01868nas a2200325   4500000000100000008004100001100001400042700001600056700001900072700002200091700002000113700001900133700001700152700002000169700001800189700001900207700001900226700001500245700001500260700001900275700001900294700002100313700001700334700002000351700001900371245010900390300001800499490000800517520101700525       2012                            d1 aJohn Lowe1 aNick Barton1 aSimon Blockley1 aChristopher Bronk1 aVictoria Cullen1 aWilliam Davies1 aClive Gamble1 aKatharine Grant1 aMark Hardiman1 aRupert Housley1 aChristine Lane1 aSharen Lee1 aMark Lewis1 aAlison MacLeod1 aMartin Menzies1 aWolfgang Müller1 aMark Pollard1 aCatherine Price1 aAndrew Roberts00aVolcanic ash layers illuminate the resilience of Neanderthals and early modern humans to natural hazards  a1\textendash60 v1093 a<p>Marked changes in human dispersal and development during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have been attributed to massive volcanic eruption and/or severe climatic deterioration. We test this concept using records of volcanic ash layers of the Campanian Ignimbrite eruption dated to ca. 40,000 y ago (40 ka B.P.). The distribution of the Campanian Ignimbrite has been enhanced by the discovery of cryptotephra deposits (volcanic ash layers that are not visible to the naked eye) in archaeological cave sequences. They enable us to synchronize archaeological and paleoclimatic records through the period of transition from Neanderthal to the earliest anatomically modern human populations in Europe. Our results confirm that the combined effects of a major volcanic eruption and severe climatic cooling failed to have lasting impacts on Neanderthals or early modern humans in Europe. We infer that modern humans proved a greater competitive threat to indigenous populations than natural disasters.</p>