analysis at the Oberkasseler dog and confirm that the Oberkasseler animal skeleton is a direct ancestor of today’s dogs. Among other things microCT-scans and experimental reconstructions clarified the motive and the material from which the grave goods are made. In 2012 we conducted fieldwork at the site in the quarry in Bonn-Oberkassel, aiming at the location of still undisturbed glacial layers and shifted sediments from the destroyed burial and thus to gain important insights into the chronology and the original site. In fact it might also reveal whether the burial from the Rabenlay is a singular event, part of a repeatedly visited burial site or whether it corresponds to a nearby, as yet undiscovered living site.
Papers by Dr. Ralf Schmitz
Nature
Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic r... more Modern humans have populated Europe for more than 45,000 years1,2. Our knowledge of the genetic relatedness and structure of ancient hunter-gatherers is however limited, owing to the scarceness and poor molecular preservation of human remains from that period3. Here we analyse 356 ancient hunter-gatherer genomes, including new genomic data for 116 individuals from 14 countries in western and central Eurasia, spanning between 35,000 and 5,000 years ago. We identify a genetic ancestry profile in individuals associated with Upper Palaeolithic Gravettian assemblages from western Europe that is distinct from contemporaneous groups related to this archaeological culture in central and southern Europe4, but resembles that of preceding individuals associated with the Aurignacian culture. This ancestry profile survived during the Last Glacial Maximum (25,000 to 19,000 years ago) in human populations from southwestern Europe associated with the Solutrean culture, and with the following Magdal...
Journal of Proteomics, 2020
Journal of Small Animal Practice, 2016
A century ago the remains of a dog skeleton were found in an archaeological double human burial, ... more A century ago the remains of a dog skeleton were found in an archaeological double human burial, near Bonn-Oberkassel (Germany). Recent re-examination of the dog remains revealed that they were about 14,500 years old. Based on the growth plates, the animal was considered to be approximately 7•5 months old at the time of death. Based on the minimal humeral diameter, it was calculated that it was approximately 0•47 m tall at the shoulder and weighed approximately 15•7 kg. The right proximal ulna of this skeleton showed osteoarthritis, manifested by an osteophyte of 5×3×1•5 mm 3 at its cranial edge, with no identified primary developmental causes for osteoarthritis. Osteochondritis dissecans, joint incongruity and trauma are possible aetiologies. The left ulna did not reveal any abnormalities.
Science, 2013
Dog Domestication The precise details of the domestication and origins of domestic dogs are uncle... more Dog Domestication The precise details of the domestication and origins of domestic dogs are unclear. Thalmann et al. (p. 871 ; see the cover) analyzed complete mitochondrial genomes from present-day dogs and wolves, as well as 18 fossil canids dating from 1000 to 36,000 years ago from the Old and New Worlds. The data suggest that an ancient, now extinct, central European population of wolves was directly ancestral to domestic dogs. Furthermore, several ancient dogs may represent failed domestication events.
EG Quaternary Science Journal, 1998
Abstract. Das Neandertal liegt 13 Kilometer ostlich von Dusseldorf, Deutschland. Im August 1856 k... more Abstract. Das Neandertal liegt 13 Kilometer ostlich von Dusseldorf, Deutschland. Im August 1856 kamen beim Abbau der Kleinen Feldhofer Grotte Teile eines menschlichen Skelettes zutage. In den folgenden Jahren entbrannte vor dem Hintergrund der Evolutionstheorie eine heftige Kontroverse um Alter und Einstufung der Entdeckung. Heute wird der Fund allgemein den Spaten Neandertalern der letzten Kaltzeit zugerechnet. Uber die phylogenetische Stellung und das Schicksal dieser Menschen bestehen sehr unterschiedliche Auffassungen. Seit 1991 wird das Neandertaler-Typusexemplar im Rahmen eines interdisziplinaren Projektes des Rheinischen Landesmuseums Bonn neu untersucht. Recherchen in Bezug auf Faktoren wie z. B. die Lagerungsbedingungen des Skelettes in der Grotte, weiterhin der sehr gute Erhaltungszustand der geborgenen Skelettreste liesen die Suche nach DNA vertretbar erscheinen. Die besonders gute Erhaltung des rechten Humerus einhergehend mit dem guten Zustand der schutzenden Lackschich...
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2018
The Bonn-Oberkassel dog remains (Upper Pleistocene and 14223 þ-58 years old) have been reported m... more The Bonn-Oberkassel dog remains (Upper Pleistocene and 14223 þ-58 years old) have been reported more than 100 years ago. Recent re-examination revealed the tooth of another older and smaller dog, making this domestic dog burial not only the oldest known, but also the only one with remains of two dogs. This observation brings the total known Magdalenian dogs to nine. Domestication of dogs during the final Palaeolithic has important implications for understanding pre-Holocene hunter-gatherers. Most proposed hunter-gatherer motivations for domesticating dogs have been utilitarian. However, remains of the Bonn-Oberkassel dogs may offer another view. The Bonn-Oberkassel dog was a late juvenile when it was buried at approximately age 27e28 weeks, with two adult humans and grave goods. Oral cavity lesions indicate a gravely ill dog that likely suffered a morbillivirus (canine distemper) infection. A dental line of suggestive enamel hypoplasia appears at the 19-week developmental stage. Two additional enamel hypoplasia lines, on the canine only, document further disease episodes at weeks 21 and 23. Pathological changes also include severe periodontal disease that may have been facilitated by immunodeficiency. Since canine distemper has a three-week disease course with very high mortality, the dog must have been perniciously ill during the three disease bouts and between ages 19 and 23 weeks. Survival without intensive human assistance would have been unlikely. Before and during this period, the dog cannot have held any utilitarian use to humans. We suggest that at least some Late Pleistocene humans regarded dogs not just materialistically, but may have developed emotional and caring bonds for their dogs, as reflected by the survival of this dog, quite possibly through human care.
Antiquity, 2008
Stable isotopes extracted from two hominins and a range of animals from the original Neanderthal ... more Stable isotopes extracted from two hominins and a range of animals from the original Neanderthal site shows these Middle Palaeolithic people to have been hunters predominately on a meat diet. Comparison with other specimens further south suggests this diet – deer, but no fish or plants – to be something of a behavioural norm, whatever the latitude and plant cover.
Science, 2009
Economic Ancient DNA Sequencing Analysis of ancient DNA is often limited by the availability of a... more Economic Ancient DNA Sequencing Analysis of ancient DNA is often limited by the availability of ancient material for sequencing. Briggs et al. (p. 318 ; see the news story by Pennisi ) describe a method of ancient DNA sequence retrieval that greatly reduces shotgun sequencing costs while avoiding the many difficulties associated with direct PCR-based approaches. They generated five complete and one near-complete Neandertal mitochondrial DNA genomes, which would have been economically impossible with a simple shotgun approach. Analysis of these genomes shows that Neandertal populations had a much smaller effective population size than modern humans or great apes.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1999
The DNA sequence of the second hypervariable region of the mitochondrial control region of the Ne... more The DNA sequence of the second hypervariable region of the mitochondrial control region of the Neandertal type specimen, found in 1856 in central Europe, has been determined from 92 clones derived from eight overlapping amplifications performed from four independent extracts. When the reconstructed sequence is analyzed together with the previously determined DNA sequence from the first hypervariable region, the Neandertal mtDNA is found to fall outside a phylogenetic tree relating the mtDNAs of contemporary humans. The date of divergence between the mtDNAs of the Neandertal and contemporary humans is estimated to 465,000 years before the present, with confidence limits of 317,000 and 741,000 years. Taken together, the results support the concept that the Neandertal mtDNA evolved separately from that of modern humans for a substantial amount of time and lends no support to the idea that they contributed mtDNA to contemporary modern humans.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2002
The 1856 discovery of the Neandertal type specimen (Neandertal 1) in western Germany marked the b... more The 1856 discovery of the Neandertal type specimen (Neandertal 1) in western Germany marked the beginning of human paleontology and initiated the longest-standing debate in the discipline: the role of Neandertals in human evolutionary history. We report excavations of cave sediments that were removed from the Feldhofer caves in 1856. These deposits have yielded over 60 human skeletal fragments, along with a large series of Paleolithic artifacts and faunal material. Our analysis of this material represents the first interdisciplinary analysis of Neandertal remains incorporating genetic, direct dating, and morphological dimensions simultaneously. Three of these skeletal fragments fit directly on Neandertal 1, whereas several others have distinctively Neandertal features. At least three individuals are represented in the skeletal sample. Radiocarbon dates for Neandertal 1, from which a mtDNA sequence was determined in 1997, and a second individual indicate an age of ≈40,000 yr for both...
Journal of Human Evolution, 2008
Cell, 1997
An additional and more direct way to address the question of the relationship between modern huma... more An additional and more direct way to address the question of the relationship between modern humans D-80021 Munich Germany and Neandertals would be to analyze DNA sequences from the remains of Neandertals.
The Anatomical Record: Advances in Integrative Anatomy and Evolutionary Biology, 2008
Mid-late Pleistocene fossil hominins such as Homo neanderthalensis and H. heidelbergensis are oft... more Mid-late Pleistocene fossil hominins such as Homo neanderthalensis and H. heidelbergensis are often described as having extensively pneumatized crania compared with modern humans. However, the significance of pneumatization in recognizing patterns of phyletic diversification and/or functional specialization has remained controversial. Here, we test the null hypothesis that the paranasal sinuses of fossil and extant humans and great apes can be understood as biological spandrels, i.e., their morphology reflects evolutionary, developmental, and functional constraints imposed onto the surrounding bones. Morphological description of well-preserved mid-late Pleistocene hominin specimens are contrasted with our comparative sample of modern humans and great apes. Results from a geometric morphometric analysis of the correlation between paranasal sinus and cranial dimensions show that the spandrel hypothesis cannot be refuted. However, visualizing specific features of the paranasal sinus system with methods of biomedical imaging and computer graphics reveals new aspects of patterns of growth and development of fossil hominins.
Current Biology, 2013
Background: Recent analyses of de novo DNA mutations in modern humans have suggested a nuclear su... more Background: Recent analyses of de novo DNA mutations in modern humans have suggested a nuclear substitution rate that is approximately half that of previous estimates based on fossil calibration. This result has led to suggestions that major events in human evolution occurred far earlier than previously thought. Results: Here, we use mitochondrial genome sequences from ten securely dated ancient modern humans spanning 40,000 years as calibration points for the mitochondrial clock, thus yielding a direct estimate of the mitochondrial substitution rate. Our clock yields mitochondrial divergence times that are in agreement with earlier estimates based on calibration points derived from either fossils or archaeological material. In particular, our results imply a separation of non-Africans from the most closely related sub-Saharan African mitochondrial DNAs (haplogroup L3) that occurred less than 62-95 kya. Conclusions: Though single loci like mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can only provide biased estimates of population divergence times, they can provide valid upper bounds. Our results exclude most of the older dates for African and non-African population divergences recently suggested by de novo mutation rate estimates in the nuclear genome.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2018
The Bonn-Oberkassel dog remains (Upper Pleistocene and 14223 þ- 58 years old) have been reported ... more The Bonn-Oberkassel dog remains (Upper Pleistocene and 14223 þ- 58 years old) have been reported more than 100 years ago. Recent re-examination revealed the tooth of another older and smaller dog, making this domestic dog burial not only the oldest known, but also the only one with remains of two dogs. This observation brings the total known Magdalenian dogs to nine. Domestication of dogs during the final Palaeolithic has important implications for understanding pre-Holocene hunter-gatherers. Most proposed hunter-gatherer motivations for domesticating dogs have
been utilitarian. However, remains of the Bonn-Oberkassel dogs may offer another view. The Bonn-Oberkassel dog was a late juvenile when it was buried at approximately age 27e28 weeks, with two adult humans and grave goods. Oral cavity lesions indicate a gravely ill dog that likely suffered a morbillivirus (canine distemper) infection. A dental line of suggestive enamel hypoplasia appears at the 19-week developmental stage. Two additional enamel hypoplasia lines, on the canine only, document further disease episodes at weeks 21 and 23. Pathological changes also include severe periodontal disease that may have been facilitated by immunodeficiency. Since canine distemper has a three-week disease course with very high mortality, the dog must have been perniciously ill during the three disease bouts and between ages 19 and 23 weeks. Survival without intensive human assistance would have been unlikely. Before and during this period, the dog cannot have held any utilitarian use to humans. We suggest that at least some Late Pleistocene humans regarded dogs not just materialistically, but may have developed emotional and caring bonds for their dogs, as reflected by the survival of this dog, quite possibly through human care.
Current biology : CB, Jan 8, 2013
Recent analyses of de novo DNA mutations in modern humans have suggested a nuclear substitution r... more Recent analyses of de novo DNA mutations in modern humans have suggested a nuclear substitution rate that is approximately half that of previous estimates based on fossil calibration. This result has led to suggestions that major events in human evolution occurred far earlier than previously thought. Here, we use mitochondrial genome sequences from ten securely dated ancient modern humans spanning 40,000 years as calibration points for the mitochondrial clock, thus yielding a direct estimate of the mitochondrial substitution rate. Our clock yields mitochondrial divergence times that are in agreement with earlier estimates based on calibration points derived from either fossils or archaeological material. In particular, our results imply a separation of non-Africans from the most closely related sub-Saharan African mitochondrial DNAs (haplogroup L3) that occurred less than 62-95 kya. Though single loci like mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) can only provide biased estimates of population div...
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Conference Presentations by Dr. Ralf Schmitz
Interdisciplinary investigations of the late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel
The late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel, with its unique combination of finds is one of the most important research sources for the Late Glacial in Central Europe. Due to the large number of questions concerning the find ensemble, late Palaeolithic humans in general, and also due to the approaching 100th anniversary of the discovery, the University of Bonn and the LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn has launched a complete scientific reinvestigation of the find complex. The anthropological studies of the human skeletons provided in addition to their sex and the attained age also answers to the questions of injuries and diseases of the two individuals. Stable isotope analyzes yielded answers to questions about nutrition and to determine the regions where the individuals grew up. With the help of a forensic facial reconstruction method we get an idea of the physical appearance of our ancestors from Oberkassel. The genetic studies on the human skeletons provide further information about their degree of relationship to each other and their phylogenetic position within the populations of Europe; they also help to date the expansion of modern humans out of Africa. Important questions regarding the domestication of wolves could be answered using mtDNA-analysis at the Oberkasseler dog and confirm that the Oberkasseler animal skeleton is a direct ancestor of today’s dogs. Among other things microCT-scans and experimental reconstructions clarified the motive and the material from which the grave goods are made. In 2012 we conducted fieldwork at the site in the quarry in Bonn-Oberkassel, aiming at the location of still undisturbed glacial layers and shifted sediments from the destroyed burial and thus to gain important insights into the chronology and the original site. In fact it might also reveal whether the burial from the Rabenlay is a singular event, part of a repeatedly visited burial site or whether it corresponds to a nearby, as yet undiscovered living site.
Papers by Dr. Ralf Schmitz
been utilitarian. However, remains of the Bonn-Oberkassel dogs may offer another view. The Bonn-Oberkassel dog was a late juvenile when it was buried at approximately age 27e28 weeks, with two adult humans and grave goods. Oral cavity lesions indicate a gravely ill dog that likely suffered a morbillivirus (canine distemper) infection. A dental line of suggestive enamel hypoplasia appears at the 19-week developmental stage. Two additional enamel hypoplasia lines, on the canine only, document further disease episodes at weeks 21 and 23. Pathological changes also include severe periodontal disease that may have been facilitated by immunodeficiency. Since canine distemper has a three-week disease course with very high mortality, the dog must have been perniciously ill during the three disease bouts and between ages 19 and 23 weeks. Survival without intensive human assistance would have been unlikely. Before and during this period, the dog cannot have held any utilitarian use to humans. We suggest that at least some Late Pleistocene humans regarded dogs not just materialistically, but may have developed emotional and caring bonds for their dogs, as reflected by the survival of this dog, quite possibly through human care.
Interdisciplinary investigations of the late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel
The late glacial double burial from Bonn-Oberkassel, with its unique combination of finds is one of the most important research sources for the Late Glacial in Central Europe. Due to the large number of questions concerning the find ensemble, late Palaeolithic humans in general, and also due to the approaching 100th anniversary of the discovery, the University of Bonn and the LVR-LandesMuseum Bonn has launched a complete scientific reinvestigation of the find complex. The anthropological studies of the human skeletons provided in addition to their sex and the attained age also answers to the questions of injuries and diseases of the two individuals. Stable isotope analyzes yielded answers to questions about nutrition and to determine the regions where the individuals grew up. With the help of a forensic facial reconstruction method we get an idea of the physical appearance of our ancestors from Oberkassel. The genetic studies on the human skeletons provide further information about their degree of relationship to each other and their phylogenetic position within the populations of Europe; they also help to date the expansion of modern humans out of Africa. Important questions regarding the domestication of wolves could be answered using mtDNA-analysis at the Oberkasseler dog and confirm that the Oberkasseler animal skeleton is a direct ancestor of today’s dogs. Among other things microCT-scans and experimental reconstructions clarified the motive and the material from which the grave goods are made. In 2012 we conducted fieldwork at the site in the quarry in Bonn-Oberkassel, aiming at the location of still undisturbed glacial layers and shifted sediments from the destroyed burial and thus to gain important insights into the chronology and the original site. In fact it might also reveal whether the burial from the Rabenlay is a singular event, part of a repeatedly visited burial site or whether it corresponds to a nearby, as yet undiscovered living site.
been utilitarian. However, remains of the Bonn-Oberkassel dogs may offer another view. The Bonn-Oberkassel dog was a late juvenile when it was buried at approximately age 27e28 weeks, with two adult humans and grave goods. Oral cavity lesions indicate a gravely ill dog that likely suffered a morbillivirus (canine distemper) infection. A dental line of suggestive enamel hypoplasia appears at the 19-week developmental stage. Two additional enamel hypoplasia lines, on the canine only, document further disease episodes at weeks 21 and 23. Pathological changes also include severe periodontal disease that may have been facilitated by immunodeficiency. Since canine distemper has a three-week disease course with very high mortality, the dog must have been perniciously ill during the three disease bouts and between ages 19 and 23 weeks. Survival without intensive human assistance would have been unlikely. Before and during this period, the dog cannot have held any utilitarian use to humans. We suggest that at least some Late Pleistocene humans regarded dogs not just materialistically, but may have developed emotional and caring bonds for their dogs, as reflected by the survival of this dog, quite possibly through human care.