Reconstruction of Middle-Upper Paleolithic Population Transition on Iberia Peninsular: An Example of HESCOR Studies

The HESCOR is an ongoing project at the University of Cologne aiming at developing a new science field of Human and Earth System Coupled Research through cross-faculty multi-disciplinary collaborations. This talk gives an example of the HESCOR studies, focusing on the Middle to Upper Paleolithic Population Transition (MUPPT).
MUPPT is featured by the decline and extinction of the Neanderthals (NEAs) and upsurge and expansion of the Anatomically Modern Humans (AMHs). Many questions surrounding this transition are unanswered. I present a reconstruction of the MUPPT in Iberia using the Our Way Model. The NEA and AMH population distributions and interactions are simulated. On this basis, I argue that the MUPPT was either in a successive or weakly interactive mode. It is shown that climate change profoundly impacted on the NEA existence, but was not responsible for wiping out the population, as NEA refuges existed in coastal areas. The weakly interactive mode is the most interesting. In a rapid wave, the AMHs expanded into Cantabrian where the NEA and AMH interbreeding most likely happened. The reconstruction reveals details previously unknow, e.g., the dispersal of the AMHs into the Ebro Valley and from west Cantabrian into the interior of Iberia following river valleys as migration corridors. It is predicted that AMHs migrated along the inland and coast routes converged in southern Iberia after a separation of 5000 years.