Stable isotopes confirm the Banwell Bone Cave Mammal Assemblage Zone represents an MIS 5 fauna

The position of the Banwell Bone Cave mammal assemblage zone (MAZ) in the mammalian biostratigraphy of the British Isles has been the focus of debate for decades. Dominated by fauna typical of cold environments it was originally linked to the marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS) 4 stadial (ca. 72–59 ka). Subsequently it was argued that the Banwell Bone Cave MAZ more likely relates to the temperate interstadial of MIS 5a (ca. 86–72 ka). It is envisioned that “cold fauna” such as bison and reindeer moved into Britain during stadial MIS 5b (ca. 90 ka) and were subsequently isolated by the rising sea level during MIS 5a. Here we investigate environmental conditions during the Banwell Bone Cave MAZ using bone collagen δ13C and δ15N and tooth enamel δ18O and δ13C isotope analysis. We analyse bison and reindeer from the MAZ type-site, Banwell Bone Cave. Our results show unusually high δ15N values, which we ascribe to arid conditions within a temperate environment. Palaeotemperature estimates derived from enamel δ18O indicate warm temperatures, similar to present day. These results confirm that the Banwell Bone Cave MAZ relates to a temperate interstadial and supports its correlation to MIS 5a rather than MIS 4

Pleistocene and Holocene palaeoclimates in the Gebel Akhdar (Libya) estimated using herbivore tooth enamel oxygen isotope compositions

The palaeoclimate of the Gebel Akhdar massif, in Cyrenaica, northeast Libya, is investigated using the stable oxygen isotope ratio (δ18O) of herbivore tooth enamel from the archaeological faunal assemblages of the Haua Fteah and Hagfet ed Dabba caves. Samples accumulated through human activity at the sites, thus climatic interpretations are in direct chronological association with periods of human presence in the local landscape. Wild Ammotragus lervia (Barbary sheep) and Bos sp. (auroch), and domestic Ovis sp. and Capra sp. from the Levalloiso-Mousterian (≥73.3–43.5 ka) to the Neolithic (∼9.3–5.4 ka) cultural phases are analysed. Results indicate that the most arid environment represented by the samples occurred at ∼32 ka, when populations associated with Dabban lithic assemblages were present within the region. Climatic instability increased during oxygen isotope stage 2. Consistent with other palaeoenvironmental investigations in the Gebel Akhdar, there is no evidence for hyper-arid events during the last glacial and surface water, most probably in the form of local springs, was available throughout the time periods considered. Overall, results indicate that different cultural groups occupied the Gebel Akhdar landscape under different climatic conditions, but that climate variations appear to have been of lower magnitude than those that occurred at inland North African locations. These reconstructions provide further support to the theory that the Gebel Akhdar may have served as a refugium for human populations in North Africa during times of global climatic extremes

Increased climate seasonality during the late glacial in the Gebel Akhdar, Libya

Oxygen isotope analysis (δ18O) of caprine and bovine tooth enamel carbonates from the Haua Fteah cave (Gebel Akhdar massif, northeast Libya) reveals significant differences in palaeoseasonality during the last c. 70 ka. Data indicate different phases of human occupation of the region occurred under notably different climatic conditions. During the last glacial period, prior to the Last Glacial Maximum, a gradual increase in climate aridity occurred. This was followed in the late glacial (c. 16.6–14.7 ka) by considerably more arid conditions and much greater climate seasonality, which was likely produced by changing winter precipitation amounts and a strengthening of arid summer air masses. The high seasonality in the late glacial coincides with a period when human activity at the Haua Fteah greatly intensified. Significant changes in subsistence strategies and the seasonal exploitation of food resources also occurred at this time. The results presented here suggest that changes in the seasonal climate may have affected the seasonal supply of floral and faunal resources available to local human populations at the time, which resulted in changing subsistence practices

Speleothem evidence for C3 dominated vegetation during the Late Miocene (Messinian) of South Africa

During the Late Miocene, Africa experienced a number of ecological transitions including the spread of C4 grasslands, the expansion of the Sahara Desert, the Messinian Salinity Crisis and a number of mammalian migrations and expansions, including the origin of the hominin clade. A detailed understanding of the relationship between environmental change and hominin evolution is hampered by the paucity of data available from terrestrial localities, especially in southern Africa. Here, we present a stable isotope and trace element record from a speleothem from the South African cave site of Hoogland. Uranium-lead dating and magnetostratigraphy places the speleothem within the Messinian Age (7.25–5.33 Ma) of the Late Miocene, making it the oldest known cave deposit from the region near the UNESCO Fossil Hominids of South Africa World Heritage Site (locally known as the “Cradle of Humankind”). Low carbon isotope values indicate a predominantly C3 vegetation in the vicinity of the cave throughout the period of speleothem growth. It is not possible to determine if this represents a C3 grassland or a C3 woodland, but it is clear that an equivalent C3-rich environment has yet to be found during the Messinian of east Africa. We conclude that the C4 grass expansion occurred millions of years later in South Africa than it did in eastern Africa, and that this vegetation shift should be considered when comparing African vegetation change with the late Miocene hominin fossil record

Late glacial palaeoclimate investigations at King Arthur’s Cave and Sun Hole Cave.

King Arthur’s Cave (Wye Valley) and Sun Hole Cave (Cheddar Gorge) currently provide the earliest dates for a human presence in the British Isles after the Last Glacial Maximum. The earliest phase of activity at these sites has been dated to c. 15.2 to 14.6 thousand years cal. BP, which spans the onset of the Late Glacial Interstadial, a major global climate transition characterised by rapidly warming temperatures. Here we present stable isotope data from horse (Equus ferus) teeth found in the zooarchaeological assemblages at the sites. We also report two new radiocarbon dates on specimens from King Arthur’s Cave. The Equus tooth enamel provides a record of climatic conditions during the animals’ tooth formation. Evidence of human modification of the teeth (cut marks and fractures) chronologically tie these palaeoclimatic records to the earliest post-LGM archaeology at the two sites, thus informing on the climatic and environmental context under which human activity in these areas took place. Results indicate that people were present at the two sites during a period of climatic warming, with temperatures perhaps only marginally colder than present day conditions. However, suboptimal environmental conditions are suggested and may indicate changing vegetation dynamics within the local landscape

Sand stirred by chaotic advection

We study the spatial structure of a granular material, N particles subject to inelastic mutual collisions, when it is stirred by a bidimensional smooth chaotic flow. A simple dynamical model is introduced where four different time scales are explicitly considered: i) the Stokes time, accounting for the inertia of the particles, ii) the mean collision time among the grains, iii) the typical time scale of the flow, and iv) the inverse of the Lyapunov exponent of the chaotic flow, which gives a typical time for the separation of two initially close parcels of fluid. Depending on the relative values of these different times a complex scenario appears for the long-time steady spatial distribution of particles, where clusters of particles may or not appear.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Self-organized current transport through low angle grain boundaries in YBa2_2Cu3_3O7−δ_{7-\delta} thin films, studied magnetometrically

The critical current density flowing across low angle grain boundaries in YBa$_2$Cu$_3$O$_{7-\delta}$ thin films has been studied magnetometrically. Films (200 nm thickness) were deposited on SrTiO$_3$ bicrystal substrates containing a single [001] tilt boundary, with angles of 2, 3, 5, and 7 degrees, and the films were patterned into rings. Their magnetic moments were measured in applied magnetic fields up to 30 kOe at temperatures of 5 - 95 K; current densities of rings with or without grain boundaries were obtained from a modified critical state model. For rings containing 5 and 7 degree boundaries, the magnetic response depends strongly on the field history, which arises in large part from self-field effects acting on the grain boundary.Comment: 8 pages, including 7 figure

The Will to Prevail: Inside the Legal Battle to Save Sweet Briar

Part I provides an in-depth factual overview, beginning with the Sweet Briar College\u27s founding in the early 1900s. The commentary then turns to the controversial decision to close and discusses the facts and legal theories of the case, the decisions by the circuit court and the Supreme Court of Virginia, and the eventual settlement that kept the school alive. In Part II, the discussion shifts to the landmark nature of this case, not only for Sweet Briar College, but also for other Virginia colleges and non-profits around the country. The essay analyzes the legal questions arising from the case, including whether a Virginia corporation could also be a trustee, and, what were the Board\u27s legal obligations in this case

Iso-Wetlands: unlocking wetland ecologies and agriculture in prehistory through sulfur isotopes

Iso-Wetlands is a new, NERC-funded collaborative research project involving researchers at UCL Institute of Archaeology, the University of Leeds and the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. The project is developing sulfur isotope analysis of archaeological plants and animals as a new tool for exploring hydrological conditions under which agricultural production was taking place. This development has the potential to improve understanding of water management strategies in the past, particularly in relation to seasonal floodwater agriculture and wetland agriculture (for example, rice paddy systems). The project will open wider possibilities for the use of sulfur isotopes in archaeology and ecology to examine wetland habitat use by both people and animals