Peștera Muierilor, or Peștera Muierii (Romanian for "The Women's Cave", or "The Woman's Cave"), is an elaborate cave system located in the Baia de Fiercommune, Gorj County, Romania. It contains abundant cave bear remains, as well as a human skull. The skull is radiocarbon dated to 30,150 ± 800, indication an absolute age between 40,000 and 30,000 BP.[1] It was uncovered in 1952. Alongside similar remains found in Cioclovina Cave (from c. 29,000 BP), they are among the most ancient early modern humans in Romanian prehistory.
The human skull is that of a woman with obvious anatomically modern human traits, including a high forehead, small jaw, and small supraorbital ridges. Despite the tall cranial vault, the occipital bone forms a distinct dome, a trait normally associated with Neanderthals. The largely intact facial bones indicate a woman with "rugged traits". This mosaic of features mirrors that seen in the Peștera cu Oase find, indicating possible Neanderthal admixture or generally robust (archaic) traits (or both).[2] The early date makes the find referable to the early Cro-Magnon group of finds.
The remains of three individuals were found at the site.[3][4] In a 2016 study, researchers extracted DNA from two upper molars from one of the three individuals, Peștera Muierii 1 (35,000 BP), and confirmed that the individual was a fully modern human; mtDNA analysis shows that Peștera Muierii 1 comes from a previously unknown basal mtDNA Haplogroup U6* lineage.[4] As Haplogroup U6 is today common in North Africa, researchers believe that the U6 lineage in North Africa was the result of migration from Western Asian back into North Africa.[4] Researchers also extracted DNA from the temporal bone of Peștera Muierii 2 (33,000 BP).[3] This individual also comes from basal mtDNA Haplogroup U6 and was confirmed as being a female.[3]
A full genome study conducted on the remains in 2021 revealed that the Peștera Muierii woman is related to modern Europeans, but not a direct ancestor. The woman also displays close genetic affinities to other Paleolithic Europeans, such as Kostenki-14. It was also found that the Paleolithic European hunter-gatherers displayed higher genetic diversity than expected, "demonstrating that the severe loss of diversity occurred during and after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) rather than just during the out-of-Africa migration". In contrast, Post-LGM hunter-gatherers in Europe displayed the lowest "ever observed" genetic diversity. The woman is estimated to be around 34,000 years old and unrelated to the earlier 40,000 year old Peștera cu Oase individuals.[5]
^"Cave fossils are early Europeans". BBC. 30 October 2006.
^ abcFu, Qiaomei; Posth, Cosimo (May 2, 2016). "The genetic history of Ice Age Europe". Nature. 534 (7606): 200–205. Bibcode:2016Natur.534..200F. doi:10.1038/nature17993. PMC4943878. PMID 27135931.
^ abcHervella, M.; Svensson, E. M.; Alberdi, A.; Günther, T.; Izagirre, N.; Munters, A. R.; Alonso, S.; Ioana, M.; Ridiche, F.; Sofucaru, M.; Jacobsson, M.; Netea, M. G.; de-la-Rua, C. (2016). "The mitogenome of a 35,000-year-old Homo sapiens from Europe supports a Paleolithic back-migration to Africa". Scientific Reports. 6: 25501. Bibcode:2016NatSR...625501H. doi:10.1038/srep25501. PMC4872530. PMID 27195518.
^Svensson, Emma; Günther, Torsten; Hoischen, Alexander; Hervella, Montserrat; Munters, Arielle R.; Ioana, Mihai; Ridiche, Florin; Edlund, Hanna; van Deuren, Rosanne C.; Soficaru, Andrei; de-la-Rua, Concepción; Netea, Mihai G.; Jakobsson, Mattias (2021-07-26). "Genome of Peștera Muierii skull shows high diversity and low mutational load in pre-glacial Europe". Current Biology. 31 (14): 2973–2983.e9. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2021.04.045. hdl:10810/52864. ISSN 0960-9822. PMID 34010592.
April 11, 2024
peștera, muierilor, peștera, muierii, romanian, women, cave, woman, cave, elaborate, cave, system, located, baia, fier, commune, gorj, county, romania, contains, abundant, cave, bear, remains, well, human, skull, skull, radiocarbon, dated, indication, absolute. Peștera Muierilor or Peștera Muierii Romanian for The Women s Cave or The Woman s Cave is an elaborate cave system located in the Baia de Fier commune Gorj County Romania It contains abundant cave bear remains as well as a human skull The skull is radiocarbon dated to 30 150 800 indication an absolute age between 40 000 and 30 000 BP 1 It was uncovered in 1952 Alongside similar remains found in Cioclovina Cave from c 29 000 BP they are among the most ancient early modern humans in Romanian prehistory Peștera MuierilorSpeleothems in the cavelocation in RomaniaAlternative namePeștera MuieriiLocationBaia de Fier Gorj County RomaniaCoordinates45 11 31 N 23 45 13 E 45 19194 N 23 75361 E 45 19194 23 75361Typemulti chambered karstic caveHistoryPeriodsPaleolithicSite notesExcavation dates1951 1953 1955ArchaeologistsConstantin S Nicolăescu PlopșorThe human skull is that of a woman with obvious anatomically modern human traits including a high forehead small jaw and small supraorbital ridges Despite the tall cranial vault the occipital bone forms a distinct dome a trait normally associated with Neanderthals The largely intact facial bones indicate a woman with rugged traits This mosaic of features mirrors that seen in the Peștera cu Oase find indicating possible Neanderthal admixture or generally robust archaic traits or both 2 The early date makes the find referable to the early Cro Magnon group of finds On the basis of radiocarbon dating and also the analysis of the archaeological context some researchers advanced the hypothesis of the association of these bones with Cro Magnons and the Aurignacian archaeological culture Others mention the possibility that these findings could belong to a certain regional culture from the Southern Carpathians from the period of the Final Middle Paleolithic and Early Upper Paleolithic DNA analysis editThe remains of three individuals were found at the site 3 4 In a 2016 study researchers extracted DNA from two upper molars from one of the three individuals Peștera Muierii 1 35 000 BP and confirmed that the individual was a fully modern human mtDNA analysis shows that Peștera Muierii 1 comes from a previously unknown basal mtDNA Haplogroup U6 lineage 4 As Haplogroup U6 is today common in North Africa researchers believe that the U6 lineage in North Africa was the result of migration from Western Asian back into North Africa 4 Researchers also extracted DNA from the temporal bone of Peștera Muierii 2 33 000 BP 3 This individual also comes from basal mtDNA Haplogroup U6 and was confirmed as being a female 3 A full genome study conducted on the remains in 2021 revealed that the Peștera Muierii woman is related to modern Europeans but not a direct ancestor The woman also displays close genetic affinities to other Paleolithic Europeans such as Kostenki 14 It was also found that the Paleolithic European hunter gatherers displayed higher genetic diversity than expected demonstrating that the severe loss of diversity occurred during and after the Last Glacial Maximum LGM rather than just during the out of Africa migration In contrast Post LGM hunter gatherers in Europe displayed the lowest ever observed genetic diversity The woman is estimated to be around 34 000 years old and unrelated to the earlier 40 000 year old Peștera cu Oase individuals 5 See also editPeștera cu Oase Prehistoric Romania Prehistoric Transylvania Prehistoric Southeastern Europe Prehistoric EuropeReferences edit Higham T Ramsey Cb Karavanic I Smith Fh Trinkaus E January 2006 Revised direct radiocarbon dating of the Vindija G1 Upper Paleolithic Neandertals Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 103 3 553 7 Bibcode 2006PNAS 103 553H doi 10 1073 pnas 0510005103 PMC 1334669 PMID 16407102 Cave fossils are early Europeans BBC 30 October 2006 a b c Fu Qiaomei Posth Cosimo May 2 2016 The genetic history of Ice Age Europe Nature 534 7606 200 205 Bibcode 2016Natur 534 200F doi 10 1038 nature17993 PMC 4943878 PMID 27135931 a b c Hervella M Svensson E M Alberdi A Gunther T Izagirre N Munters A R Alonso S Ioana M Ridiche F Sofucaru M Jacobsson M Netea M G de la Rua C 2016 The mitogenome of a 35 000 year old Homo sapiens from Europe supports a Paleolithic back migration to Africa Scientific Reports 6 25501 Bibcode 2016NatSR 625501H doi 10 1038 srep25501 PMC 4872530 PMID 27195518 Svensson Emma Gunther Torsten Hoischen Alexander Hervella Montserrat Munters Arielle R Ioana Mihai Ridiche Florin Edlund Hanna van Deuren Rosanne C Soficaru Andrei de la Rua Concepcion Netea Mihai G Jakobsson Mattias 2021 07 26 Genome of Peștera Muierii skull shows high diversity and low mutational load in pre glacial Europe Current Biology 31 14 2973 2983 e9 doi 10 1016 j cub 2021 04 045 hdl 10810 52864 ISSN 0960 9822 PMID 34010592 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Peștera Muierilor amp oldid 1210554969, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
