Sep 26, 2014 · The Late Middle Pleistocene [LMP, oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 12/11e to OIS 6/5e, ~425 to 130 thousand years ago (ka)] witnessed the evolution of Homo sapiens in Africa and Neandertals in western Eurasia (1, 2).In Africa, the Early Stone Age (ESA)–Middle Stone Age (MSA) transition is characterized by the slow replacement of bifaces by flakes, points, and .