Holocene palaeoecological changes recorded in mollusc-bearing cave sediments, the Cave above the Słupska Gate (southern Poland)

The Cave above the Słupska Gate (southern Poland) contains about 2m depth of mollusc-bearing deposits. Radiocarbon and archaeological dating indicate that these deposits accumulated during the Holocene (Preboreal to Subatlantic), although the earliest layers may date from the end of the Pleistocene. Eight layers of silts, sands and loess-like deposits were distinguished at the site. Seven of them contained identifiable snail shells, sometimes in large numbers, and sparse remains of vertebrates and archaeological artefacts. The molluscan assemblages retrieved from the cave contain over 40 taxa and 1,200 specimens. The balance of species distributed among 11 zoogeographical groups enabled us to identify four assemblages which differ in their ecological structure and in the composition of the fauna. The oldest fauna (Late Glacial/Preboreal and/or Preboreal) with many shade-loving species is typical of a cool climate. Episodes of drying are evidenced by the loess-like deposits and the occurrence of open-country snails such as the glacial relic Vallonia tenuilabris. This species disappeared in the younger part of the Early Holocene, which is the most distinctive feature of the Słupsko Hill sequence. The Middle Holocene climatic optimum is characterised by abundantand diverse fauna which is typical of mixed and deciduous forests with distinct oceanic influences. The criticalDiscus ruderatus and Discus rotundatus succession reflects the general trends in European malacofaunas. The Late Holocene record may bear some hiatuses, but the shift away from a complete forest fauna is evident

Genetic insights into the social organization of Neanderthals

Genomic analyses of Neanderthals have previously provided insights into their population history and relationship to modern humans1–8, but the social organization of Neanderthal communities remains poorly understood. Here we present genetic data for 13 Neanderthals from two Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Altai Mountains of southern Siberia: 11 from Chagyrskaya Cave9,10 and 2 from Okladnikov Cave11—making this one of the largest genetic studies of a Neanderthal population to date. We used hybridization capture to obtain genome-wide nuclear data, as well as mitochondrial and Y-chromosome sequences. Some Chagyrskaya individuals were closely related, including a father–daughter pair and a pair of second-degree relatives, indicating that at least some of the individuals lived at the same time. Up to one-third of these individuals’ genomes had long segments of homozygosity, suggesting that the Chagyrskaya Neanderthals were part of a small community. In addition, the Y-chromosome diversity is an order of magnitude lower than the mitochondrial diversity, a pattern that we found is best explained by female migration between communities. Thus, the genetic data presented here provide a detailed documentation of the social organization of an isolated Neanderthal community at the easternmost extent of their known range

Browsers, grazers or mix-feeders? Study of the diet of extinct Pleistocene Eurasian forest rhinoceros Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis (J¨ager, 1839) and woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach, 1799)

The wooly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis) and forest rhinoceros (Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis) were prominent representatives of the Middle and Late Pleistocene glacial and interglacial faunas of Eurasia. Their diet has traditionally been inferred on functional morphology of the dentition and skull. In rare cases, food remains are preserved in the fossas of the teeth or as gut content. New approaches to infer diet include the study of isotopes and mesowear. Here we apply all four methods to infer the diet of these emblematic rhinoceros’ species and compare the food actually taken with the food available, as indicated by independent botanical data from the localities where the rhinoceros’ fossils were found: Gorz´ow Wielkopolski (Eemian) and Starunia (Middle Vistulian) as well as analysis of literature data. We also made inferences on the season of death of these individuals. Our results indicate that the woolly rhino in both Europe and Asia (Siberia) was mainly a grazer, although at different times of the year and depending on the region its diet was also supplemented by leaves of shrubs and trees. According to the results of isotope studies, there were important individual variations. The data show a clear seasonal variation in the isotope composition of this rhino’s diet. In contrast, Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis was a browser, though its diet included low-growing vegetation. Its habitat consisted of various types of forests, from riparian to deciduous and mixed forests, and open areas. The diet of this species consisted of selected items of vegetation, also including plants growing near both flowing and standing waters. The food remains from the fossae of the teeth indicated flexible browsing, confirming the previous interpretations based on functional morphology and stable isotopes. Long-term data from mesowear and microwear across a wider range of S. kirchbergensis fossils indicate a more mixed diet with a browsing component. The different diets of both of rhinoceros reflect not only the different habitats, but also climate changes that occurred during the Late Pleistocene

Diversity of muskox Ovibos moschatus (Zimmerman, 1780) (Bovidae, Mammalia) in time and space based on cranial morphometry

Muskox Ovibos moschatus is a Pleistocene relic, which has survived only in North America and Greenland. During the Pleistocene, it was widely distributed in Eurasia and North America. To evaluate its morphological variability through time and space, we conducted an extensive morphometric study of 217 Praeovibos and Ovibos skull remains. The analyses showed that the skulls grew progressively wider from Praeovibos sp. to the Pleistocene O. moschatus, while from the Pleistocene to the recent O. moschatus, the facial regions of the skull turned narrower and shorter. We also noticed significant geographic differences between the various Pleistocene Ovibos crania. Siberian skulls were usually larger than those from Western and Central Europe. Eastern Europeanmuskoxen also exceeded in size those from the other regions of Europe. The large size of Late Pleistocene muskoxen from regions located in more continental climatic regimes was probably associated with the presence of more suitable food resources in steppe-tundra settings. Consistently, radiocarbon-dated records of this species are more numerous in colder periods, when the steppe-tundra was widely spread, and less abundant in warmer periods

Ancient DNA of narrow-headed vole reveal common features of the Late Pleistocene population dynamics in cold-adapted small mammals

The narrow-headed vole, collared lemming and common vole were the most abundant small mammal species across the Eurasian Late Pleistocene steppe-tundra environment. Previous ancient DNA studies of the collared lemming and common vole have revealed dynamic population histories shaped by climatic fluctuations. To investigate the extent to which species with similar adaptations share common evolutionary histories, we generated a dataset comprised the mitochondrial genomes of 139 ancient and 6 modern narrow-headed voles from several sites across Europe and northwestern Asia covering approximately the last 100 thousand years (kyr). We inferred Bayesian time-aware phylogenies using 11 radiocarbon-dated samples to calibrate the molecular clock. Divergence of the main mtDNA lineages across the three species occurred during marine isotope stages (MIS) 7 and MIS 5, suggesting a common response of species adapted to open habitat during interglacials. We identified several time-structured mtDNA lineages in European narrow-headed vole, suggesting lineage turnover. The timing of some of these turnovers was synchronous across the three species, allowing us to identify the main drivers of the Late Pleistocene dynamics of steppe- and cold-adapted species.NWOVI.C.191.070Human Origin

Heavy reliance on plants for Romanian cave bears evidenced by amino acid nitrogen isotope analysis

Heavy reliance on plants is rare in Carnivora and mostly limited to relatively small species in subtropical settings. The feeding behaviors of extinct cave bears living during Pleistocene cold periods at middle latitudes have been intensely studied using various approaches including isotopic analyses of fossil collagen. In contrast to cave bears from all other regions in Europe, some individuals from Romania show exceptionally high δ15N values that might be indicative of meat consumption. Herbivory on plants with high δ15N values cannot be ruled out based on this method, however. Here we apply an approach using the δ15N values of individual amino acids from collagen that offsets the baseline δ15N variation among environments. The analysis yielded strong signals of reliance on plants for Romanian cave bears based on the δ15N values of glutamate and phenylalanine. These results could suggest that the high variability in bulk collagen δ15N values observed among cave bears in Romania reflects niche partitioning but in a general trophic context of herbivory

Chronostratigraphy of Late Quaternary clastic cave sediments in Poland in 19th and 21st centuries - what has changed?

In 21st century the chronostratigraphy of cave sediments is built on the basis of modern methods: sedimentological analysis, statistical analysis of palaeozoological data, radiometric and luminescence dating and many others. For the time of last 50 000 years the four geochronological units (or appropriate chronostratigraphic units) are usually proposed in Poland in the researches of cave sediments. They are: Interpleniglacial, Upper/Younger Pleniglacial, Late Glacial and Holocene. That scheme has over 150 years of evolution, and its origin was tied with biostratigraphical scheme built by Edouard Lartet in a middle of 19th century. Lartet's stratigraphy for the same period was also made of four units: Cave Bear Epoch, Mammoth and Wooly Rhinoceros Epoch, Reindeer Epoch and Auroch Epoch. Although basing on different methods and using different terminology, the two schemes – from the 19th and from 21st centuries – are similar and correlatab

The site of Late Quaternary cave sediments : the Shelter above the Zegar Cave in Zegarowe Rocks (Częstochowa Upland)

The Shelter above the Zegar Cave (Shelter No 388) (N 50°25’41” E 19°40’27”) is located in the Zegarowe Rocks ridge in the Ryczów Upland (southern part of the Czêstochowa Upland), municipalityWolbrom, district Olkusz. In 2009, Mrs. Jadwiga and Mr. Lucjan Wodarz found an archeological flint artifact in a type of leaf point at the slope below the Shelter. This finding allowed suspecting the presence of Palaeolithic cultural layers inside or near the Shelter. The authors’aim was to recognize the geological context of the Palaeolithic settlement of the Shelter above the Zegar Cave and its neighborhood, and in further perspective of the entire southern part of the Ryczów Upland micro-region. Four layers were discovered in the Shelter during field works (downward): I – humic silty loam, Holocene; II – loess altered by secondary soil processes during the Holocene; III – unaltered loess, dated to MOIS 2; IV – silty cave loam with limestone rubble, dated to MOIS 3. The chronostratigraphy is based on lithostratigraphy and confirmed by radiocarbon and thermoluminescence dating. An archaeological cultural level occurs in layer IV, most probably related to the shift from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic. The sequence of cave sediments may be well correlated with numerous profiles of cave sites from the Kraków-Czêstochowa Upland

Holocene palaeoecological changes recorded in mollusc-bearing cave sediments, the Cave above the Słupska Gate (southern Poland)

The Cave above the Słupska Gate (southern Poland) contains about 2m depth of mollusc-bearing deposits. Radiocarbon and archaeological dating indicate that these deposits accumulated during the Holocene (Preboreal to Subatlantic), although the earliest layers may date from the end of the Pleistocene. Eight layers of silts, sands and loess-like deposits were distinguished at the site. Seven of them contained identifiable snail shells, sometimes in large numbers, and sparse remains of vertebrates and archaeological artefacts. The molluscan assemblages retrieved from the cave contain over 40 taxa and 1,200 specimens. The balance of species distributed among 11 zoogeographical groups enabled us to identify four assemblages which differ in their ecological structure and in the composition of the fauna. The oldest fauna (Late Glacial/Preboreal and/or Preboreal) with many shade-loving species is typical of a cool climate. Episodes of drying are evidenced by the loess-like deposits and the occurrence of open-country snails such as the glacial relic Vallonia tenuilabris. This species disappeared in the younger part of the Early Holocene, which is the most distinctive feature of the Słupsko Hill sequence. The Middle Holocene climatic optimum is characterised by abundantand diverse fauna which is typical of mixed and deciduous forests with distinct oceanic influences. The criticalDiscus ruderatus and Discus rotundatus succession reflects the general trends in European malacofaunas. The Late Holocene record may bear some hiatuses, but the shift away from a complete forest fauna is evident