Dental phenotypic shape variation supports a multiple dispersal model for anatomically modern humans in Southeast Asia

Julien Corny, Manon Galland, Marta Arzarello, Anne Marie Bacon, Fabrice Demeter, Dominique Grimaud-Hervé, Charles Higham, Hirofumi Matsumura, Lan Cuong Nguyen, Thi Kim Thuy Nguyen, Viet Nguyen, Marc Oxenham, Thongsa Sayavongkhamdy, François Sémah, Laura L. Shackelford, Florent Détroit

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The population history of anatomically modern humans (AMH) in Southeast Asia (SEA) is a highly debated topic. The impact of sea level variations related to the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the Neolithic diffusion on past population dispersals are two key issues. We have investigated competing AMH dispersal hypotheses in SEA through the analysis of dental phenotype shape variation on the basis of very large archaeological samples employing two complementary approaches. We first explored the structure of between- and within-group shape variation of permanent human molar crowns. Second, we undertook a direct test of competing hypotheses through a modeling approach. Our results identify a significant LGM-mediated AMH expansion and a strong biological impact of the spread of Neolithic farmers into SEA during the Holocene. The present work thus favors a “multiple AMH dispersal” hypothesis for the population history of SEA, reconciling phenotypic and recent genomic data.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)41-56
Number of pages16
JournalJournal of Human Evolution
Volume112
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2017

Keywords

  • Contour analysis
  • Geometric morphometrics
  • Homo sapiens
  • Last Glacial Maximum
  • Neolithic expansion
  • Population history

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
  • Anthropology

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