Mezmaiskaya Cave
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Mezmaiskaya Cave (russian: Мезмайская пещера) is a prehistoric
cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...
site overlooking the right bank of the Sukhoi Kurdzhips (a tributary of the
Kurdzhips River The Kurdzhips (russian: Курджипс), located in the Caucasus Mountains, is a river in the Apsheronsky District of Krasnodar region, Russia. It is a left tributary of the Belaya near Maykop. It is long, and has a drainage basin of . The ri ...
) in the southern Russian
Republic of Adygea The Republic of Adygea (; russian: Республика Адыгея, Respublika Adygeya, p=ɐdɨˈɡʲejə; ady, Адыгэ Республик, ''Adıgə Respublik''), also known as the Adyghe Republic, is a republic of Russia. It is situated ...
, located in the northwestern foothills of the
North Caucasus The North Caucasus, ( ady, Темыр Къафкъас, Temır Qafqas; kbd, Ишхъэрэ Къаукъаз, İṩxhərə Qauqaz; ce, Къилбаседа Кавказ, Q̇ilbaseda Kavkaz; , os, Цӕгат Кавказ, Cægat Kavkaz, inh, ...
in the
Caucasus Mountains The Caucasus Mountains, : pronounced * hy, Կովկասյան լեռներ, : pronounced * az, Qafqaz dağları, pronounced * rus, Кавка́зские го́ры, Kavkázskiye góry, kɐfˈkasːkʲɪje ˈɡorɨ * tr, Kafkas Dağla ...
system.


Archaeology


Neanderthal

Initial excavations in the Mezmaiskaya cave recovered
Mousterian The Mousterian (or Mode III) is an archaeological industry of stone tools, associated primarily with the Neanderthals in Europe, and to the earliest anatomically modern humans in North Africa and West Asia. The Mousterian largely defines the latt ...
artifacts of the Last glacial period. The Late
Middle Paleolithic The Middle Paleolithic (or Middle Palaeolithic) is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleoli ...
stratigraphic Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithostrati ...
layers at Mezmaiskaya are composed of 7 layers, dating from roughly 70,000 to 40,000 BP. Three Neanderthal individuals were recovered from the cave. The first, ''Mezmaiskaya 1'', was recovered in 1993 and is an almost complete skeleton in a well preserved state due to
calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...
cementation that covers and holds the arrangement in place. It was assessed to be an
infant An infant or baby is the very young offspring of human beings. ''Infant'' (from the Latin word ''infans'', meaning 'unable to speak' or 'speechless') is a formal or specialised synonym for the common term ''baby''. The terms may also be used to ...
about two weeks old, making it the youngest Neanderthal ever recovered. Although no burial pit was found, circumstances suggest that the body was buried intentionally, explaining the good state of preservation and the lack of scavenger marks. ''Mesmaikaya 1'' was recovered from Layer 3, the oldest Late Middle Paleolithic layer at the site. ''Mezmaiskaya 1'' is indirectly dated to around 70–60,000 years old. Additionally, 24 skull fragments of a 1- to 2-year-old Neanderthal child - ''Mezmaiskaya 2'' - were found in 1994. A recovered tooth was assigned to ''Mezmaiskaya 3''.Timothy D. Weaver, Hélène Coqueugniot, Liubov V. Golovanova, Vladimir B. Doronichev, Bruno Maureille, and Jean-Jacques Hublin "Neonatal postcrania from Mezmaiskaya, Russia, and Le Moustier, France, and the development of Neandertal body form" PNAS 2016, 113 (23) 6472-6477; published ahead of print May 23, 2016, doi:10.1073/pnas.1523677113 ''Mezmaiskaya 2'' was recovered from Layer 2, the youngest Late Middle Paleolithic layer, and directly dated to around 44,600-42,960 cal BP. DNA analysis reveals that ''Mesmaiskaya 2'' was male.


Archaeogenetics

Ancient DNA Ancient DNA (aDNA) is DNA isolated from ancient specimens. Due to degradation processes (including cross-linking, deamination and fragmentation) ancient DNA is more degraded in comparison with contemporary genetic material. Even under the bes ...
was recovered for a
mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...
sequence showing 3.48% divergence from that of the
Neanderthal 1 Feldhofer 1 or Neanderthal 1 is the scientific name of the 40,000-year-old type specimen fossil of the species ''Homo neanderthalensis'', found in August 1856 in a German cave, the Kleine Feldhofer Grotte in the Neandertal valley, east of Düs ...
, found some to the west in Germany.
Phylogenetic In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
analysis places these two specimen in a
clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
distinct from modern humans, suggesting that their mtDNA types have not contributed to the modern human mtDNA pool. ''Mezmaiskaya 2'' is genetically closer to other late European Neanderthals, including Neanderthals from
Vindija Cave Vindija Cave is an archaeological site associated with Neanderthals and modern humans, located in the municipality of Donja Voća, northern Croatia. Three of these Neanderthals were selected as the primary sources for the first draft sequence o ...
,
Spy Cave Spy Cave (french: Grotte de Spy) is located in Wallonia near Spy in the municipality of Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, Namur Province, Belgium above the left bank of the Orneau River. Classified as a premier Heritage site of the Walloon Region, the location ...
and
Goyet Caves The Goyet Caves (french: Grottes de Goyet) are a series of connected caves located in Wallonia in a limestone cliff about 15 m (50 ft) above the river Samson near the village of Mozet in the Gesves municipality of the Namur province, Belgium. The ...
, than the older ''Mesmaiskaya 1'', which indicates that a population replacement of Neanderthals likely occurred in the Caucasus. This gap in time is consistent with
Marine isotope stage Marine isotope stages (MIS), marine oxygen-isotope stages, or oxygen isotope stages (OIS), are alternating warm and cool periods in the Earth's paleoclimate, deduced from oxygen isotope data reflecting changes in temperature derived from data ...
3. Modern humans and
Ust'-Ishim man Ust'-Ishim man is the term given to the 45,000-year-old remains of one of the early modern humans to inhabit western Siberia. The fossil is notable in that it had intact DNA which permitted the complete sequencing of its genome, one of the oldest ...
share more alleles with all other Neanderthals, including ''Mezmaiskaya 1'', than with the ''Altai Neanderthal'' from
Denisova Cave Denisova Cave (russian: Денисова пещера, lit= the cave of Denis, translit= Denísova peshchéra; alt, Аю-Таш, lit= Bear Rock, translit= Ayu Tash) is a cave in the Bashelaksky Range of the Altai mountains, Siberia, Russia. The ...
, which shows that the
introgression Introgression, also known as introgressive hybridization, in genetics is the transfer of genetic material from one species into the gene pool of another by the repeated backcrossing of an interspecific hybrid with one of its parent species. Intr ...
event from Neanderthals into humans likely took place after the split of the lineage of the Altai Neanderthal from that of other Neanderthals, but before the split of the lineage of ''Mezmaiskaya 1'' and that of other Neanderthals.


Fauna

Fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
l remains show a very low degree of
weathering Weathering is the deterioration of rocks, soils and minerals as well as wood and artificial materials through contact with water, atmospheric gases, and biological organisms. Weathering occurs ''in situ'' (on site, with little or no movement), ...
, with many bones having traces of
stone tool A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric (particularly Stone Ag ...
cuts and carnivore modification. The most common large
mammal Mammals () are a group of vertebrate animals constituting the class Mammalia (), characterized by the presence of mammary glands which in females produce milk for feeding (nursing) their young, a neocortex (a region of the brain), fur or ...
s are
steppe bison The steppe bisonSeveral literatures address the species as ''primeval bison''. or steppe wisent (''Bison'' ''priscus'')
– Y ...
(''Bison priscus''), Caucasian goat (''Capra caucasica''), and Asiatic
mouflon The mouflon (''Ovis gmelini'') is a wild sheep native to Cyprus, the Caspian Sea, Caspian region from eastern Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Iran. It is thought to be the ancestor of all modern domestic sheep breeds. Taxonomy ''Ovis gmelini'' ...
(''Ovis orientalis'').
Reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...
(''Rangifer tarandus'') remains were encountered for the first time in the Caucasus. Although most of the smaller vertebrate remains appear to have been accumulated by nonhuman processes (for example,
owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...
predation Predation is a biological interaction where one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not kill the ...
), the majority of the
ungulate Ungulates ( ) are members of the diverse clade Ungulata which primarily consists of large mammals with hooves. These include odd-toed ungulates such as horses, rhinoceroses, and tapirs; and even-toed ungulates such as cattle, pigs, giraffes, cam ...
remains probably represent animals hunted by the occupants of the Mousterian culture. Analysis of the animal bones found in the Mezmaiskaya Cave revealed that during the middle and late Paleolithic four kinds of buffalo lived in the area.


Description

The cave entrance is a hole in the cliff several meters high, behind which the course is narrowed to a few meters, but almost all along remains quite high. Within a few tens of meters of the entrance to the cave, the floor is transformed from rocky to clay.


Geology

Evidence recovered from the cave suggests that the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption around 40,000 years ago may have been a setback for the Neanderthal, with an as yet only postulated eruption contributing to their demise about 29,000 years ago.


See also

*
Archaic human admixture with modern humans There is evidence for interbreeding between archaic and modern humans during the Middle Paleolithic and early Upper Paleolithic. The interbreeding happened in several independent events that included Neanderthals and Denisovans, as well as sever ...
*
Neanderthal genome project The Neanderthal genome project is an effort of a group of scientists to sequence the Neanderthal genome, founded in July 2006. It was initiated by 454 Life Sciences, a biotechnology company based in Branford, Connecticut in the United States and ...


References

{{coord, 44, 10, N, 40, 00, E, region:RU-ALT_type:landmark_source:kolossus-ruwiki, display=title 1993 archaeological discoveries Caves of Russia Archaeology of the Caucasus Archaeological sites in Russia Neanderthal sites Geography of Adygea Archaeology of Russia Landforms of Adygea Mousterian