Search results for " Paleolithic"

Formation processes at a high resolution Middle Paleolithic site: Cueva Antón (Murcia, Spain)

2013

Cueva Anton is a Middle Paleolithic rockshelter located in the valley of the River Mula (Murcia, Spain). The archeological investigation of the site, which began with salvage work in 1991, resumed in 2006 and is still ongoing, uncovered a succession spanning most of MIS 3 and MIS 4 (ca. 75–36 ka) and featuring a well preserved human occupation record. This paper presents the first information about site stratigraphy and site formation processes. Geoarcheological data collected in the field and through micromorphological observation show that the archeological succession at Cueva Anton is mainly composed of alluvial sediments, with thin intercalations of gravitational and slope material. The…

Abstracts — Second Symposium on Upper Paleolithic

1988

Ancient human genomes suggest three ancestral populations for present-day Europeans

2014

We sequenced the genomes of a ∼7,000-year-old farmer from Germany and eight ∼8,000-year-old hunter-gatherers from Luxembourg and Sweden. We analysed these and other ancient genomes1,2,3,4 with 2,345 contemporary humans to show that most present-day Europeans derive from at least three highly differentiated populations: west European hunter-gatherers, who contributed ancestry to all Europeans but not to Near Easterners; ancient north Eurasians related to Upper Palaeolithic Siberians3, who contributed to both Europeans and Near Easterners; and early European farmers, who were mainly of Near Eastern origin but also harboured west European hunter-gatherer related ancestry. We model these popula…

New chronology for Ksâr ‘Akil (Lebanon) supports Levantine route of modern human dispersal into Europe

2015

Modern human dispersal into Europe is thought to have occurred with the start of the Upper Paleolithic around 50,000-40,000 y ago. The Levantine corridor hypothesis suggests that modern humans from Africa spread into Europe via the Levant. Ksâr 'Akil (Lebanon), with its deeply stratified Initial (IUP) and Early (EUP) Upper Paleolithic sequence containing modern human remains, has played an important part in the debate. The latest chronology for the site, based on AMS radiocarbon dates of shell ornaments, suggests that the appearance of the Levantine IUP is later than the start of the first Upper Paleolithic in Europe, thus questioning the Levantine corridor hypothesis. Here we report a seri…

Short-term occupations at high elevation during the Middle Paleolithic at Kalavan 2 (Republic of Armenia).

2021

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…

Late Pleistocene (MIS 3-4) climate inferred from micromammal communities and δ18O of rodents from Les Pradelles, France.

2013

The middle Paleolithic stratigraphic sequence of Les Pradelles (Charente, France) spans from the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 until the middle of MIS 3. Micromammal remains are present in all the stratigraphic levels, offering a rare opportunity to address the questions of both environmental and climatic fluctuations throughout this period. Climate modes were studied through the taphonomy, biodiversity and oxygen isotope compositions of phosphate (δ18O p ) from 66 samples of rodent tooth enamel. The δ18O p values from the lower sedimentary levels provide summer mean air temperatures of 19 ± 2°C (level 2/1) and of 16 ± 2°C (levels 2A, 2B and 4A). Within the middle of sequence (level 4…

Cueva Antón: A multi-proxy MIS 3 to MIS 5a paleoenvironmental record for SE Iberia

2016

Overlying a palustrine deposit of unknown age (complex FP), and protected from weathering and erosion inside a large cave/rock-shelter cavity, the sedimentary fill of Cueva Antón, a Middle Paleolithic site in SE Spain, corresponds in most part (sub-complexes AS2-to-AS5) to a ca.3 m-thick Upper Pleistocene terrace of the River Mula. Coupled with the constraints derived from the deposit’s paleoclimatic proxies, OSL dating places the accumulation of this terrace in MIS 5a, and radiocarbon dates from the overlying breccia cum alluvium (sub-complex AS1) fall in the middle part of MIS 3; the intervening hiatus relates to valley incision and attendant erosion. The two intervals represented remain …

Middle Palaeolithic flint procurement in Central Mediterranean Iberia: IMplications for human mobility.

2014

Different flint types from the Middle Palaeolithic site of Abrigo de la Quebrada (Chelva, Valencia) are characterized,  both macro- and microscopically, and compared with types found at other localities in the region. Although procurement predominantly concerned the immediate vicinity of sites, our results show the presence of the same types in assemblages separated by distances of up to 120 km. The long distances involved are suggestive of a pattern of North-South mobility of human groups along the coastline of central Mediterranean Iberia.

In glacial environments beyond glacial terrains: Human eco-dynamics in late Pleistocene Mediterranean Iberia

2013

The Iberian Peninsula south of the Ebro River enjoyed one of the mildest climates of Pleistocene Europe, but still experienced significant and rapid environmental shifts caused by global climate regimes. We examine the interplay between technological, social, and land-use dynamics as culturally mediated responses to climate change outside the periglacial zone. We combine information from excavated sites across eastern and southeastern Spain with systematic survey data from an intensive study area within this larger region to examine Upper Paleolithic behavioral adaptations to the environmental shifts of the late Pleistocene (late MIS-3 through MIS-2). We define indexes that serve as proxies…

Diachronic variation in the Middle Paleolithic settlement of Abrigo de la Quebrada (Chelva, Spain)

2017

Abstract This paper compares levels IV and VIII of Abrigo de la Quebrada. The study includes knapping technique, raw material, fauna, and the spatial distribution of lithic and bone remains. Although both levels correspond to cumulative palimpsests, patterns of resource management and use of space that suggest changes in the rhythm of occupation and the functionality of the settlements can be discerned. A change in mobility patterns probably underpins the differences between these two levels of Quebrada, but assessing this hypothesis is made difficult by the lack of comparable documentation for other sites in the region.