Early Upper Paleolithic in Eastern Europe and Implications for the Dispersal of Modern Humans

Radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating and magnetic stratigraphy indicate Upper Paleolithic occupation—probably representing modern humans—at archaeological sites on the Don River in Russia 45,000 to 42,000 years ago. The oldest levels at Kostenki underlie a volcanic ash horizon identified as the Campanian Ignimbrite Y5 tephra that is dated elsewhere to about 40,000 years ago. The occupation layers contain bone and ivory artifacts, including possible figurative art, and fossil shells imported more than 500 kilometers. Thus, modern humans appeared on the central plain of Eastern Europe as early as anywhere else in northern Eurasia. Modern humans and their Upper Paleo-lithic industry (Aurignacian) spreadrapidly across western and central Europe roughly 42,000 to 40,000 years ago; there is evidence for a slightly earlier influx in south central Europe (1). The early Aurignacian sites appear to represent the dispersal of modern humans from Africa into Europe [although their skeletal remains more than 30,000 years old are scarce in northern Eurasia (2)]. The initial sprea