La grotte de la Belle-Roche (Sprimont, province de Liège) : un gisement paléontologique et archéologique d'exception au Benelux

This paper provides a synthesis of the multi-disciplinary research which has gone on the La Belle-Roche site (Sprimont, Belgium) for the last thirteen years. This «fossil» cave or palaeokarst has yielded deposits from the Early Middle Pleistocene, a remarkably rich and varied fauna of the Upper Cromerian (around 500,000 years old) and a prehistoric industry involving pebble tools which is by far the oldest traces of human occupation in the Benelux.Cordy Jean-Marie. La grotte de la Belle-Roche (Sprimont, province de Liège) : un gisement paléontologique et archéologique d'exception au Benelux. In: Bulletin de la Classe des sciences, tome 4, n°1-6, 1993. pp. 165-186

Découverte d'une pointe de flèche omalienne à Hout-si-Plout (Prov. de Liège, Belgique)

Cordy Jean-Marie. Découverte d'une pointe de flèche omalienne à Hout-si-Plout (Prov. de Liège, Belgique). In: Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française. Comptes rendus des séances mensuelles, tome 68, n°6, 1971. pp. 183-184

Les paléo-estuaires du stade isotopique 7 à Tourville-La-rivière et à Tancarville (Seine) : faune de rongeurs et cadre stratigraphique

The rodent faunas of the palaeoestuaries at Tourville and Tancarville have the same age (MIS 7) even if they are not exactly synchronous. The correlation between Tourville and Tancarville is confirmed. Saalian (fluvial or fluvio-marine aeolian) and Eemian (fluvial, aeolian) formations cover these palaeoestuaries.Les faunes de rongeurs des paleoestuaires de Tourville et de Tancarville sont du même âge (stade isotopique 7) même si elles ne sont pas exactement synchrones. La corrélation entre ces deux paléoestuaires est confirmée. Des formations saaliennes (fluviatiles ou fluviomarines, éoliennes) puis eemiennes (sables fluviatiles, dune) les recouvrent.Cordy Jean Marie, Carpentier Gérard, Lautridou Jean Pierre. Les paléo-estuaires du stade isotopique 7 à Tourville-La-rivière et à Tancarville (Seine) : faune de rongeurs et cadre stratigraphique. In: Quaternaire, vol. 14, n°1, 2003. Le Quaternaire de Normandie: nouvelles données biochronologiques et géochronologiques. pp. 15-23

10Be dating of the Main Terrace level in the Amblève valley (Ardennes, Belgium): new age constraint on the archaeological and palaeontological filling of the Belle-Roche palaeokarst

It is still disputed whether very old archaeological and palaeontological remains found in the Belle-Roche palaeocave (eastern Belgium) pertain to the Early (∼1 Ma) or Middle (∼0.5 Ma) Pleistocene. Here, in situ produced cosmogenic 10Be concentrations from a depth profile in nearby sediments of the Belle-Roche terrace (Amblève Main Terrace level) are used as an indirect solution of this chronological issue. The distribution of 10Be concentrations in the upper 3 m of this profile displays the theoretically expected exponential decrease with depth. Assuming a single exposure episode, we obtain a best fit age of 222.5±31 ka for the time of terrace abandonment. However, below 3 m, the 10Be concentrations show a marked progressive increase with depth. This distinctive cosmogenic signal is interpreted as the result of slow aggradation of the fluvial deposits over a lengthy interval. Modelling of the whole profile thus suggests that the onset of the terrace formation occurred at around 550 ka, with a sediment accumulation rate of ∼20 mm ka−1. Based on two slightly different reconstructions of the geomorphic evolution of the area and a discussion of the temporal link between the cave and Main Terrace levels, we conclude that the fossil-bearing layers in the palaeokarst pertain most probably to MIS 14–13, or possibly MIS 12–11. This age estimate for the large mammal association identified in the Belle-Roche palaeokarst and the attribution to MIS 14–13 of a similar fauna found in the lowermost fossiliferous layers of the Caune de l’Arago (Tautavel) are in mutual support. Our results therefore confirm the status of the Belle-Roche site as a reference site for the Cromerian mammal association in NW Europe

10Be dating of the Main Terrace level in the Amblève valley (Ardennes, Belgium): new age constraint on the archaeological and palaeontological filling of the Belle-Roche palaeokarst

It is still disputed whether very old archaeological and palaeontological remains found in the Belle-Roche palaeocave (eastern Belgium) pertain to the Early ( 1 Ma) or Middle ( 0.5 Ma) Pleistocene. Here, in situ produced cosmogenic 10Be concentrations from a depth profile in nearby sediments of the Belle-Roche terrace (Amblève Main Terrace level) are used as an indirect solution of this chronological issue. The distribution of 10Be concentrations in the upper 3 m of this profile displays the theoretically expected exponential decrease with depth. Assuming a single exposure episode, we obtain a best fit age of 222.5 31 ka for the time of terrace abandonment. However, below 3 m, the 10Be concentrations show a marked progressive increase with depth. This distinctive cosmogenic signal is interpreted as the result of slow aggradation of the fluvial deposits over a lengthy interval. Modelling of the whole profile thus suggests that the onset of the terrace formation occurred at around 550 ka, with a sediment accumulation rate of 20 mm/ka. Based on two slightly different reconstructions of the geomorphic evolution of the area and a discussion of the temporal link between the cave and Main Terrace levels, we conclude that the fossil-bearing layers in the palaeokarst pertain most probably to MIS 14–13 (or possibly MIS 12–11) and the artifact-bearing layer to MIS 13 (or possibly MIS 11). This age estimate for the large mammal association identified in the Belle-Roche palaeokarst and the attribution to MIS 14–13 of a similar fauna found in the lowermost fossiliferous layers of the Caune de l’Arago (Tautavel) are in mutual support. Our results therefore confirm the status of the Belle-Roche site as a reference site for the Cromerian mammal association and the Early Palaeolithic industry in NW Europe

Caratteri geomorfologici e paleogeografici del sito ad Oreopiteco di Fiume Santo (Sassari, Sardegna settentrionale)

There is a summary of the first results obtained in the study of the area of Fiume Santo, where there has been the discovery of a site of Oreopithecus bambolii of the Upper Miocene. The investigation has identified a rich fossiliferous deposit of a fluvial delta environment, which has substantial faunistic analogies with the famous deposit of the Tuscan Maremma. However, among the 14 continental animal species identified so far, there are some which have never been found before either in Sardinia or in Tuscany. The palaeogeographical reconstruction has allowed identification in the Nurra of a hydrographic network far more important than that existing today, within a landscape of hilly dome-like relief linked by extensive plains in a morphoclimatic environment of sparse savannah.Vengono riassunti i primi risultati ottenuti nello studio dell'area di Fiume Santo dove è stato rinvenuto il sito ad Oreopitheco bambolii del Miocene superiore. L'indagine condotta ha permesso di identificare un ricco giacimento fossilifero di ambiente deltizio che presenta sostanziali analogie faunistiche con il celebre giacimento della Maremma toscana. Tuttavia fra le 14 specie di animali continentali finora individuate ve ne sono anche alcune mai segnalate prima oltre che in Sardegna anche in Toscana. La ricostruzione paleogeografica ha permesso di riconoscere nella Nurra una rete idrografica molto più importante rispetto a quella attuale inserita in un paesaggio di rilievi collinari cupoliformi raccordati da superfici pianeggianti in un ambiente morfoclimatico di rada savana