Zenobia Jacobs

Last updated

Zenobia Jacobs
Born
South Africa
NationalitySouth African-Australian
Alma mater University of Stellenbosch
Aberystwyth University, Wales
Occupation(s) archaeologist and earth scientist

Zenobia Jacobs is a South African-born archaeologist and earth scientist specialising in geochronology. She is a professor at the University of Wollongong, Australia. [1]

Contents

Education and career

Jacobs graduated from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa, in 1998, studying archaeology and geography, and received her PhD from Aberystwyth University, Wales, in 2004.[ citation needed ] She joined the University of Wollongong as a research fellow in 2006 and is currently a professor in the Centre for Archaeological Science and the School of Earth of Environmental Sciences. [1] She is also an Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow and chief investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage.[ citation needed ] She was awarded the International Union for Quaternary Research's Sir Nick Shackleton Medal in 2009. [2]

Jacobs' research traces the evolutionary history of humans using single-grain optically stimulated luminescence dating. [3] [4] Her work on the Denisovans and Neanderthals has helped establish a timeline of when the two groups of archaic humans were present in southern Siberia and the environmental conditions they faced before going extinct. [5] [6] She has also contributed to reconstructions of past environments in Africa, [7] using ancient high sea-levels as analogues for future trends, [8] [ clarification needed ] and studies of the ecological footprint of the first humans to reach Australia [9] and Madagascar. [10]

Selected publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human evolution</span> Evolutionary process leading to anatomically modern humans

Human evolution is the evolutionary process within the history of primates that led to the emergence of Homo sapiens as a distinct species of the hominid family that includes all the great apes. This process involved the gradual development of traits such as human bipedalism, dexterity, and complex language, as well as interbreeding with other hominins, indicating that human evolution was not linear but weblike. The study of the origins of humans involves several scientific disciplines, including physical and evolutionary anthropology, paleontology, and genetics; the field is also known by the terms anthropogeny, anthropogenesis, and anthropogony.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Youngest Toba eruption</span> Volcanic supereruption 74,000 years ago in Indonesia

The Toba eruption was a supervolcanic eruption that occurred about 74,000 years ago, during the Late Pleistocene, at the site of present-day Lake Toba, in Sumatra, Indonesia. It was the last in a series of at least four caldera-forming eruptions there, the earlier known caldera having formed about 1.2 million years ago. This, the last eruption had an estimated volcanic explosivity index of 8, making it the largest known explosive volcanic eruption in the Quaternary, and one of the largest known explosive eruptions in the Earth's history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Early human migrations</span> Spread of humans from Africa through the world

Early human migrations are the earliest migrations and expansions of archaic and modern humans across continents. They are believed to have begun approximately 2 million years ago with the early expansions out of Africa by Homo erectus. This initial migration was followed by other archaic humans including H. heidelbergensis, which lived around 500,000 years ago and was the likely ancestor of Denisovans and Neanderthals as well as modern humans. Early hominids had likely crossed land bridges that have now sunk.

The Sidrón Cave is a non-carboniferous limestone karst cave system located in the Piloña municipality of Asturias, northwestern Spain, where Paleolithic rock art and the fossils of more than a dozen Neanderthals were found. Declared a "Partial Natural Reserve" in 1995, the site also serves as a retreat for five species of bats and is the place of discovery of two species of Coleoptera (beetles).

Howiesons Poort is a technological and cultural period characterized by material evidence with shared design features found in South Africa, Lesotho, and Namibia. It was named after the Howieson's Poort Shelter archaeological site near Grahamstown in South Africa, where the first assemblage of these tools was discovered. Howiesons Poort is believed, based on chronological comparisons between many sites, to have started around 64.8 thousand years ago and ended around 59.5 thousand years ago. It is considered to be a technocomplex, or a cultural period in archaeology classified by distinct and specific technological materials. Howiesons Poort is notable for its relatively complex tools, technological innovations, and cultural objects evidencing symbolic expression. One site in particular, Sibudu Cave, provides one of the key reference sequences for Howiesons Poort. Howiesons Poort assemblages are primarily found at sites south of the Limpopo River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Border Cave</span> Rock shelter in South Africa

Border Cave is an archaeological site located in the western Lebombo Mountains in Kwazulu-Natal. The rock shelter has one of the longest archaeological records in southern Africa, which spans from the Middle Stone Age to the Iron Age.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vindija Cave</span> Cave and archaeological site in Croatia

Vindija Cave is an archaeological site associated with Neanderthals and modern humans, located in the municipality of Donja Voća, northern Croatia. Remains of three Neanderthals were selected as the primary sources for the first draft sequence of the Neanderthal genome project in 2010. Additional research was done on the samples and published in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recent African origin of modern humans</span> "Out of Africa" theory of the early migration of humans

In paleoanthropology, the recent African origin of modern humans or the "Out of Africa" theory (OOA) is the most widely accepted model of the geographic origin and early migration of anatomically modern humans. It follows the early expansions of hominins out of Africa, accomplished by Homo erectus and then Homo neanderthalensis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denisovan</span> Asian archaic human

The Denisovans or Denisova hominins are an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human that ranged across Asia during the Lower and Middle Paleolithic, and lived, based on current evidence, from 285 to 25 thousand years ago. Denisovans are known from few physical remains; consequently, most of what is known about them comes from DNA evidence. No formal species name has been established pending more complete fossil material.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Denisova Cave</span> Cave and archaeological site in Russia

Denisova Cave is a cave in the Bashelaksky Range of the Altai Mountains in Siberia, Russia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neanderthal</span> Extinct Eurasian species or subspecies of archaic humans

Neanderthals are an extinct group of archaic humans who lived in Eurasia until about 40,000 years ago. The type specimen, Neanderthal 1, was found in 1856 in the Neander Valley in present-day Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans</span> Evidence of human hybridization during the Paleolithic

Interbreeding between archaic and modern humans occurred during the Middle Paleolithic and early Upper Paleolithic. The interbreeding happened in several independent events that included Neanderthals and Denisovans, as well as several unidentified hominins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goyet Caves</span> Caves and archaeological site in Belgium

The Goyet Caves are a series of connected caves located in Belgium in a limestone cliff about 15 m (50 ft) above the river Samson near the village of Mozet in the Gesves municipality of the Namur province. The site is a significant locality of regional Neanderthal and European early modern human occupation, as thousands of fossils and artifacts were discovered that are all attributed to a long and contiguous stratigraphic sequence from 120,000 years ago, the Middle Paleolithic to less than 5,000 years ago, the late Neolithic. A robust sequence of sediments was identified during extensive excavations by geologist Edouard Dupont, who undertook the first probings as early as 1867. The site was added to the Belgian National Heritage register in 1976.

Madjedbebe is a sandstone rock shelter in Arnhem Land, in the Northern Territory of Australia, possibly the oldest site of human habitation in Australia. It is located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) from the coast. It is part of the lands traditionally inhabited by the Mirarr, an Aboriginal Australian clan of the Gaagudju people, of the Gunwinyguan language group. Although it is surrounded by the World Heritage Listed Kakadu National Park, Madjedbebe itself is located within the Jabiluka Mineral Leasehold.

Genetic studies on Neanderthal ancient DNA became possible in the late 1990s. The Neanderthal genome project, established in 2006, presented the first fully sequenced Neanderthal genome in 2013.

<i>Denny</i> (hybrid hominin) Hominin fossil

Denny is an ~90,000 year old fossil specimen belonging to a ~13-year-old Neanderthal-Denisovan hybrid girl. To date, she is the only first-generation hybrid hominin ever discovered. Denny’s remains consist of a single fossilized fragment of a long bone discovered among over 2,000 visually unidentifiable fragments excavated at the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains, Russia in 2012.

Viviane Slon is a paleogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. She identified that a teenage girl born 90,000 years ago had both Neanderthal and Denisovan parents. She was selected as one of Nature's 10 in 2018.

Nesher Ramla <i>Homo</i> Extinct population of archaic humans

The Nesher RamlaHomo group are an extinct population of archaic humans who lived during the Middle Pleistocene in what is now Israel. In 2010, evidence of a tool industry had been discovered during a year of archaeological excavations at the Nesher Ramla site. In 2021, the first Nesher Ramla Homo individual was identified from remains discovered during further excavations.

References

  1. 1 2 "Professor Zenobia Jacobs - Scholar Profile - University of Wollongong". scholars.uow.edu.au. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
  2. "Awards - International Union for Quaternary Research". INQUA. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  3. "Unlocking the history of human evolution, one grain of sand at a time". Times Higher Education (THE). 30 April 2019. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  4. Jacobs, Zenobia; Roberts, Richard G. (2007). "Advances in optically stimulated luminescence dating of individual grains of quartz from archeological deposits". Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews. 16 (6): 210–223. doi:10.1002/evan.20150. ISSN   1520-6505. S2CID   84231863.
  5. "New Studies Reveal Deep History of Denisovans and Neanderthals in Southern Siberia". www.shh.mpg.de. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  6. Gibbons, Ann (29 October 2020). "DNA tracks mysterious Denisovans to Chinese cave, just before modern humans arrived nearby". Science. AAAS. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  7. Jacobs, Zenobia; Roberts, Richard G.; Galbraith, Rex F.; Deacon, Hilary J.; Grün, Rainer; Mackay, Alex; Mitchell, Peter; Vogelsang, Ralf; Wadley, Lyn (31 October 2008). "Ages for the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa: Implications for Human Behavior and Dispersal". Science. 322 (5902): 733–735. Bibcode:2008Sci...322..733J. doi:10.1126/science.1162219. hdl: 1885/32902 . ISSN   0036-8075. PMID   18974351. S2CID   206514762.
  8. Roberts, David L.; Karkanas, Panagiotis; Jacobs, Zenobia; Marean, Curtis W.; Roberts, Richard G. (2012). "Melting ice sheets 400,000 yr ago raised sea level by 13m: Past analogue for future trends". Earth and Planetary Science Letters. 357–358: 226–237. Bibcode:2012E&PSL.357..226R. doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2012.09.006.
  9. Clarkson, Chris; Jacobs, Zenobia; Marwick, Ben; Fullagar, Richard; Wallis, Lynley; Smith, Mike; Roberts, Richard G.; Hayes, Elspeth; Lowe, Kelsey; Carah, Xavier; Florin, S. Anna (2017). "Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago". Nature. 547 (7663): 306–310. Bibcode:2017Natur.547..306C. doi:10.1038/nature22968. hdl: 2440/107043 . ISSN   1476-4687. PMID   28726833. S2CID   205257212.
  10. Dewar, Robert E.; Radimilahy, Chantal; Wright, Henry T.; Jacobs, Zenobia; Kelly, Gwendolyn O.; Berna, Francesco (30 July 2013). "Stone tools and foraging in northern Madagascar challenge Holocene extinction models". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 110 (31): 12583–12588. Bibcode:2013PNAS..11012583D. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1306100110 . ISSN   0027-8424. PMC   3732966 . PMID   23858456.