Creationism in Crisis - People Migrated to Siberia and Europe 40,000 Years Before 'Creation Week'!

Chikoi River valley, Trans-Baikal region

Credit: Ted Goebel

Chikoy National Park

Source: Anderey sledopit, via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Pollen analysis suggests peopling of Siberia and Europe by modern humans occurred during a major Pleistocene warming spell | The University of Kansas

The latest piece of science to refute creationism without even trying, is the discovery that modern humans migrated to Siberia and Europe during a relatively warm period during the Pleistocene, about 40-50,000 years ago.

According to creationist superstition, there was to be another 40,000 years before their putative creator god, who had existed for infinite time and, being all-knowing, always knew what it would do and how it would do it, finally found enough time to create the Universe out of nothing, then did the whole thing in 6 days.

The evidence comes in the form of an analysis of pollen in sediment in Lake Baikal which shows that the region briefly became forested, facilitating human migration from South-east Asia into Siberia and from thence westward into Europe.

The research, by Professor Ted Goebel, professor of anthropology at the University of Kansas, together with colleagues, Koji Shichi of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in Kochi, Japan, Masami Izuho of Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Japan; and Kenji Kashiwaya of Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan, is published in Science Advances and explained in a University of Kansas press release.

First a little about the Pleistocene to set the context for the research findings:

When was the Pleistocene in Central Asia, and what were the defining features? The Pleistocene epoch, part of the Quaternary period, occurred from approximately 2.6 million years ago to about 11,700 years ago. During the Pleistocene, Central Asia experienced significant geological and climatic changes, leading to several defining features:

1. Glaciations: One of the most prominent features of the Pleistocene in Central Asia was the presence of extensive ice sheets and glaciers. Central Asia was subject to multiple glaciations during this epoch, resulting in the formation of large ice caps and ice fields in mountainous regions.
2. Cold Climate: The Pleistocene is often referred to as the "Ice Age," and Central Asia was no exception. The region experienced colder temperatures than it does today, with ice sheets and permafrost covering substantial areas.
3. Fluctuating Climate: The Pleistocene was marked by cyclic climate changes, with alternating glacial (cold) and interglacial (warmer) periods. These climatic fluctuations had a profound impact on the landscape and vegetation of Central Asia.
4. Lakes and Rivers: Glacial activity in Central Asia during the Pleistocene led to the formation of numerous lakes and river systems. The melting ice sheets and glaciers filled depressions with water, creating large lakes and shaping the region's hydrology.
5. Migration of Fauna: Central Asia served as a corridor for the migration of various animal species during the Pleistocene. Mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, and other large mammals roamed the region, adapted to the cold climate.
6. Human Presence: Early humans, such as Homo erectus and later Homo sapiens, were present in Central Asia during the Pleistocene. They adapted to the changing climate and landscape, utilizing available resources for survival.
7. Paleolithic Cultures: Archaeological evidence from the Pleistocene in Central Asia reveals the presence of various Paleolithic cultures, with stone tools and cave paintings providing insights into the lifestyles and technologies of ancient human populations.

It's important to note that the Pleistocene was a dynamic epoch, and its features varied over time. The cycles of glaciations and interglacials had a profound impact on the geography, climate, and ecosystems of Central Asia, shaping the region as we know it today.

That sets the context for the research:

It’s an Ice Age mystery that’s been debated for decades among anthropologists: Exactly when and how did the flow of Homo sapiens in Eurasia happen? Did a cold snap or a warming spell drive early human movement from Africa into Europe and Asia?

Map showing theorized migration routes of early Homo sapiens from Africa across Eurasia.

Credit: Ted Goebel

A new study appearing in Science Advances compares Pleistocene vegetation communities around Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia, to the oldest archeological traces of Homo sapiens in the region. The researchers use the “remarkable evidence” to tell a compelling story from 45,000-50,000 years ago with new detail: how the first humans migrated across Europe and Asia.

The new pollen data suggest warming temperatures supported forests that expanded into Siberia and facilitated early human migration there, at roughly the same time as more and western areas of Eurasia.

This research addresses long-standing debates regarding the environmental conditions that early Homo sapiens faced during their migration into Europe and Asia around 40,000 to 50,000 years ago. It provides critical insights into environmental conditions at Lake Baikal, using pollen records to reveal surprising warmth during this period.

This contradicts some recent archaeological perspectives in Europe. The key factor here is accurate dating, not just of human fossils and animal bones associated with the archaeology of these people, but also of environmental records, including from pollen. What we have presented is a robust chronology of environmental changes in Lake Baikal during this time period, complemented by a well-dated archaeological record of Homo sapiens’ presence in the region.

Professor Ted Goebel, co-author
Department of Anthropology
University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA.

Indeed, the pollen data suggest that the dispersal of people occurred during some of the highest temperatures in the late Pleistocene, which also would have featured higher humidity. The ancient pollen record shows coniferous forests and grasslands characterized the region, able to support foraging and hunting by humans. Goebel said the environmental data, combined with archeological evidence, tell a new story.

Goebel’s collaborators were lead author Koji Shichi of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in Kochi, Japan; Masami Izuho of Tokyo Metropolitan University, Hachioji, Japan; and Kenji Kashiwaya of Kanazawa University, Kanazawa, Japan.

Some of us argue that as the anatomical changes were occurring, as evidenced by the fossil record, there was a simultaneous shift in behavior and cognition. These early humans were becoming more creative, innovative and adaptable. This is when we start to observe significant changes in the archaeological record, such as cave paintings. We also find mobile art, like the early carvings known as Venus figurines. In Central Europe, there’s even an ivory sculpture dating back to this early period, depicting a lion-headed man. It’s not just replicating nature; it’s about creative expression, inventing new things, exploring new places.

Professor Ted Goebel

While the pollen analysis was carried out in Japan, Goebel and Izuho tied the pollen data to important evidence in the archeological record of early human migration. Goebel said the emergence of full-fledged Homo sapiens in the archaeological record corresponds to changes in culture and behavior. Early modern humans of this period were making stone tools on long, slender blades, working bone, antler and ivory to craft tools — including some of the first bone needles with carved eyelets for sewing and early bone and antler spear points.

There is one human fossil from Siberia, although not from Lake Baikal but farther west, at a place called Ust’-Ishim. Morphologically, it is human, but more importantly, it’s exceptionally well-preserved. It has been directly radiocarbon-dated and has yielded ancient DNA, confirming it as a representative of modern Homo sapiens, distinct from Neanderthals or Denisovans, or other pre-modern archaic humans.

Professor Ted Goebel

Goebel said the earliest human inhabitants of the area likely would have lived in extended nuclear families or small bands, as they seem to have done in other areas of Eurasia. But because so much archeological evidence is degraded, it’s difficult to know with certainty. At least one human bone has been found in the region that dates to the era, according to the KU researcher.

At Ust’-Ishim in Siberia, we have evidence of a fully modern human co-existing with the sites we’ve been discussing. However, Ust’-Ishim was an isolated discovery, found by geologists eroding from a riverbank. We lack information about its archaeological context, whether it was part of a settlement or simply a solitary bone washed downstream. Consequently, linking that single individual to the archaeological sites in the Baikal region is tenuous — do they represent the same population? We think so, but definitely need more evidence.

Professor Ted Goebel

Unfortunately, the team's paper in Science Advances id behind an expensive paywall, but the abstract is available here:

Abstract

The dispersal of Homo sapiens in Siberia and Mongolia occurred by 45 to 40 thousand years (ka) ago; however, the climatic and environmental context of this event remains poorly understood. We reconstruct a detailed vegetation history for the Last Glacial period based on pollen spectra from Lake Baikal. While herb and shrub taxa including Artemisia and Alnus dominated throughout most of this period, coniferous forests rapidly expanded during Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events 14 (55 ka ago) and 12 to 10 (48 to 41 ka ago), with the latter presenting the strongest signal for coniferous forest expansion and Picea trees, indicating remarkably humid conditions. These abrupt forestation events are consistent with obliquity maxima, so that we interpret last glacial vegetation changes in southern Siberia as being driven by obliquity change. Likewise, we posit that major climate amelioration and pronounced forestation precipitated H. sapiens dispersal into Baikal Siberia 45 ka ago, as chronicled by the appearance of the Initial Upper Paleolithic.

Shichi, Koji; Goebel, Ted; Izuho, Masami; Kashiwaya, Kenji
Climate amelioration, abrupt vegetation recovery, and the dispersal of Homo sapiens in Baikal Siberia
Science Advances, 9(38); eadi0189. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adi0189.

© 2023 American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Reprinted under the terms of s60 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Creationists might like to ignore the fact that several strands of evidence converge on the conclusion that climate change facilitated human dispersal into Siberia about 40,l000 years ago. This conclusion is thus not based on radiometric dating, which creationists are pre-programmed to dismiss as 'flawed', but where this is used to date human remains, for example, it gives dates in agreement with the other strands of evidence.

So, all that now needs to be explained is why creationism's putative creator god waited until humans had already dispersed into Siberia before creating them, or did it plant this evidence to fool us?

And of course, as with all archaeological evidence of ancient hominin activity, there is the question of why it wasn't destroyed, as the notion of a violent global genocidal flood a few thousand years ago, predicts.

In this case, in addition to the artifacts and human remains, there is the problem of the silt deposit in Lake Baikal which should either have been washed away or at least overlain with the predictable global layer of silt and animal and plant fossils resulting from the genocidal flood. As with the rest of the world, this predicted layer of silt is entirely absent.

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