Ref ID:	26408
Ref Type:	Conference Paper
Authors:	Shackelford, Laura L. Demeter, Fabrice Bacon, Anne-Marie Duringer, Philippe Westaway, Kira Thongsa Sayavongkhamdy, Braga, José Phonephanh Sichanthongtip, Phimmasaeng Khamdalavong, Ponche, Jean-Luc Lundstrom, Craig Patole-Edoumba, Elise Ka
Title:	Modern human fossils from Tam Pa Ling, Laos
Date:	2012
Source:	The 81st Annual Meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists
Abstract:	Uncertainties surround the timing of modern human emergence and occupation in East and Southeast Asia. Following a gap in the East Asian hominin fossil record from 100-40 ka, the earliest paleoanthropological evidence of definitively modern human occupation is at Tianyuan Cave, China (ca. 40 ka). Genetic data, however, indicate that humans migrated out of Africa using a southern route into Southeast Asia by at least 60 ka before continuing northward into East Asia. Patterns of genetic variation in recent human populations as well as results from recent studies of ancient DNA point to Southeast Asia as an important source for the peopling of East Asia. Here we introduce newly discovered modern human fossils from Tam Pa Ling, a cave site in Hua Pan Province, Laos, dated to ca. 50 ka. These remains establish the earliest presence of humans in mainland Southeast Asia and bridge the temporal discrepancy that has previously existed between paleoanthropological and genetic evidence for modern human occupation in the region. Additionally, they provide evidence of alternative routes of migration for modern human populations in eastern Asia during the Late Pleistocene. We report on the paleoanthropological and geological record of Tam Pa Ling, including geochronology and biostratigraphy of the site. Additionally, morphological analyses of these fossils are performed relative to available Late Pleistocene and Holocene East and Southeast Asian fossils to assess the morphological affinities of Tam Pa Ling and make inferences regarding Pleistocene migrations in East Asia.
Date Created:	2/29/2016