Which community during the period did the Denisovans belong to? “Denisovan man” “inherited” most of all in the genome of Asians. Do you have any specific finds in mind?
The fact that the species of ancient people discovered in 2010 in the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains was more culturally and spiritually developed than its contemporary Neanderthal was concluded by the author of the find, Academician of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography SB RAS Anatoly Derevyanko. They say that the life around him was too advanced for those times - the Denisovan could not only sharpen tools well, but even drill holes, and made a lot of interesting decorations. Now the cultural superiority of the Denisovans over the Neanderthals has been confirmed by geneticists. And in general, we found out a lot of interesting details...
The Denisovan knew what was “good” and what was “bad”...
As the basis for our research, we took DNA samples from both Denisovans and Neanderthals, as well as other varieties of ancient people aged from 30 to 40 thousand years and older,” Dmitry Afonnikov, candidate of biological sciences, head of the laboratory of evolutionary bioinformatics and theoretical genetics of the Institute of Cytology and Genetics SB RAS, told Komsomolskaya Pravda. . - And compared their microRNAs. For those who don’t know, this is a gene structure that interacts with matrix ribonucleic acid and regulates the synthesis of proteins in a group of genes at once.
Simply put, microRNA is a natural stop valve, which, like an arbiter, decides which traits will dominate in us and which ones will die out. So, as it turned out, 3 microRNAs in Denisovan and 7 in Neanderthal turned out to be especially interesting. However, they performed completely different functions - thanks to them, Neanderthals became stronger, and Denisovans became smarter. And beyond his years!
In order to somehow adapt, Neanderthal man had to have good tissue regeneration,” says researcher at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics SB RAS, Candidate of Biological Sciences Konstantin Vladimirovich Gunbin, “And we were lucky enough to find those microRNAs that are precisely responsible for these processes. But in the case of the Denisovan, they directly regulate the work of genes that are responsible for the formation and functioning of the prefrontal zone of the cerebral cortex - it is primarily responsible for receiving and processing information, as well as the ability to live normally in society, distinguish between good and bad deeds and foresee consequences of your actions.
...and “got smarter” faster than modern man!
Moreover, scientists believe that the brain of the person from Denisova Cave developed even faster than that of the modern one.
This is evidenced by the number of mutations in the genes responsible for the frontal zone of the brain, explains geneticist Dmitry Afonnikov. “The Denisovans have a lot of them, so we can say that they “got smart” faster than modern people. We cannot yet say this unequivocally. But experience suggests that everything was exactly like that - in any case, the minds of modern humans and monkeys evolve according to such an algorithm.
But, as you know, both branches - Neanderthals and Denisovans - turned out to be dead ends. Which, however, does not mean that they disappeared in the dust of millennia without any trace. For example, ancient homo sapiens, as a result of crossing, borrowed immunity against viral infections from Denisovans. This is especially true for the inhabitants of distant Malaysia - it has already been established that their ancestors “became friends” with the Denisovans most closely - forever accepting from 4 to 6 genes of “Altai Man” into their gene pool.
From the KP dossier
IN scientific journal"Nature" in 2010 published two publications concerning the phalanx of the little finger of a creature found in 2008 in Denisova Cave in Altai by scientists from the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the SB RAS. Among the authors of the materials are the Director of the Institute, Academician Anatoly Panteleevich Derevyanko and his deputy for scientific work doctor historical sciences Mikhail Vasilievich Shunkov. The research was carried out by an international team with the participation of both Russian specialists and the famous paleogeneticist Svante Paabo from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (Leipzig, Germany), who previously led the work on deciphering the Neanderthal genome. The editors of the journal "Nature" also included research into the remains of the most ancient human ancestors in the list of the twelve most significant events of 2010 in the world of science.
MOSCOW, November 1 - RIA Novosti. Residents of the countries of Southeast Asia and the southern part of China received the most genes from the Denisovans, who separated from the common tree of humanity 400-800 thousand years ago, compared to other people, Swedish paleontologists report in an article published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Russian and European archaeologists under the leadership of the German scientist Svante Paabo in 2010 discovered remains that inhabited Southern Siberia and Central Asia. This species of human ancestor coexisted with Neanderthals and the forerunners of modern humans.
In December 2010, the researchers who made the discovery reconstructed the genome of these people and compared it with the DNA of modern humans and Neanderthals. They found out that " Denisovan man"most of all "inherited" in the genomes of modern Polynesians and inhabitants of some islands of the Malay Archipelago. In August 2011, scientists led by Peter Parham from Stanford University in the USA found that the "Denisovans" and Neanderthals passed on the genes responsible to the ancestors of modern Europeans for the functioning of the immune system.
Scientists Pontus Skoglund and Mattias Jakobsson from Uppsala University (Sweden) compared the genomes of modern people with the recovered DNA of ancient people and built several computer models describing the path of migration of the ancestors of modern humans and their encounters with the Denisovans.
Swedish scientists have suggested that even the lightest genetic “traces” of Denisovans can be detected by tracking single-nucleotide polymorphisms - differences in DNA of one “letter”-nucleotide - in the genomes of modern Asians and in the recovered DNA of “cavemen”.
As a result of the comparison, two blocks of data were obtained, one of which contained information about the similarities between modern and “Denisovan” humans, and the second contained matching regions in the genomes of Neanderthals and “Denisovans”. Comparison of these blocks confirms Paabo's hypothesis, according to which humanity can be divided into three groups: Polynesians, black aborigines of Africa and inhabitants of the rest of the world.
Then paleontologists compared the habitat of modern people and the similarity of their genomes with the Denisovan one. It turned out that two of the three populations - oceanic and non-African - contained “traces” of “Denisovans”. At the same time, the number and “depth” of traces in the genomes of residents of Europe, Asia and the aborigines of Northern and South America was noticeably different, which was not recorded by Paabo and his colleagues.
According to researchers, residents of East and Southeast Asia received the most genes. Europeans and people from the Middle East and Central Asia were less related to the Denisovans, and African aborigines apparently did not come into contact with this type of "caveman."
Scientists suggest that the first contacts between the Denisovan culture and the Asian Cro-Magnon tribes occurred approximately 30 thousand years ago, after the migration of the future ancestors of the Indians to North America. This is confirmed by the fact that the Indians are about as far from the Denisovans as the Europeans.
The closest “relatives” of the “Denisovans,” in addition to the Papuans and other oceanic peoples, live in southern China and the countries of Southeast Asia. Of these, the people closest to the “Denisovan man” are the Yi (Yi Zu) people, living in southern provinces China. Representatives of this ethnic group turned out to be a little closer to the “Denisovans” compared to some oceanic peoples - in particular, the Papuans from the island of Bougainville in the Solomon Islands.
Using the data obtained, Skoglund and Jacobson built several models of human settlement throughout the Old World, which took into account or ignored the contact of the ancestors of modern “migrant” people from Africa with local aborigines - Neanderthals and Denisovans. The modeling confirmed that the modern gene spread could only have arisen if the ancestors of Cro-Magnons interbred with Denisovans and Neanderthals.
Leipzig, Germany, under the leadership of Kay Prüfer and Svante Pääbo, studied the nuclear genome of a Neanderthal lady who lived in Altai about 50 thousand years ago. Like any serious research, this work has a backstory. Svante Pääbo and his colleagues began sequencing the Neanderthal nuclear genome back in 2006. This is not an easy task, since ancient DNA has long since fallen apart and is often contaminated nucleic acids microbes and modern people. However, in 2010, they found out that Neanderthals gave their genes to Homo sapiens living outside of Africa.
Now scientists have obtained a refined version of the genome, in which the position of each nucleotide has been adjusted at least 50 times.
Phalanx of a Neanderthal woman's finger
Bence ViolaThe material for the study was DNA from the phalanx of the ring or little finger of an adult woman who lived in Denisova Cave in Altai. The phalanx was found in 2010 by Denisova Cave researchers Anatoly Derevyanko and Mikhail Shunkov and transferred for analysis to Leipzig.
The Neanderthal population of Denisova Cave should not be confused with Denisovans.
They lived there a little later, about 40 thousand years ago, and although they were related to Asian Neanderthals, they represented an independent group of the genus Homo. by the same group of researchers led by Svante Pääbo and also from the phalanx of the finger.
The genome showed that the parents of the Neanderthal woman were closely related. These were relatives or cousins, or maybe uncle and niece, aunt and nephew, grandfather and granddaughter, grandmother and grandson. Scientists have concluded that consanguineous marriages were common among Neanderthals and Denisovans because they lived in small groups and were limited in their choice of mates. Researchers believe that the numbers of Neanderthals and Denisovans were steadily declining at that time, their time coming to an end.
A comparison of the genomes of Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans showed that different groups of hominids in Late Pleistocene, 12-126 thousand years ago, met, communicated and left offspring.
Gene exchange did not occur often, but quite regularly.
Excavations in Denisova Cave
Bence ViolaAbout 77-114 thousand years ago, Neanderthals split into Asian and European populations. Neanderthals who lived in the Caucasus exchanged genes with the ancestors of modern Eurasians and inhabitants of Australia and Oceania, Altai Neanderthals with Denisovan people, Denisovans from unknown caves with the ancestors of modern inhabitants of mainland Asia and American Indians.
The Neanderthal contribution to the genome of modern Eurasians is, according to researchers, from 1.5 to 2.1%.
And the genome of Denisovan man, unlike Neanderthal man, contains 2.7-5.8% of the DNA of some unknown ancient hominids. Perhaps they separated 1.2-4 million years ago from the ancestors of modern humans, Neanderthals and Denisovans. Researchers do not rule out that this mysterious ancestor is Homo erectus, the fossilized bones of which anthropologists have found, but whose DNA sequence has not yet been deciphered. Further research will show whether this is true.
Scientists have compiled a list of DNA sequences that distinguish modern humans from our closest extinct relatives. The list of differences turned out to be quite short. The changes also affect genes responsible for cell division and regulation of other genes. In order to find out how these modifications affected the appearance of modern man and his biology, geneticists need to work further.
More than 20 archaeological cultural layers of the Denisova Cave contain ancient history Northern Asia - from the Early Paleolithic to the Middle Ages
We drove for a long time, leaving hundreds of kilometers behind: an important archaeological site is located far from large settlements and good roads. The last part of the path generally went along a mountain serpentine road. But no matter how tired we were by the end of the trip, our reward was the incredible beauty of Altai - mountains, raging rivers and the vast sky. And, of course, the air, which absorbed the smell of pine nuts, resin and honey. We overcame these distances to see with our own eyes a unique artifact - the oldest bone needle, which was recently found in Denisova Cave by scientists from the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and to ask the director of the institute, Doctor of Historical Sciences, about it Mikhail Vasilievich Shunkov.
Of course, the conversation was not limited to discussing an important find - people living in these parts think in other categories, they are not afraid to put global issues and painstakingly, year after year, search for answers to them.
-Mikhail Vasilyevich, the reason for our visit was the most ancient needle, which everyone is talking about now.
The found needle is the oldest and largest item of its kind known in world archeology today. This find suggests that the culture of the ancient inhabitants of Denisova Cave was quite high level development and was in no way inferior to the culture of Homo sapiens.
- When was Denisova Cave discovered? And why did it become the subject of archaeological research?
This cave was discovered as an archaeological site in 1977, when academician Alexey Pavlovich Okladnikov sent a small detachment here. Of course, the cave was known before this. It was even described by the artist N.K. Roerich, when he traveled with his wife and son in Altai in 1926. But also other expeditions late XIX- beginning of the 20th century visited this cave. Mostly scientists from Tomsk University. After the formation of the first Siberian University Altai began to be actively explored by geographers and geologists - V.V. Sapozhnikov, rector of Tomsk University, brothers B.V. and M.V. Tronovs. They studied Altai comprehensively, including caves. that is, it has been known in science for a long time.
It should be noted that caves are one of the most complex archaeological sites. In order to conduct research in them, a special approach is needed. In 1977 A.P. Okladnikov, the first director of our institute, organized a small expedition here led by paleontologist N.D. Ovodov. This is one of the oldest employees of our institute. He is now alive, healthy and working productively. Nikolai Dmitrievich laid two pits. And with one hole he went through all the sediments in the center of the cave. It turned out that the cave contains many cultural layers primitive man different eras. It became clear that a new, very interesting object had been discovered. But it did not immediately become clear that this was serious, long-term and required a lot of organizational work.
- That is, permanent excavations did not begin immediately?
Systematic excavations began in 1982. First, under the leadership of Academician V.I. Molodin uncovered the upper part of the cave deposits, the Holocene strata, that is, those cultural layers that are no older than 10 thousand years. This is the area of interest of Vyacheslav Ivanovich - the Middle Ages, early iron age, Bronze Age and Neolithic. After this, excavations began on the underlying horizons, which are already older than 10 thousand years. And they continue to this day. Our main focus is on the most ancient stage human history- Paleolithic era. Excavations have shown that chronological period, which we study in the cave, is from 280 thousand to 10 thousand years.
- You said that there are other caves around. Why are excavations concentrated here?
Denisova Cave is a unique object in Russian archeology; there is no second one like it in Russia and in general in the entire post-Soviet space. Cultures ranging from the early stage of the Middle Paleolithic to the Middle Ages are collected here. It is very important that on one site, in one geological section, we can trace the evolution of cultures, the transition from one stage to another.
- What period are the discoveries associated with, which everyone calls sensational?
I don’t like this word, but there’s probably no other way to call them. These finds are associated with the transition from the Middle Paleolithic era, the era of the Neanderthals, to the Upper Paleolithic, which is traditionally associated with anatomically modern humans - Homo Sapiens. Excavations have been ongoing in Denisova Cave for more than 25 years. And the finds from the middle part of the cave section have always attracted the greatest interest. In our nomenclature this is stratigraphic layer 11. This is the layer that characterizes new stage in human history - the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. It has always received special attention from archaeologists, because it is a change of cultures. The formation of man with a modern physical appearance is associated with the culture of the initial stage of the Upper Paleolithic. It has always been believed that Neanderthal was the bearer of the Mousterian (Middle Paleolithic) culture. Then Homo Sapiens came and brought a new culture of the Upper Paleolithic. And from that time began the history of man with a modern physical appearance. Man began not only to make tools from stone, but also to widely use bone. Burials, primitive art, rock paintings, etc. appeared.
- By the way, is there rock art in Denisova Cave?
Unfortunately no. On the territory of Russia, only two caves are known in the Southern Urals - Kapova (Shulgan-Tash) and Ignatievskaya, where the picturesque activity of primitive man was discovered. Europeans traditionally believed that the center of the most ancient “civilization” was southwestern France and northern Spain, because cave paintings were discovered there, and this is the highest creative and intellectual achievement of primitive man. We have not found Paleolithic rock art in Altai, but the culture of the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic, imprinted primarily in stone tools, is quite clearly represented not only in the Denisova Cave, but also in open-type monuments that were found in the vicinity of the Denisova Cave, in the valley of the Anui River . In addition to the cave, we will also explore other objects here, less known, but no less significant for us. Sets of stone tools were found there, which in their appearance are very close to the stone tools characteristic of the sites of Western Europe from the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. This is the so-called Aurignacian culture in Europe. Aurignacoid forms of tools were also discovered here in Altai. Arose interesting problem- correlation of our Siberian, Altai materials and Western European, as well as Paleolithic products from Western Asia and the Middle East. There are a lot of analogies and parallels both in stone tools and in various decorations.
- Do scientists still believe that Homo Sapiens appeared in Africa and then began to populate Europe?
Homo Sapiens came to Europe from Africa, where it formed about 200 thousand years ago. In the chronological interval 80-60 thousand years ago, it penetrated into the Middle East, then began to populate Europe. He brought with him a new culture. But the exact place where this culture originated was not established. Certain parallels were drawn with Western Asia, with the Zagros, in the territory of Iraq and Iran. There, the most ancient tools of the Aurignacian type were found in caves. But then, in the course of our research, it turned out that the finds of the initial stage of the Upper Paleolithic from the Denisova Cave are not inferior in age to European ones, and may be older than European ones... And here an intrigue arose: the cultural manifestations that we recorded in Altai are dated back to about 50 thousand years This is almost 10 thousand years older than in Western Europe. Indeed, we have a unique culture, technologically and cognitively advanced. Various decorations made from animal teeth and ostrich egg shells have been found. This material was imported to us from Mongolia or Transbaikalia. It is too characteristic behavior of a person of modern physical appearance. We could not even imagine that the finds recent years will change this whole picture so much. In 2008, we discovered a phalanx of a girl’s finger in Denisova Cave. Now she is widely known, even famous. The scientific director of our institute, Academician Anatoly Panteleevich Derevyanko, sent this phalanx to the famous paleogeneticist Professor Svante Pääbo at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. And was received very interesting result. Firstly, it turned out that the anthropological remains from Denisova Cave are extremely well preserved in paleogenetic terms. Secondly, the sequenced genome from this sample showed that it does not belong to a Neanderthal or Homo Sapiens, but to a completely new ancient population, previously unknown to science.
- Was it a shock?
Of course, shock, even shock. We could assume anything, but not that some special type of hominin lived in our Altai. Or subspecies is a special question. Let anthropologists decide, we will listen to them carefully and draw our conclusions. But the fact that this is a completely new ancient population unknown to science has become obvious. And then many things fell into place. As archaeologists we have seen that in its manifestations this culture must belong to Homo Sapiens.
- Do you have any specific finds in mind?
We then found a chloritolite bracelet. This is a rare stone, and not local. Its location has been established - Rudny Altai, 250 km west of Denisova Cave. The stone is not just beautiful, depending on the lighting it changes its color. This is clearly an exclusive product that belonged to a person with a certain status in society. Traceological examination showed that the decoration was composite, with a hole made in it. We assumed that there was a ring attached to it on the leather strap. Two years later, our hypothesis was confirmed - we found a marble ring. But the most important thing is the technical techniques that were used in the manufacture of these items. Pebbles were taken as a basis and polished. It was given a flat shape. Then a hole was drilled in the middle. Then it was expanded with a rasp type tool. And an object in the shape of a ring or bracelet was formed. Then it was polished, etc. Taken together, all these techniques used by ancient man have been known to science since the end of the Upper Paleolithic era - no older than 20 thousand years. And their mass use dates back to the Neolithic era, after 8 thousand years. The bracelet and ring were discovered in a layer that is older than 40 thousand years. It is now dated between 40 and 50 thousand years ago. At first we thought that this was the work of Homo Sapiens, who already possessed quite complex technologies. In addition, bone needles with an eye were found. And this year we discovered a needle about 8 cm long. There is no analogue to it. In size, it is twice as large as similar items known not only here, but also at other sites of the early Upper Paleolithic. The point is not that we found the largest needle, but the use of advanced technology. I repeat: this man was not inferior in his skills to Homo Sapiens - that’s what’s important.
- But at the same time he was not Homo Sapiens?
It turned out that this is a completely new population, which with the light hand of A.P. Derevianko was named Homo sapiens altatensis (Altai Homo sapiens). Or according to the place of discovery - Denisovan man, Denisovan. Just like Neanderthal got its name from Neanderthal Valley. The name has become quite firmly established in scientific literature, both in popular and mass media. Now we already know for sure that Denisovan man lived in the cave for quite a long time. We can say with absolute confidence that the human culture of the Upper Paleolithic was not brought to the south of Siberia from Africa, Europe or other territories. It was formed on a local basis.
What is the importance of a single section - under layer 11 with the remains of the Early Upper Paleolithic, where a bracelet, bone needles, various jewelry, and Aurignacoid stone tools were found, lies the thickness of the cultural layers of the Middle Paleolithic era. And we traditionally believed that they must belong to Neanderthals. But now we know for sure that the bearer of this Middle Paleolithic culture was a Denisovan.
Back in the 80s. last century, a tooth from the lower cultural layer 22 of the early stage of the Middle Paleolithic was discovered in Denisova Cave. The anthropologists who worked with him, including our outstanding scientist Valery Pavlovich Alekseev, studied this tooth in detail, but could not unambiguously determine who it belonged to. He combined the morphological features of both Homo Sapiens and Neanderthals. Paleogenetic analysis has now shown that this tooth belongs to a Denisovan. And Denisovan has a very interesting morphology. Despite the advanced culture, in terms of physical anthropology, his remains are quite archaic and have common features both with Neanderthals and even with more ancient forms. We can say that here, in Altai, in the Denisova Cave, for many tens of thousands of years, starting from the Middle Paleolithic era, for at least 280 thousand years, the evolution of the Denisovans and the gradual formation of the Upper Paleolithic culture took place. That is, it can be argued that Altai is one of the centers of formation of human culture with a modern physical appearance.
- Where did the common features with Neanderthals come from?
Paleogenetic analysis showed that Denisovans had close contact with Neanderthals. Today in Altai, both in the Denisova Cave, and in the Okladnikov Cave, which is located 100 km to the north, and in the Chagyrskaya Cave, which is located 200 km northwest of the Denisova Cave, the remains of Neanderthals of the same period have been discovered. This is the most eastern region habitat of Neanderthals. Paleogenetic analysis showed that Denisovans and Neanderthals entered into close relationships, and an exchange of genetic material occurred, the so-called inbreeding. Of course, the general role in the formation of a person with a modern physical appearance belongs to the African Homo Sapiens. But now it is known for sure that the Eurasian modern population in its genome has from 2 to 4% of the Neanderthal genome, and modern inhabitants of the Southern Hemisphere - the indigenous population of Australia, the islands of Melanesia and the Philippines - carry 3-6% of the Denisovans genome, that is, both Neanderthals and Denisovans contributed to the formation of modern physical humans appearance And many scientists say that if there had not been this inbreeding, modern humanity would have a less strong immune system than it does now.
- So there was natural selection?
This played a certain role in human evolution. The history of Neanderthals here is also very interesting. If the cultural, genetic and biological roots of the Denisovans have an autochthonous basis, then the Neanderthals in Altai were aliens. Most likely, they came here approximately 60-50 thousand years ago. Before this, the eastern limit of the distribution of Neanderthals was middle Asia, territory of modern Uzbekistan. This is evidenced, in particular, by the famous find of the late 1930s. the then young researcher A.P. Okladnikov - the remains of a teenager’s skeleton in the Teshik-Tash cave. When Homo Sapiens colonized the territory of Eurasia and moved from the Middle East, it is possible that he displaced the Neanderthals from the territory of the western part of Central Asia. And they migrated eastward to Altai. Here they met the local population - the Denisovans.
- Who found this needle?
I am often asked this question. I'll tell you this: it would be wrong and unfair to single out a specific person. We know who found her - he is a wonderful specialist. But at the excavation site where this unprecedented find was made, two of our young people worked research fellow, two charming girls. One of them found this needle. And praising one at the expense of the other is an ignoble thing. We have a large team, and this is the result of our common work.
- Now, more about the needle itself, please.
Firstly, it demonstrates the fairly high technological skills of the Denisovans, the bearers of this culture. Secondly, it demonstrates the skills of sewing clothes and making shoes. It was most likely made from the bone of a large bird, the size of a swan, or perhaps from the so-called slate bone of an ungulate limb. This will be shown by further laboratory studies of the find. Similar needles with an eye were found in Denisova Cave and other European monuments. But this is the first time a bone needle of this size, about 8 cm, has been discovered. Now we can say that this is apparently the oldest such product known today in archaeology. It was found in sediments about 50 thousand years old, completely intact and intact. This is very important, since it testifies not only to the perfection of the methods of its manufacture, but also to the fairly high level of excavation technology that we are carrying out in the Denisova Cave and at other Altai monuments.
That is modern technique Our excavations guarantee maximum safety of ancient artifacts. In the laboratories of our institute we will conduct a comprehensive study of the needle and other finds. Let's extract as much information as possible. At the end of the field season, Thomas Higham, head of the radiocarbon dating laboratory at Oxford University, came to our expedition. He took samples to determine a more precise age of this find.
- What is the path of the found artifact from the cave to the laboratory?
Any find must undergo a thorough comprehensive analysis. All artifacts and bone remains discovered in the cultural layer of the cave are first recorded in place, photographed, described, and plotted. Then all the exposed soil goes to the river bank, where it is washed. Then the washed substrate needs to be dried, sifted into fractions, sorted through the fine fraction, and extracted micromaterial from it. Then all the material is sent to the specialists for initial determination. Many samples are specially packaged for further laboratory processing. We send them to many institutes of the Russian Academy of Sciences and leading foreign centers. Moreover, the location of any new find in the cave can be correlated with finds from previous years. For this, we have a 3D model of the cave, which was made by employees of the Institute of the History of Natural Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences under the leadership of the famous cosmonaut and writer Yu.M. Baturina
You obviously have to cooperate with big amount specialists from various fields of knowledge.
Of course, we try to attract a variety of specialists and, what is important, we always find a response from them. The Institute of Nuclear Physics, the Institute of Geophysics, the Institute of Geology, the Institute of Cytology and Genetics are working with archaeologists - these are the leading institutes of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. I don’t want to say banal words, but really only an interdisciplinary approach produces serious scientific results.
- You are now the director of the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography of the SB RAS. What tasks do you consider the most important?
I only replaced A.P. in this post a year ago. Derevianko. Anatoly Panteleevich is the scientific director of our institute, the inspirer and organizer of all our scientific victories. We have excellent continuity and talented young employees. We have a great shift. I talk about this with pleasure. The more we work in Denisova Cave and other archaeological sites, the more results we get, the more new tasks we face. They need to be solved at a qualitatively new scientific level. Our youth are capable of this. Therefore, our institute and our research have a future.
- Are you expecting any other important finds in Denisova Cave?
We wait. When sequencing the Denisovan genome, our paleogenetics colleagues established the presence in it of up to 17% of the genome of an archaic hominin not yet known to science. It is possible that it will soon be discovered. This is a very interesting, I would say, intriguing task that has been set for both anthropologists and archaeologists. Today's task. Work is currently underway in this direction.
Interviewed by Olga Belenitskaya. Magazine "In the World of Science"
An international team of scientists, with the participation of Russian researchers, obtained evidence of the earliest visits to Denisova Cave in Altai by people. According to the results of the analysis, Neanderthals began to appear here 200 thousand years ago, and Denisovans - about 300 thousand, which is much higher than previous estimates. Two articles were published in the journal Nature (), ().
Denisova Cave– a unique natural and archaeological monument of Altai. The cave is located on the right bank of the Anui River in the Altai Territory.
If you pick up a map and carefully examine the intersection of the borders of the Altai Territory and the Altai Republic, then on the right bank of the Anui River you can see the world famous Denisova Cave. There are two next to her settlements are called Black Anui and Soloneshnoye. The absolute height of the cave above the sea is more than 600 meters, and above the current river level - about 28 meters.
Denisova Cave is a unique natural and archaeological monument of Altai, which was proposed to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The corresponding decision will be made before 2021.
It was here that the remains of Denisovan man, an extinct species of people closely related to us, were first discovered. And the DNA of the girl from the cave clearly proved the existence of hybrids of different species of people. However, accurate dating of the presence of people at this site is extremely difficult to obtain due to complex structure layers on its bottom.
In two new papers, scientists write that they used the most modern methods determining the age of samples. As a result, they came to the conclusion that Denisovans appeared in the cave approximately 287 thousand years ago and were here intermittently until 55 thousand years ago. This dating shifts the time of their appearance by about 100 thousand years relative to previous estimates, and also refutes the conclusions of some other works, according to which our relatives were last here about 30 thousand years ago. Neanderthals also visited the cave several times, but they appeared later (193 thousand years ago) and stopped visiting it earlier (97 thousand years ago).
Quote:
“The long-awaited research is based on the analysis of bones, remains of material culture and sedimentary deposits found in the Denisova Cave in southern Siberia, which is “strewn” with ancient human remains. They represent the first detailed history 300 thousand years of habitation on this site by various groups of ancient people.
Now we can tell the whole story of this cave, not just bits and pieces," says Zenobia Jacobs, a geochronologist at the University of Wollongong, Australia, who co-led one of the studies."
Scientists emphasize that most of the remains are older than 50 thousand years. And this is the threshold for radiocarbon analysis when working with organic materials. Other dating methods could not provide a clear picture because there was not a good enough map of the geological layers of the cave. The layers have shifted over thousands of years due to animal burrows and human activity. Because of this, remains and material culture artifacts can no longer be found in sediments of similar age.
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"To overcome these difficulties, the researchers, led by Jacobs and Richard Roberts, a geochronologist from Wollongong, used a dating method that determines when parts of the soil were last exposed to light. This allowed them to determine the age of those areas of the cave in which cultural layers of soil were disturbed and where the age of the adjacent part of the soil was highly divergent.They may then not include these areas when determining the age of sediments in the same geological layer as hominin and tool remains.
The first signs that any ancient human species inhabited the cave are stone tools that date back to around 300,000 years ago - excavations began in the 1980s (see "Cave kin"). But researchers couldn't figure out whether Denisovans or Neanderthals made them. The Denisovan cave remains […] date from 200,000 years ago to 55,000 years ago, while the oldest Neanderthal remains are about 190,000 years old and the youngest about 100,000 years old."
The optical dating method used in the new work determines the time when the feldspar crystal was last exposed to light. The authors measured about 280,000 grains of the mineral obtained from more than 100 samples collected from stone tools and remains found in the cave. This made it possible to construct a detailed age map of all layers of layers. Data for the youngest layers were compared with the results of radiocarbon dating. Scientists call those obtained using a combination of dating methods very reliable.
New work also leads to the emergence of a new mystery - Paleolithic artifacts ranging in age from 43 thousand to 49 thousand years were found in the cave. Previously, scientists thought that they were made by the Denisovans, but now it turns out that they had already disappeared by that time. It is possible that the immediate ancestors of modern people, who ended up in the cave almost immediately after the Denisovans and could even hasten their departure, are related to the creation of these objects. However, the remains of such people were not found.
Cave exploration
The cave was first explored by the Siberian paleontologist Nikolai Ovodov. In 1978, he took measurements, and then archaeologists under the leadership of Academician A.P. became interested in it. Okladnikova. Since 1982, scientists from the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography Russian Academy Sciences are comprehensively studying Denisova Cave on their own. For more than 30 years, archaeologists have been conducting excavations, discovering new things unknown to science. historical facts. Scientists from major scientific laboratories in other countries: the USA, Belgium, Japan, and Korea were also involved in the research.
The original field camp has grown and been reborn into a stationary research laboratory in which ancient objects found at the excavation site are studied. Every year, almost a hundred archaeological scientists, together with scientists from other specialties, carry out hard, painstaking work to uncover the secrets of the cave.
Denisova Cave was first mentioned in books of the 19th century. Missionary priest V.I. Verbitsky described it as an object not worthy of attention.
In 1926, artist N.K. Roerich visited Denisova Cave and left the following entry in his travel diary “Altai - Himalayas”: “Near Black Anui on Karakol there are caves. Their depth and extent are unknown. There are bones and inscriptions there.”
