Barozh 12: formation processes of a late Middle Paleolithic open-air site in western Armenia

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd Barozh 12 is a Middle Paleolithic (MP) open-air site located near the Mt Arteni volcanic complex at the margins of the Ararat Depression, an intermontane basin that contains the Araxes River. Sedimentology, micromorphology, geochronology, biomarker evidence, together with an assessment of artifact taphonomy permits the modelling of site formation processes and paleoenvironment at a level of detail not previously achieved in this area. Obsidian MP artifacts were recovered in high densities at Barozh 12 from four stratigraphic units deposited during marine oxygen isotope stage 3 (MIS 3) (60.2 ± 5.7–31.3 ± 3 ka). The MIS 3 sequence commences with low energy alluvial deposits that have been altered by incipient soil formation, while artifact assemblages in these strata were only minimally reworked. After a depositional hiatus, further low energy alluvial sedimentation and weak soil formation occurred, followed by higher energy colluvial (re)deposition and then deflation. Artifacts in these last stratigraphic units were more significantly reworked than those below. Analysis of plant leaf wax (n-alkane) biomarkers shows fluctuating humidity throughout the sequence. Collectively the evidence suggests that hunter-gatherers equipped with MP lithic technology repeatedly occupied this site during variable aridity regimes, demonstrating their successful adaptation to the changing environments of MIS 3

Human occupation of northern Europe in MIS 13: Happisburgh Site 1 (Norfolk, UK) and its European context

The timing, environmental setting and archaeological signatures of an early human presence in northernEurope have been longstanding themes of Palaeolithic research. In the space of 20 years, the earliestrecord of human occupation in Britain has been pushed back from 500 ka (Boxgrove) to 700 ka (Pakefield)and then to >800 ka (Happisburgh Site 3). Other sites also contribute to this record of humanoccupation; a second locality at Happisburgh, referred to as Site 1, attests to human presence at around500 ka (MIS 13). This paper provides the first comprehensive account of research undertaken at HappisburghSite 1 since 2000. The early human landscape and depositional environment was that of a riverfloodplain, where an active river channel, in which a grey sand was deposited, was abandoned, forming afloodplain lake, with marginal marsh/swamp environments, which was infilled with organic mud. Thissuccession is sealed by Middle Pleistocene glacial deposits. An assemblage of 199 flint flakes, flake toolsand cores was recovered from the grey sand and organic mud. The evidence from Happisburgh Site 1 isplaced in the context of the wider British and European MIS 13 record. The growing evidence for asignificant dispersal of humans into northern Europe around 500 ka raises critical questions concerningthe environmental conditions under which this took place. We also consider the evolutionary andbehavioural changes in human populations that might have enabled the more widespread and persistentperiod of human presence in northern Europe at this time.</p

Ancient DNA reveals interstadials as a driver of common vole population dynamics during the last glacial period

Aim Many species experienced population turnover and local extinction during the Late Pleistocene. In the case of megafauna, it remains challenging to disentangle climate change and the activities of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers as the main cause. In contrast, the impact of humans on rodent populations is likely to be negligible. This study investigated which climatic and/or environmental factors affect the population dynamics of the common vole. This temperate rodent is widespread across Europe and was one of the most abundant small mammal species throughout the Late Pleistocene. Location Europe. Taxon Common vole (Microtus arvalis). Methods We generated a dataset comprised of 4.2 kb long fragment of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 148 ancient and 51 modern specimens sampled from multiple localities across Europe and covering the last 60 thousand years (ka). We used Bayesian inference to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships and to estimate the age of the specimens that were not directly dated. Results We estimated the time to the most recent common ancestor of all last glacial and extant common vole lineages to be 90 ka ago and the divergence of the main mtDNA lineages present in extant populations to between 55 and 40 ka ago, which is earlier than most previous estimates. We detected several lineage turnovers in Europe during the period of high climate variability at the end of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3; 57-29 ka ago) in addition to those found previously around the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. In contrast, data from the Western Carpathians suggest continuity throughout the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) even at high latitudes. Main Conclusions The main factor affecting the common vole populations during the last glacial period was the decrease in open habitat during the interstadials, whereas climate deterioration during the LGM had little impact on population dynamics. This suggests that the rapid environmental change rather than other factors was the major force shaping the histories of the Late Pleistocene faunas.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio