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“Encounter between Homo sapiens and Neanderthals”
What exactly defines Homo sapiens? The most appropriate comparison to address this question would be with Neanderthals, the counterpart to the final divergence in human evolutionary history. Neanderthals were widely distributed across Eurasia, coexisting with Homo sapiens for hundreds of thousands of years. Eventually, Homo sapiens, originating from Africa, expanded into Eurasia around 50,000 years ago, ultimately leading to the extinction of Neanderthals. Recent studies have unveiled instances of interbreeding between these two lineages in the late Pleistocene Levant region. Moreover, the replacement of Neanderthals by Homo sapiens was not a straightforward process but rather a complex one.
This symposium aims to invite active researchers who study in the Levant region and Europe to discuss aspects of hybridization, interaction, and replacement between the two groups from the perspectives of paleoanthropology, focusing on the analysis of human fossil remains, and archaeology, with a focus on the analysis of cultural artifacts. Furthermore, we intend to broaden the discussion to include the physical and cultural foundations of Homo sapiens' survival during the Ice Age and subsequent cultural and civilizational developments in various parts of the world.
General Information
| Date | February 9, 2025 (Sunday) 13:00–17:35 (Registration open: 12:30) |
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| Venue | Auditorium, 2nd floor, Japan Gallery, National Museum of Nature and Science, 7-20 Ueno Park, Taito-ku, Tokyo 110-8718, Japan |
| Eligible participants | Open to the public |
| Participation fee | Free (*Admission fee to Permanent Exhibitions is needed) *General and university students: ¥630; High-school students and younger: Free. See the details on this Page. |
| Application Deadline and Capacity | February 5 (Wed,); Capacity of the first 100 people ＊ Advance application via the form on this page is required. ＊ In case of too many applications, we will hold a draw for place allocation. |
| Contact | Department of Anthropology, National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo, Japan Email: 202502IntConfJinrui@kahaku.go.jp |
Program
| 13:00 – 13:05 | Opening remarks Wataru Morita (National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo) |
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| 13:05 – 13:35 | Ken-ichi Shinoda (President / Director General of the National Museum of Nature and Science)
Theme of presentation: Human evolution in the Late Pleistocene in terms of ancient genomics |
| 13:35 – 14:20 | Ismail Baykara (Gaziantep University)
Cultural Differences in the Late Middle Paleolithic and early Upper Paleolithic periods in the northern Levant |
| 14:20 – 15:05 | Derya Silibolatlaz (Gaziantep University)
Zooarchaeological Evaluation of the Late-Middle Paleolithic Period at Üçağızlı II Cave, Hatay, Türkiye |
15:05 – 15:15 |
Break |
| 15:15 – 16:00 | Clément Zanolli (Bordeaux University, CNRS researcher)
Neanderthals, Denisovans, modern humans: Late Pleistocene human evolution in Eurasia |
| 16:00 – 16:45 | Renaud Joannes-Boyau (Southern Cross University) The First Humans of Southeast Asia’s Rainforests: Invention of Medicine and Art in the Pleistocene |
| 16:45 – 17:00 | Break |
| 17:00 – 17:30 | Panel discussion
Facilitator: Wataru Morita, Naoki Morimoto (Kyoto University) Panelist: Theme: In addition to the Q&A sessions for each lecture, the discussions will examine the patterns of interbreeding, interaction, and replacement between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in the Levant region and Europe, while also broadening the scope to address human evolution in the Late Pleistocene of eastern Eurasia. |
| 17:30 – 17:35 | Closing remarks |
Organizers and Sponsors
Organized by National Museum of Nature and Science, Tokyo
This symposium is generously supported byFusion Oriented REsearch for disruptive Science and Technology (Principal Researcher, Naoki Morimoto).