0000000000114206
AUTHOR
Lutz Kindler
A Reconstruction of the Taphonomic History of GBY
This chapter aims to reconstruct the taphonomic processes that influenced the assemblages of Layers V-5 and V-6, as well as to identify the taphonomic role of particular agents that may have influenced the fossil bones and the stone artifacts deposited in these layers, and considers these results vis-a-vis other data, both from the site and experimental.
Fires at Neumark-Nord 2, Germany: An analysis of fire proxies from a Last Interglacial Middle Palaeolithic basin site
Few sites with evidence for fire use are known from the Last Interglacial in Europe. Hearth features are rarely preserved, probably as a result of post-depositional processes. The small postglacial basins (
Middle Pleistocene protein sequences from the rhinoceros genus Stephanorhinus and the phylogeny of extant and extinct Middle/Late Pleistocene Rhinocerotidae
BackgroundAncient protein sequences are increasingly used to elucidate the phylogenetic relationships between extinct and extant mammalian taxa. Here, we apply these recent developments to Middle Pleistocene bone specimens of the rhinoceros genusStephanorhinus. No biomolecular sequence data is currently available for this genus, leaving phylogenetic hypotheses on its evolutionary relationships to extant and extinct rhinoceroses untested. Furthermore, recent phylogenies based on Rhinocerotidae (partial or complete) mitochondrial DNA sequences differ in the placement of the Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis). Therefore, studies utilising ancient protein sequences from Middle Pleis…
Research perspectives for the study of Neandertal subsistence strategies based on the analysis of archaeozoological assemblages
Abstract The discipline of archaeozoology holds the potential to considerably contribute to knowledge about the social behaviour of Neandertals. However, the translation of proposed subsistence strategies into predictions about Neandertal social organisation still remains a challenge. The paper discusses the current state of archaeozoological research with respect to Neandertal subsistence. It is concluded that the methodological research focus in archaeozoology has shifted from its original holistic perspective to intensified/specialised studies of particular taphonomic components. The authors argue for a return to a more holistic perspective to develop the full potential of archaeolozoolo…
Oxygen isotope analysis of Equus teeth evidences early Eemian and early Weichselian palaeotemperatures at the Middle Palaeolithic site of Neumark-Nord 2, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany
Abstract Here we present phosphate oxygen isotope (δ 18OPO4) data from horse (Equus sp.) tooth enamel (bioapatite) from early Eemian and early Weichselian find levels at the archaeological site of Neumark-Nord 2, Germany. Based on the relationship between δ18OPO4 of bioapatite, body water, local precipitation and air temperature, these data are used to reconstruct palaeoclimatic conditions contemporary to the different phases of Neanderthal activity at the site. Bulk enamel samples representing one year of growth were taken from horse teeth from early Eemian (NN2/2b [∼121 ± 5 ka], and NN2/1c) and early Weichselian (NN2/0; ∼93 ± 7 ka) find levels, and δ18OPO4 values were then utilised to cal…
Short-term occupations at high elevation during the Middle Paleolithic at Kalavan 2 (Republic of Armenia).
The Armenian highlands encompasses rugged and environmentally diverse landscapes and is characterized by a mosaic of distinct ecological niches and large temperature gradients. Strong seasonal fluctuations in resource availability along topographic gradients likely prompted Pleistocene hominin groups to adapt by adjusting their mobility strategies. However, the role that elevated landscapes played in hunter-gatherer settlement systems during the Late Pleistocene (Middle Palaeolithic [MP]) remains poorly understood. At 1640 m above sea level, the MP site of Kalavan 2 (Armenia) is ideally positioned for testing hypotheses involving elevation-dependent seasonal mobility and subsistence strateg…
Reconstructing Site-Formation Processes at GBY—The Experiments
A set of experiments were initiated to gain qualitative insight into the processes of bone modification and to assess the timing of the biostratonomic chronology at Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY). Based on the results of the experiments, models for the internal operational sequence of an abrasional process due to water movement and trampling are presented. These models help to disentangle the taphonomic history at the site and have tremendous implications for future studies in bone taphonomy.
Environmental conditions at the Last Interglacial (Eemian) site Neumark‐Nord 2, Germany inferred from stable isotope analysis of freshwater mollusc opercula
Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments that improved the manuscript. Financial support for the excavations in Neumark‐Nord 2 was provided by the Lausitzer Mitteldeutsche Braunkohlengesellschaft mbH, the Landesamt fur Denkmalpflege und Archaologie Sachsen‐Anhalt (Harald Meller, Susanne Friederich), the Romisch‐Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz, the Leids Universiteits Fonds ‘Campagne voor Leiden’ program and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (N.W.O.).
The Acheulian Site of Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov
Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov (GBY) is located in the southern Hula Valley, which, in turn, is located in the northernmost segment of the Dead Sea Rift, part of the Great African Rift System. This region is an integral part of the “Levantine Corridor,” a land bridge connecting Africa and Europe, through which the diffusion and biotic exchange of many organisms took place in prehistoric times. The Hula Valley has preserved data of a phenomenon of great importance in human history: archaeological evidence recording hominin diffusion/migration out of Africa and into Eurasia. The unique sedimentological and hydrological conditions prevailing in the Hula, along with extensive and intensive tectonic activ…
Materials and Methodology
Analysis of the animal bones from Area C and the JB entails taxonomic identification followed by morphometric, taphonomic, and surface-modification analyses. Emphasis was also placed on a series of experiments, whose methodology is described below.
Direct terrestrial–marine correlation demonstrates surprisingly late onset of the last interglacial in central Europe
AbstractAn interdisciplinary study of a small sedimentary basin at Neumark Nord 2 (NN2), Germany, has yielded a high-resolution record of the palaeomagnetic Blake Event, which we are able to place at the early part of the last interglacial pollen sequence documented from the same section. We use this data to calculate the duration of this stratigraphically important event at 3400 ± 350 yr. More importantly, the Neumark Nord 2 data enables precise terrestrial–marine correlation for the Eemian stage in central Europe. This shows a remarkably large time lag of ca. 5000 yr between the MIS 5e ‘peak’ in the marine record and the start of the last interglacial in this region.
Testing heterogeneity in faunal assemblages from archaeological sites. Tumbling and trampling experiments at the early-Middle Pleistocene site of Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (Israel)
Abstract The current paper reports an experimental case study to test the heterogeneity of faunal assemblages from the Early-Middle Pleistocene Layers V-5 and V-6 of the Gesher Benot Ya’aqov Acheulian site (Israel). Tumbling and trampling experiments were initiated to gain qualitative insight into processes of bone modification and to assess the timing of the biostratonomic chronology, as it was assumed that both mechanisms were responsible for the formation of striations documented on the bone surfaces from the site. The tumbling experiments mimicked sediment movement in a calm lacustrine shoreline environment whereas the trampling experiments investigate the role of animal/hominin activit…
Stable isotope analysis of well-preserved 120,000-year-old herbivore bone collagen from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Neumark-Nord 2, Germany reveals niche separation between bovids and equids
Abstract Herbivores from the Neumark-Nord 2 archaeological site, Germany, were analysed for bone collagen stable carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope ratios in order to investigate feeding ecology at this early Last Interglacial (Eemian) shallow-lake site. Of 42 faunal samples selected, 23 yielded collagen, demonstrating remarkable preservation for material of this age. The results indicate clear inter-specific differences in δ 15 N and δ 13 C values, notably between equids ( Equus ) and bovids ( Bos/Bison ), with mean difference Δ 15 N of + 2‰ measured in the bovids compared to the equids. The potential reasons for these differences are explored, including physiology, herbivore fe…