Non-analog environments supported early Homo sapiens in southern Africa 200 000 years ago
Abstract
In our species’ evolutionary history, the type of environments in which we evolved can provide crucial details about early human adaptive capacities. Such environments might not exist under current climatic and ecological conditions. Reconstructing palaeohydrology and vegetation using multiple proxies at human fossil sites in South Africa provides insights into local conditions at a high level of detail. This paper presents a plant n -alkane stable isotope record for Florisbad and Lombard’s Drift, which is anchored by new luminescence ages that revise the age for the Florisbad human cranium. We observe contrasting, non-analog plant environments during the Middle and Late Pleistocene by combining multiple lines of evidence to better understand the different environments that early Homo sapiens experienced. It also provides the foundation to evaluate their cultural adaptation strategies through time.
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BibTeX
@article{ecker2026nonanalog,
title = {{Non-analog environments supported early Homo sapiens in southern Africa 200 000 years ago}},
author = {Michaela Ecker and Maïlys Richard and Nils Andersen and Beatrice Bin and Will Archer and C. Britt Bousman and Josep M. Parés and Andri C. van Aardt and Louis Scott and Michael B. Toffolo},
journal = {Communications Earth \& Environment},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s43247-026-04116-4},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-04116-4},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Non-analog environments supported early Homo sapiens in southern Africa 200 000 years ago
AU - Michaela Ecker
AU - Maïlys Richard
AU - Nils Andersen
AU - Beatrice Bin
AU - Will Archer
AU - C. Britt Bousman
AU - Josep M. Parés
AU - Andri C. van Aardt
AU - Louis Scott
AU - Michael B. Toffolo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/30
JO - Communications Earth & Environment
DO - 10.1038/s43247-026-04116-4
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-026-04116-4
AB - In our species’ evolutionary history, the type of environments in which we evolved can provide crucial details about early human adaptive capacities. Such environments might not exist under current climatic and ecological conditions. Reconstructing palaeohydrology and vegetation using multiple proxies at human fossil sites in South Africa provides insights into local conditions at a high level of detail. This paper presents a plant n -alkane stable isotope record for Florisbad and Lombard’s Drift, which is anchored by new luminescence ages that revise the age for the Florisbad human cranium. We observe contrasting, non-analog plant environments during the Middle and Late Pleistocene by combining multiple lines of evidence to better understand the different environments that early Homo sapiens experienced. It also provides the foundation to evaluate their cultural adaptation strategies through time.
SN - 2662-4435
ER -