New insights into the late Pleistocene paleoecology using δ13C and δ18O enamel isotope evidence from Gotera, Southern Ethiopia

The origin of behavioral modernity, geographic dispersal, and technological development of Anatomically Modern Humans (AMH) coincided with the profound late Pleistocene stadial, and interstadial climatic episodes might have impacted human adaptation and resilience. It has been argued that tropical eastern African highlands with locally available resources such as water, landscape setting, precipitation, and highland forests were potential refugia during the Late Pleistocene environmental and climatic stresses. Nonetheless, this aspect becomes obscure in Ethiopia where site-specific environmental and climatic records of MSA sites remain poorly studied. Here, we present the result of δ13Cenamel and δ18Oenamel stable isotopic analysis of bulk and sequential samples (n=62) of mammalian teeth enamel from Gotera. The newly discovered MSA site of Gotera in southern Ethiopia dated to the Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3) provides fresh data about the ecological context of AMH in the region. We discuss the new insights into the environmental and climatic contexts as well as the subsistence strategies of AMH in southern Ethiopia.