The late Middle Paleolithic and earliest Upper Paleolithic in Central Europe and their relevance for the Out of Africa hypothesis

The available data from Central Europe is consistent with the hypothesis that Homo sapiens sapiens evolved initially outside Europe and colonized the di!erent regions of the continent previously occupied by Neanderthals between roughly 50 and 30 kyrBP. Di!erent transitional industries in Central Europe, which show both Middle and Upper Paleolithic features, appear to root in the local Middle Paleolithic assemblages. At present it is uncertain which hominids produced the transitional industries. While organic artifacts, objects of personal ornamentation, and art objects are generally absent in these transitional assemblages, they become abundant in the Aurignacian, which represents the "rst fully evolved Upper Paleolithic technocomplex spread over larger parts of Europe. Both radiocarbon and TL dates indicate that the Aurignacian was present in Central Europe, including Germany, as early as about 40 kyr ago. This means that coexistence of Neanderthals and anatomically modern hominids endured for a time span of some 10 kyr, since with the appearance of the Aurignacian we "rst encounter the cultural remains of Homo sapiens sapiens with fully developed artistic and symbolic representations, ornaments, and abundant organic tools, while the last Neanderthals appear to have lived some 30 ky