Early Upper Palaeolithic before the Aurignacian

Between ~60 and ~25 ka BP two big changes are recognizable in the archaeological record of Europe: Modern humans replaced Neanderthals and the Middle Palaeolithic was replaced by the Upper Palaeolithic. The Early Upper Palaeolithic across Europe, especially before the Aurignacian, is characterized by a huge variability of different technocomplexes. The so-called transitional technocomplexes, thought to have been produced by Neanderthals, are considered to be either local innovations by Neanderthals or the product of cultural transmission of behaviours from incoming modern human populations. This study tests whether local innovation or diffusion of behaviours are supported by the Early Upper Palaeolithic record of the Middle Danube region in Central Europe. The results using eight assemblages from seven archaeological sites suggest that the transitional technocomplex of the region, the Szeletian, is best explained by diffusion of behaviour from incoming modern humans to local Neanderthal populations.British Academy/Leverhulme Trust (Small Grant 2016-2018), European Commission (FP7 Marie Curie CIG No 322261), Isaac Newton Trust, Leakey Foundation, Max-Planck-Society, McDonald Grants and Awards Fun

Reactivity parameters for nitrogen nucleophiles

The nucleophilic reactivities of amines, hydrazines, and pyridines were quantified using benzhydrylium ions and quinone methides as reference electrophiles. The scope and limitations of the linear free energy relationship log k2 = sN(N+E) for predicting rates of the reactions of carbocations and acylation agents was studied

Additional data to the stratigraphy and the chronology of the Kostenki 1 (Poliakov) sequence, Voronezh, Russia:Le Sungirien, Saint-Petersbourg 2016

Kostenki 1 is one of the many sites of the Kostenki- Borshchevo site cluster south of Voronezh, which has a long sequence covering the Early and Mid Upper Palaeo- lithic, including the Streletskian Cultural Layer V. Here we present stratigraphic data from our 1994 eldwork (sections of the 1981-1982 excavations) and radiocarbon dates for the CL IV and V. For dating we used our cross- dating approach on high quality conifer charcoal with ABA and ABOx-SC pre-treatment on sub-samples of the same charcoal sample. Our results show that the Strelets- kian CL V dates to ~42,500 14C uncal BP and is signi - cantly older than previously though

Did prehistoric foragers behave in an economically irrational manner? Raw material availability and technological organisation at the early Gravettian site of Willendorf II (Austria)

Willendorf II provides the longest and best-studied MIS 3 sequence in the Middle Danube region, and represents one of the key reference sequences for this time period in Central Europe. The assemblage chosen for analysis derives from archaeological horizon (AH) 5, attributed to the period of the first Gravettian between 30 and 27 ka uncal. BP. While previous analyses were all based on a selected inventory (mainly tools and cores) derived from the 1908/1909 excavations, the discovery of labelled wooden boxes containing numerous additional artefacts from the 1908/1909 excavations at the end of the 1990s in the cellar of the Natural History Museum in Vienna considerably raises the total number of finds for all archaeological horizons, and opens new perspectives for investigating Upper Palaeolithic behavioural variability in the Middle Danube region. For the first time, the total assemblage of AH 5 has been analysed. Moreover, for the first time all artefacts have been assigned to a raw material source area, allowing for quantified observations on raw material economy and technological variability in the early Gravettian of the Middle Danube region. Willendorf II provides an excellent basis for the study of Gravettian lithic assemblage variability due to the wide array of local and nonlocal lithic resources available at varying distances from the settlement. We discuss the results in the light of the concepts of "technological provisioning" developed by S.L. Kuhn (1992), as it turns out that distance to source alone is not suitable to predict and explain raw material frequencies and the character of transported technologies on nonlocal material at Willendorf II-AH5. We argue that other factors such as the degree of anticipation of foreseeable activities and occupation span might account for the observed economic patterns. Our results clearly have broader relevance for understanding assemblage variability in the Gravettian of Central Europe and further afield.This research was funded by the German Science Foundation (DFG) (grant MO-2369/1). M.B.'s research is funded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences. PRN's research is funded by an EC FP7 Career Integration Grant (NEMO-ADAP, Grant nr. 322261), the Leakey Foundation, the University of Cambridge and the Max-Planck-Society. We would like to thank Walpurga Antl-Weiser (Department of Prehistory, Natural History Museum, Vienna) for access to the Willendorf II assemblages and assistence during the data collection. We are also indebted to Anton Kern (Department of Prehistory, Natural History Museum, Vienna) for providing working space during extended stays in Vienna and the hospitability of his team at the Department of Prehistory. Further, we would like to thank Gerhard Trnka (Department of Prehistoric and Historic Archaeology, University of Vienna) for access to his Lithothek and discussion of raw material sources.This is the author accepted manuscript. It is currently under an indefinite embargo pending publication by Elsevier

Counterion effects in iminium-activated electrophilic aromatic substitutions of pyrroles.

Electrophilic substitution of pyrroles by a,b-unsaturated iminium ions is slow in acetonitrile when only weakly basic counterions are present. When the reactions are carried out in the presence of KCF3CO2, fast deprotonation of the intermediate r-adducts occurs, and the rate constant for the rate-determining CC bond-forming step can be predicted from the electrophilicity parameter E of the iminium ion and the N and s parameters of the pyrroles

Early modern human settlement of Europe north of the Alps occurred 43,500 years ago in a cold steppe-type environment.

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.We thank the Leakey Foundation (2006–2012), Max Planck Society (2006–2012), University of Vienna (2006–2011), Hugo Obermaier Society (2006), Federal Office for Scientific Affairs of the State of Belgium (projects Sc-004, Sc-09, MO/36/021), and the Hochschuljubiläumsfonds of the City of Vienna (2007) for funding our research. We further acknowledge the support of the Department of Prehistory (Natural History Museum, Vienna, Austria; W. Antl-Weiser), Marktgemeinde Aggsbach (H. Gerstbauer), Museumsverein Willendorf (K. Kappelmüller), and the Satzl and Perzl families.This is the accepted manuscript version of the article. The final version is available from PNAS at http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/09/16/1412201111.abstract

Neue Einblicke in das Gravettien von Willendorf II: Die Steinartefakte der Grabung 1993

The well-dated stratigraphic sequence of Willendorf II is a reference site for the Upper Palaeolithic in general and the Gravettian in particular. In 1993, a joint team of the Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique (Brussels, Belgium) and the University of Vienna carried out excavations at this loess site in the Danube valley known since the end of the 19th century. During the excavation season, the team recovered 391 artefacts. The majority attributed to AH 6 and 8. We performed a technological study based on an attribute analysis of the lithic artefacts. This study demonstrates that the assemblages of AH 6 and 8 differ significantly in terms of technology and techno-economy. AH 6 has a high proportion of non-local erratic flint. The unidirectional reduction strategy aimed at the production of bladelets, especially on high-quality raw materials, to further modify them into backed elements that could be used as projectiles. In addition to the unidirectional, volumetric reduction strategy, burins were also exploited as bladelet cores. Apart from the manufacture of backed elements, the tool spectrum contains burins, end scrapers and pieces with edge retouch. AH 8 is dominated by local raw materials, such as quartzite and siliceous limestone. The unidirectional reduction strategy aimed at the production of blades. The toolkit includes a range of different tool types. Splintered pieces occur most frequently. Furthermore, pointed blades, burins, end scrapers, edge retouches, truncations, a borer with edge retouch, and a notched piece are among the tools. The differences between AH 6 and AH 8 and the similarities of AH 6 to AH 5 and AH 6 of the old excavations highlight that the AH 6 and AH 8 of the 1993 excavations do not belong to the same phase of the Gravettian technocomplex. The hunter-gatherers of AH 6 show technological, techno-economic and socio-technological behaviours more likely to correspond to an early Gravettian, while AH 8 shows diagnostic features of the Pavlovian and thereby confirming the dominant view of researchers that AH 8 of Willendorf II belongs to the Pavlovian.P. R. Nigsts Forschungen wurden durch Fördermittel von folgenden Institutionen finanziert: Leakey Foundation, Europäische Kommission (EC FP7 Career Integration Grant, Projekt „NEMO-ADAP“, Nr. 322261), Sir Isaac Newton Trust, British Academy (British Academy/Leverhulme Small Grant), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, University of Cambridge, Universität Wien, Hugo Obermaier Preis 2006, und Hochschuljubiläumsfonds der Stadt Wien. M. D. Boschs Forschungen wurden durch Fördermittel von der Europäische Kommission (EC H2020 Marie Skłodowska Curie program EF, Projekt „EU-Beads”, Nr. 656325) finanziert

The Palaeolithic Sites of Mitoc, on the Prut river (Romania)

editorial reviewedThe first Palaeolithic discoveries in Romania were made in the 19 th century in Mitoc (Botoșani department). Five main stations were excavated, yielding Middle and Upper Palaeolithic industries (including Aurignacian, Gravettian and Epipalaeolithic). Some have yielded mixed industries; others were better preserved and understood, like Malu Galben