The Forgotten Exodus: The Into Africa Theory of Human Evolution

Gaby said:

"As far back as 2500 B.C., the researchers found, Iberians began living alongside people who moved in from central Europe and carried recent genetic ancestry from the Russian steppe. Within a few hundred years, analyses showed, the two groups had extensively interbred"


And the most probable thing is that with America something similar has happened.
The importance of Russia in History in general is becoming increasingly evident.
 
Considering all we have learned from Behe in "Darwin's Black Box" and his later books, and all the related books, it's no longer surprising that the mainstream consensus has it all wrong. There were numerous separate engineering jobs of human types, and intermixing throughout history has more or less confused things.
I started on but then stopped Who We Are and How We Got Here by David Reich. I was wondering what's the point, when darwinian common descent is not true and the creators placed people in different locations.
 
I started on but then stopped Who We Are and How We Got Here by David Reich. I was wondering what's the point, when darwinian common descent is not true and the creators placed people in different locations.

I wouldn't look at that book in that way because Reich brings forward a lot of DNA data that actually supports Behe, though Reich doesn't fully realize it. It also shows that groups of humans do, indeed, form something like "breeds", as in the way we describe breeds of dogs, or "races", in French.
 
I wouldn't look at that book in that way because Reich brings forward a lot of DNA data that actually supports Behe, though Reich doesn't fully realize it. It also shows that groups of humans do, indeed, form something like "breeds", as in the way we describe breeds of dogs, or "races", in French.
Thank you Laura for all this lighting. Indeed, in cats and dogs, races are very varied. So, same thing is for us, our genetic beeing engineered in various ways (ancient humans like those of elongated skulls, giants), and also 4D engineers:
May 4, 1996
Q: (L) One of the questions we were dealing with was the use of warfare to create situations in which bodies could be taken...
A: Warfare has many "uses."
Q: (L) Could you list for us some of the most common uses of warfare?
A: Generation of environment to facilitate inconspicuous replacement of gene pool. Factors in paradigm shift through stimulation of conception activity, replacement of key personnel according to frequency vibration pre-readings...
Q: (TH) Who or what in the gene pool is being replaced? (TK) Whoever they want replaced. (L) Well, you know how it is in the movies... everybody is indiscriminately making love before they go into battle... (F) Yes... they said 'factors in paradigm shift through stimulation of conception activity...' (L) 'Replacement of key personnel according to frequency vibration pre-readings...' Okay: do you mean to say that war...
A: Creates "environment" for unnoticed genetic modifications because of greatly heightened exchange of both physical and ethereal factors.
[ ... ]
Q: (L) Would it also be that key personnel could also be replaced as in duplication?
A: Yes. And removing to secret activity realm. Enough wars have taken place to effectively create entire new "underground race" of humans, both from direct capture followed by "reeducation," and spawning activity using these persons and others.
Q: (L) What do you mean by spawning activity?
A: Those captured have reproduced offspring, these never having seen your world.
Q: (L) Are you saying... (TK) They have given birth and these children have never seen our world... (L) How can an entire race of people, or groups of people, live under the surface of this planet, without the whole 6 billion of the rest of us on top, or at least a large number, realizing that there is anything going on? This is so wild an idea...
[ ... ]
Q: (TK) Well, we'll never explore all of what is under the ocean. (L) It just staggers the mind to think about it. What do they want these people for?
A: To replace you.
Q: (TK) And why? Because they can control them better. Right?
A: Completely.
Q: (L) Do these people being bred and raised in these underground cities have souls?
A: Yes, most.
[ ... ]
A: Yet the natural cycles within the framework of the natural order of things will allow all these things to fall into place.
[ ... ]
Q: (L) Well, I don't go out and deliberately hurt or manipulate anything or anybody. (TK) Of course, in our handling of these 'critters,' we are conserving them in some ways so that we will have an ongoing food supply... I think there are rules to the game. It's like a chess game. They can't just come in and change things, it has to progress in some way. But, there are loopholes and they can sneak in and manipulate and get away with some things... (TH) Then, there aren't rules - there are just guidelines.
A: Two important points there: 1) When we said "you," we meant 3rd density collectively. 2) You missed our statement about the natural cycle and order of things almost completely. We suggest you reread and ponder... Also, what if your race is manipulated to destroy yourselves, or, just hang around until the next natural cataclysm?
[ ... ]
A: Do you, in general, control 2nd density beings on earth?
Q: (L) Yes.
A: So, what is "fair" about that?
Q: (L) Nothing.
A: Okay, so what is the difference?!?!???
Q: (TK) So, basically, we control 2nd density, and 4th density controls us. There are the good guys and bad guys. (L) And we will do what we will do. Either we choose to align ourselves with the good guys, or with the bad guys.
A: It's up to you.
[ ... ]
A: The point is, there "has to be" nothing. You will do what you will do. You choose. We have told you this repeatedly, but you still suffer from self-centered perspective.
Q: (TK) Everybody is worried about themselves. They all want to be saved and not worry about others.
A: More to the point, everybody in an STS realm views themselves as somehow "special, chosen, or protected." This is simply not so!!
Q: (TK) What is going to happen, is going to happen. The people...
A: The body does not matter. It is the soul that either progresses or digresses, just ask Sandra!
[ ... ]
Q: (L) So, we are really on our own!
A: You always have been, and so have we, and all others, too!!
[ ... ]
(L) Is it that the religions that have been generated and foisted on the human race, have been designed to give people a feeling of complacency or faith in something outside themselves, and that this prevents them from seeking knowledge, opening their eyes, facing the facts of their existence, and therefore keeps them in bondage?
A: Its just obstacles, as always. You employ those too, for your 2nd density friends !!
[ ... ]
(L) Not only do they not have any answers, they don't have any questions, either. And, I think that is the clue: the people who are still asking questions after wading through all the religions and mystical mumbo-jumbo. The ones who think they have found the ultimate answer are - well - lunch!
(TK) The whole purpose of life, it seems to me, is to obtain knowledge and advance. You are stuck on this level until you figure it out. But what are you supposed to figure out?
(L) I think that the knowing is the doing.
[ ... ]
Q: (L) I think that knowing changes your frequency. Is that true?
A: Yes.
Q: (L) The acknowledging and the seeing?
A: Yes.
Q: (L) What did they tell us once... it's not where you are, but who you are and what you see that counts. (TK) So, we aren't gonna change what happens. There is no way we can have any appreciable effect on the underground armies... it is just a matter of changing ourselves and whoever else we can share with.
A: Correct, the cow has no effect on the health of the livestock industry...
 
Thank you Laura for all this lighting. Indeed, in cats and dogs, races are very varied. So, same thing is for us, our genetic beeing engineered in various ways (ancient humans like those of elongated skulls, giants), and also 4D engineers:

Not only that, but when human breed dogs or cattle or whatever, they can enhance or exacerbate certain traits or mutations creating "dead ends". I would suspect that the same is true of humans. For example, a certain dog might be bred for a certain characteristic, but that characteristic is accompanied by other genetic effects that aren't positive, like increased susceptibility to certain diseases.

That's one of the things that Reich emphasized in his book: that there ARE races of human beings, just like there are "races" of dogs, and each one can have particular health weaknesses that are connected to the racial characteristics. Some races cannot tolerate certain drugs, for example, or get certain diseases more than others, and realizing this and understanding the role of race in health and other factors is very important.
 
Some races cannot tolerate certain drugs, for example, or get certain diseases more than others, and realizing this and understanding the role of race in health and other factors is very important.

I get the feeling that these breeders may eventually mess things up so bad that their breeds will go kaput.

Session 22 October 1994:
And those who are described as the Lizards have chosen to firmly lock themselves into service to self. And, since they are at the highest level of density where this is possible, they must continually draw large amounts of negative energy from those at the third level, second level, and so on, which is why they do what they do. This also explains why their race is dying, because they have not been able to learn for themselves how to remove themselves from this particular form of expression to that of service to others. And, since they have such, as you would measure it, a long period of time, remained at this level and, in fact, become firmly entrenched in it, and, in fact, have increased themselves in it, this is why they are dying and desperately trying to take as much energy from you as possible and also to recreate their race metabolically.

It is difficult to find wise breeders these days. :-(
 
That's one of the things that Reich emphasized in his book: that there ARE races of human beings, just like there are "races" of dogs, and each one can have particular health weaknesses that are connected to the racial characteristics. Some races cannot tolerate certain drugs, for example, or get certain diseases more than others, and realizing this and understanding the role of race in health and other factors is very important.
I thought it was interesting that the genetic diseases of the Ashkenazi Jews are so well known that the matchmakers run genetic tests on the people and don't introduce pairs of people who tested positive for being genetic carriers. I guess this is a glimpse into 4D STS dying a genetic death; STS bodies just degrade from mutations and die out, so that brand new genetic bodies are needed.
 
According to an article from the New Scientists which was posted on 16th April - and which hasn't come up with a search here nor has it been previously posted on SOTT (that i could see) - they report that a fossil from Greece which was formerly assigned as the "Nikita ape" is now being considered to be a "proto-hominin", leading the researchers to conclude that this ancestor may show that the ancestors of humans evolved in Eurasia and then, later, moved into Africa:

Details from the article on SOTT from the New Scientist:


Previously unknown "proto-hominin" species suggests ancestor of humans evolved in Europe not Africa

The jaws of an ancient European ape might speak volumes about the origins of our ancestors. A new analysis of these fossils supports a controversial idea: that the apes which gave rise to humans evolved in south-east Europe instead of Africa.

Hominins are a group of primates that includes modern humans, extinct humans like Neanderthals and Denisovans, and our immediate ancestors, including australopiths like the famous Lucy.

In his 1871 book The Descent of Man, Charles Darwin suggested that the hominin group originated in Africa - an idea most anthropologists believe today. But he also wrote that the group may have arisen in Europe because, at that time, fossils of large apes had already been uncovered there. "Darwin was open-minded," says David Begun at the University of Toronto, Canada.

Almost 150 years later, Begun thinks two fossilised chunks from an upper and lower jaw may support a European origin of hominins. They were found in the 1990s in 8 to 9-million-year-old deposits at Nikiti in northern Greece. Initially assigned to the extinct ape Ouranopithecus, Begun thinks the small yet pointy canines suggest the specimen is a male animal from what may be a previously unknown species.

Small canines are a hallmark of hominin species. Begun doesn't think the Nikiti ape was a hominin, but he thinks it might represent the ancestral group the hominins evolved from, which would suggest the first hominins lived in south-east Europe. Begun outlined the idea at a conference of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists in Cleveland, Ohio, in March.

Begun and his colleagues have previously examined fossils of a 7.2-million-year-old ape called Graecopithecus that also once lived in what is now Greece. This animal seemed to have small canines too, plus hominin-like "fused" roots to one of its premolars. In 2017, the team cautiously concluded that Graecopithecus might be a very early hominin.

Under this scenario, the 8 to 9-million-year-old Nikiti ape could represent a group of "proto-hominins" that gave rise to hominins in Europe, represented by Graecopithecus at 7.2 million years old. Hominins then migrated into Africa by about 7 million years ago.

Begun says many will reject this because the idea of African hominin origins has been the leading scenario for decades, but he hopes they will at least consider a European alternative.

When the Nikiti ape and Graecopithecus were alive, south-east Europe was a savannah occupied by ancient forms of antelope, pig, rhino and giraffe. "It's widely agreed that this was the founding fauna of most of what we see in Africa today," he says. "If the antelopes and giraffes could get into Africa 7 million years ago, why not the apes?"

Yohannes Haile-Selassie at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History is unconvinced. The Nikiti ape and Graecopithecus may not be closely related to hominins at all because unrelated primates can evolve superficially similar features independently, he says.

The Nikiti ape may have hominin-like teeth because it evolved to chew its food in a similar way, says Kelsey Pugh at the City University of New York.
 
From "Proto Hominin" species article:
A new analysis of these fossils supports a controversial idea: that the apes which gave rise to humans evolved in south-east Europe instead of Africa.

It looks like that they at least see another possibility other than Africa as an older "Proto" type. Maybe they just haven't looked in the right places yet.

They are still using the Darwinian theory of evolution to base their findings.

Yohannes Haile-Selassie at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History is unconvinced. The Nikiti ape and Graecopithecus may not be closely related to hominins at all because unrelated primates can evolve superficially similar features independently, he says.

Session 20 October 1994:
Q: When did the Aryans invade India?

A: 8243 years ago.

Q: Who was there before that?

A: Asian tribes and number 3 prototype.

Q: What is a number 3 prototype?

A: Known as Neanderthal man.

Q: And what are we?

A: Number 4 types c and d. Translation into English comprehension.


Q: Were the Aryan/Celts the original giants?

A: No.

Q: What white men were seen in South America and talked to the tribes there and promised to return one day and were worshipped as Gods.

A: Egyptians and Atlantean descendants.


Q: What did the Atlanteans do to bring this karma on us such that the grays and Lizzies...

A: Worshipped and served self to extreme.

Q: Does the act of channelling actually change our genetics or DNA or some element around our being in some way that we are not even conscious of?

A: Steadily yes.

Q: Will this channelling have effects on us that will cause changes our lives and lifestyle?

A: Yes.

Q: Will there be benefits brought into our lives because of dedication to this work?

A: Yes.

Q: If we dedicate ourselves does this mean that we will be protected or cared for in any way?

A: Close.
 
The 'Ghosts' of 2 Unknown Extinct Human Species Have Been Found in Modern DNA

MICHELLE STARR
17 JUL 2019

When modern humans started emerging from Africa and spreading throughout Eurasia, they found many places already occupied by older hominins such as Neanderthals and Denisovans. As humans do, we got rather friendly with our new neighbours: evidence of that hanky panky lives on in our DNA today.

But we're also starting to find glimpses of something strange in our neighbourhoods - traces of ancient, unknown hominins that we've never seen before.

"Each of us carry within ourselves the genetic traces of these past mixing events," said biologist João Teixeira of the University of Adelaide.

"These archaic groups were widespread and genetically diverse, and they survive in each of us. Their story is an integral part of how we came to be."

After closely analysing the existing literature, Teixeira and his colleague biologist Alan Cooper have identified two such 'ghost' ancestors in modern DNA. The first, identified in Eurasian DNA with the help of artificial intelligence, was widely reported earlier this year.

The second, however, was reported last year, a detail that flew under the radar in a larger paper: a mysterious, and inconclusive, genetic signature exclusively found in the population of Flores, Indonesia. It appears to be as divergent from modern human DNA as Neanderthal or Denisovan DNA is.

By carefully analysing these genetic signatures, the biologists have been able to trace when and where these interbreeding events may have occurred.

"For example, all present-day populations show about 2 percent of Neanderthal ancestry," Teixeira said, "which means that Neanderthal mixing with the ancestors of modern humans occurred soon after they left Africa, probably around 50,000 to 55,000 years ago somewhere in the Middle East."

As the modern humans moved farther east, across into islands of Southeast Asia, they seem to have run into more groups.

"At least three other archaic human groups appear to have occupied the area, and the ancestors of modern humans mixed with them before the archaic humans became extinct," Teixeira said.

One of those groups was the Denisovans. The other two remain a mystery.

The first unknown extinct hominin - named EH1 - was roughly genetically equidistant from Denisovans and Neanderthals. The ancestor of all Asian and Australo-Papuan populations bred with EH1, resulting in 2.6 to 3.4 percent shared EH1 ancestry.


31044

(João Teixeira)

It's less strong now, but that genetic signal can still be detected in the DNA of Aboriginal Australians, East Asians and Andaman Islanders. This led the researchers to tentatively conclude that EH1 likely occupied a region in northern India, where a group of modern humans - the migration branch that went on to Asia, Australia and the Papuan islands - encountered them (1 on the map above).

Modern humans also seemed to have interbred with Denisovans in a number of locations, such as East Asia, the Sunda Shelf, and the Philippines (2, 3, and 4 on the map).

Evidence for EH2 - the extinct hominin that interbred with modern humans on Flores - is a little less clear. It only appears in short-statured people that live near Liang Bua Cave - where Homo floriensis was discovered. So it's highly localised, and has somehow remained contained for the roughly 50,000 years since the two groups met (5 on the map).

Further research is obviously required into this phenomenon. But it certainly seems to point to a very tangled human history.

"We knew the story out of Africa wasn't a simple one, but it seems to be far more complex than we have contemplated," Teixeira said.

"The Island Southeast Asia region was clearly occupied by several archaic human groups, probably living in relative isolation from each other for hundreds of thousands of years before the ancestors of modern humans arrived."

Sadly, it also looks like the arrival of modern humans was pretty closely followed by the extinction of the archaic hominins in each area. Talk about being ghosted.

The research has been published in PNAS.
 
Nunavik Inuit genetically unique among present-day world populations, study finds

Researchers mapped complete genetic profile of Inuit in Nunavik region for 1st time
Priscilla Hwang · CBC News · Posted: Jul 23, 2019 3:00 AM CT | Last Updated: July 23

kangiqsualujjuaq.JPG

A file photo of the northern village of Kangiqsualujjuaq, Que. Some community members participated in a new study published Monday about the genetic architecture of Inuit in the Nunavik region. (Catou MacKinnon/CBC)

Researchers have found that Inuit from northern Quebec are genetically distinct from any present-day population in the world, and say studying the genes of minority Indigenous populations in Canada can help deliver better health care to these populations.
In a study published Monday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers mapped the complete genetic profile of Inuit in the Nunavik region — what they claim is a first. Researchers then homed in to study the effects these genetic variants may have on disorders like brain aneurysms.

"That's the novelty of this study," said Sirui Zhou, the primary author of the study and a researcher with the Neuro (Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital).

Zhou said only a small group of Arctic Inuit have been genetically profiled around the world, as with most Indigenous populations in Canada.

"There's a lot to learn from genomes of smaller populations that are understudied," said Patrick Dion, assistant professor at McGill University, one of the study's authors.
We're hoping that this study can inspire … a lot more genetic studies on Inuit, Aboriginal people.- Sirui Zhou, primary author of study
Researchers compared the genetic profile of 170 Nunavik Inuit with "everyone possible" from Asians, Africans, and Europeans to North and South Americans.

"They were very different, as was expected," said Zhou.

Then researchers compared the profile with those available from other Indigenous populations, from Greenlandic Inuit to Indigenous groups from North and South America, Alaska, and Siberia.

"[Nunavik Inuit] were still … unique, because they are isolated, homogenous, and not known to have admixed with other populations," said Zhou.
"They do not share similar genetic components [or] genetic structure to any kind of present-day, worldwide populations."

(Below is a relationship tree diagram showing Nunavik Inuit (bottom corner) with other Indigenous populations. Credit: The Neuro)

image.gif


The study found Nunavik Inuit may have genetic components derived from ancient Arctic Indigenous populations.

"Paleo-Eskimo [genetic] ancestry is almost extinct in all current populations. But Nunavik Inuit probably have the largest component of an ancestry that could be likely derived from [the] Paleo-Eskimo."

Zhou said while looking at the exonic regions of the Nunavik Inuit's genome — "the most important regions" which are responsible for coding proteins — she found about 130 unique genetic variations.
Zhou said to her knowledge, that seems to be "a substantial amount."

Over the course of 25 years, 170 participants were recruited to participate in the study, mainly after physicians referred them to go to Montreal for screenings for brain aneurysms. Some participants were family members of people at risk for the disorder, who were getting proactive screening; others were partners who were married into the family, who wouldn't necessarily have that risk, Zhou said.

nunavik-schools.jpg

There are 14 communities scattered across the Nunavik region of Quebec, by Hudson Bay and Ungava Bay.(Kativik School Board)

Participants were from across the Nunavik region from both the Hudson Bay and Ungava Bay area. Ten communities were represented, and many from Ivujivik and Kangiqsualujjuaq, said Zhou.

Zhou said the 170 sample size is a fair representation of the population, at approximately one per cent of Nunavik's population according to the 2016 census.

Higher risk for brain aneurysm

The study also found a unique genetic variant in Nunavik Inuit that is associated with a higher risk to develop brain aneurysms.
It's too early to have practical results with this research. But it's opened the door to go a little bit further.- Marie Rochette, Nunavik director of public health
Zhou said researchers have two hypothesis as to why Nunavik Inuit are at higher risk for this disorder: firstly, because of the small population size, some genetic variants that cause diseases "happen to accumulate in high frequency," increasing the risks. Secondly, Zhou said those same variants may have historically had other beneficial functions for Inuit, like their ability to adapt to harsher environments.

Zhou noted that multiple genetic variants and environmental factors are involved in contributing to developing a brain aneurysm.

sirui-zhou-and-patrick-dion.jpg

Sirui Zhou, left, and Patrick Dion, right, are two of the study's authors. (The Neuro)

Zhou said knowing the genetic makeup of Indigenous groups could provide better health care for those populations — like helping communities screen people for diseases they're at higher risk for genetically.
"We're hoping that this study can inspire … a lot more genetic studies on Inuit, Aboriginal people," said Zhou. "So we can actually design health care to suit them better."

Genetics only 'part of equation'

"It's very promising knowing that there's a specific gene that seems to be related to cerebral aneurysm," said Marie Rochette, director of public health for Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services.

"On the other side, we have to think about genetics as one part of the equation," said Rochette, who wasn't involved in the research.
"We have to be cautious. It's not because you have a specific genetic thread that means you will develop a disease. There are many other risk factors associated."

Factors such as diet, substance use habits and living conditions can influence the pattern of the disease, she said.
Rochette said the study won't have a direct effect on the 14 communities. She said more research needs to be done.
"It's too early to have practical results with this research. But it's opened the door to go a little bit further."

Rochette added that Inuit are more and more involved in research, and they not only want to be subjects of research, but also be part of how the results are interpreted and used.
 
I just stumbled upon a documentary, released only 2 months ago, called Neandertal, the Mystery of the Bruniquel Cave. It's about the discovery and investigation of a Neanderthal circular 'structure' made entirely of stalagmites found inside a cave in France, which was explored for the first time in the 1990's.

According to wiki, the evidence points to the structure being about 176,000 years ago. Its complexity and its depth within the cave - which would have necessitated the use of fire for illumination - is apparently a first and points to Neanderthals being much more complex socially and perhaps possessing a more sophisticated intelligence than once assumed.

The discovery was published in 2016, and the documentary below follows researchers over a period of 4 years. Since the discovery, i think there has been a lot more evidence that Neanderthals are far from what was presumed - they made 'jewellery', mated with Denisovans and humans, ate meat, and so on - but i imagine it will be fascinating to watch the process all the same. I haven't watched the documentary yet but i plan to.

It's available to watch for free on Vimeo and is posted below.

First, what wiki has to say about the cave:


Bruniquel Cave


From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Bruniquel Cave

History
The village of Bruniquel
The village of Bruniquel
Bruniquel Cave in France
Bruniquel Cave in France

Location in France
Locationeast of Montauban
RegionFrance
Coordinates44°3′51″N 1°40′33″ECoordinates: 44°3′51″N 1°40′33″E
PeriodsPalaeolithic


Bruniquel Cave is an archeological site near Bruniquel, in an area that has many paleolithic sites, east of Montauban in southwestern France. Annular (ring) and accumulation (pile) structures made of broken stalagmites have been found 336 metres from the cave entrance. Traces of fire were also found. The constructions have been dated to around 176 thousand years ago.

In a letter to Nature reporting the discovery in 2016, Jacques Jaubert and his co-authors state that the structures are of anthropogenic origin, and as early Neanderthals were the only humans in the area at that time, they must have been the builders,[1] a conclusion which is accepted by Chris Stringer of the Natural History Museum in London.[2]

The discovery shows that early Neanderthals were capable of building more elaborate structures than previously realised, and that they had a more complex social organisation than previously thought. The modern human Aurignacian culture, over 100,000 years later, is not known to have produced constructions in caves.[1]

Contents

Discovery

Bruniquel cave was closed naturally during the Pleistocene, and no one entered it until cavers dug through the collapsed entrance in 1990. A plan was made of the structures in the early 1990s, and a burnt bone was C14 dated to over 47,600 years, but research stopped after the death of the lead archeologist, and it was unclear whether the structures could be attributed to the Neanderthals. In 2013, Jacques Jaubert and his colleagues decided to study and date the structures, and they published a letter outlining the results of their research in Nature in 2016.[1]


The constructions

The structures have been dated by uranium series dating as 176.5 (±2.1) thousand years old, with uncertainties (95.5% probability). There are two annular structures, one 6.7 by 4.5 metres, and the other 2.2 by 2.1 metres, composed of one to four aligned layers of stalagmites, with some small pieces placed inside the layers to support them. Some stalagmites were placed vertically against the rings, possibly as reinforcement. There are also four stacks of stalagmites between 0.55 and 2.60 metres in diameter, two of which were inside the large ring and two outside it. Around 400 stalagmite pieces (called "speleofacts" by the researchers) were used, with a total length of 112.4 metres and weight of around 2.2 tons.

Very few of the stalagmites are whole, with half being from the middle, excluding the root and tip. All six structures show signs of fire,
with 57 reddened and 66 blackened pieces. Burnt organic material was also found, including a 6.7 cm bone from a bear or large herbivore. The stalagmite pieces are well calibrated, with an average length of 34.4 cm for the large ring and 29.5 cm for the small one, which in the view of Jaubert and colleagues strongly suggests intentional construction. No other evidence has been found of human activity.[1]


Interpretation

The constructions were made during the cold MIS6 period, but calcite flows on the surface of the main ring are similar in age to the structures, showing that in spite of the generally glacial conditions, the climate was then warm and humid enough to allow calcite deposition. The researchers suggest that the constructions may date to a warm phase in the cold period.[1] However, Chris Stringer suggests that the cave may have provided a temporary refuge from the arctic conditions, and evidence of occupation may be found under unexcavated sediments or later calcitic encrustations.[2]

Deep karst is a difficult environment, and before the discovery of Bruniquel, Neanderthal constructions in caves beyond the distance exposed to daylight, and thus requiring artificial lighting, were completely unknown. Even in caves visited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic, there are no proven cases of constructions.[1] Stringer observes that: "this discovery provides clear evidence that Neanderthals had fully human capabilities in the planning and the construction of 'stone' structures".[2] It is not known whether the structures were built as part of a ritual or had a symbolic function, but in the view of Jaubert and his colleagues:

The attribution of the Bruniquel constructions to early Neanderthals is unprecedented in two ways. First, it reveals the appropriation of a deep karst space (including lighting) by a pre-modern human species. Second, it concerns elaborate constructions that have never been reported before, made with hundreds of partially calibrated, broken stalagmites (speleofacts) that appear to have been deliberately moved and placed in their current locations, along with the presence of several intentionally heated zones. Our results therefore suggest that the Neanderthal group responsible for these constructions had a level of social organization that was more complex than previously thought for this hominid species.[1]

The documentary:

Neandertal, the Mystery of the Bruniquel Cave
2 months agoMore


FELIS PRODPRO




Who built a structure made up of more than 400 broken stalagmites, 300 metres inside a cave in the Aveyron gorges? At what time? And why is that? Since the discovery of the cave in 1990, this amazing architecture has never revealed its secrets. In 2014, a team of researchers decided to return there, hoping to solve the enigma of the Bruniquel cave. For 4 years, we followed them, both in the cave and in their laboratories. Exclusively, we have witnessed one of the most important archaeological discoveries of our time. And the Neanderthal man is the hero of it.

A film by Luc-Henri Fage, 53 min 25 s

ARTE France, GEDEON Programmes, FELIS Production, CNRS Images
2019

SOTT article about the structure:
 
With regard to African origins, this looks like an interesting read:

In 2013, Berger, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, caught wind of a cache of bones in a hard-to-reach underground cave in South Africa. He put out a call around the world for petite collaborators—men and women small and adventurous enough to be able to squeeze through 8-inch tunnels to reach a sunless cave 40 feet underground. With this team of "underground astronauts," Berger made the discovery of a lifetime: hundreds of prehistoric bones, including entire skeletons of at least 15 individuals, all perhaps two million years old. Their features combined those of known prehominids like Lucy, the famous Australopithecus, with those more human than anything ever before seen in prehistoric remains. Berger's team had discovered an all new species, and they called it Homo naledi.
Almost Human: The Astonishing Tale of Homo Naledi and the Discovery That Changed Our Human Story - Kindle edition by Lee Berger, John Hawks. Politics & Social Sciences Kindle eBooks @ Amazon.com.
 
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