Paleoenvironments from robust loess stratigraphy using high-resolution color and grain-size data of the last glacial Krems-Wachtberg record (NE Austria)

The complex interplay of dust sedimentation, pedogenesis, and erosion/reworking in the formation of loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) challenges paleoenvironmental proxies. Here we show that color and grain size are essential parameters characterizing loess profiles and support robust stratigraphies as a basis for reconstructions in the context of local geo-ecological and large-scale paleoclimatic evolution. Detailed paleoenvironmental records from the period since the arrival of anatomically modern humans to the last glacial maximum are scarce in the Alpine surroundings. The c. 7.5 m thick LPS Krems-Wachtberg, NE Austria, known for its well-preserved Upper Paleolithic context at a depth of 5.5 m, formed between 40 and 20 ka BP by quasi-continuous dust-sedimentation, interrupted by phases of incipient pedogenesis and local reworking. The new KW2015 composite is based on three sections studied and sampled at 2.5 cm resolution. Color and grain size data support a robust stratigraphy for reconstructions of the pedosedimentary evolution. The marked transition from oxidized to reduced paleosols of KW2015 around 34–35 ka corresponds to the Middle-to Upper Pleniglacial transition as part of a general cooling trend from marine isotope stage (MIS) 3 to 2, intensely modulated by millennial-scale climatic fluctuations as recorded in the Greenland ice core data. The distinct response of KW2015 to these trends highlights that reconstructing LPS evolution based on a robust stratigraphy is a prerequisite to paleoenvironmental proxy interpretation

Al Hamriya – Dynamik einer Muschelhaufenlandschaft in den Vereinigten Arabischen Emiraten. Archaeologia Austriaca|Archaeologia Austriaca Band 97-98/2014|

Die Küstenmorphologie im Norden der Vereinigten Arabischen Emirate zeichnet sich durch eine Vielzahl an Lagunen aus. Besonders in einer ariden Umgebung bilden diese Habitate wichtige Zentren erhöhter Biomasseproduktion, was auch den Menschen schon seit dem Neolithikum angezogen hat. Heute zeugen unzählige Muschelhaufen und große von Molluskenschalen bedeckte Areale davon. Auch im Bereich der Paläolagune von Hamriya haben sich im Lauf der Jahrtausende die Abfälle der lokalen Subsistenz über Hunderte Hektar verteilt. Im Zuge zweier Feldkampagnen, 2005 und 2006/2007, wurde das archäologische Potential der Fundstelle mit einer Kombination aus selektiven und systematischen Techniken untersucht. Angesichts der raschen wirtschaftlichen Entwicklung in der Region geschah dies vor dem Hintergrund einer geplanten Unterschutzstellung für spätere Forschungen. Dabei wurde schnell deutlich, dass eine Lagune kein statisches Habitat darstellt, sondern einem durch wechselnde Umweltbedingungen bedingten Entwicklungsprozess unterliegt. Diese Veränderungen sind am archäologischen Befund sichtbar. Durch eine Untersuchung der Genese der Muschelhaufenlandschaft von Hamriya soll hier versucht werden, das Siedlungsverhalten des Menschen zu erklären

Anisotropy-magnetic susceptibility from the Krems Wachtberg archaeological Site (Austria) and high temperature susceptibility

The loess sediment embedding the main Gravettian layer at the Krems-Wachtberg archaeological site facilitates exceptional preservation. To gain insight in the sedimentation process before and after the Paleolithic settlement, the magnetic fabric (preferential orientation of magnetic particles) of loess of the Krems-Wachtberg site is investigated. Magnetic fabric properties clearly show an eolian origin of the loess, but may indicate some relocation in the meter above the cultural layer. The magnetic fabric properties can be divided into three intervals, the top interval shows lowest foliation and inconsistent magnetic fabric directions. The middle interval around the main cultural layer shows low foliation, but a clear preferential NW - SE direction of the lineation. This lineation is interpreted as preferential direction of the eolian loess accumulation from the South-East. The interval below ca. 0.5 m underneath the main find horizon shows a northeast-southwest lineation, but an imbrication suggesting that sediment accumulation occurred perpendicular to this direction, similar to the interval around the find horizon

Immediate processing of erotic stimuli in paedophilia and controls: a case control study

BACKGROUND: Most neuroimaging studies investigating sexual arousal in paedophilia used erotic pictures together with a blocked fMRI design and long stimulus presentation time. While this approach allows the detection of sexual arousal, it does not enable the assessment of the immediate processing of erotically salient stimuli. Our study aimed to identify neuronal networks related to the immediate processing of erotic stimuli in heterosexual male paedophiles and healthy age-matched controls. METHODS: We presented erotic pictures of prepubescent children and adults in an event related fMRI-design to eight paedophilic subjects and age-matched controls. RESULTS: Erotic pictures of females elicited more activation in the right temporal lobe, the right parietal lobe and both occipital lobes and erotic pictures of children activated the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex in both groups. An interaction of sex, age and group was present in the right anteriolateral oribitofrontal cortex. CONCLUSIONS: Our event related study design confirmed that erotic pictures activate some of the brain regions already known to be involved in the processing of erotic pictures when these are presented in blocks. In addition, it revealed that erotic pictures of prepubescent children activate brain regions critical for choosing response strategies in both groups, and that erotically salient stimuli selectively activate a brain region in paedophilic subjects that had previously been attributed to reward and punishment, and that had been shown to be implicated in the suppression of erotic response and deception

Using archaeological data and sediment parameters to review the formation of the Gravettian layers at Krems‐Wachtberg

The Gravettian site Krems-Wachtberg in northeast Austria produced a wealth of archaeological and sedimentary data. Precondition for a detailed study of the formation processes is co-occurrence of find layers with in situ and redeposited material. We use archaeological data and sediment parameters to review and refine a formation model that was based solely on field observations. The archaeological perspective relies upon the rich chipped stone assemblage where each artefact is attributed with 3D position, orientation, stratigraphy, typo-technological description, and raw material determination. This enabled systematic refitting and 3D analyses of the results. High-resolution sampling of the sediment sequence which was conducted in six columns at different locations of the excavated area provided comparable results for grain size, colour and carbonate content. The study illustrates the complementary benefits of field observations, archaeological data and sediment parameters. While detailed loess stratigraphy creates the frame for understanding palaeoenvironmental processes, archaeological data enhances visibility of local post-occupational sedimentary processes. This allows the archaeological sequence to be placed into a cycle of gradual de- and restabilisation of the palaeosurface. Burial of the ~31k cal abp occupation layer occurred by solifluction, slope wash and aeolian deposition between two stable phases marked by tundra gley soils