A Refined Chronology for the Middle–Upper Paleolithic Transition at Kozarnika Cave (Bulgaria) 40–50,000 Years Ago New AMS Radiocarbon Dates and Implications for Early Homo sapiens in Europe

Abstract

The site of Kozarnika in Bulgaria is a key, deep (~6m) archaeological sequence spanning the Lower, Middle and Upper Paleolithic of Europe. In its latter phases, it documents the transition from a Neanderthal-dominated Europe to one in which only modern humans are present. The process of this transition is of major importance to understanding the timeline of hominin dispersals, extinctions and replacement in Europe. We obtained 37 new AMS radiocarbon dates to build a robust chrono-stratigraphy for the site through sampling humanly modified bones, artifacts and human remains. We focussed particularly on dating the Initial Upper Paleolithic phase of the occupation, in geological layer 6/7, because of its potential link with early dispersing Homo sapiens populations and the presence of co-mingled human remains in the layer itself. The latter phases of human occupation at Kozarnika comprised five distinct periods, dated between about 50–26,000 years ago. We found that the 6/7 phase ranged from 48,500–44,050 cal BP, probably starting from about 49,960 cal BP. The stone tool evidence from the layer contains some Levallois pieces with echoes of the earlier Middle Paleolithic. One possible scenario is that both Neanderthals and early modern humans alternated in their use of the site during this period. Aside from the evidence from Apidima (Greece) which has been argued to evidence Homo sapiens at about 210,000 years ago (Harvati et al. 2019), Kozarnika is the earliest site found in southeastern Europe from the last 100,000 years which contains evidence for the presence of modern humans.