Star 1: A New Neanderthal from Starosele, Crimea

The Crimean Peninsula contains several important Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites, including Starosele, Kabazi II and Siuren I. The region has been considered a potential refugium for Neanderthals before their replacement by Homo sapiens. However, no genetic data has been obtained from any of these late Neanderthals, some being inaccessible or badly preserved. Starosele is a notable site which has undergone excavations in recent years. We used collagen peptide mass fingerprinting (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry, ZooMS), to screen for potential human remains amongst thousands of fragmented bones from the site. Of the 150 bone fragments we analysed, 97.3% had sufficient collagen preservation for taxonomic identification. Our results suggest Palaeolithic humans primarily hunted horses. One ~5cm bone fragment yielded peptide mass fingerprints matching Hominidae. Radiocarbon dating revealed an age range of 46–45,000 years old, close to the transition from the disappearance of Neanderthals to the dispersal of Homo sapiens in western Europe. We sequenced a 2-fold coverage mitochondrial genome from this bone, indicating the individual belongs to the Neanderthal lineage. The mitogenome clusters with other Neanderthal mitogenomes previously generated from the Russian Altai region. Alongside this, an analysis of the lithic corpus from both regions suggests that a wider Neanderthal dispersal, linked to the Micoquian stone tool industry, occurred after ~60,000 years ago. We assessed the palaeoclimate connection (temperature and precipitation) between these locations and identified a high habitat suitability corridor along 55°N, suggesting that the long-distance movement of Neanderthals would have been facilitated by periods of favourable climate