The earliest evidence for Upper Paleolithic occupation in the Armenian Highlands at Aghitu-3 Cave

With its well-preserved archaeological and environmental records, Aghitu-3 Cave permits us to examine the settlement patterns of the Upper Paleolithic (UP) people who inhabited the Armenian Highlands. We also test whether settlement of the region between ∼39–24,000 cal BP relates to environmental variability. The earliest evidence occurs in archaeological horizon (AH) VII from ∼39–36,000 cal BP during a mild, moist climatic phase. AH VI shows periodic occupation as warm, humid conditions prevailed from ∼36–32,000 cal BP. As the climate becomes cooler and drier at ∼32– 29,000 cal BP (AH V-IV), evidence for occupation is minimal. However, as cooling continues, the deposits of AH III demonstrate that people used the site more intensively from ∼29–24,000 cal BP, leaving behind numerous stone artifacts, faunal remains, and complex combustion features. Despite the climatic fluctuations seen across this 15,000-year sequence, lithic technology remains attuned to one pattern: unidirectional reduction of small cores geared towards the production of bladelets for tool manufacture. Subsistence patterns also remain stable, focused on medium-sized prey such as ovids and caprids, as well as equids. AH III demonstrates an expansion of social networks to the northwest and southwest, as the transport distance of obsidian used to make stone artifacts increases. We also observe the addition of bone tools, including an eyed needle, and shell beads brought from the east, suggesting that these people manufactured complex clothing and wore ornaments. Remains of micromammals, birds, charcoal, pollen, and tephra relate the story of environmental variability. We hypothesize that UP behavior was linked to shifts in demographic pressures and climatic changes. Thus, by combining archaeological and environmental data, we gain a clearer picture about the first UP inhabitants of the Armenian Highlands

Archaeobotanical Analysis of Fruit and Seed Findings from the Site of Mege (Northeastern-Nigeria)

Auswertung verkohlter Frucht- und Samenfunde aus der 3000 Jahre währenden Siedlungsgeschichte (Later Stone Age - 20. Jh.) der Fundstelle Mege in Nigeria. Magisterarbeit an der Universität Tübingen

Auf den Spuren von Julius Euting durch den Orient – eine virtuelle Forschungsreise

At the end of the 19th century, the orientalist Julius Euting traveled several times to the Middle East to investigate and to record pre-Islamic monuments, artifacts, and inscriptions. His journals and sketchbooks are preserved in the University Library of Tübingen where they recently were completely digitized. The aim of the presented project is to connect these texts with additional sources and data in a common interface.[1] This system is based on the web-framework Neatline,developed at the University of Virginia, which is able to manage and visualize heterogeneous data in a common interface. The system was extended with a functionality to store and display XML-encoded texts according to the recommendations of the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI). Furthermore, every entry in the journals is connected to a date or a time-span displayed in a timeline which could also be used to access the text. Beyond this, it is possible to upload or to link scientific articles to monuments, artifacts or archaeological sites mentioned by Euting. All geographical information in the diary can be directly connected to different maps provided within the system. [1] http://ecenter.uni-tuebingen.de:8012/neatline/fullscreen/star

How the exceptional preservation at Schöningen opens new perspectives on hominin lifeways during the Middle Pleistocene of Northern Europe

editorial reviewe

Update on the excavations and research at Schöningen

peer reviewe