Abstract
Peopling of Central Europe by Middle Pleistocene hominids is highly debatable, mainly due to the relatively harsh climatic and environmental conditions that require cultural and anatomical ...adjustments. At least several archaeological sites certify human occupation in the region dated back to MIS 13-11, but they represent open-air settlements. Based on the new fieldwork conducted in Tunel Wielki Cave, we can date the human occupation traces in the cave to MIS 14-12. Bipolar-on-anvil knapping technique prevails in the lithic assemblage, made exclusively in flint. The obtained results have given ground for studying the frontiers of human oikumene and the required cultural adaptive abilities.
A cave site Shelter in Smoleń III (southern Poland) contains an approximately 2-m-thick stratified sequence of Upper Pleistocene and Holocene clastic sediments, unique for Central Europe. The ...sequence contents abundant fossil fauna, including mollusk, rodent and bat remains. The cave sites with long profiles of subfossil fauna present a great value for reconstructions of regional terrestrial paleoenvironment. We explore the stratigraphy of this site through analyses of the lithology and geochemistry of sediments, radiocarbon dating of faunal and human remains and charcoals, and archaeological study, as well as the paleoecology derived from the taxonomic composition of fossil faunal assemblages. Our data show that the entire period of the Holocene is recorded in the rockshelter, which makes that site an exceptional and highly valuable case. We present paleoenvironmental reconstructions of regional importance, and we propose to regard Shelter in Smoleń III as a regional stratigraphic stratotype of Holocene clastic cave sediments.
The elemental shell chemistry of two freshwater snails, Viviparus diluvianus (Kunth) and Valvata piscinalis (Müller) was studied for palaeoenvironmental purposes. The shells were collected from lake ...sediments from five Holsteinian (Marine Isotope Stage 11) sites in eastern Poland (Ossówka, Hrud II, Roskosz, Ortel Królewski and Szymanowo) and analysed for Ca, Mg, Sr, Mn and Fe. The Fe/Mn molar ratio was used as a redox indicator, with lower values (and high Mn concentrations) pointing to suboxic conditions. These occurred in the beginning of the Taxus zone and during the transition between the Taxus and Pinus‐Larix zones at Ortel Królewski, and in the Holsteinian thermal maximum (Carpinus‐Abies zone) at Roskosz Lake. Strongly reducing conditions, indicated by increased Fe and Fe/Mn values, prevailed at Ortel Królewski palaeolake in the middle of the Taxus zone, in the Pinus‐Larix zone and in the upper part of the Roskosz sequence. Indicators of anoxia correlate with eutrophic conditions, enhanced productivity and oxygen consumption due to organic matter decay. The most distinct environmental changes in the records are comparable to other central and northern European records and to the main climatic oscillations during the Holsteinian, inferred from palynological, malacological and isotopic data.
This paper presents the results of a large-scale fieldwork project of interdisciplinary studies on the Middle Paleolithic settlement in the western Tian Shan piedmont. A complex of newly discovered ...“loess Paleolithic” open-air sites near Yangiobod (Uzbekistan), Katta Sai, was excavated. The excavations allowed identification of a new variant of human adaptation in the regional Middle Paleolithic. In the light of the newest anthropological and genetic data, this new archaeological sites fit to the current studies on the relations between different human species during the Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic in Central Asia. Geoarchaeological investigation of the sites has shown that the Paleolithic assemblages of Katta Sai are not preserved in situ. Cultural levels suffered from rill erosion, and most of the artifacts were re-deposited by water flow, and accumulated in secondary positions on the bottom of the branched rill system. This paper aims to reconstruct the subsequent processes of the site formation and to present the complicated geological situation of the studied sites of the Katta Sai complex, with implication for the archaeological interpretation of Paleolithic assemblages of the region.
ABSTRACT
Stable oxygen and carbon isotope investigations were conducted on shells of the freshwater gastropod Valvata piscinalis from palaeolake deposits of Holsteinian age (Marine Isotope Stage 11) ...from eastern Poland. The isotope record of this species was used for the first time as an archive of environmental conditions for selected lakes between the protocratic stage and the post‐optimum period of the interglacial. The lowest δ18O and δ13C values of −8.1 and −12.1‰, respectively, were recorded in the Picea–Alnus zone at Ortel Królewski palaeolake. The sparse vegetation and low productivity of that time are reflected in the relatively low δ13C values. The first significant increase of temperature was recorded in the Taxus zone (i.e. an increase in δ18O). The higher temperature influenced the expansion of macrophytes, which stimulated enhanced photosynthesis. Similar mean δ18O values in the Taxus and Pinus–Larix zones imply no distinct temperature change. V. piscinalis populations from Ossówka–Hrud and Roskosz palaeolakes record variations in lake productivity during the climatic optimum of the interglacial (Carpinus–Abies zone). The δ18O values of that time are relatively high (up to −4.5‰) and reveal no significant differences between the lakes. Decreases of the oxygen isotope values in the Szymanowo lake reflect post‐optimum cooling.
Stable isotope geochemistry is a well-known tool for the investigation of palaeoclimate. The application of this methodology to molluscan carbonate materials has increasingly receiving more attention ...in recent decades, stimulating the development of numerous environmental reconstructions. Among the different habitats and shell species investigated so far, the freshwater are the ones that have received least attention. The scarcity of systematic studies on lacustrine and riverine molluscan species considerably limits the use of these remains to reconstruct the environmental conditions of inland palaeontological and archaeological sequences. The present study focuses on Bithynia tentaculata, a freshwater species abundant in the European Quaternary fossil record. The aim of the research is to validate the use of oxygen (δ18O) and carbon stable isotopes (δ13C) of this species as palaeoenvironmental proxies. For this purpose, shells and opercula from stratigraphic sequences of three palaeolakes in eastern Poland, formed during the Holsteinian Interglacial (MIS 11), are analysed. The intercorrelation between B. tentaculata and two other molluscan species, together with good agreement with the pollen record, reveal that δ18O and δ13C are suitable indicators of water temperature and humidity levels for lacustrine environments. These results pave the way for using B. tentaculata in further palaeoclimatic reconstructions.
•δ18O and δ13C of B. tentaculata shells and opercula record environmental variations.•The record agrees well with reconstructions based on other mollusc species.•Achieved a multispecies and multiproxy reconstruction of MIS 11 in eastern Poland
Lake deposits of the Holsteinian (Mazovian) Interglacial from eastern Poland are characterised by a rich occurrence of mollusc shells. Mollusc assemblages from five sites: Ortel Królewski, Szymanowo, ...Ossówka, Hrud II and Roskosz are presented. Populations of the snail
Viviparus diluvianus (Kunth) are subjected to biometric analysis to verify how climatic changes in the Holsteinian Interglacial influenced the shell morphology. The pollen analysis allows assignment of sediments from different sites to the certain parts of the interglacial, characterised by influences of maritime or continental climates. A combination of palaeobotanical and mollusc data shows that variability in shell morphometry of
V. diluvianus is strongly connected with climate conditions. The strongest correlation with the climate shows slimness of the shell. It appears that during the periods with predominating oceanic climate the mean slimness of the shell increases, smaller and wider individuals are typical of the climate with continental features and lake shallowing. Thus
V. diluvianus shells from eastern Poland are used to reconstruct climate from
Taxus zone up to the end of the climatic optimum of the Holsteinian (Mazovian) Interglacial
=
MIS 11 (
Carpinus–
Abies zone).
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