Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, Nigeria
Summary: The Ihò Eléérú (or Iho Eleru) rock shelter, located in Southwest Nigeria, is the only site from which Pleistocene-age hominin fossils have been recovered in western Africa. Excavations at Iho Eleru revealed regular human occupations ranging from the Later Stone Age (LSA) to the present day....
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-03-01
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| Series: | iScience |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223002304 |
| _version_ | 1828012340539293696 |
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| author | Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni Emily Yuko Hallett Emuobosa Akpo Orijemie Kseniia Ashastina Mary Lucas Lucy Farr Alexa Höhn Christopher A. Kiahtipes James Blinkhorn Patrick Roberts Andrea Manica Eleanor M.L. Scerri |
| author_facet | Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni Emily Yuko Hallett Emuobosa Akpo Orijemie Kseniia Ashastina Mary Lucas Lucy Farr Alexa Höhn Christopher A. Kiahtipes James Blinkhorn Patrick Roberts Andrea Manica Eleanor M.L. Scerri |
| author_sort | Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summary: The Ihò Eléérú (or Iho Eleru) rock shelter, located in Southwest Nigeria, is the only site from which Pleistocene-age hominin fossils have been recovered in western Africa. Excavations at Iho Eleru revealed regular human occupations ranging from the Later Stone Age (LSA) to the present day. Here, we present chronometric, archaeobotanical, and paleoenvironmental findings, which include the taxonomic, taphonomic, and isotopic analyses of what is the only Pleistocene faunal assemblage documented in western Africa. Our results indicate that the local landscape surrounding Iho Eleru, although situated within a regional open-canopy biome, was forested throughout the past human occupation of the site. At a regional scale, a shift from forest- to savanna-dominated ecotonal environment occurred during a mid-Holocene warm event 6,000 years ago, with a subsequent modern reforestation of the landscape. Locally, no environmental shift was observable, placing Iho Eleru in a persistent forested “island” during the period of occupation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T09:30:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0f5b6fe8c0ad4cf4a509e6f5fdaf262d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2589-0042 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T09:30:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | iScience |
| spelling | doaj.art-0f5b6fe8c0ad4cf4a509e6f5fdaf262d2023-02-19T04:27:13ZengElsevieriScience2589-00422023-03-01263106153Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, NigeriaJacopo Niccolò Cerasoni0Emily Yuko Hallett1Emuobosa Akpo Orijemie2Kseniia Ashastina3Mary Lucas4Lucy Farr5Alexa Höhn6Christopher A. Kiahtipes7James Blinkhorn8Patrick Roberts9Andrea Manica10Eleanor M.L. Scerri11Department of Biology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60660, USA; Pan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Germany; Corresponding authorPan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Germany; Department of Anthropology, Loyola University Chicago, Chicago, IL 60660, USA; Corresponding authorDepartment of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Ibadan, 200132 Ibadan, Nigeria; Corresponding authorDepartment of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, GermanyDepartment of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Germany; Arctic University Museum of Norway, UiT-the Arctic University of Norway, 9019 Tromsø, NorwayDepartment of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3DZ, UKInstitute of Archaeological Sciences, Goethe-Universität, 60323 Frankfurt am Main, GermanyInstitute for the Advanced Study of Culture and the Environment, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USAPan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, GermanyDepartment of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Germany; isoTROPIC Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Germany; School of Social Science, the University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, AustraliaDepartment of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UKPan-African Evolution Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Geoanthropology, 07745 Jena, Germany; Department of Classics and Archaeology, University of Malta, 2080 Msida, Malta; Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany; Corresponding authorSummary: The Ihò Eléérú (or Iho Eleru) rock shelter, located in Southwest Nigeria, is the only site from which Pleistocene-age hominin fossils have been recovered in western Africa. Excavations at Iho Eleru revealed regular human occupations ranging from the Later Stone Age (LSA) to the present day. Here, we present chronometric, archaeobotanical, and paleoenvironmental findings, which include the taxonomic, taphonomic, and isotopic analyses of what is the only Pleistocene faunal assemblage documented in western Africa. Our results indicate that the local landscape surrounding Iho Eleru, although situated within a regional open-canopy biome, was forested throughout the past human occupation of the site. At a regional scale, a shift from forest- to savanna-dominated ecotonal environment occurred during a mid-Holocene warm event 6,000 years ago, with a subsequent modern reforestation of the landscape. Locally, no environmental shift was observable, placing Iho Eleru in a persistent forested “island” during the period of occupation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223002304Biological sciencesPlant BiologyPaleobiology |
| spellingShingle | Jacopo Niccolò Cerasoni Emily Yuko Hallett Emuobosa Akpo Orijemie Kseniia Ashastina Mary Lucas Lucy Farr Alexa Höhn Christopher A. Kiahtipes James Blinkhorn Patrick Roberts Andrea Manica Eleanor M.L. Scerri Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, Nigeria iScience Biological sciences Plant Biology Paleobiology |
| title | Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, Nigeria |
| title_full | Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, Nigeria |
| title_fullStr | Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, Nigeria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, Nigeria |
| title_short | Human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14,000 years at Iho Eleru, Nigeria |
| title_sort | human interactions with tropical environments over the last 14 000 years at iho eleru nigeria |
| topic | Biological sciences Plant Biology Paleobiology |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223002304 |
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