捷克科学院Garba, R.和Jansen, J. D.与丹麦奥胡斯大学Knudsen, M. F.的团队合作，经过不懈努力，他们提出了140万年前人类从东向西迁徙到欧洲这一新观点。2024年3月6日出版的《自然》发表了这项成果。

研究人员采用两种宇宙成因核素的埋藏测年方法对样品进行测定，数据显示，包含模式1类型石器人工制品的沉积单元的测年年龄分别为1.42±0.10百万年和1.42±0.28百万年。据研究人员所知，弥合高加索人(约1.85-1.78百万年前）和欧洲西南部(大约1.2-1.1 百万年前)，Korolevo代表了欧洲最早的可靠的的人类存在证据。

研究结果支持了欧洲是从东方被殖民的假设，研究对栖息地适宜性的分析表明，早在中更新世过渡时期之前，早期人类在温暖的间冰期，迁移到高纬度地区和相对大陆性的地方，比如Korolevo。

据了解，自20世纪70年代以来，乌克兰西部Korolevo冲积层和黄土层中的遗址石器已经被几个团队进行了详细的研究。虽然Korolevo对欧洲旧石器时代的重要性得到了广泛的认可，但最底层的旧石器时代人工制品的年龄限制仍有待进行最终确定。

附：英文原文

Title: East-to-west human dispersal into Europe 1.4 million years ago

Author: Garba, R., Usyk, V., Yl-Mella, L., Kamenk, J., Stbner, K., Lachner, J., Rugel, G., Veselovsk, F., Gerasimenko, N., Herries, A. I. R., Kuera, J., Knudsen, M. F., Jansen, J. D.

Issue&Volume: 2024-03-06

Abstract: Stone tools stratified in alluvium and loess at Korolevo, western Ukraine, have been studied by several research groups since the discovery of the site in the 1970s. Although Korolevo’s importance to the European Palaeolithic is widely acknowledged, age constraints on the lowermost lithic artefacts have yet to be determined conclusively. Here, using two methods of burial dating with cosmogenic nuclides, we report ages of 1.42±0.10 million years and 1.42±0.28million years for the sedimentary unit that contains Mode-1-type lithic artefacts. Korolevo represents, to our knowledge, the earliest securely dated hominin presence in Europe, and bridges the spatial and temporal gap between the Caucasus (around 1.85–1.78million years ago) and southwestern Europe (around 1.2–1.1million years ago). Our findings advance the hypothesis that Europe was colonized from the east, and our analysis of habitat suitability9 suggests that early hominins exploited warm interglacial periods to disperse into higher latitudes and relatively continental sites—such as Korolevo—well before the Middle Pleistocene Transition.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07151-3

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07151-3