First evidence of Neanderthal presence in Northwest Europe during the Late Saalian 'Zeifen Interstadial'(MIS 6.01) found at the VLL and VLB Sites at … (original) (raw)
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The Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene transition (MIS 6/5e transition), which has been observed within the loamy sediments of the VLL and VLB sites at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater, was a period of remarkable change in both climate and environment. Indeed, the incipient VLL-VLB soil horizons at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater seem to represent Late Saalian phases of pedogenesis under boreal conditions just prior to the MIS 6/5e transition. The pedostratigraphical position provides a firm basis to conclude that the VLL and VLB soil horizons at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater represent the terrestrial equivalent of the Late Saalian 'Zeifen Interstadial' (MIS 6.01), whereas the capping GSL unit seems to represent the terrestrial equivalent of the so-called 'Kattegat Stadial'. Indeed, assuming that Northwest Europe was too hostile for humans during the extremes of MIS 6 and given the pattern highlighted by Gamble (1986) that Northwest Europe seems to be a bit of a wasteland during MIS 5e, then the VLL and VLB sites at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater offer unique snapshots of people appearing in Northwest Europe for a short spell (MIS 6.01) and then going away again. Indeed, during the period of climatic amelioration during the 'Zeifen Interstadial' (ca. 133,000 years BP), which followed the Saalian Glacial Maximum (ca. 135,000 years BP), Northwest Europe probably saw a significant demographic expansion and the development of 'new' Middle Palaeolithic technologies. During the Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene transition phase, semi-rotating parallel/prismatic and opportunistic core reduction strategies and 'small tools' were in place at the VLL site at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater. So-called 'expedient' core reduction strategies were used to flake locally-found low-quality lithic raw materials. At the VLB site at Veldwezelt-Hezerwater, the same trend towards 'parallel' core reduction was also present. However, it is very interesting to see that at the VLB site, Levallois core reduction has also been attested.
Quaternary Science Reviews, 2022
The resilience of Neanderthals towards changing climatic and environmental conditions, and especially towards severely cold climates in northern regions of central Europe, is still under debate. One way to address this is to investigate multi-layered occupation in different climatic intervals, using independently-compiled paleoenvironmental and chronological data. Unfortunately, most open-air sites on the northern European Plain lack a robust chronostratigraphy beyond the radiocarbon dating range, thereby often hampering direct links between human occupation and climate. Here we present the results of integrative research at the Middle Paleolithic open-air site of Lichtenberg, Northern Germany, comprising archaeology, luminescence dating, sedimentology, micromorphology, as well as pollen and phytolith analyses. Our findings clearly show Neanderthal presence in temperate, forested environments during the Mid-Eemian Interglacial, MIS 5e and the latest Brörup Interstadial, MIS 5c/GI 22 (Lichtenberg II). For the previously known occupation Lichtenberg I, we revise the chronology from the former early MIS 3 (57 ± 6 ka) to early MIS 4/GS 19 (71.3 ± 7.3 ka), with dominant cold steppe/tundra vegetation. The early MIS 4 occupation suggests that Neanderthals could adjust well to severely cold environments and implies recurring population in the region between MIS 5 and MIS 3. The artefact assemblages differ between the temperate and cold environment occupations regarding size, blank production, typology and tool use. We argue that this distinctness can partially be explained by different site functions and occupation duration, as well as the availability of large and high-quality flint raw material. Raw material availability is in turn governed by changing vegetation cover that hindered or fostered sediment redeposition as a provider of flint from the primary source of the glacial sediments nearby.
Investigating Neanderthal dispersal above 55 N in Europe during the Last Interglacial Complex
When dealing with the northern boundary of Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) and the question of whether or not they dispersed into Southern Scandinavia, two contradictory hypotheses can be identified. The first, and also the most widely endorsed, hereafter, hypothesis A, argues primarily that Nean-derthals did not occupy regions above 55 N because of 1) climatic constraints and 2) dispersal barriers. The second, hypothesis B, argues that they possibly occasionally dispersed above 55 N, but that factors such as 1) research-and/or 2) taphonomic bias are responsible for their archaeological invisibility. Here, we report an evaluation of these competing hypotheses. To this end, we reconstruct the environment for the time period and region of interest (the Last Interglacial Complex and Northern Germany and Southern Scandinavia), based on three lines of evidence: palaeoenvironmental reconstruction combined with a novel habitat modelling approach, a review of relevant archaeological localities, and a discussion of the possible impacts of both research biases and the taphonomic effects on the archaeological data. We focus particularly on the climatic and geological explanatory factors relevant to the two hypotheses. Our results are inconsistent with the claim that climatic constraint and/or a lack of suitable habitats can fully explain the absence of Neanderthals in Southern Scandinavia during the Eemian Interglacial and Early Weichselian Glaciation. We do, however, find evidence that a geographic barrier may have impeded northerly migrations during the Eemian. The evidence reviewed here suggests that both research bias and taphonomy e consistent with hypothesis B e could account for the archaeological invisibility of Neanderthals in Southern Scandinavia, highlighting the need for further strategic survey and/or excavation efforts in the region.
The first settlement of Europe by modern humans is thought to have occurred between 50,000 and 40,000 calendar years ago (cal B.P.). In Europe, modern human remains of this time period are scarce and often are not associated with archaeology or originate from old excavations with no contextual information. Hence, the behavior of the first modern humans in Europe is still unknown. Aurignacian assemblages—demonstrably made by modern humans—are commonly used as proxies for the presence of fully behaviorally and anatomically modern humans. The site of Willendorf II (Austria) is well known for its Early Upper Paleolithic horizons, which are among the oldest in Europe. However, their age and attribution to the Aurignacian remain an issue of debate. Here, we show that archaeological horizon 3 (AH 3) consists of faunal remains and Early Aurignacian lithic artifacts. By using stratigraphic, paleoenvironmental, and chronological data, AH 3 is ascribed to the onset of Greenland Interstadial 11, around 43,500 cal B.P., and thus is older than any other Aurignacian assemblage. Furthermore, the AH 3 assemblage overlaps with the latest directly radiocarbon-dated Neanderthal remains, suggesting that Neanderthal and modern human presence overlapped in Europe for some millennia, possibly at rather close geographical range. Most importantly, for the first time to our knowledge, we have a high-resolution environmental context for an Early Aurignacian site in Central Europe, demonstrating an early appearance of behaviorally modern humans in a medium-cold steppe-type environment with some boreal trees along valleys around 43,500 cal B.P.
After a long period of cold conditions that characterize the Saalian Glacial in Europe, Neandertals were confronted with the warm and more forested environments of the Eemian Interglacial (about 125-115,000 years ago). We do know that Neandertals were present in these environments, but the number of known sites and the size of their assemblages is relatively limited. The Last Interglacial deposits of Neumark-Nord 2 (eastern Germany) yielded the unique opportunity for a detailed analysis of Neandertal behaviour within its environmental context. Basin formation at Neumark-Nord 2 did not only result in a sediment trap in which archaeological material was encased in a protective matrix, but also provided anaerobic conditions favorable to the preservation of environmental proxies. The environmental record made it possible to identify phases of increased and decreased presence of water within the basin. Of relevance for debates about the character of the vegetation of Eemian environments is the reconstruction of the vegetation surrounding the Neumark-Nord 2 basin. Like at other Eemian basin localities yielding an archaeological record, the vegetation in the wider Neumark-Nord 2 environment was overall semi-open during the early part of the Interglacial. Finegrained analysis of the data shows that the vegetation directly surrounding the Neumark-Nord 2 basin fluctuated between semi-open and more forested. The abundant evidence for large herbivores in the Neumark-Nord environment and the fact that more open conditions correspond to phases of an increased presence of water in the basin, may indicate that the observed vegetation openness can be attributed to large herbivore activity. The abundance of resources in the Neumark- Nord environment during phases of increased water levels - including water, large herbivores, and a mixed vegetation with an edible plant component - most likely attracted hominins to this and to similar localities. This seems reflected by a strong correlation between hominin activity and semi-open environmental conditions in the Neumark-Nord area and the large faunal assemblage with abundant evidence for anthropogenic modification at Neumark-Nord 2. Through their vegetation, Interglacial environments constrain the visibility of lithic resources. Movement in the Neumark-Nord subsoil not only created basin structures, but also pushed up flint-bearing till deposits at the basin margins, which were subsequently exposed and exploited by Neandertals. This local availability of lithic resources may offer a good explanation for the abundant evidence of on-site knapping and the rich lithic assemblage recovered from Neumark-Nord 2, which are often lacking at other Eemian sites near freshwater localities with a different genesis. Nevertheless, the small dimensions of the flint nodules resulted in relatively small tools, as also observed at other Eemian sites with no direct access to primary flint sources. The heavily cut-marked bone assemblage suggests that flint tools were put to direct use, i.e. for the butchery of animals. Although wood, whether worked or not, did not survive in the archaeological record of Neumark-Nord 2, its use as a fuel has been documented through the analysis of the charcoal recovered from the site. Though the exact function of these fires remains elusive, evidence for fire strongly correlates with traces of Neandertal presence in the basin environment. In forested Eemian environments with lower quantities of secondary biomass and flint sources obscured by vegetation, semi-open “magnet locations” like the Neumark-Nord basins must have played an important role in Neandertal subsistence. Although these basin localities may present a context- biased view of hominin activity, they provide unique opportunities for documenting Neandertal behavior from a very short slice of Pleistocene time (lasting a few thousand years) and preserving it for archaeological analysis.
The Final Palaeolithic of Northern Eurasia, 2019
L. Mevel, S. B. Grimm, From one camp to another. First results of a comparative techno-economic analysis of the Federmesser-Gruppen lithic industries from the Central Rhineland. In: B. V. Eriksen, E. Rensink, S. Harris (eds.), The Final Palaeolithic of Northern Eurasia. Proceedings of the Amersfoort, Schleswig and Burgos UISPP Commission meetings. Schriften des Museums für Archäologie Schloss Gottorf, Ergänzungsreihe 13 (Kiel 2019), 105-135. A comparative technological analysis of lithic industries provides a means to assess the behavioural evolution of prehistoric societies at different scales of space and time. Furthermore, based on this, behaviour can be considered in an anthropological perspective. The objective of this approach is to evaluate the transformation processes of human societies, taking into account the dynamics of natural factors, and to discuss the degree of variability between human groups at intra-site, intra-regional, and inter-regional levels. The Lateglacial sites from the Central Rhineland constitute an exceptional record in quality and detailed preservation (Street et al. 2006; 2012), and make possible a major contribution to the discussion about the important transformation of the technical and economic behaviour. The technological analysis of several sites (Gönnersdorf SW, Andernach-Martinsberg AN2- FMG and AN3-FMG, Kettig, Niederbieber concentrations 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and Bad Breisig) dated between 12,500 and 10,800 14C-BP provides a basis for discussing the variability of the lithic industries dated to the end of the Magdalenian and to the Federmesser-Gruppen phase. This paper will question behavioural homogeneity during this period according to typological, technological, and economic data. Based on the large time span covered by the dated settlements, we are able to present arguments with reference to a diachronic axis and to discuss the relevance of behavioural evolution of the Federmesser-Gruppen industries of the Central Rhineland, as this is documented for other geographic areas (Valentin 2008a; Mevel 2017). First results of the technological analyses have highlighted variations between sites in the patterns of blank production, the categories of lithic projectile implements made and used as well as in economic behaviour. The significance of these variations and their chronological and cultural value will be assessed. Finally, the homogeneity of the “Azilianisation” process will be discussed at a European scale based on a comparison with data from neighbouring areas.