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Papers by Dennis Sandgathe

Research paper thumbnail of Site Formation Histories and Context of Human Occupations at the Paleolithic Site of La Ferrassie (Dordogne, France)

Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology

The Paleolithic site of La Ferrassie (Dordogne, France) has contributed significantly to the und... more The Paleolithic site of La Ferrassie (Dordogne, France) has contributed significantly to the understanding of Middle and Upper Paleolithic technocomplexes, as well as Neanderthal skeletal morphology. Excavations at the site have spanned more than a century and uncovered rich archaeological assemblages associated with the Mousterian, Châtelperronian, Aurignacian and Gravettian technocomplexes. Renewed excavations exposed a sequence spanning both Middle and Upper Paleolithic occupations in the Western Sector and low-density Mousterian deposits and Châtelperronian in the Northern Sector. Here, we report on an extensive geoarchaeological study of deposits at the western end of the site to reconstruct and interpret both the depositional history of the sediments and associated human occupations in this poorly documented part of La Ferrassie. Our results point to the nature of the site as originally a karstic cave, with the Western Sector located in what would have been the cave’s mouth. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Fire and the Genus Homo

Current Anthropology, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Identifying the unidentified fauna enhances insights into hominin subsistence strategies during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences

Understanding Palaeolithic hominin subsistence strategies requires the comprehensive taxonomic id... more Understanding Palaeolithic hominin subsistence strategies requires the comprehensive taxonomic identification of faunal remains. The high fragmentation of Late Pleistocene faunal assemblages often prevents proper taxonomic identification based on bone morphology. It has been assumed that the morphologically unidentifiable component of the faunal assemblage would reflect the taxonomic abundances of the morphologically identified portion. In this study, we analyse three faunal datasets covering the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (MUPT) at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria) and Les Cottés and La Ferrassie (France) with the application of collagen type I peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS). Our results emphasise that the fragmented component of Palaeolithic bone assemblages can differ significantly from the morphologically identifiable component. We obtain contrasting identification rates between taxa resulting in an overrepresentation of morphologically identified reindeer (Rangifer t...

Research paper thumbnail of Multi-method (TL and OSL), multi-material (quartz and flint) dating of the Mousterian site of the Roc de Marsal (Dordogne, France): correlating Neanderthals occupations with the climatic variability of MIS 5-3

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2012

International audienc

Research paper thumbnail of The age of three Middle Palaeolithic sites: Single-grain optically stimulated luminescence chronologies for Pech de l'Azé I, II and IV in France

Journal of Human Evolution, Jun 1, 2016

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements were made on individual, sand-sized grains o... more Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements were made on individual, sand-sized grains of quartz from Middle Palaeolithic deposits at three sites (Pech de l' Azé I, II and IV) located close to one another in the Dordogne region of southwest France. We were able to calculate OSL ages for 69 samples collected from these three sites. These ages reveal periods of occupation between about 180 and 50 thousand years ago. Our singlegrain OSL chronologies largely support previous age estimates obtained by thermoluminescence dating of burnt flints at Pech IV, electron spin resonance dating of tooth enamel at Pech I, II and IV and radiocarbon dating of bone at Pech I and IV, but provide a more complete picture due to the ubiquitous presence of sandsized quartz grains used in OSL dating. These complete chronologies for the three sites have allowed us to compare the single-grain ages for similar lithic assemblages among the three sites, to test the correlations among them previously proposed by Bordes in the 1970s, and to construct our own correlative chronological framework for the three sites. This shows that similar lithic assemblages occur at around the same time, and that where a lithic assemblage is unique to one or found at two of the Pech sites, there are no deposits of chronologically equivalent age at the other Pech site(s). We interpret this to mean that, at least for these Pech de l' Azé sites, the Mousterian variants show temporal ordering. Whether or not this conclusion applies to the wider region and beyond, the hypothesis that Mousterian industrial variation is temporally ordered cannot be refuted at this time.

Research paper thumbnail of Were Western European Neandertals Able to Make Fire?

Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology, Jan 16, 2018

Significant variability has been observed in the frequency of fire use over the course of the Lat... more Significant variability has been observed in the frequency of fire use over the course of the Late Pleistocene at several Middle Paleolithic sites in southwest France. In particular, Neandertals appear to have used fire more frequently during warm climatic periods and very infrequently during cold periods. After reviewing several lines of evidence and alternative explanations for this variability, the null hypothesis that these Neandertals were not able to make fire still stands.

Research paper thumbnail of Summary and Conclusions

Cave and karst systems of the world, Oct 26, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of The Neanderthal Child of Roc de Marsal: A Prehistoric Mystery

Research paper thumbnail of A Third Neanderthal Individual from La Ferrassie Dated to the End of the Middle Palaeolithic

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2023

Research paper thumbnail of How heat alters underlying deposits and implications for archaeological fire features: A controlled experiment

Journal of Archaeological Science, Mar 1, 2016

Abstract While it is true that the use of fire is undoubtedly an important behavioral trait, fire... more Abstract While it is true that the use of fire is undoubtedly an important behavioral trait, fire can also leave important traces in archaeological deposits, including altering previously deposited sediments and artifacts. The set of controlled experiments reported here do not focus on fire per se, but rather on the effects of some of the most important variables underlying the transfer of heat to subsurface sediments. These variables, including temperature, duration, sediment type, moisture, and mineralogy, are altered here in ways that essentially bracket the range of conditions under which past fires may have existed. The results show that sediments as much as 10 cm directly below a heat source routinely reach temperatures of 200 °C, with higher temperatures and greater depth of heat transfer possible with longer durations or higher surface temperatures. One of the implications of these results is that a surface can produce substantial thermal-alterations of archaeological artifacts and sediments deposited much earlier in the sequence. Likewise, there are significant implications for the analyses and chronometric dating of thermally altered sediments and burned artifacts.

Research paper thumbnail of Stratigraphy, Deposits, and Site Formation

Cave and karst systems of the world, Oct 26, 2017

From the outset of the Pech IV project, geoarchaeology played an integral role in the excavations.

Research paper thumbnail of Fire among Neanderthals

Research paper thumbnail of Insights into Site Formation Processes of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic Layers in the Western Section of La Ferrassie (Dordogne)

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Sep 18, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Aspects of Site Formation Processes at the Paleolithic site of La Ferrassie (Dordogne), France

Research paper thumbnail of BIS. Further elements on the chronology of the Roc de Marsal (sw France) middle palaeolithic sequence: Insights from quartz single grain OSL and various k-feld-spar IRSL signals

Research paper thumbnail of Middle palaeolithic lithic reduction strategies: Looking past technological analysis

Research paper thumbnail of The new 14C chronology for the Palaeolithic site of La Ferrassie, France: the disappearance of Neanderthals and the arrival of Homo sapiens in France

Journal of Quaternary Science, 2020

The grand abri at La Ferrassie (France) has been a key site for Palaeolithic research since the e... more The grand abri at La Ferrassie (France) has been a key site for Palaeolithic research since the early part of the 20th century. It became the eponymous site for one variant of Middle Palaeolithic stone tools, and its sequence was used to define stages of the Aurignacian, an early phase of the Upper Palaeolithic. Several Neanderthal remains, including two relatively intact skeletons, make it one of the most important sites for the study of Neanderthal morphology and one of the more important data sets when discussing the Neanderthal treatment of the dead. However, the site has remained essentially undated. Our goal here is to provide a robust chronological framework of the La Ferrassie sequence to be used for broad regional models about human behaviour during the late Middle to Upper Palaeolithic periods. To achieve this goal, we used a combination of modern excavation methods, extensive geoarchaeological analyses, and radiocarbon dating. If we accept that Neanderthals were responsib...

Research paper thumbnail of Savignac-de-Miremont

ADLFI. Archéologie de la France - Informations, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of New research into the context of the Roc de Marsal (Dordogne, France) Neandertal

Research paper thumbnail of The detection of unmodified flake tools in archaeological assemblages in the Eastern Slopes, Alberta

Research paper thumbnail of Site Formation Histories and Context of Human Occupations at the Paleolithic Site of La Ferrassie (Dordogne, France)

Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology

The Paleolithic site of La Ferrassie (Dordogne, France) has contributed significantly to the und... more The Paleolithic site of La Ferrassie (Dordogne, France) has contributed significantly to the understanding of Middle and Upper Paleolithic technocomplexes, as well as Neanderthal skeletal morphology. Excavations at the site have spanned more than a century and uncovered rich archaeological assemblages associated with the Mousterian, Châtelperronian, Aurignacian and Gravettian technocomplexes. Renewed excavations exposed a sequence spanning both Middle and Upper Paleolithic occupations in the Western Sector and low-density Mousterian deposits and Châtelperronian in the Northern Sector. Here, we report on an extensive geoarchaeological study of deposits at the western end of the site to reconstruct and interpret both the depositional history of the sediments and associated human occupations in this poorly documented part of La Ferrassie. Our results point to the nature of the site as originally a karstic cave, with the Western Sector located in what would have been the cave’s mouth. ...

Research paper thumbnail of Fire and the Genus Homo

Current Anthropology, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of Identifying the unidentified fauna enhances insights into hominin subsistence strategies during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences

Understanding Palaeolithic hominin subsistence strategies requires the comprehensive taxonomic id... more Understanding Palaeolithic hominin subsistence strategies requires the comprehensive taxonomic identification of faunal remains. The high fragmentation of Late Pleistocene faunal assemblages often prevents proper taxonomic identification based on bone morphology. It has been assumed that the morphologically unidentifiable component of the faunal assemblage would reflect the taxonomic abundances of the morphologically identified portion. In this study, we analyse three faunal datasets covering the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (MUPT) at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria) and Les Cottés and La Ferrassie (France) with the application of collagen type I peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS). Our results emphasise that the fragmented component of Palaeolithic bone assemblages can differ significantly from the morphologically identifiable component. We obtain contrasting identification rates between taxa resulting in an overrepresentation of morphologically identified reindeer (Rangifer t...

Research paper thumbnail of Multi-method (TL and OSL), multi-material (quartz and flint) dating of the Mousterian site of the Roc de Marsal (Dordogne, France): correlating Neanderthals occupations with the climatic variability of MIS 5-3

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2012

International audienc

Research paper thumbnail of The age of three Middle Palaeolithic sites: Single-grain optically stimulated luminescence chronologies for Pech de l'Azé I, II and IV in France

Journal of Human Evolution, Jun 1, 2016

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements were made on individual, sand-sized grains o... more Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements were made on individual, sand-sized grains of quartz from Middle Palaeolithic deposits at three sites (Pech de l' Azé I, II and IV) located close to one another in the Dordogne region of southwest France. We were able to calculate OSL ages for 69 samples collected from these three sites. These ages reveal periods of occupation between about 180 and 50 thousand years ago. Our singlegrain OSL chronologies largely support previous age estimates obtained by thermoluminescence dating of burnt flints at Pech IV, electron spin resonance dating of tooth enamel at Pech I, II and IV and radiocarbon dating of bone at Pech I and IV, but provide a more complete picture due to the ubiquitous presence of sandsized quartz grains used in OSL dating. These complete chronologies for the three sites have allowed us to compare the single-grain ages for similar lithic assemblages among the three sites, to test the correlations among them previously proposed by Bordes in the 1970s, and to construct our own correlative chronological framework for the three sites. This shows that similar lithic assemblages occur at around the same time, and that where a lithic assemblage is unique to one or found at two of the Pech sites, there are no deposits of chronologically equivalent age at the other Pech site(s). We interpret this to mean that, at least for these Pech de l' Azé sites, the Mousterian variants show temporal ordering. Whether or not this conclusion applies to the wider region and beyond, the hypothesis that Mousterian industrial variation is temporally ordered cannot be refuted at this time.

Research paper thumbnail of Were Western European Neandertals Able to Make Fire?

Journal of Paleolithic Archaeology, Jan 16, 2018

Significant variability has been observed in the frequency of fire use over the course of the Lat... more Significant variability has been observed in the frequency of fire use over the course of the Late Pleistocene at several Middle Paleolithic sites in southwest France. In particular, Neandertals appear to have used fire more frequently during warm climatic periods and very infrequently during cold periods. After reviewing several lines of evidence and alternative explanations for this variability, the null hypothesis that these Neandertals were not able to make fire still stands.

Research paper thumbnail of Summary and Conclusions

Cave and karst systems of the world, Oct 26, 2017

Research paper thumbnail of The Neanderthal Child of Roc de Marsal: A Prehistoric Mystery

Research paper thumbnail of A Third Neanderthal Individual from La Ferrassie Dated to the End of the Middle Palaeolithic

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), 2023

Research paper thumbnail of How heat alters underlying deposits and implications for archaeological fire features: A controlled experiment

Journal of Archaeological Science, Mar 1, 2016

Abstract While it is true that the use of fire is undoubtedly an important behavioral trait, fire... more Abstract While it is true that the use of fire is undoubtedly an important behavioral trait, fire can also leave important traces in archaeological deposits, including altering previously deposited sediments and artifacts. The set of controlled experiments reported here do not focus on fire per se, but rather on the effects of some of the most important variables underlying the transfer of heat to subsurface sediments. These variables, including temperature, duration, sediment type, moisture, and mineralogy, are altered here in ways that essentially bracket the range of conditions under which past fires may have existed. The results show that sediments as much as 10 cm directly below a heat source routinely reach temperatures of 200 °C, with higher temperatures and greater depth of heat transfer possible with longer durations or higher surface temperatures. One of the implications of these results is that a surface can produce substantial thermal-alterations of archaeological artifacts and sediments deposited much earlier in the sequence. Likewise, there are significant implications for the analyses and chronometric dating of thermally altered sediments and burned artifacts.

Research paper thumbnail of Stratigraphy, Deposits, and Site Formation

Cave and karst systems of the world, Oct 26, 2017

From the outset of the Pech IV project, geoarchaeology played an integral role in the excavations.

Research paper thumbnail of Fire among Neanderthals

Research paper thumbnail of Insights into Site Formation Processes of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic Layers in the Western Section of La Ferrassie (Dordogne)

HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe), Sep 18, 2014

Research paper thumbnail of Aspects of Site Formation Processes at the Paleolithic site of La Ferrassie (Dordogne), France

Research paper thumbnail of BIS. Further elements on the chronology of the Roc de Marsal (sw France) middle palaeolithic sequence: Insights from quartz single grain OSL and various k-feld-spar IRSL signals

Research paper thumbnail of Middle palaeolithic lithic reduction strategies: Looking past technological analysis

Research paper thumbnail of The new 14C chronology for the Palaeolithic site of La Ferrassie, France: the disappearance of Neanderthals and the arrival of Homo sapiens in France

Journal of Quaternary Science, 2020

The grand abri at La Ferrassie (France) has been a key site for Palaeolithic research since the e... more The grand abri at La Ferrassie (France) has been a key site for Palaeolithic research since the early part of the 20th century. It became the eponymous site for one variant of Middle Palaeolithic stone tools, and its sequence was used to define stages of the Aurignacian, an early phase of the Upper Palaeolithic. Several Neanderthal remains, including two relatively intact skeletons, make it one of the most important sites for the study of Neanderthal morphology and one of the more important data sets when discussing the Neanderthal treatment of the dead. However, the site has remained essentially undated. Our goal here is to provide a robust chronological framework of the La Ferrassie sequence to be used for broad regional models about human behaviour during the late Middle to Upper Palaeolithic periods. To achieve this goal, we used a combination of modern excavation methods, extensive geoarchaeological analyses, and radiocarbon dating. If we accept that Neanderthals were responsib...

Research paper thumbnail of Savignac-de-Miremont

ADLFI. Archéologie de la France - Informations, 2016

Research paper thumbnail of New research into the context of the Roc de Marsal (Dordogne, France) Neandertal

Research paper thumbnail of The detection of unmodified flake tools in archaeological assemblages in the Eastern Slopes, Alberta

Research paper thumbnail of Identifying the unidentified fauna enhances insights into hominin subsistence strategies during the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition

Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2023

Understanding Palaeolithic hominin subsistence strategies requires the comprehensive taxonomic id... more Understanding Palaeolithic hominin subsistence strategies requires the comprehensive taxonomic identification of faunal remains. The high fragmentation of Late Pleistocene faunal assemblages often prevents proper taxonomic identification based on bone morphology. It has been assumed that the morphologically unidentifiable component of the faunal assemblage would reflect the taxonomic abundances of the morphologically identified portion. In this study, we analyse three faunal datasets covering the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition (MUPT) at Bacho Kiro Cave (Bulgaria) and Les Cottés and La Ferrassie (France) with the application of collagen type I peptide mass fingerprinting (ZooMS). Our results emphasise that the fragmented component of Palaeolithic bone assemblages can differ significantly from the morphologically identifiable component. We obtain contrasting identification rates between taxa resulting in an overrepresentation of morphologically identified reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and an underrepresentation of aurochs/bison (Bos/Bison) and horse/European ass (Equus) at Les Cottés and La Ferrassie. Together with an increase in the relative diversity of the faunal composition, these results have implications for the interpretation of subsistence strategies during a period of possible interaction between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens in Europe. Furthermore, shifts in faunal community composition and in carnivore activity suggest a change in the interaction between humans and carnivores across the MUPT and indicate a possible difference in site use between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. The combined use of traditional and biomolecular methods allows (zoo)archaeologists to tackle some of the methodological limits commonly faced during the morphological assessment of Palaeolithic bone assemblages.