Open research questions in Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

What the literature leaves open

• Previous studies have emphasized the importance of hydrographic networks for human dispersal, yet the extent to which climate-driven hydrological changes structured regional connectivity across MIS 5 substages remains poorly understood.

  Reconstructing Prehistoric Waterscapes and Human Mobility during MIS 5 in North Africa · 2026 · DOI

• During the Final Palaeolithic, the hunter‑gatherer population of the Pannonian Basin was sparse, as archaeological evidence primarily consists of stray finds from the GI‑1, while a complete 103 Mihailović 2017.

  Szekszárd-Palánk and the postglacial recolonization of the Pannonian Basin · 2026 · DOI

• Although there are rich archival and ethnological sources (photographic, travelogue, diaries) on this topic, archaeolog- ical finds are either non- existent or mostly scarce, regionally limited to Arctic territories and temporally limited from the Late Pleistocene / Early Holocene to the present. 2: 1–3), their functionality in this respect has not been studied in any detail.

  Sledges and harnesses in the Upper Palaeolithic: On an unfound type of artefacts · 2026 · DOI

• Reanalysis of pleiotropy: The EDAR gene also affects hair thickness and mammary gland morphology, whose adaptive significance in cold, dry environments remains uncertain.

  The Objective Existence of the Neutral Theory of Human Origin in East Asian Macroscopic Morphology —— The Million-Year Drift of Shovel-Shaped Incisors and the Eastern Signature of Genetic Drift · 2026 · DOI

• Data exclusions If no data were excluded from the analyses, state so OR if data were excluded, provide the exact number of exclusions and the rationale behind them, indicating whether exclusion criteria were pre-established.

  Enamel proteins from six Homo erectus specimens across China · 2026 · DOI

• The excavated assemblages in the Stillfried- Grub microregion point towards a Mid- Upper Palaeolithic or Gravettian (Grub- Kranawetberg I, Grub- Kranawetberg II, Ollersdorf- Heidenberg, and Stillfried- Steinschlägeratelier) and Early Upper Palaeo- lithic or Aurignacian (Ebenthal- Weintaläcker) (Cadastral par- cels 2229/2 and 2231) presence. To date, absolute- chronological ages are available only for Ollersdorf- Heidenberg and Grub- Kranawetberg I through the radiocarbon dating of high- quality conifer charcoals. For Grub- Kranawetberg II, charcoal identi- fication and the radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples is in progress, while both Stillfried- Steinschlägeratelier and Ebenthal- Weintaläcker (Cadastral parcels 2229/2 and 2231) remain without absolute chronological age estimations. Within Grub- Kranawetberg I, AH 4 and AH 3 of the ‘campsite’ area as well as the lower AH in the ‘bone accumulation’ area pro- vided ages congruent with the end of the Middle Gravettian and the onset of the Late Gravettian in the region, i.e. between 30,000 and 28,000 cal BP (e.g. Lengyel et al. 2026), while AH 2 is dated to 26,900–25,600 cal BP and, hence, is slightly younger (Tab. 2). The ages of AH Anna and AH Viola at Ollersdorf- Heidenberg (Bosch et al. 2025a) as well as from the rescue excavations in 1998 (Antl- Weiser 2008; see also Bosch et al. 2025a) point to the same age window between 30,000 and 28,000 cal BP. These ages overlap with the established chronostratigraphic position of Willendorf II, AH 9 (Austria) (Haesaerts et al. 1996; Nigst et al. 2014), the age range of Trenčianske Bohuslavice, Layer A2- 3 (Slo- vakia) (Wilczyński et al. 2020), Milovice IV 2021 excavation- AH II (Chlachula et al. 2025) and the Milovice IV 2009 excavation (Svoboda et al. 2011). According to the dated charcoal samples from the middle part of the brownish archaeological horizon, Pavlov VI is slightly older (Svoboda et al. 2009). The dating at the older excavations at Pavlov I, Dolní Věstonice I and II and the Moravany sites is more complex. Sites like Moravany nad Váhom- Podkovica (Hromadová et al. 2021) and Dolní Věstoni ce II, Unit A/K10 (Polanská, Novák 2014), seem to be younger.

  New research on the Gravettian site cluster of Grub-Kranawetberg, Austria: Research history, key findings and first results of fieldwork between 2021 and 2025 · 2026 · DOI

• Yet, it remains unclear whether these hominins adhered to discrete behavioural sets or whether regional-scale intergroup interactions could have homogenized mid-MP behaviour.

  Evidence from Tinshemet Cave in Israel suggests behavioural uniformity across Homo groups in the Levantine mid-Middle Palaeolithic circa 130,000–80,000 years ago · 2025 · DOI

• This is in line with 288 the archaeological evidence, such as a low proportion of processed animal remains, limited evidence for 289 the use of fire and a low artefact density at the site that point to short-term occupation of the cave4,42,43. Further study of ancient genomes, fossils and material 318 cultures will be needed to untangle the events surrounding and following Out-of-Africa migrations, such 319 as the origins of the enigmatic Basal Eurasian lineage, and the earliest waves of modern human 320 movements into Europe and Asia.

  Earliest modern human genomes constrain timing of Neanderthal admixture · 2024 · DOI

• Hence it remains unclear which aspects of CAHG cultural diversity results from long-term evolution preceding agriculture and which reflect borrowing from farmers.

  Deep history of cultural and linguistic evolution among Central African hunter-gatherers · 2024 · DOI

• Clearly, the coprolite collections at the ESI are understudied and require attention with the intention of stimulating a greater interest in this field.

  Overlooked or Unimportant? An Overview of the Coprolite Collections at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa · 2022 · DOI

• The EASMM industry, the only one identified with certainty so far among the noted five industry types also for Eastern Central Europe, in the south of Eastern Europe, can serve as a good example for further studies of the LGM Early Late uP industries.

  Epiaurignacian industry with Sagaidak-Muralovka-type microliths industry in the south of Eastern Europe and Eastern Central Europe and its lithic artefact fossil types. · 2021 · DOI

• However, a genetic evidence of hybridization between hominin lineages during the Lower and Middle Pleistocene epochs is unknown and the direct retrieval of DNA from extinct lineages of African hominins remains elusive.

  Hominin evolution and gene flow in the Pleistocene Africa · 2013 · DOI

• Studies to date also make clear that while much remains to be done, early hominin teeth hold the potential to provide more detail about diet and confidence in our reconstructions as samples increase, our understanding of functional morphology improves, and other methods of analysis are applied to the fossils we have.

  Dental Evidence for the Reconstruction of Diet in African Early<i>Homo</i> · 2012 · DOI

• Abstract Prehistoric land use and social activity in West New Britain, PNG, are well documented, although the landscapes – largely shaped by catastrophic volcanic eruptions – in which these took place, and the relationships people had with these landscapes, are poorly understood.

  Human Adaptive Responses to Catastrophic Landscape Disruptions During the Holocene at Numundo, PNG · 2008 · DOI

• The production of Levallois flakes is considered a hallmark of many Middle Stone Age (MSA) sites, but this aspect of African Pleistocene hominin technology remains poorly documented relative to that from adjacent regions.

  “Early” Middle Stone Age Lithic Technology of the Kapthurin Formation (Kenya) · 2006 · DOI

• As a consequence many anthropologists who did not have extensive first-hand acquaintance with the Nuer and Dinka have tried to use the material collected by Evans-Pritchard and Lienhardt in arguments which are liable to remain inconclusive because empirical evidence supporting alternative interpretations is not available.

  Ecology and Conquest: Critical Notes on Kelly's Model of Nuer Expansion · 1990 · DOI

• I measured some of the dust footprints in the lower passage of Salts Cave (Flint Ridge Cave system) in 1972, but at that time equipment was not available to “lift” a footprint so that it could be examined more fully in the laboratory.

  The Individuality of Human Footprints · 1978 · DOI

• This has been a preliminary attempt to show the possibilities of the analysis of food remains from sites in the Western Cape. Many more sites will have to be examined before patterns can be established and interpreted. Amongst the most obvious priorities are the following: (a) (b) (c) (d) Additional sites must demonstrate that the pictures at De Hangen and Elands Bay are not isolated examples but representative of a patterned land use in pre-contact times. The observations must be repeated at other sites in comparable situations. Sites in contrasting situations must be analysed to fill in the gaps of the over-all beat. It would be interesting to examine sites in the Olifants River, along one of the watercourses which traverse the strandveld, or in the karoid regions along the Doom River. The concept of an annual migration from mountain to coast and back may well be too simple, and the relationship between mountain sourveld and Karoo sweetveld must be investigated, as it might represent an exploitation system complete in itself. The concentration on cave sites as distinct from 'open' sites is unhealthy and needs to be rectified. The relationship of open middens to cave middens and the distribution of open middens about natural features such as intertidal rocks, fish traps, river or vlei mouths and sandy beaches is under investigation. Inland open sites are difficult to discover, but are historically documented and must be included. Despite the fact that most historical information describes herders and not hunters, there is still no archaeological record of herders; no herder sites have been excavated and their niche in the pattern of land use remains something of a mystery. Whilst attempting to fill in these gaps in our knowledge, more generalized and specific predictions can be generated and tested against the increasing volume of archaeological data. Some positions will have to be abandoned, others can be maintained and strengthened, but ultimately we shall know something of the way in which indigenous peoples used the land and its resources. ACOCKS, J. P. H. 1953. Veld Types of South Africa. Pretoria, Government Printer. (S.A. Botanical Survey, Memoir 28) DAMAS, D. (ed.,) 1969a. Contributions to Anthropology: band societies. Ottawa, Nat. Museums of Canada. (Bulletin No. 228 Anthropological Series) Downloaded by [Princeton University] at 04:53 28 August 2014 SEASONAL MOBILITY IN THE LATE STONE AGE 243 DAMAS, D. 1969b. Contributions to Anthropology: ecological essays. Ottawa, Nat. Museums of Canada. (Bulletin No. 230 Anthropological Series) GRINDLEY, J. R. AND NEL, E. A. 1970. Red water and mussel poisoning at Elands Bay, December 1966. Fish. Bull. S. Afr. 6, 36-55.

  Seasonal mobility in the late stone age · 1972 · DOI

• However, little is known about how submerged and dry degradation processes affect skeletal remains in caves, which have fundamentally different decomposition conditions to open environments.

  Underwater caves preserve biochemical composition and histological structure in modern and fossil mammalian bones · 2026 · DOI

• There is only limited evidence (contemporary or archaeological/paleontological) regarding the feeding ecology of the gray brocket deer (Subulo gouazoubira) in Brazil's Cerrado biome.

  Late Quaternary millennial-scale stability of the feeding strategy of the gray brocket deer in Southeastern Brazil. · 2026 · DOI

• Technological analysis indicates a predominantly non-Levallois core reduction strategy, with debitage dominated by direct percussion with a hard hammer and only limited evidence of bifacial reduction.

  First Open-Air Mousterian Site in the Mátra Mountains (North Hungary) · 2026 · DOI

• Thus, the densest bone accumulations in the cave are associated with animals, while traces of human activity are not characterized by high concentrations, which seems to have been due to the short-term nature of occupation episodes.

  Defining the Contribution of Animals and Humans to Bone Accumulation in Pleistocene Deposits Using Spatial Statistics (With Special Reference to the Main Chamber of the Tsagaan Agui Cave) · 2026 · DOI

• While the site was excavated in the 1950s by Dorothy Garrod and Germaine Henri-Martin, it remains understudied in terms of modern archaeological methodologies and technologies.

  New perspectives on lithic technology and subsistence strategies at the middle palaeolithic site of Ras el-Kelb, Lebanon · 2026 · DOI

• The apparent underrepresentation of adolescent females may similarly reflect a nuanced intersection of age and sex in burial practices, although taphonomic factors and sampling limitations may also have contributed to this pattern.

  The Late Mesolithic juveniles of Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Russia: New insights from mortuary data · 2026 · DOI

• Infants under one year of age are absent, and younger children are underrepresented. While this may indicate restricted access to the burial ground, alternative explanations such as differential preservation, recovery bias, or other taphonomic processes cannot be excluded.

  The Late Mesolithic juveniles of Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Russia: New insights from mortuary data · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology

• Tooth Wear and Culture: A Survey of Tooth Functions Among Some Prehistoric Populations [and Comments and Reply] · Current Anthropology · 1972 · 212 citations
• Toward A Life History of the Hominidae · Annual Review of Anthropology · 1995 · 190 citations
• Control of Fire in the Paleolithic · Current Anthropology · 2017 · 126 citations
• The Human Cranium from the Peştera Cioclovina Uscată, Romania · Current Anthropology · 2007 · 86 citations
• Cultural Innovations and Demographic Change · Human Biology · 2009 · 85 citations
• Use Wear on Bone and Antler Tools from the Mackenzie Delta, Northwest Territories · American Antiquity · 1994 · 79 citations
• New Neanderthal remains associated with the ‘flower burial’ at Shanidar Cave · Antiquity · 2020 · 75 citations
• “Early” Middle Stone Age Lithic Technology of the Kapthurin Formation (Kenya) · Current Anthropology · 2006 · 73 citations
• The Individuality of Human Footprints · Journal of Forensic Sciences · 1978 · 65 citations
• Narrative cave art in Indonesia by 51,200 years ago · Nature · 2024 · 64 citations

Most recent work

• Enamel proteins from six Homo erectus specimens across China · Nature · 2026
• Dental morphology and ancient human dispersals within and out of Africa · Journal of Human Evolution · 2026
• The European Upper Palaeolithic Palaeoecological and Archaeological Dataset for sites north of 50°N · Scientific Data · 2026
• Late Quaternary millennial-scale stability of the feeding strategy of the gray brocket deer in Southeastern Brazil. · bioRxiv · 2026
• Occurrence of <i>Crocuta</i> (Carnivora, Hyaenidae) from a potential Middle Pleistocene site at Pirro Nord (Apricena, southern Italy) · Journal of Quaternary Science · 2026
• The Late Mesolithic juveniles of Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Russia: New insights from mortuary data · Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences · 2026
• E-lorgesailie: An Agent-Based Simulation Model of Acheulean Lithic Raw Material Procurement and Handaxe Deposition Patterns · Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory · 2026
• Beyond 2,000 meters, first evidence of intense prehistoric occupation in the Pyrenees · Frontiers in Environmental Archaeology · 2026
• On the Invalidity of the Hypothesis Using the Inca Bone as a Marker of Biological Continuity · Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2026
• Eco-phenotypic diversity in European Middle Pleistocene <i>Hippopotamus</i> populations · Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology · 2026

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