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Pollen analysis suggests peopling of Siberia and Europe by modern humans occurred during a major Pleistocene warming spell
LAWRENCE — 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? 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, including a University of Kansas professor of anthropology, 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 Commons announces Global Revolution film series
LAWRENCE — A new film and discussion series at the University of Kansas will explore historical efforts to create change and what motivates individuals to come together to launch revolutions. The first event will take place at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at The Forum in Marvin Hall, featuring the 2013 film “The Square.” KU researchers as well as students with ties to the featured countries and regions will lead discussions following each screening.
New AAI center to focus on the intersection of technology, education
LAWRENCE — The Achievement & Assessment Institute at the University of Kansas has announced a new center, Flexible Learning through Innovations in Technology & Education (FLITE). Led by Lisa Dieker, Williamson Family Distinguished Professor in Special Education, FLITE will focus on simulation and innovations in technology, including Dieker’s current funded projects in developing artificial intelligence agents to support students with disabilities in inclusive settings.
Full stories below.
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Contact: Brendan Lynch, KU News Service, 785-864-8855, [email protected], @BrendanMLynch
Pollen analysis suggests peopling of Siberia and Europe by modern humans occurred during a major Pleistocene warming spell
LAWRENCE — 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?
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,” said co-author Ted Goebel, professor of anthropology at the University of Kansas. “It provides critical insights into environmental conditions at Lake Baikal, using pollen records to reveal surprising warmth during this period.”
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.
“This contradicts some recent archaeological perspectives in Europe,” said the KU researcher. “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.”
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.
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.
“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,” Goebel said. “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.”
At least one human bone has been found in the region that dates to the era, according to the KU researcher.
“There is one human fossil from Siberia, although not from Lake Baikal but farther west, at a place called Ust’-Ishim,” Goebel said. “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.”
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 Ust’-Ishim in Siberia, we have evidence of a fully modern human co-existing with the sites we’ve been discussing,” he said. “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.”
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Contact: Emily Ryan, The Commons, 785-864-6293, [email protected], @TheCommonsKU
The Commons announces Global Revolution film series
LAWRENCE — A new film series at the University of Kansas will explore the theme of revolution around the globe. The first event will take place at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at The Forum in Marvin Hall, featuring the 2013 film “The Square.”
The film series aims to answer questions around historical efforts to create change and what motivates individuals to come together to launch revolutions. It is co-sponsored by The Commons, International Affairs, International Support Services, the Global Awareness Program, the Center for Global & International Studies, the Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies and the School of Architecture & Design.
Series curator Alireza Mirzaeinezhad, graduate student in visual art, initially suggested the idea for the series last spring after the formation of the women, life, freedom movement in Iran.
“My understanding of these events was largely shaped by the videos I discovered on the internet,” Mirzaeinezhad said. “This led me to envision a series that could serve as a valuable platform for exploring the concept of revolution through the relationship between moving images and protests — specifically as they document, report and archive these transformative moments.”
Charles Bankart, KU’s senior internationalization officer, said that it is essential to construct opportunities to come together in dialogue as a global community.
“Convening around the theme of change through revolution and exploring what revolution is, what its catalysts are and how such social movements can be viewed through different cultural and historical lenses represents a unique and powerful opportunity to acknowledge our global presence, responsibility and connections,” he said.
Film screenings will be followed by discussions led by researchers at KU whose expertise and study are relevant to the regions and topics of the events, as well as students who have relationships with the countries and regions featured.
The first event, which focuses on Egypt and the Arab Spring, will feature Marie Grace Brown, associate professor of history, whose research on the modern Middle East centers questions of intimacy, gender, empire and the body as historical text, and Ahmad Mustafa, doctoral student in political science, who studies international relations, Islamic studies, Islamic law and religiopolitical discourse in the Middle East.
The Global Revolution film series is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be available.
A second event, in conjunction with Latin American Heritage Month, will take place Oct. 11 and feature a screening of “Las Sandinistas,” followed by a discussion led by Hispano Durón, Langston Hughes Visiting Professor of Film & Media Studies.
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Contact: Alicia Marksberry, Achievement & Assessment Institute, [email protected], @AAI_at_KU
New AAI center to focus on the intersection of technology, education
LAWRENCE — The Achievement & Assessment Institute (AAI) at the University of Kansas has announced a new center, Flexible Learning through Innovations in Technology & Education (FLITE), whose mission is to provide an integrated structure for emerging technologies aligned with student and teaching learning.
Led by Lisa Dieker, a Williamson Family Distinguished Professor in Special Education, FLITE will focus on simulation and innovations in technology, including Dieker’s current funded projects in developing artificial intelligence agents to support students with disabilities in inclusive settings and creating observational tagging tools and harvesting resources for coaches and special education teachers in STEM instruction.
“I do not want to do what’s already there. I want to do what no one else has dared to try yet, using technology grounded in best practices and education,” Dieker said.
Dieker comes to KU from the University of Central Florida where she was a Pegasus Professor and Lockheed Martin Eminent Scholar in the College of Community Innovation and Education. She served as the director of the Lockheed Martin Mathematics and Science Academy, program coordinator for the doctoral program in special education and co-directed the UCF Center for Research in Education Simulation Technology.
Her research interests include special education, STEM education, teacher training and professional development, artificial intelligence, virtual environments, and diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging.
“Lisa is a well-known and respected leader in the field of education, and her addition to AAI is extremely exciting,” said Neal Kingston, director of AAI and University Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology. “FLITE is an exceptional addition to the institute, and I look forward to seeing what new discoveries and innovative approaches Lisa will take in her new role as director.”
Dieker’s work encompasses technological inventions, trademarks and patents, including software, simulations and artificial intelligence. Dieker said FLITE gives her even more freedom and opportunity to explore and experiment with emerging concepts.
“The beauty of being the director of my own center is the freedom to take risks, jump off cliffs and think differently,” Dieker said. “You can’t take flight without an engine, and AAI will be the engine that helps FLITE take off and become a hub of innovation.”
Dieker has worked closely with faculty, researchers and students to improve professional development and the use of technology in classrooms. FLITE will have both affiliated and core faculty working on grants and projects that advance the center’s mission. Dieker said she hopes to continue making connections at KU to improve flexible learning and technology across all fields of study.
“I want FLITE to be a gathering spot for people,” Dieker said. “It will be a place that does its own innovation but also acts as a hub or a resource for other people that are not necessarily part of the center.”
Dieker has multiple degrees in special education, and much of her work since the beginning of her career has focused on students with disabilities and their education in science and math classes. Dieker’s work in emerging technology and its use in classrooms grew from her interest in the education of students with disabilities and seeing how technology helped her students with disabilities succeed.
“Technology is a game changer. I have graduated 24 Ph.D. students with disabilities, and many of them had really high-tech skills, so that’s why I think technology is a pathway for access and equity,” she said.
An example of how Dieker is able to use emerging technology to benefit the education of students with disabilities in STEM is Project RAISE, a collaborative project between United Cerebral Palsy of Central Florida and the University of Central Florida to research how artificial intelligence can be used to teach children on the autism spectrum how to code and recognize social cues. The project involves an AI avatar and biometric monitoring to gauge students’ stress levels and emotions.
“I want to find ways to ensure equity and access in math and science classes by making sure students have the right technological tools and the right teacher with the right tools. My goal is for everyone to be at or above grade level,” she said.
Although FLITE focuses heavily on innovative technology, Dieker said she wants to make sure to include all learners of all abilities and preferences to ensure FLITE is being as equitable and accessible as possible.
“I chose not to use special education in the center’s name and chose to use flexible learning instead with the vision that students can be the ones who decide how to learn,” Dieker said.
FLITE’s vision and work is grounded in KU’s strategic plan, Jayhawks Rising, particularly in student success and research and discovery. Its addition this, it continues AAI’s mission of improving the lives of children and adults through academics and research.
“We are so excited and honored to welcome Professor Dieker to KU and the School of Education,” said Rick Ginsberg, dean of the School of Education & Human Sciences. “Her energy and passion for innovation and student success is apparent. I am excited to see her at the helm of FLITE and working together with AAI to improve and advance education for all students.”
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