Reconstructing the environmental conditions experienced by early modern humans at Tam Pà Ling (northeast Laos) using higher plant wax biomarkers

M. S. McAllister-Hayward*, A. J. Blyth, F. A. McInerney, A. I. Holman, K. Grice, J. J. Tyler, K. W. Westaway, R. Joannes-Boyau, S. Boualaphane, N. Bourgon, T. E. Dunn, S. Frangeul, T. Luangkhoth, J. L. Ponche, P. Sichanthongtip, V. Souksavatdy, E. Suzzoni, A. Zachwieja, C. Zanolli, A. M. BaconP. Duringer, J. J. Hublin, L. Shackelford, F. Demeter, M. W. Morley

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
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Abstract

The sediments of Tam Pà Ling (TPL), northeastern Laos, have yielded the earliest evidence of Homo sapiens in mainland Southeast Asia (∼86 ka; marine isotope stage (MIS) 5 b) with a number of skeletal elements having been recovered from the sequence attesting to two populations of H. sapiens present in the vicinity between 77 ± 9 ka to 39 ± 9 ka. At present there has been very limited research into the environmental conditions that these populations encountered during MIS 5–4. In this study, we present the results of an analysis of higher plant biomarkers (n-alkanes and n-alkanols) from the sediments at TPL to reconstruct the palaeovegetation of the site and the human fossils. The n-alkane δ13C values demonstrate that H. sapiens encountered a predominantly C3 forest landscape in MIS 5 b-MIS 4 that prevailed until MIS 1. Observations of a fluctuation in δ13C values across MIS 5 b-MIS 1 (∼86–3 ka) indicates that moisture availability was non-uniform, most likely resulting in landscape changes in and around TPL. The presence of H. sapiens at TPL during the environmental conditions associated with MIS 5 b-MIS 3 highlights the adaptability of our species to environmental dynamics at this time.

Original languageEnglish
Article number108471
Pages (from-to)1-13
Number of pages13
JournalQuaternary Science Reviews
Volume325
Early online date12 Jan 2024
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Feb 2024

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2024. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

  • Homo sapiens
  • n-alkanes
  • n-alkanols
  • palaeoenvironments
  • stable isotopes

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