after 20 years a taphonomic re evaluation of nahal hadera v an epipalaeolithic site on the israeli coastal plain we carried out a detailed taphonomic study of the faunal remains from nahal hadera v nhv a large kebaran open air site on the northern coastal plain israel faunal remains were previously identified to bone element and species saxon martin bar yosef 1978 however nisp and mni values were calculated based on teeth and epiphyses only in this study we identified the maximum number of skeletal elements including head fragments vertebrae ribs carpals tarsals and shaft fragments further analyses included search for various bone surface modifications and the study of mode of bone fragmentation we found minor loss of bones caused by various diagenetic processes and no signs of carnivore activity these results suggest that most of the bone destruction was caused during time of occupation probably for marrow consumption as indicated by mode of bone fragmentation absence of selective transport for gazelle gazella gazella and fallow deer dama mesopotamica the major prey species with 70 and 20 respectively is supported by homogeneous representation of head limb toe elements however the carcasses may have been processed before transport to the site thus a taphonomic analysis from nhv helps to illuminate the economy of nhv inhabitants and fine tunes our understanding of the depositional history of the site however it does not overthrow results of earlier research using classical methods

closure of a seaway stratigraphic record and facies guadix basin southern spain during the late tortonian upper miocene the guadix basin in s spain formed one of the betic corridors that connected the mediterranean sea with the atlantic ocean the closure of this connection occurred in a series of steps documented by three sedimentary units a lower unit consisting of basinal marls shallow water calcarenites and sands records the formation of a wide seaway during deposition of the following unit this narrowed to a strait no more than 2 km in wide triggering an intensification of currents that caused migration of submarine dunes preserved as giant cross beds in bioclastic sands and conglomerates current flowed from the mediterranean to the atlantic the third unit constitutes the youngest marine episode of the filling of the guadix basin at this stage the connection between the mediterranean sea and the atlantic ocean was broken and a system of coastal coral reefs was established in the northern part of the basin

field design and operation of a novel deepwater wide azimuth node seismic survey many new deepwater subsalt gulf of mexico developments are afflicted by poor imaging caused by the complex nature of their salt overburdens the atlantis field is an example a poor image of its northern flank hindered development the ocean bottom seismic obs autonomous node method was applied with the goal of substantially improving the subsalt reservoir image

neogene palaeoenvironmental evolution in the atlantic side of the rifian corridor morocco abstract outcrops of upper miocene to upper pliocene deposits in the atlantic side of the rifian corridor northwest morocco provide data that allow an assessment of the palaeoenvironmental evolution of the main seaway that connected the mediterranean to the atlantic ocean until its final closure at the end of the miocene a reconstruction of the sedimentary regimes and palaeobathymetries in the gharb and saiss basins has been carried out from the physical and microfaunal benthic foraminifera characteristics of sediments and three sedimentary sequences are distinguished from the oldest rocks deposited at the opening of the corridor more than 8 ma to the upper pliocene sediments younger than 4 ma that ended the marine sedimentation the maximum palaeodepth recognised about 500 m occurs in marly sediments of the coastal area bou regreg composite section between 8 and 5 9 ma this is followed by a tectonically controlled shallowing phase leading to the establishment of neritic conditions and corresponding to a relative sea level lowering of about 300 m that we suggest relates to closure of the passageway and consequent onset of the mediterranean evaporite deposition the persistence in the saiss basin of middle neritic palaeodepths since the upper tortonian about 7 8 ma suggests for this internal basin a sill physiography evidence from the present and previously documented palaeobathymetric reconstructions indicates that the tectonic activity in the atlantic corridor started from the eastern side and moved to the west

tectonic and sedimentary conditions necessary for the deposition of the messinian evaporite successions in the eastern mediterranean a simple 2d model abstract the existing literature shows that the only saline water source for the eastern mediterranean during the messinian was the atlantic ocean and that the sicily sill created a physical barrier between the eastern and western mediterranean higher than the physical barrier at the gibraltar sill between the western mediterranean and the atlantic ocean the presence of distinctive messinian subunits in the eastern mediterranean similar to those observed in the western mediterranean suggests the existence of a similar set of depositional processes across the entire mediterranean during the messinian salinity crisis the above statements impose two critical conditions the eastern mediterranean massive salt deposits must be older than their counterparts in the western mediterranean and the sicily gateway must have remained within a goldilocks zone during the deposition of the massive eastern mediterranean evaporites predominantly halite while the sea level in the western mediterranean would remain at the level of the sicily sill a simple 2 d model is developed which satisfies these conditions the model suggests that the eastern and western basin margins experienced a nearly synchronized gypsum deposition associated with the initial drawdown of the mediterranean level followed by re sedimentation in the deep basins of the terrigenous and early evaporite deposits as the drawdown intensified the synchroneity of evaporite deposition across the eastern and western basins broke down as the sicily gateway became largely subaerial during a period when the calabrian arc area experienced uplift associated with slab break off the sicily sill must have remained within a goldilocks zone to allow the right amount of saline water inflow into the eastern mediterranean so that evaporites massive halite could be deposited during this time the sea level in the western mediterranean was at the breach level of the sicily sill and still open to atlantic water influx thus no evaporite deposition took place there the model suggests that further restriction of the inflow occurred across the gibraltar region which became largely subaerial associated with the uplift of the gibraltar arc caused again by lithospheric slab break off similar to the sicily gateway the gibraltar gateway also remained within the goldilocks zone to allow the right amount of saline water inflow into the western mediterranean so that massive halite could be deposited the re opening of the gibraltar gateway re flooded the western mediterranean first then the eastern mediterranean allowing the deposition of a mixed evaporite siliciclastic unit followed by the transgressive sediments with distinctive brackish water lago mare fauna

an enigmatic kilometer scale concentration of small mytilids late miocene guadalquivir basin s spain abstract upper miocene heterozoan carbonates crop out extensively in a ne sw trending belt 42 km long and 1 5 8 km wide along the so called el alcor topographic high from carmona to dos hermanas seville s spain these carbonates formed at the southern active margin of the guadalquivir basin the foreland basin of the betic cordillera they change to marls basinward ne and to sands landward se and sw therefore carbonate production was constrained to a limited area in an otherwise siliciclastic shelf the carbonates up to 40 m thick overlie a gradually coarsening upward succession of marls followed by silts and sandstones the carbonate sequence can be divided into three subunits corresponding from bottom to top to lowstand transgressive and highstand system tract deposits the lower subunit exhibiting extensive trough cross bedding is interpreted as a shallow water bar deposit the intermediate subunit onlaps underlying sediments and was deposited in deeper low turbulence conditions the upper subunit deposits accumulated in a well oxygenated outer platform based on benthic foraminiferal assemblages the presence of hummocky and swaley cross stratification in these latter deposits suggests that they were affected by storms pervasive fluid escape structures are also observed throughout the carbonates the three subunits consist of bioclastic packstones to rudstones made up of abundant fragments of small mytilids isotopic data from serpulid polychaete ditrupa tubes show 13c depleted values up to 16 1 whereas 18o yields normal marine values additional isotopic data on shells of scallops oysters and small mussels as well as bulk sediment show diagenetic alterations based on actualistic examples of massive concentrations of mussels the nearly monospecific composition of the el alcor deposits together with negative 13c values of ditrupa tubes indicates that cold seeps presumably promoted carbonate formation however the absence of typical features of cold seep deposits such as authigenic carbonates mediated by anaerobic bacterial activity and the typical chemosynthetic shelly organisms makes the large carbonate body of el alcor an unusual cold seep deposit

a modeling approach to wide azimuth design for subsalt imaging subsalt image quality in the deepwater gulf of mexico is often very poor with conventional narrow azimuth towed streamer nats surveys even when the most advanced processing and imaging methods available are used with great care the reasons most often cited for the poor image quality are failure to adequately suppress free surface multiples errors in the velocity model and illumination problems

taphonomy of old archaeofaunal collections new site formation and subsistence data for the late paleolithic nile valley abstract archaeofaunal remains play an important role in the studies of late pleistocene human adaptations in africa salvage excavations and surveys along the nile valley in the kom ombo plain upper egypt and opposite wadi halfa northern sudan respectively conducted in the 1960s by yale and the university of colorado produced several late paleolithic ca 22 5 14 5 years bp faunal assemblages which have never been published here i present a comprehensive taphonomic and zooarchaeological analysis of the faunal assemblages with the aim of first understanding their integrity through identifying the depositional post depositional and collection biases and second characterizing the latest pleistocene animal economy in the nile valley the faunal assemblages come from both surveys and controlled excavations and in most cases the collections appeared to have been fully retained the excavated remains were deposited in thin horizons representing small camps associated with diverse lithic assemblages and sometimes hearth features in one case the fauna originates from a large cemetery the 6b36 site opposite wadi halfa taphonomic criteria indicate that the faunas are anthropogenic and attest to consumption of predominantly medium and large ungulates as well as hippopotamus the preservation of the material is variable and was chiefly affected by dispersal processes and the pace of burial the assemblages characteristics and their context suggest non intensified animal exploitation and consequently low site occupation intensity in the nile valley during the latest pleistocene

level te9c of sima del elefante sierra de atapuerca spain a comprehensive approach level te9c of the sima del elefante site sierra de atapuerca spain is one of the oldest sites with evidence of human occupation in western europe we began excavating level te9c in 2003 and the work there continues today the studies of the archaeology palaeontology and geology from this locality have provided an indispensable dataset with which to capture a picture in the scenario of the origin of humans in europe based on these data we raise and discuss several topics such as the possible origin of the lineage of the first hominins that inhabited western europe their capacity to have active hunting or scavenging abilities whether their subsistence strategies were successful and what the environment and habitats where these hominin groups settled was like the aim of this paper is to present the results and discussions obtained from the research team and to establish the primary features of early human occupations in southwestern europe tentatively we may conclude based on the events recorded at te9c that the first humans were in the iberian peninsula at around 1 2 ma they used the caves of the sierra de atapuerca as shelters probably during their hunting activities the cavities were surrounded by mediterranean forest rivers and water ponds and varied habitats as suggested by the rich and diverse assemblage of fossils of vertebrates fish amphibians and reptiles birds large and small mammals where humans possibly caught what they found in the surroundings

incidence of obliquity and precession forced milankovitch cycles in the western mediterranean early messinian sedimentation in the sorbas basin almeria southern spain spectral analysis of the messinian abad marls in the cariatiz section sorbas basin south eastern spain reveals three relevant orders of cyclicity the most significant cycle is in the lowest frequency average thickness of 365 cm 4 5 cycles in the section it is recorded in the composition of planktic foraminiferal assemblages indicative of surface water temperature planktic and benthic stable isotope signals and carbonate proportions the planktic assemblages isotope values and carbonate proportions also record a middle frequency cycle with an average of 177 cm 9 10 cycles in the section the highest frequency cycle average of 132 cm 12 13 cycles in the section is mainly reflected in siliciclastic and calcite proportions age constraints and cycle patterns suggest that the lowest frequency cycle was forced by orbital obliquity whereas the two higher frequency ones are related to precession obliquity seems to have controlled major changes in surface water temperature in the sorbas basin during the early messinian surface water temperature was also affected by precession with changes in weathering and run off spectral analysis has also been applied to vertical shifts of reef facies throughout the progradation of the cariatiz reef this reef is coeval with the cariatiz section vertical shifts of reef talus breccias point to the existence of 4 5 major cycles of sea level change whereas 7 9 higher frequency cycles are reflected in the repeated occurrence of lowstand non reefal deposits correlation with the cycles observed at the cariatiz section suggests that obliquity forced glacio eustatic sea level oscillations in the western mediterranean during the late miocene

changing competition dynamics among predators at the late early pleistocene site barranc de la boella tarragona spain abstract the late early pleistocene site barranc de la boella provides an unparalleled opportunity to assess the context of the activities of the hominin populations that inhabited the iberian peninsula at 1 ma recently strong evidence for access to mammoth meat has been described at the pit 1 locality at the la mina and el forn excavation areas little evidence exists for the anthropogenic processing of macromammals however the presence of humans is recorded and the available evidence suggests these populations had access to several interesting resources by analysing and comparing five separate assemblages at barranc de la boella we assess the fluctuating presence of hominins and carnivores and the levels of competition among predators in each assemblage our analysis reveals different levels of competition intensity during the formation of assemblages when hominin groups were present as evidenced by the abundance and diversity of stone artefacts the analyses of skeletal component ratios indicate several competitive contexts and the greatest presence of hominin groups is associated with the most competitive scenarios the palaeoenvironment at barranc de la boella was rich in resources that hominins could exploit the presence of hominin and carnivore groups appears to have been higher in levels with more inferred competition this scenario supports prior research that concludes that carnivore abundance and highly competitive contexts were two constants in the lives of these hominin groups thus the criteria determining whether hominins could inhabit a given landscape were most likely related to the presence or absence of resources such as animal resources water and raw materials rather than the dynamics of the carnivore populations to which the hominins were able to become habituated

late pleistocene butchered bison antiquus from ayer pond orcas island pacific northwest age confirmation and taphonomy abstract bone modifications on well preserved bison antiquus remains recently discovered during pond construction in the pacific northwest provide evidence suggestive of late pleistocene human activity since excavation and recovery conditions were not ideal careful evaluation of all observations separated those that can be made with confidence and identified and discounted those less reliable the report focuses on the context of the discovery the taphonomic evidence and compares modifications to those from other reported kill sites considering evidence for human butchering and predator and scavenger damage new test results confirm the bison is late pleistocene in age a recent ams radiocarbon date involving different pretreatment protocols places the event at 11 990 14 c bp slightly older than the first test results of 11 760 14 c bp these dates and observations were used to conclude that the bison was butchered by humans shortly after deglaciation

an important current reversal influx in the rifian corridor morocco at the tortonian messinian boundary the end of tethys ocean atlantic psychrospheric and temperate mesopelagic faunas found in the lower messinian marls in morocco indicate that a strong eastward flowing bottom current was present in the rifian corridor before the salinity crisis this influx began just before diatomite deposition in the paleo mediterranean continued during a decrease in species diversity in coral reef formation and diminished with the initial stages of brine concentration in the deep water phase of the crisis the influx is most readily studied in a condensed section of marl in the bou regreg valley near rabat the beginning of this siphon event coincides with the tortonian messinian boundary 6 4 ma subchron 6n1 it is identified by 1 a change in the planktonic foraminifera from dominance of warm tropical epipelagic globorotalia menardii with globigerinoides to the temperate mesopelagic gl miotumida plexus with conomiozea 2 the sudden appearance of an upper psychrospheric ostracode fauna with agrenocythere pliocenica and oblitacythereis ruggierii 3 a change in nannoflora and 4 beginning of the 6 3 ma global carbon shift the initial strong influx stage of the siphon lasted at least 0 7 m y decreasing after the middle of chron 5 ca 5 7 to be lost ca 5 3 ma conditions for the siphon formed when the continental climate created a deficit in the water budget of the paleo mediterranean sea the reversal took place when tectonic movement in the foredeeps of the betic rif orogene changed the thresholds of the twin straits the rifian corridor and the iberian portal inflow increased rapidly in the southern corridor to draw in waters from beneath the rising atlantic pycnocline while paleo mediterranean overflow water pmow continued out of the northern iberian portal the invasion of nappes or olistoliths first into the portal and then into the corridor led to the end of the outflow of the pmow terminating the need for the siphon and then to the isolation of the paleo mediterranean

the larger mammal palimpsest from tk thiongo korongo bed ii olduvai gorge tanzania ever since mary leakey s initial excavations in the 1960s tk thiongo korongo has been recognized as one of olduvai gorge s most important acheulean sites the significant concentrations of lithics and fauna reported by mary leakey have been augmented in recent years by santonja et al who argue that human activities appear to be largely related to the manufacture of lithic implements in contrast the faunal remains have been interpreted to be of uncertain origin and their anthropogenic nature remains in question this paper presents new data on the formation of the tk bone accumulation our results reveal a diverse list of taxa many of which reflect open habitats only limited evidence of anthropogenic activity is documented

the messinian marine to nonmarine gypsums of jumilla northern betic cordillera se spain isotopic and sr concentration constraints on the origin of parent brines the origin of the messinian hoya de la sima hs gypsum betic foreland is constrained using 87sr 86sr 34s sr concentration and petrographic data the lower and middle hs units consist of subaqueous vertically aligned and stromatolitic selenites the latter containing unusual microbial depositional textures the upper unit consists of very shallow water bioturbated lenticular gypsum with paracamelus ichnites 87sr 86sr and 34s indicate precipitation from predominantly marine waters with upward increasing continental influence mixing models between messinian seawater and continental water that dissolved triassic evaporites show that the percentages of seawater required to explain the measured 87sr 86sr are analogous to the percentages obtained using 34s supporting precipitation from such mixtures 87sr 86sr and 34s of lower hs selenites resemble those of the primary lower gypsum plg of the messinian salinity crisis msc in both cases indicating precipitation from seawater continental water mixtures in which most sr and so4 were supplied by messinian seawater in the lower hs selenites sr concentrations indicate contributing continental waters with sr ca ratios similar to seawater however sr concentrations of plg selenites from other betic basins bajo segura sorbas indicate parent waters with sr ca ratios lower than seawater if the sr contents of the betic plg selenites are representative it is unlikely that the lower hs selenites represent the plg however we cannot completely discard that option since different lpg subbasins could have had variable sr ca the hs gypsums formed coevally to diapirism of triassic evaporites in a restricted lagoonal basin developed during or slightly after a phase of strike slip faulting in the betic cordillera more general implications of this work are that sr concentrations combined with 87sr 86sr and 34s data provide key constraints on the origin of parent brines and using sr concentrations as paleosalinity proxy in gypsum precipitated from seawater continental water mixtures is inconclusive because they largely depend on the initial sr ca ratio of the brine this study also illustrates that the electron microprobe is ideal to obtain reliable spatially resolved sr concentration data in selenitic gypsum these data in combination with fluorescence petrography provide valuable criteria to discriminate primary depositional from diagenetic gypsum a critical step in the interpretation of geochemical data

an evaporite bearing accretionary complex in the northern front of the betic rif orogen the guadalquivir accretionary complex forms a largely oblique prism at the northern edge of the betic rif orogen where miocene sediments plus allochthonous evaporite bearing units were accreted during the displacement of the alboran domain towards the west traditional interpretations end the tectonic structuring of the betic cordillera at the present topographic front beyond which gravitational and or diapiric processes would predominate however this study shows pervasive tectonic deformation in the outer prism with coherent oblique shortening kinematics which is achieved through an alternation of roughly n s arcuate thrust systems connected by e w transfer fault zones these structures accord well with the geophysical models that propose westward rollback subduction the main stage of tectonic activity occurred in the early middle miocene but deformation lasted until the quaternary with the same kinematics evaporite rocks played a leading role in the deformation as evidenced by the suite of ductile structures in gypsum distributed throughout the area s and l gypsum tectonites scaly clay fabrics and brittle fabrics coexist and consistently indicate westward motion top to 290 with subordinate n s contraction almost perpendicular to the transfer zones this work reveals ductile tectonic fabrics in gypsum as a valuable tool to elucidate the structure and deformational history of complex tectonic melanges involving evaporites above the decollement level of accretionary wedges

hominid cave at thomas quarry i casablanca morocco recent findings and their context the thomas quarry i locality was made famous in 1969 with the discovery of a human half mandible in a cave in 1985 further investigations revealed the presence of a lower acheulean assemblage in lower units of the section from 1988 onwards modern controlled excavations took place within the framework of the franco moroccan co operative project casablanca acheulean artefacts a rich mammalian fauna and four hominid teeth have been excavated from the cave the faunal set indicates an open woodland environment carcasses were processed by carnivores but cut marks are absent which raises the question of any human role in the bone accumulations stone knapping was mainly oriented towards flake production and a few bifaces have been imported into the site laser ablation icp ms dating combining the esr and u series data for the modelling of the u uptake has given an us esr age of 501 76 ka for a human premolar while new osl measurements yielded an age of 420 34 ka for sediments immediately above the dated tooth and 391 32 ka below nevertheless biostratigraphy and lithostratigraphy point towards a greater antiquity

the lower palaeolithic site alto de las picarazas andilla chelva valencia abstract this paper describes the alto de las picarazas site andilla chelva valencia which is made up of a group of karst cavities that contains lower and middle pleistocene deposits in cavity i a wide early pleistocene sequence under a middle pleistocene deposit has been preserved in stratum iv evidence of human presence such as lithic industry and mammal bones with butchery marks has been found remains of allophaiomys ruffoi and soergelia minor in this stratum give the site a early pleistocene chronology

neotaphonomic measures of carnivore serial predation at ngamo pan as an analog for interpreting open air faunal assemblages abstract here i present a neotaphonomic account of natural bone accumulations that have resulted from carnivore serial predation at ngamo pan a vast complex of seasonal water holes located in hwange national park zimbabwe reconstructing the taphonomic histories of faunal assemblages from open air archaeological sites is burdened with a host of interpretive complications and this study is offered as a referential means for evaluating instances where stone tools and bone accumulations are associated in apparent archaeological contexts while the presence of stone tools implies some involvement on the part of humans open air sites near water would also have served as prime locations for serial predation by large carnivores to ambush prey a situation that over time can mimic archaeological bone accumulations the taphonomic and zooarchaeological signatures of carnivore serial predation at ngamo pan show marked similarities with the open air faunal accumulation from kalkbank a late pleistocene site in limpopo province south africa located along the margins of a relict pan many potential archaeological sites within the interior of southern africa dating to the middle stone age are known from open air settings near permanent or ephemeral bodies of water and the ability to decipher between hominin and non hominin carnivore involvement with bone accumulations is paramount in determining the hunting and scavenging behaviors of our early ancestors as much of our understanding of hominin subsistence during the middle stone age is drawn from coastal cave locations this study is intended to encourage a broadening of our perspective on the taphonomic histories of faunal accumulations dating to the middle stone age by incorporating supplementary evidence provided by these open air sites

study of the shk main site faunal assemblage olduvai gorge tanzania implications for bed ii taphonomy paleoecology and hominin utilization of megafauna recent excavations at the shk main site olduvai gorge tanzania have unearthed a dense concentration of stone tools and faunal remains here we describe how the site contributes to the understanding of hominin subsistence strategies and paleoecology during bed ii times 1 78 1 34 ma this palimpsestic site is located within and on the over bank of a river channel taphonomic analyses suggest that a heterogeneous set of taphonomic agents played a role in the accumulation and modification of the faunal assemblage although hominins played a rather marginal part in this assemblage s faunal accumulation and modification the recovered faunal assemblage includes evidence that is consistent with hominin exploitation of hippopotamus and equid this evidence underscores the possibility that by 1 5 ma hominins were diversifying their diet and enlarging their ecological niche by exploiting probably opportunistically megafaunal remains more commonly than previously documented taphonomic spatial analysis shows differences in bone preservation and modification according to whether faunal specimens were located inside the river channel or on its over bank we also show that spatial taphonomic analysis can contribute to the understanding of palimpsest site formation as well as to the reconstruction of diverse taphonomic agents responsible for that formation a comparative analysis of taxonomic diversity between shk versus other upper bed ii sites supports the notion that the environment was fairly open prior to the beginning of the bed iii deposits the large number of lithic artifacts concentrated at the shk main site when considered in conjunction with the small amount of evidence for carcass processing suggests that hominins engaged in a diversity of activities beyond butchery

proximal distal ichnofabric changes in a siliciclastic shelf early pliocene guadalquivir basin southwest spain abstract the lower pliocene deposits cropping out along the atlantic coast of cadiz in the conil cabo roche area formed on a shelf gently deepening towards the w nw up to five types of facies can be recognized distributed in belts from proximal to distal parts of the shelf 1 coarse grained sandstone with trough cross stratification facies on the most proximal parts of the shelf inner shelf deposits 2 medium grained sandstone with low angle planar cross stratification facies deposited in a more distal position due to storm currents transporting sediment offshore this facies intercalates with the previous trough cross bedded sandstone 3 massive fine grained sandstone and siltstone facies laterally and vertically related with the previous facies type and representing sediments formed in the middle shelf close to the storm wave base 4 tabular sandstone bed facies corresponding to storm bed deposits intercalated within the two previous facies 5 greenish bluish shale facies accumulated on the outer shelf below storm wave base three ichnofabrics associated with these facies are recognized 1 the two cross bedded facies are dominated by a macaronichnus ichnofabric characterized by macaronichnus and bichordites traces that represent colonization of a shifting sandy substrate by polychaetes macaronichnus tracemakers and by sea urchins bichordites producers 2 a rosselia ichnofabric consisting of vertical traces of rosselia cross cutting macaronichnus characterizes the interval of massive fine grained sandstone and silt facies and interbedded tabular sandstones this ichnofabric formed under high sedimentation rates with rosselia traces exhibiting stacked patterns that indicate vertical readjustment following deposition 3 massive fine grained sandstone and silt facies are distinguished by a cylindrichnus ichnofabric this fabric was produced by the activity of a moderately diverse community dominated by sessile burrow dwelling probably superficial detritus feeding polychaetes rosselia and cylindrichnus tracemakers and vagile deposit feeding polychaetes planolites producers in addition infaunal deposit detritus feeders producing spreiten structures teichichnus are found in distal areas pervasive indistinct mottling of the sediment of this facies was probably due to the activity of very shallow burrowers in the uppermost sediment tiers this proximal distal replacement of ichnofabrics reflects the change of benthic communities across the shelf this distribution does not fit the traditional seilacherian ichnofacies model for soft ground shallow marine settings in which proximal vertical dwelling burrows of the skolithos ichnofacies dominate high energy environments in the pliocene of cadiz shallow tier burrows of deposit detritus feeders characterize the high energy facies instead which fit better with the cruziana ichnofacies this deviation can be related with the particular palaeoenvironmental conditions thus vagile opportunistic deposit feeders colonized the dune foreset when the dunes were stable and the progradation of the structure favored the preservation of the traces

revisiting the hunting versus scavenging debate at flk zinj a gis spatial analysis of bone surface modifications produced by hominins and carnivores in the flk 22 assemblage olduvai gorge tanzania abstract this study presents a taphonomic examination of the ca 1 84 million year old ma bovid fauna from flk level 22 flk zinj bed i olduvai gorge using a new gis spatial analysis approach the flk zinj site contains some of the best preserved evidence for meat eating by hominins and has been used extensively in reconstructions of early hominin behavior however despite numerous interpretations of site function there is currently no consensus regarding how hominins acquired carcasses at flk zinj some interpretations argue that early stone age hominins had early access to fleshed carcasses through hunting or active scavenging while others argue hominins had late access to largely defleshed carcasses through passive scavenging in this study gis was used to record bone preservation in the flk zinj assemblage as well as in several modern experimentally modified bone assemblages which are used for comparison the placement of hominin and carnivore produced modifications was documented on bones from these assemblages and the gis spatial analyst was used to identify patterning in tooth mark clusters as well as patterning in cut mark locations this analysis suggests hominins had early access to fleshed carcasses at flk zinj particularly of smaller prey which they may have acquired through hunting damage patterns on larger carcasses are more difficult to interpret but are consistent with early access through hunting or aggressive scavenging a reanalysis of carnivore tooth mark frequencies on the flk zinj bovid fauna also supports an early access scenario

characterization of recent marks produced on fossil bone surface during sullegic and trephic processes and their influence on taphonomic studies abstract different taphonomic processes throughout the history of a fossil assemblage may preserve modify or destroy particular palaeobiological traits but these processes always increase taphonomic information of the past similarly fossils are affected during later stages of taphonomic history i e excavation preparation study and storage of fossils known as sullegic and trephic phases tools used during excavation and preparation of fossils can damage them and produce marks on their surface some of these recent marks highly mimic taphonomic marks produced before excavation both modern and fossil marks lead to misinterpretations and erroneous conclusions when similarities are not clearly detected in order to distinguish recent from ancient marks several diagnostic criteria resulting from experimental work are described in this paper

history and evolution of the north betic strait prebetic zone betic cordillera a narrow early tortonian tidal dominated atlantic mediterranean marine passage abstract the north betic strait located in the prebetic zone outermost part of the betic cordillera was a narrow seaway connecting the atlantic ocean and the mediterranean sea through the betic cordillera during the early late miocene strait facies consist of heterozoan bioclastic carbonates and mixed siliciclastics carbonates local fan delta deposits conglomerates also occur the north betic strait deposits exhibit huge trough cross bedded structures single troughs are up to 5 m high and point to the east in easternmost outcrops in central outcrops they reach up to 15 m in height and some tens of metres in length and point both to the east and to the west the westernmost outcrops show the largest cross bedded structures up to 20 m in height and some hundred of metres in length all pointing to the west the large scale cross bedding was generated by the migration of very large dunes moved by tides the largest structures are inferred to have formed at depths of 90 m depth estimations indicate that the north betic strait shallowed to the east and deepened to the west the miocene evolution towards the formation of the north betic strait can be divided into a series of steps the palaeogeography evolved from a south facing platform marginal to a northeastern relief to a wide open marine passage limited by a southern platform and finally to a tidal dominated strait the closing of the north betic strait is recorded by the presence of lagoonal silty sediments covered by a stromatolite layer and crowned by a red soil in the westernmost outcrops

vegetation sea level and climate changes during the messinian salinity crisis the messinian salinity crisis late miocene is one of the most fascinating paleoceanographic events in the recent geological history of the mediterranean sea defining a time when it partly or nearly completely dried out however the relative roles of tectonic processes and sea level changes as triggers for restriction and isolation of the mediterranean sea from the open ocean are still under debate in this study we present a detailed pollen dinoflagellate cyst dinocyst and magnetic susceptibility analysis of a sequence of late neogene between ca 7 3 and 5 2 ma marine sediments from the montemayor 1 core lower guadalquivir basin southwestern spain which provides a continuous record of paleoenvironmental variations in the atlantic side of the betic corridors during the late miocene our results show that significant paired vegetation and sea level changes occurred during the messinian likely triggered by orbital scale climate change important cooling events and corresponding glacio eustatic sea level drops are observed in this study at ca 5 95 and 5 75 ma coinciding with the timing and duration of oxygen isotopic events tg32 and tg22 20 recorded in marine sediments worldwide it is generally accepted that the onset of the messinian salinity crisis began at ca 5 96 0 02 ma therefore this study suggests that the restriction of the mediterranean could have been triggered at least in part by a strong glacio eustatic sea level drop linked to a climate cooling event occurring at the time of initiation of the messinian salinity crisis

taphonomy of a south african cave geological and hydrological influences on the gd 1 fossil assemblage at gondolin a plio pleistocene paleocave system in the northwest province south africa abstract occasional excavation of in situ and ex situ deposits at the formerly mined gondolin paleocave system has yielded large and diverse samples of plio pleistocene faunas including isolated hominin and non hominin primate remains in 2003 new excavations into naturally decalcified in situ sediments near the gd 1 datum point near the northwest corner of the cave system were undertaken this paper describes the recovered faunal remains taphonomy of the assemblage and the geological and paleomagnetic context of the gd 1 deposits the deposits represent a series of inter stratified speleothem in washed sediments and talus deposits we suggest date to a time period prior to and just after the olduvai normal polarity event at around 1 7 1 8 ma surface sediments and clasts were introduced into the cave by rain water runoff entering a vertically oriented entrance that had formed along a rift in the area of gd 1 the faunal assemblage consists primarily of fragmentary diaphyseal fragments and isolated teeth taxonomically the small collection of specifically identifiable bovid and equid fossils is generally consistent with remains previously excavated from in situ deposits in the gondolin paleocave system gd 2 and dated to around 1 8 ma however the depositional histories of these two assemblages from gondolin are remarkably different the preservation and relative proportions of recovered skeletal elements at gd 1 is consistent with these materials having been initially accumulated outside the karstic system near the vertical cave entrance and then later hydrologically sorted and deposited inside the cave the sporadic to continuous water flow into the northwest corner of the cave system during the pleistocene gradually decalcified the excavated fossilbearing breccias and further modified the composition and spatial distribution of the fossil assemblage by introducing potentially younger deposits and skeletal materials this study highlights the variation in taphonomic processes that can occur within a single cave system and the complex pre and postdepositional geological and hydrological processes that can influence the taphonomic history of south african plio pleistocene karstic fossil assemblages

a facies based depositional model for ancient and modern tectonically confined tidal straits modern and ancient tidal straits are the least well understood of all tide dominated depositional systems to provide an increased understanding of these systems a facies based depositional model is assessed by comparing multibeam surveys of three present day tidally dominated seaways with a number of superbly exposed neogene to quaternary strait fill successions of calabria south italy the model points out the existence of four depositional zones laterally adjacent from the narrowest strait centre to its terminations distributed along symmetrical or asymmetrical seaways these zones whose signature is recorded in four facies associations in the calabrian tidal straits are as follows i the strait centre zone associated with the tidal current maxima and where sediments are scarce or absent ii the dune bedded zone where sediments form dune complexes due to tidal flow expansion iii the strait end zone where currents decelerate accumulating thinly bedded fine grained deposits and iv the strait margin zone where sediment massflows descend tectonically active steep margins towards the strait axis in ancient tectonically confined narrow seaways these facies generate a distinctive deepening upward vertical succession where tidal currents are the dominant process in the sediment distribution

sediment transport under waves and tidal currents a case study from the northern bristol channel u k bed load transport under tidal currents and waves and waves alone is predicted from near bed self recording current meter data and observations from a wave rider buoy transport rates and paths are derived using seven different unidirectional transport formulae and those of bagnold 1963 bijker 1967 and madsen and grant 1976 for combined flows predicted rates are compared with the results of a fluorescent sand tracer study the data are available from swansea bay a high tidal and wave energy embayment on the british continental shelf sediment transport paths in this region had been determined previously using a variety of techniques including bedform orientation and sea bed drifter recovery patterns transport is enhanced under the superimposed effect of waves and in some circumstances the direction of the resultant vector is altered such storm induced catastrophic transport is different to that predicted under tidal currents alone this could provide a mechanism for long term sediment supply in some areas there is correspondence between bedform orientation and storm induced transport paths in others there is opposition

bedform distribution and inferred sand transport on georges bank united states atlantic continental shelf four bedform provinces have been identified on georges bank using sidescan sonar and echo sounding techniques large sand waves superimposed on sand ridges small sand waves megaripples and featureless seafloor the large sand waves and sand ridges are found on the bank crest where the surface tidal currents are strongest areas of small sand waves and megaripples formed where tidal currents are moderate in strength border the area of large sand waves to the north and south featureless seafloor is found farthest from the bank crest where surface tidal currents are weakest sand wave asymmetry and surface sediment texture have been used to infer bedload transport paths on georges bank in the large sand wave area bedforms indicate a clockwise transport around each of the linear north west striking sand ridges with slight convergence of the sand waves on the ridge crests this transport pattern implies erosion from the troughs and accumulation on the sand ridges the asymmetry of the small sand waves along the south side of georges bank indicates that sand is also transported southward away from the linear sand ridges on top of the bank although the asymmetry of megaripples could not be determined the occurrence of megaripples between the small sand wave province and areas of featureless seafloor suggests a decreasing effectiveness of sand transport away from the bank crest this sand dispersal pattern is further supported by the surface sediments which become progessively finer to the north and sw away from the crest of georges bank

evidence of paleoecological changes and mousterian occupations at the galeria de las estatuas site sierra de atapuerca northern iberian plateau spain here we present a new site in the sierra de atapuerca burgos spain galeria de las estatuas ge which provides new information about mousterian occupations in the iberian plateau the ge was an ancient entrance to the cave system which is currently closed and sealed by a stalagmitic crust below which a detritic sedimentary sequence of more than 2 m is found this has been divided into five litostratigraphic units with a rich assemblage of faunal and lithic remains of clear mousterian affinity radiocarbon dates provide minimum ages and suggest occupations older than 45 14c ka bp the palynological analysis detected a landscape change to increased tree coverage which suggests that the sequence recorded a warming episode the macromammal assemblage is composed of both ungulates mainly red deer and equids and carnivores taphonomic analysis reveals both anthropic and to a lesser extent carnivore activities the ge was occupied by neanderthals and also sporadically by carnivores this new site broadens the information available regarding different human occupations at the sierra de atapuerca which emphasizes the importance of this site complex for understanding human evolution in western europe

barnacle dominated limestone with giant cross beds in a non tropical tide swept pliocene forearc seaway hawke s bay new zealand abstract pliocene non tropical widespread and locally thick up to 100 m limestones occur in hawke s bay eastern north island where they are intimately associated with very thick 5 km terrigenous dominated neogene sequences that formed in a tectonically active convergent margin setting the non tropical character of the limestones is shown unequivocally by 1 the complete dominance of skeletal calcarenites and calcirudites 2 the occurrence of oyster banks as the only in situ organic structures 3 the dominance of barnacles epifaunal molluscs bryozoans echinoderms foraminifers brachiopods and calcareous red algae as skeletal components and 4 the preponderance of calcite over aragonite in the mineralogy of the skeletal grains and cements the abundance of barnacle fragments in the limestones and the related exclusive occurrence of only one major organic association a barnacle epifaunal bivalve bryozoan assemblage is striking and unusual given the extent of the limestones pecten and oyster valves acted as substrates for barnacle attachment and their growth was promoted by strong tidal paleocurrents that swept the depositional setting a long 450 km narrow 30 50 km forearc basin seaway which formed between an actively deforming subduction complex to the east and an uplifting structural ridge to the west synsedimentary deformation promoted limestone formation on the margins of the seaway by creating current swept clastic free submarine ridges that acted as the sites of carbonate production tidal flows dispersed the carbonate constituents and organised them into a wide spectrum of tide influenced cross bedded and horizontal structures most spectacular are occurrences of giant tabular cross beds with sets 10 40 m thick and foreset dips of 7 36 some interpreted as the deposits of major sand bars on carbonate deltas marginal to the mouths of saddles traversing the rising antiforms and others analogous to modern linear sand ridges the small to large scale planar and trough cross beds and the horizontal and lenticular beds that are invariably associated with the giant cross beds and dominate most sections represent mainly the deposits of sand waves and sand sheets at inner to mid shelf depths in the seaway

disentangling hominin and carnivore activities near a spring at flk north olduvai gorge tanzania flk north is one of the densest concentrations of fossils found in olduvai gorge a recent taphonomic re evaluation of the collection excavated by leakey at the site suggests that it was a palimpsest in which most of the animals were accumulated and modified by carnivores the lithic tools therefore seem to have an independent depositional history from most of the fauna the present study based on new excavations expands the evidence supporting this interpretation and demonstrates a thicker deposit than was reported by leakey including new archaeological levels it also shows that in the few instances where hominins butchered carcasses meat not marrow was their main target this argues against passive scavenging hypotheses which emphasize the dietary role of marrow and instead underscores the importance of meat in the diet of early pleistocene hominins

decomposition of multicomponent sea floor data into upgoing and downgoing p and s waves a method for decomposing multicomponent sea floor measurements into upgoing and downgoing p and s waves is presented we assume that a marine survey employing a marine source in the water layer is conducted over a plane layered medium from recordings of the pressure just above the sea floor and the particle velocity vector just below the sea floor decomposition filters can be determined by plane wave analysis the decomposition filter coefficients depend on the p and s wave velocities and the density at the sea bottom we show how to decompose the multicomponent measurements into upgoing and downgoing p and s vertical traction components vertical particle velocity components and horizontal particle velocity components the decomposition filters are applied with good results to synthetic data modeled in a plane layered medium

grain size control of large compound flow transverse bedforms in a tidal inlet of the danish wadden sea abstract flow transverse bedforms were recorded along a 2 km reach of the northernmost tidal inlet of the danish wadden sea the bed of the inlet channel is covered with large to very large compound dunes and superimposed medium sized dunes composed of medium to coarse sands the mean grain size of the bed material along the centre line of the inlet throat decreases from 0 56 mm in the inner part to 0 3 mm in the outer part both dune populations are essentially two dimensional with straight to slightly curved crest lines the ebb current is very similar in magnitude along the entire channel axis whereas the flood current is of similar magnitude in the inner half but reaches only about half of the maximum ebb current velocity in the outer section sediment transport occurs during both the ebb and flood periods the latter being less vigorous and of shorter duration as a result the inlet as a whole is ebb dominated dominant ebb current 1 01 m s 1 dominant flood current 0 79 m s 1 in agreement with the tidal dynamics a net ebb oriented bedform migration rate of 32 m yr 1 was determined from the survey data the large to very large dunes display distinct flood caps during the flooding tide whereas the medium sized dunes reverse their direction during each tide the downstream dimensional evolution of the large dunes is complex switching from initial growth to progressive decline followed by renewed growth in length but progressive decline in height this latter degradational phase begins in the middle of the survey reach and continues seawards until the large forms disappear completely at the same time the outer channel section becomes dominated by medium sized dunes which grow in size with decreasing grain size surprisingly there is no correlation between dune dimensions and water depth as would be expected at such shallow depths the complex evolution of dune dimensions as a function of grain size is discussed in terms of recent tidal bedform stability theory it is clear however that more site specific observations are required to fully explain the phenomenon

taphonomic analysis of an ungulate dominated accumulation at the pleistocene cova del rinoceront site near barcelona spain northeastern iberian peninsula abstract the upper pleistocene mis5 site known as cova del rinoceront near barcelona spain contains a large assemblage of ungulate remains among which the most dominant in the uppermost layer i are those of the rare mediterranean deer haploidoceros mediterraneus in this paper zooarchaeological and coprogenic analyses are used to evaluate the taphonomic and geological processes involved in determining the nature of the layer i assemblage the assemblage cannot have been generated by either hyenids or humans nor does it constitute an accidental collection as seen in other pleistocene accummulations instead the skeletal frequencies coprogenic tracemarkers and the diagnostic biological damage on bones suggest it accumulated as a result of the feeding of a carnivore the homogeneous pattern of carcass utilization and the predation of similar sized ungulates suggest a canid as the main biological agent

tracking changes in bone fracture morphology over time environment taphonomy and the archaeological record abstract zooarchaeologists have often employed studies of bone fracture morphology as a means of understanding past human cultural activity and various methodological approaches have been developed for analyzing archaeological broken bone assemblages it is widely understood that bones degrade over time however few studies have attempted to define and quantify the rate at which bones degrade and fracture morphologies change this study examines degradation in frozen bones 20 c and bones exposed to hot 40 c dry conditions these two simulated environmental conditions represent extreme real world climates and allow for an actualistic understanding of the rates of degradation that bones experience in nature when frozen bones degrade slowly but significantly and demonstrate measurable differences in samples frozen for 1 10 20 40 and 60 weeks in hot dry conditions bones degrade very quickly and demonstrate measurable differences after 1 3 7 14 and 21 days these data allow for a more detailed understanding of the relationship between the cultural and natural processes that result in bone fracture and the time period during which bones can be expected to maintain fresh fracture characteristics this research also has implications for understanding human subsistence and survival strategies and for interpreting the archaeological record

patterns and average rates of late neogene recent uplift of the betic cordillera se spain abstract the facies distribution in the sedimentary units infilling a series of neogene basins has been used to reconstruct the relief generation and uplift across the internal zone of the betic cordillera in southern spain uplift amounts and average rates can be estimated using the current elevation of the outcrops of well dated deposits indicative of ancient sea level positions coral reefs and coastal conglomerates record the initial development of emergent betic relief during the langhian continental and marginal marine deposits indicate the existence of a large island centred on the present sierra nevada sierra de los filabres chain by the end of the middle miocene the precursor of the sierra nevada sierra de los filabres chain originally part of this large island remained emerged whilst the surrounding areas were re invaded by the sea during the early tortonian at the end of the tortonian the inland basins granada and guadix basins became continental while the sierras de la contraviesa sierra de gador and sierra alhamilla emerged separating the alboran basin from the alpujarra tabernas and sorbas basins which became narrow passages of the mediterranean sea in contrast the sierra cabrera emerged during the late messinian suggesting a progressive uplift from west to east of the sierras south of the sierra nevada sierra de los filabres chain during the pliocene only the low areas closest to the present day coast remained as marine basins and progressively emerged throughout this stage the highest average uplift rate recorded is 280 m ma for the sierra de gador although the average uplift rates of upper neogene coastal marine rocks since depositon have maximum values of approximately 200 m ma most of the uplift of the betic mountains took place before the early pliocene the recorded uplift of neogene rocks was highest at the margins of western sierra nevada where peaks higher than 3000 m occur the average rates of uplift were lower to the east of this major relief the main sierras and depressions in the present day landscape correspond respectively to the emergent land in which uplift was concentrated and to the marine basins that existed before the final emergence of the region the altitude of the sierras reflects the time at which they became emergent the highest mountains being the first to rise above sea level

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 activities in dry muddy and wet environments models for the internal operational sequence of an abrasional process due to uni and multidirectional water movement and of a trampling scenario are presented these models are used for the interpretation of the fauna from gesher benot ya aqov

site formation dynamics and human occupations at bolomor cave valencia spain an archaeostratigraphic analysis of levels i to xii 100 200 ka abstract the definition of temporal scales related to human occupations is one of the most important elements for the reconstruction of occupational patterns in palaeolithic sites the complex sedimentary formation processes usually present in rock shelters and cave deposits result in the overlapping of archaeological remains from different occupations and events in the same stratigraphic unit formed by the sum of cultural and natural episodes this common characteristic which is widely discussed in the specialised literature as a palimpsest phenomenon may lead to equivocal associations and interpretations of the archaeological assemblages therefore the analysis of these assemblages should include the definition of synchronous relations between activity episodes identified in the search for high temporal resolution units which allow the establishment of the most accurate interpretations of the archaeological assemblages from this perspective we discuss the interpretative potential of archaeostratigraphic analysis for the study of homogeneous sedimentary units frequently present in palaeolithic sites in which the palimpsest phenomenon is frequently present in the formational processes of the sedimentary deposit the bolomor cave archaeological site valencia spain with a sedimentary deposit composed of seventeen stratigraphical levels ranging from mis 9 to mis 5e ca 350 100 ka shows evidence of human activity in almost all levels in many cases the archaeological remains mainly bones lithics and hearths appear overlapped in wide deposits thus proving the repeated use of the cave by different human groups here we present the archaeostratigraphic analysis of the upper sedimentary sequence of bolomor cave ranging from level i to level xii mis 5e 6 in which several occupational phases have been identified from the tridimensional placement reconstruction of the entire archaeological record and the definition of existing periods of abandonment along the stratigraphic sequence the analyses are complemented with information that helps us to define these periods such as the site formation processes and carnivore tooth marked bones the aim of this study is to contribute to the palimpsest dissection debate based on the definition of high temporal resolution units for the analysis of archaeological assemblages

a new experimental study on percussion marks and notches and their bearing on the interpretation of hammerstone broken faunal assemblages preliminary experiments on bone breakage have shown the potential utility of quantifying some of its diagnostic features percussion marks percussion notches for taphonomic inferences about human and carnivore involvement in bone breakage in faunal assemblages the present study increases the range of experiments undertaken to understand the identification of hammerstone percussion dynamic loading and its differences from carnivore bone breakage through tooth pressure static loading this study contributes to a better understanding of frequencies of percussion marks uncovers and quantifies those percussion marks that lack key diagnostic features to be identifiable and that could be mistaken with carnivore tooth marks quantifies notch types shows different size ranges for notches on bones from small and large fauna than previously reported quantifies the proportion of notches bearing percussion marks and introduces new size data for percussion impact flakes and percussion marks furthermore all these variables have been applied to a dual experimental set one experiment using non modified hammerstones and another based on the use of modified hammerstones results vary considerably according to hammerstone type some of these taphonomic variables increase the range of equifinality when identifying marks and notches created by different human and non human agents this calls for further caution when using isolated variables and features rather than a holistic approach to make taphonomic inferences

vertical cable as a subsalt imaging tool the vertical cable is a patented method for acquiring and processing prestack 3 d marine seismic data that is based on technology developed by the us navy for antisubmarine warfare the engineering requirements for a vertical cable are quite different than for a horizontal towed cable because the vertical cable and hydrophone array must retain electrical and mechanical integrity under high hydrostatic pressure at depth

the messinian guadalhorce corridor the last northern atlantic mediterranean gateway miocene tectonics with the last survi ving gateway occurring during the early messinian north west of malaga in the region of the guadalhorce river valley the guadalhorce gateway pro vided a significant control on messin ian pre evaporitic oceanic circulation in the mediterranean sea it acted as a major outflow channel of mediterra nean water into the atlantic and its closure induced water mass restriction and stratification in the western medi terranean immediately prior to the messinian salinity crisis abstract messinian marine deposits of the guadalhorce river valley in southern spain record evidence of the last northern gateway that existed between the mediterranean and the atlantic they comprise sandstones and conglomerates with unidirectional cross bed sets up to nearly 1 km long in their down sedimen tary dip direction these cross bed sets relate to extremely fast 1 0 1 5 m s 1 bottom currents flowing from the mediterra nean into the atlantic the guadalhorce gateway which had a maximum width of 5 km and a maximum water depth of 120 m was an important element controlling the messinian pre evaporitic oceanic circulation in the mediterranean sea as it acted as a major outflow channel its closure limited the exchange of water between the atlantic and the mediterranean to the rifian corridors of morocco inducing water mass restriction and stratification in the western mediterranean immediately prior to the messinian salinity crisis

euro north african sirenia biodiversity as a response to climate variations abstract earth has a latitudinal biodiversity gradient in which more species inhabit tropical than polar regions frequently attributed to seasonality this ecological pattern is applied to the evolution of the euro north african sirenians and its relation to cenozoic climate change climate disruption changes in seasonality and geological processes such as sea level variations are statistically tested as primary drivers to explain sirenian evolution and regional amphi mediterranean sirenian speciation and biodiversity

an experimental study of the patterned nature of anthropogenic bone breakage and its impact on bone surface modification frequencies abstract the analysis of bone breakage is one of the most relevant issues of current taphonomic studies available experimental analogies aim at differentiating agencies in the production of fractured bones possible equifinality presented by different agents can hinder the characterisation of bone breakage at archaeological sites equally important is the potential distortion that bone breaking processes introduce in bone surface modification bsm frequencies this study presents an experimental approach to the problem of identifying signatures for anthropogenic bone breaking as a product of direct hammerstone percussion this study also contributes to improving the existing analogical framework on processes related to bone breakage of medium sized animals 80 200 kg since most previous experimentation has focused on smaller 10 80 kg and larger 200 800 kg carcasses it has been possible to verify the existence of non random and non intentional breakage patterns on long bones due to their shape and structural properties thus this introduces the possibility of correctly identifying anthropogenic fracture patterns in the archaeological record additionally it also opens up the possibility of finding different cultural patterns it has frequently been argued that the frequency of bone surface modifications correlates with fragmentation intensity however this assertion remained untested until now here we test the frequency and occurrence of percussion and cut marks in faunal assemblages according to the intensity of green bone fragmentation the results also improve the current referential framework in reference to interpretation of notches produced by dynamic loading

measuring the post depositional destruction of bone in archaeological assemblages abstract post depositional processes have affected most archaeozoological assemblages often causing fragmentation or destruction of bone which can vary by assemblage and hamper interpretations of the original element representation klein cruz uribe 1984 the analysis of animal bones from archaeological sites chicago university of chicago press prior to performing interassemblage comparisons analysts must first assess the post depositional destruction for each assemblage hammerstone breakage and hyaena ravaging experiments show that compact bones carpals tarsals fibulae are rarely fragmented therefore fragmentation of these bones in archaeozoological assemblages should be the result of post depositional destruction a completeness index for compact bones provides a description of the magnitude of post depositional destruction because the completeness index is independent of differential fragmentation and transport by bone collectors and quantification variation between researchers the efficacy of the completeness index for showing varing completeness of archaeological bone is demonstrated by comparing two late pleistocene archaeological sites in kenya when guided by experimental results the completeness index allows an evaluation of the impact of post depositional destruction on the two kenyan assemblages published archaeozoological reports must provide a measure of post depositional destruction or else the usefulness of the data for comparative analysis is compromised

percussion marks on bone surfaces as a new diagnostic of hominid behaviour since stone tool cut marks and carnivore tooth marks were first described systematically on plio pleistocene archaeological bone1 2 bone surface modification has played a prominent role in interpreting early archaeological site formation and hominid behaviour3 15 here we introduce a new class of bone surface modification which we call percussion marks percussion marks were produced during experimental breakage of marrow bones and occur as pits or grooves impressed on a bone s surface by natural protrusions on the granitic hammerstone and anvil used although percussion marks can superficially mimic carnivore tooth marks they nonetheless are closely associated with hammerstone impact notches and show consistent micromorphological features which distinguish them from tooth marks and other classes of bone surface modification given indications of prehistoric hammer stone breakage of marrow bones1 7 an awareness of percussion marks is critical for accurately identifying the biological agents of bone modification at archaeological sites and provides a new diagnostic of carcass processing by hominids

when neanderthals used cave bear ursus spelaeus remains bone retouchers from unit 5 of scladina cave belgium abstract evidence of neanderthals using bear remains as retouchers is rare in the sedimentary unit 5 of scladina cave belgium weichselian early glacial mis 5d to 5b twenty six bone retouchers have been discovered among these six have been made from cave bear bones four from a femur and two from two tibiae the presence of lithic splinters still embedded in grooves can be convincingly associated with their function as knapping tools particularly interesting are six bone fragments including four fragments used as retouchers and two unused splinters which have been refitted together to reconstitute an almost complete cave bear femur diaphysis these specimens present modifications in the form of cut marks scraping marks impact notches and typical fractures of percussions on green fresh bone sometimes overlapping each other that allow for a complete understanding of the operational sequence in the production of bone retouchers at this site the identification of a sophisticated operational sequence where each action succeeds another in the production of a bone tool is a major argument in favor of predetermination that guided the neanderthal actions and is similar to that described for stone tool chaine operatoire

biotic and abiotic processes affecting the formation of bk level 4c bed ii olduvai gorge and their bearing on hominin behavior at the site abstract excavations at bk have provided insights into the behavior of early hominins through the study of several archaeological levels the present study shows the results for a new archaeological sub level bk4c the main goal is to contribute to the knowledge of the different taphonomic processes that shaped bk4c and to better understand the role played by hominins in its formation due to the presence of a fluvial depositional context and a slight channel in bk4c a spatial analysis has been applied in order to determine the impact caused by water flows we conclude that water played a role in the rearrangement of the assemblage however the spatial properties of the assemblage indicate a limited impact of post depositional disturbance processes supporting the autochthonous nature of the site the taphonomic study of this sub level indicates that hominins had a primary role in the accumulation bulk defleshing and demarrowing of carcasses bk4 assemblages bk4b and bk4c indicate a repeated occupation of the site for short time periods this is interpreted by the overall fast sedimentation recorded in the fluvial system and the paucity of highly weathered bones showing extensive periods of sub aerial exposure in between sedimentary episodes the site functionality is potentially different from that inferred for earlier oldowan periods where sites were smaller and showed less marked spatial clustering of lithics and stone tools caused by hominin behavior

a new method for the quantitative analysis of cutmark micromorphology abstract cutmarks found on the fossilised bones of butchered animals provide direct evidence for the procurement of meat through technological means as such they hold some of the oldest available information on cognitive ability and behaviour in human evolution here we present a new method that allows a three dimensional reconstruction of cutmark morphology and the quantification of profile parameters we have tested this new technique on cutmarks that were experimentally inflicted on a pig rib using a steel knife and an un retouched flint flake at different angles the method allows for the cross sectional shape the sharpness and depths of the resulting cutmarks to be quantified the data show that knife mark sections are characterised by a v shape or shape depending on the inclination of the knife cutmarks produced with the flint flake were less clearly defined and generally less sharp than those produced by the knife we discuss the method s potential to provide new information on butchery technique and cognitive abilities developed by the human lineage from the earliest tool using hominins through to modern homo sapiens

observation of shear wave splitting in the multicomponent node data from atlantis field gulf of mexico in 2005 a multicomponent ocean bottom node data set was collected by bp and bhp billiton in the atlantis field in the gulf ofmexico our results are based on data from a few sparse nodes with millions of shots that were analysed as common receiver azimuthal gathers a first order look at p wave arrivals on a common receiver gather at a constant offset reveals variation of p wave arrival time as a function of azimuth indicating the presence of azimuthal anisotropy at the top few layers this prompted us to investigate shear arrivals on the horizontal component data after preliminary processing including a static correction the data were optimally rotated to radial r and transverse t components the r component shows azimuthal variation of traveltime indicating variation of velocity with azimuth the corresponding t component shows azimuthal variation of amplitude and phase polarity reversal the observed shear wave s wave splitting previously observed azimuthal p wave velocity variation and azimuthal p wave amplitude variation all indicate the occurrence of anisotropy in the shallow just below the seafloor subsea sediment in the area from the radial component azimuthal gather we analysed the pp and ps wave amplitude variation for the first few layers and determined corresponding anisotropy parameter and vp vs values since fracture at this depth is not likely to occur we attribute the observed azimuthal anisotropy to the presence of microcracks and grain boundary orientation due to stress the evidence of anisotropy is ubiquitous in this data set and thus it argues strongly in favour of considering anisotropy in depth imaging for obtaining realistic subsurface images at the least

early middle miocene stratigraphic turning points in the alicante region se spain reflections of western mediterranean plate tectonic reorganizations abstract the paper concerns the miocene deposits of the alicante region se spain which forms part of the prebetic and intermediate units representing the former southern passive margin of the iberian continent from the late jurassic up to the miocene the alicante region was the scene of a facies distribution with more continental lagoonal or shallow marine conditions in the north and northwest and more open or deeper marine in the south and southeast the early middle miocene deposits can be divided in three sedimentary cycles each one controlled by a different tectonic regime cycle i aquitanian is deposits after a block faulting phase at about 25 ma related to the formation of the ligurian and balearic troughs cycle ii burdigalian early langhian is separated from first cycle sediments by a complete reorientation of palaeogeography at 19 5 ma due to the collision of iberia with africa the southern part of the region is folded and uplifted and separated from a northern emerged area by a trough cycle iii late langhian serravallian is controlled by strike slip movements caused by the continuing convergence between africa and europe and resulting in the development of a new set of basins at 15 5 ma at the middle late miocene boundary the alicante region emerges thus younger important tectonics could not be dated our results are in conflict with several recent plate tectonic models for the miocene history of the western mediterranean where the internal betic zone is placed juxtaposed to the alicante region prior to the burdigalian

assessing the function of pounding tools in the early stone age a microscopic approach to the analysis of percussive artefacts from beds i and ii olduvai gorge tanzania this study explores the function of quartzite pounding tools from olduvai gorge tanzania using microscopic and use wear spatial distribution analysis a selection of pounding tools from several bed i and ii assemblages excavated by mary leakey 1971 were studied under low magnification 100 and the microscopic traces developed on their surfaces are described experimental data and results obtained from analysis of the archaeological material are compared in order to assess activities in which pounding tools could have been involved results show that experimental anvils used for meat processing nut cracking and or bone breaking have similar wear patterns as those observed on archaeological percussive artefacts this is the first time that a microscopic analysis is applied to early stone age pounding artefacts from olduvai beds i and ii and this paper highlights the importance that percussive activities played during the early pleistocene suggesting a wider range of activities in addition to knapping and butchering

human use and reuse of megafaunal bones in north america bone fracture taphonomy and archaeological interpretation abstract the remains of terminal pleistocene megafauna in north america represent a continent wide case study in understanding the taphonomic processes that affect bones and the use and reuse of bones among some of north america s earliest inhabitants the complex dynamics of bone fracture bone degradation and the effects of natural and cultural taphonomic processes present a challenge for interpreting the nature of fractured and fragmented zooarchaeological material in north america the role of the environment in affecting bones and their suitability for use and reuse is profound natural processes affect the preservation of bones and their suitability for use which presents an interpretive challenge for archaeologists examining fractured and fragmented remains this paper seeks to explain describe and resolve some of the problems inherent in assessing and understanding the use and reuse of bones as raw materials using evidence from two terminal pleistocene sites in north america owl cave in idaho and the inglewood site in maryland as case studies that highlight the cultural environmental and interpretive differences that are manifest in zooarchaeological and paleontological assemblages

using 3d finite difference modeling to design wide azimuth surveys for improved subsalt imaging three dimensional finite difference modeling studies conducted over subsalt structures in the deepwater gulf of mexico confirm the deficiencies of narrow azimuth towed streamer surveys and predict significant improvement in image quality with wide azimuth methods finite difference modeling has provided important design parameters for two separate approaches for wide azimuth surveys ocean bottom receivers distributed in a sparse grid on the ocean floor coupled with a dense grid of source points on the surface and a wide azimuth towed streamer method using multiple seismic vessels in a novel configuration these two methods complement each other ocean bottom receivers may be used effectively where field development has resulted in many obstacles that might interfere with towed streamer methods where the required size of the 3d survey is not too extensive or where very long offsets are required for all azimuths towed streamer methods are more efficient for large surveys and key parameters in the wide

analysis of zooarchaelogical and taphonomical variability from maripe cave site santa cruz province argentinian patagonia abstract this paper compares two zooarchaeological sub samples each of which comes from a different area north chamber and south chamber of maripe cave site santa cruz argentina in previous papers each chamber was interpreted as a particular microenvironment based on their specific environmental and geoarchaeological features in both areas hunting gatherer society occupations were recorded since the pleistocene holocene transition to late holocene this paper investigated and discussed the different agents and processes involved in the formation of each assemblage with the aim of assessing the taphonomic variability between the two areas and discussing their integrity bone specimens of lama guanicoe guanaco the most common species on the site were analyzed the bone surfaces of specimens were studied by naked eye observations and binocular magnifying to 10 which allowed recognition of different patterns of modification the representation of guanaco anatomical units was also discussed at each chamber according to economic utility and bmd values the results indicate that while there was involvement of different natural agents and processes acted differently in each sector the main accumulating agent in both sets was human differences between both chambers are observed in the representation of anatomical units in processing marks in the conservation of specimens and in the number and intensity performed by each natural agents and process in each sector each chamber indicates a different taphonomic history the north chamber records greater conservation and archaeological integrity while the south chamber shows a more complex taphonomy

elephants and subsistence evidence of the human exploitation of extremely large mammal bones from the middle palaeolithic site of preresa madrid spain the archaeological site at preresa madrid spain has been dated to 84 5 6 ka by optically stimulated luminescence osl mis 5a an area 255 m2 was excavated and 754 lithic pieces were recovered as well as a large amount of micro and macro vertebrate remains including proboscidean bones the aim of this paper is to outline the results of the taphonomic study of these remains the identification of cut marks on a number of the bones recovered strengthens the theory that the exploitation of extremely large mammals was more than just a marginal practice before the upper palaeolithic additionally the identification of green bone fractures and percussion marks confirm for the first time that the bone marrow of these taxa was also consumed few other cases of this practice have been identified firstly because obtaining this substance would not be an easy matter and secondly because similar nutritional needs can also be met by the consumption of brain matter which is easier to acquire

tidal deposition systems of china s continental shelf with special reference to the eastern bohai sea abstract the continental shelf of china has undergone a large scale marine transgression tidal currents have become the main active agent and have had a profound influence on the deposition and geomorphology of the shelf the continental shelf of china has five modern tidal deposition systems 1 the eastern part of the yellow sea 2 the eastern part of the bohai sea 3 off the mouth of yangtze river 4 to the west of taiwan and 5 the strait of qiongzhou when the tidal current speed is above 150 cm s erosion dominates and reciprocating currents form deep scour furrows when the tidal current speed is 50 to 150 cm s deposition is dominant and tidal currents form tidal shoals i e tidal sand ridges and tidal sand sheets whose margins are near an absolute ellipticity value for the m2 tidal component of 0 4 when the absolute m2 value is less than 0 4 a reciprocating current is strong enough to form tidal sand ridges when the absolute value is above 0 4 a rotating current increases so as to form a tidal sand sheet tidal deposition material came mainly from tidal erosion and locally redeposition of late pleistocene sediments and from the neighbouring sea bottom the tidal deposition system in the eastern bohai sea is a typical example it consists of the laotieshan channel scour furrow the liaodong shoal sand ridges and the bozhong shoal sand sheet the maximum tidal current speed in the laotieshan channel where strong erosion occurs is up to 250 cm s in the liaodong shoal the maximum tidal current speed is 64 115 cm s and the absolute ellipticity value of the m2 tidal component is less than 0 4 in the bozhong shoal the maximum tidal speed is 58 79 cm s and the absolute ellipticity value of the m2 tidal component is above 0 4 the small scale bedforms surveyed in detail in the area show that the sand ridges and sand sheet are still under the action of tidal current processes at the present time based on the interpretation of tidal currents bedforms and sediment thickness it is inferred that the general direction of sediment transport within the study area is nnw from the laotieshan channel to the liaodong and bozhong shoals the small scale bedforms in the detailed survey area indicate a local net sediment transport from south to north

neanderthal and animal karstic occupations from southern belgium and south eastern france regional or common features abstract karstic systems have preserved abundant archaeological records with well represented faunal remains due to their sedimentological and topographical features these particular localities were intensely exploited and occupied by neanderthal groups we focus here on middle palaeolithic settlements from the last glacial period mis 5d 3 which is characterized by marked climatic variability with colder episodes alternating with more temperate periods the ardeche region in south eastern france and the meuse basin in belgium have recently been the focus of regional studies combining archaeological geological and chronological data in order to bring to light human land use and subsistence strategies these two areas comprise multiple rock shelters and caves with neanderthal occupations dating from mis 5d to 3 as well as the obvious traces of occupation by neanderthals most sites provide evidence of carnivore occupations e g cave bears cave hyenas or wolves each of these habitation sites presents a specific topography and type of occupation and most of them reveal behavioural homogeneity within their sequences by comparing data from faunal accumulations in these two related areas separated by a distance of about one thousand kilometres we attempt to gain a better understanding of the driving forces behind neanderthal and animal occupations of karstic networks do regional land use patterns exist in different european karstic localities or can we perceive common features related to the geography and topography of the sites

the paleoecology and taphonomy of amk bed i olduvai gorge and its contributions to the understanding of the zinj paleolandscape abstract amk amin mturi korongo is a newly discovered site situated under tuff ic bed i 1 84 ma it contains several fossiliferous levels and the top one is situated on the same paleosurface as flk zinj for the first time this allows sampling the zinj paleoenvironment well into the secondary gorge and expands the known area of this paleolandscape fossils found at this site show exceptional preservation several articulated units have been discovered indicating minimal postdepositional disturbance and rapid sedimentation this assemblage allows a general estimation of time span the most elusive variable in archaeological analyses for the formation of amk phytolith analyses have discovered a dense palm forest at the site expanding the forested area known on the slightly elevated platform that contains the flk zinj flk nn ptk sites although a few artifacts have been discovered in the vicinity of amk the site was mostly naturally i e non anthropogenically formed this is of major relevance to determine that factors other than forested habitats must have influenced the formation of anthropogenic sites on the same platform as amk in the olduvai lacustrine basin

subaqueous giant 15 m and supergiant 40 m dunes from the lower permian vryheid formation of the karoo supergroup northern natal south africa abstract the marine lower permian vryheid formation contains a distinctive macrobedform suite this comprises giant crossbeds up to 12 m thick large dunes masterbedded units up to 15 m thick giant dunes stacked masterbedded units 40 m thick supergiant dunes and a shelf stratigraphy up to 100 m thick tidal currents augmented by an oceanic current were responsible for bedform migration two categories of giant dunes are noted 1 a fine grained type associated with tidalites and tempestites which forms a sheet sandstones and 2 a coarse grained type associated with tidalites which occurs as discrete pods it is suggested that the distal fine grained type formed in a setting exposed to oceanic storms whereas the proximal coarse grained type developed in a sheltered setting with migration into more open areas the coarse grained type could develop into the fine grained type it is further suggested that the giant dunes climbed to form supergiant dunes up to 40 m thick the supergiant dunes are further stacked into stratigraphic units 40 100 m thick which may be due to supergiant dune climbing or possibly tectonic effects to produce a regressive shelf sequence

transverse and linear dunes in an upper pleistocene marine sequence corinth basin greece a range of large scale dunes of oolitic calcarenite composition are exposed in the corinth basin of central greece these transverse dunes and a very large linear dune 15 m high lie within an upper pleistocene transgressive marine sequence tidal flow accelerated by constriction through a narrow fault bounded seaway is interpreted to have generated the current velocities necessary to produce the dunes marine facies in the upper pleistocene sequence include beach to offshore conglomerates and sandstones with wave modified sedimentary structures and herringbone cross stratification an offshore facies association comprises variably bioturbated siltstones and sandstones with a varied marine fauna that includes thermophile species such as scleractinian corals and strombus bubonius oolitic sandstone facies also occur oolitic sands were apparently produced in shoal environments subject to tidal and wave action and transported by dominant southerly currents over the southern part of the basin oolites accumulated in a linear dune 2 7 km long and 15 20 m high and in three dimensional transverse dunes up to 10 m high having a variety of compound and simple internal geometries the isolated wsw ene trending linear form exhibits angle of repose sedimentary dips up to 35 of avalanche sets on its se flank and sets typically with dips of 15 20 to the nw internal high angle discontinuities are developed in the se dipping lee face it is proposed that a dominant north to south flow crossed over the crest obliquely resulting in both net erosional and depositional processes on the lee flank a subordinate tidal current may have locally and or periodically crossed the dune crest in a westwards direction a string of transverse dunes which were located adjacent to a fault marine terrace scarp is interpreted to have originally coalesced to form the linear dune the distribution of transverse and linear dunes together with the palaeogeographical reconstruction suggest that a marine connection periodically existed across the corinth isthmus during the late pleistocene due to a combination of active faulting and glacio eustatic highstands of sea level

new age constraints on the western betic intramontane basins a late tortonian closure of the guadalhorce corridor several gateways connected the mediterranean with the atlantic during the late miocene but the timing of closure and therefore their role prior to and during the messinian salinity crisis 5 97 5 33 ma is still under debate the timing of closure of the guadalhorce corridor is especially disputed as the common lack of marine microfossils hampers precise age determination here we present new biostratigraphic age constraints on the sediments of the ronda antequera and arcos regions which formed the northern part of the guadalhorce corridor the general presence of globorotalia menardii 4 in the youngest deep marine sediments of all three regions indicates a late tortonian age older than 7 51 ma we conclude that the guadalhorce corridor closed during the late tortonian well before the onset of the messinian salinity crisis and that the late tortonian tectonic uplift of the eastern betics extended into the western betics

oyster shells as recorders of short term oscillations of salinity and temperature during deposition of coral bioherms and reefs in the miocene lorca basin se spain abstract we use 18 o and 13 c of oyster shells inferred seawater 18 o w and temperature tolerance ranges of modern zooxanthellate coral communities to constrain and model paleo salinities of marginal marine waters of the miocene lorca basin spain salinities ranged from 22 to 32 psu during growth of coral bioherms and carpets of the soriana and parrilla formations and from 35 to 39 psu during deposition of the hondo formation reef complex the periods with lower modeled salinities correspond with deltaic and alluvial fan sedimentation in the area the modeling is supported by 87 sr 86 sr data and provides new insights into the evolution of the local depositional settings departures of sr isotope values from the global oceanic curve occur within the intervals with the lowest modeled salinities and the non oceanic 87 sr 86 sr preserved in individual oyster shells was probably sourced from uplifted aquitanian burdigalian limestones 87 sr 86 sr values that plot along the global ocean sr isotope curve for the late miocene indicate a tortonian age for the upper part of the soriana formation and the parrilla formation and a messinian age for the hondo formation more generally we demonstrate how the chemical analyses of oyster shells provide additional information regarding short term oscillations of salinity and temperature of seawater beyond what can be obtained by traditional paleoecological methods

what happens around a fire faunal processing sequences and spatial distribution at qesem cave 300 ka israel abstract the technological innovation involving the controlled use of fire represents a decisive change in human subsistence hearths and the spatial distribution patterns associated with them constitute a valuable element in deepening our knowledge on human behaviour and its evolution studies focused on hearths and on the use of fire in general are diverse and carried out through different perspectives thus hearths are studied for their meaning in terms of diet caloric and light capacity and spatial organisation as well as for their role as communication and socialization focal points the site of qesem cave israel shows evidence of the controlled use of fire as early as 400 ka judging by the burned bones from the lowest units of the stratigraphic sequence a particular superimposed central hearth that was repeatedly used as a focus for human activities ca 300 ka is the topic of this study this succession of hearths at the same location in the cave yields dense faunal and lithic remains as well as evidence for spatial differentiation between areas here we present faunal taphonomical data from this specific archaeological context which includes not only the hearth area approximately 4 m2 but also the surrounding areas approximately 11 m2 the most common prey species is the mesopotamian fallow deer dama cf mesopotamica which displays a wide age range and a biased anatomical profile including mainly marrow rich bones such as long limb bones these characteristics especially those regarding the relative abundance of infantile and young fallow deer lead us to propose that social hunting techniques were practised following a seasonal regime this paper provides data on human subsistence behaviour during the formation of the hearth and the archaeological unit around it comparing the two from a taphonomical perspective elements such as size length of bone fragments and intensity of burning are spatially plotted to show differential space division all these data are considered in the reconstruction of subsistence strategies and hominin behaviour in the acheulo yabrudian cultural complex in the levant

cutmarks made by stone tools on bones from olduvai gorge tanzania fossils from olduvai gorge tanzania show cutmarks which establish that hominids were using stone tools on animal tissues during the lower pleistocene in africa we identified cutmarks by elimination of other likely causes of the marks on the bone surfaces for example gnawing or chewing by carnivores or rodents and damage made by tools of excavators or preparators this was achieved by comparing the marks on the fossils with those produced by known causes on modern bones using scanning electron microscopy sem because the fossils occur as part of accumulations of animal remains in relatively undisturbed geological contexts we conclude that there is a functional association between the stone artefacts and bones at these sites rather than an accidental postmortem association1 2

giant cross beds in the neoproterozoic port askaig formation scotland implications for snowball earth abstract the neoproterozoic port askaig formation is a thick succession of interbedded diamictite conglomerate sandstone and mudstone that records glacially influenced marine sedimentation in the extensional dalradian basin giant cross beds individual units up to 11 m thick are observed in sandstone at the base of member iii of the port askaig formation the cross bedded sandstones are closely associated with other sandstone diamictite and conglomerate facies and are characterized by both planar and trough shaped foreset laminae with an average maximum dip angle of 14 the cross bedding has compound internal structure and indicates a predominant paleocurrent direction towards the south the sandstone is medium grained well sorted and quartzitic the giant cross beds are interpreted to have formed as a result of the migration of large subaqueous simple and compound dunes in a marine setting based on sedimentological analysis of the sandstone and associated facies as well as the tectonic setting of the port askaig formation the giant dunes are thought to have formed under the influence of tidal currents and indicate open marine ice free depositional conditions the sedimentology of the cross bedded sandstone and its close association with diamictite and conglomerate indicate repeated ice margin advance and withdrawal with periods of both ice free and ice influenced conditions the environmental conditions recorded in these port askaig deposits appear inconsistent with deep freeze or rapid meltback associated with a snowball earth

ideas no longer written in antler in the course of the upper paleolithic antler debitage techniques seem to have followed a linear evolution the earliest one fracturing by cleaving appeared during the aurignacian and is considered by some specialists to be ineffective according to them it was not until the invention of the groove and splinter technique during the gravettian that antler debitage became efficient nonetheless during the solutrean fracturing once again became the most common technique but by splitting based on a study of 102 solutrean pressure tools and experimentations we reach the conclusion that splitting is a very effective technique that can produce blanks with the same qualities as those made by the groove and splinter technique the splitting technique was nonetheless excluded in previous studies we explore the reasons for this and the particularities of the different antler debitage techniques evidenced in the western upper paleolithic

new taphonomic data of the 1 myr hominin butchery at untermassfeld thuringia germany abstract untermassfeld has provided a butchered bone assemblage and a mode 1 lithic record demonstrating hominin presence at a site which was classically viewed as paleontological this archaeological record was found during fieldwork and surveying in fluvial river banks and low to medium energy channel erosion sediments paleomagnetism and biostratigraphy has yielded an age for this hominin occupation close to the onset of the jaramillo subchron ca 1 07 myr in this paper we present new taphonomic data of the cut marked and hammer related bone material corresponding mainly to large sized herd species i e bison but also from cervids eucladoceros giulii and cervus s l nestii vallonnetensis and megafaunal species i e stephanorhinus hundsheimensis and hippopotamus amphibius antiquus distribution of skeletal elements and bone surface features suggests that this bone assemblage consists of animal remains with different taphonomic origins the assemblage formed during at most two or three sediment laden floods transporting both lithic tools and remains of animals that died of natural causes or were killed by predators the new taphonomic results presented here are important to analyze hominin colonization and adaptation to european mid latitude environments at 1 myr in competition for meat resources with large carnivores i e pachycrocuta brevirostris and panthera onca gombaszoegensis

late persistence of the acheulian in southern britain in an mis 8 interstadial evidence from harnham wiltshire this paper presents evidence of the discovery of a new middle pleistocene site in central southern england with undisturbed evidence of hominin occupation well dated to an interstadial towards the end of marine isotope stage 8 c 250 000 bp the site consists of a preserved remnant of a river terrace and its alluvial floodplain overlain by chalk rich bankside deposits all abutting a chalk bedrock riverbank it preserves an area of occupation with activity focused on the riverbank complemented by occasional activity on a palaeo landsurface developed on the surface of the alluvial floodplain lithic technology at the site consists almost entirely of handaxe manufacture allowing attribution to an acheulian industrial tradition mammalian and other palaeo environmental remains are present and associated with the occupation horizons including large mammal bones showing signs of hominin interference dating was based on osl determinations on the sediments and amino acid racemisation of molluscan remains supported by biostratigraphic indications besides being a rare instance of an undisturbed palaeolithic palaeo landscape covering several hectares the site contributes to wider quaternary research concerns over the ability of middle pleistocene hominins to tolerate colder climatic episodes in higher latitudes and over settlement history and changing lithic industrial traditions of northwest europe in relation to climate change and british peninsularity it is suggested that the harnham evidence may represent an insular population that had persisted in southern britain since mis 10 9 which became locally extinct during the glacial maximum 8 2 marking the end of mis 8

late neogene evolution of the taza guercif basin rifian corridor morocco and implications for the messinian salinity crisis abstract magnetostratigraphic and biostratigraphic results are presented from neogene deposits in the taza guercif basin located at the southern margin of the rifian corridor in morocco this corridor was the main marine passageway which connected the mediterranean with the atlantic during messinian times correlation of the biostratigraphy and polarity sequence of the taza guercif composite section to the astronomical time scale allows an accurate dating of three subsequent events in the rifian corridor 1 the oldest marine sediments marking the opening of the rifian corridor were deposited at 8 ma at this age a deep 600 m marine basin developed in the taza guercif area marked by deposition of precession controlled turbidite marl cycles 2 paleodepth reconstructions indicate that a rapid 5 m ka shallowing of the marine corridor took place at the tortonian messinian boundary at an age of 7 2 ma this shallowing phase is primarily related to active tectonics although a small glacio eustatic sea level lowering also took place 3 the taza guercif basin was emergent at an age of 6 0 ma and subsequently continental sedimentation continued well into the early pliocene we suggest that shallowing and restricting the marine passageway through the rifian corridor actually initiated the messinian salinity crisis well before the deposition of the messinian evaporites in the mediterranean

types of internal structure and external morphology of submarine dunes under the influence of tide and wind driven processes dover strait northern france abstract the expression of tide and wind driven processes in the internal architecture and external morphology of very large submarine dunes is investigated at a dune field located in the central part of the dover strait southern north sea current measurements and sediment transport calculations enable quantification of the dominant tide and wind driven processes and very high resolution seismic recordings are used to analyse internal structure and external morphology of dunes in the study area moderate to storm winds induce temporary currents that can lead to the reversal of sediment transport direction and induced erosive processes on the seabed dune master bedding consists of extended erosive surfaces with 9 11 slopes that bound storm generated sets of cross beds 1 5 4 85 m thick 2 65 m on average three types of architectures are observed within the dune field and occasionally within single dunes these types which display a strong linkage between internal structure and external morphology consist of 1 asymmetric dunes with cosets which dip in the direction of the marked external asymmetry of the dunes 2 dunes with a complex external morphology composed of mega herringbone structures each displaying an opposing progradation direction and 3 dunes with a symmetric megaripple bedding unit at their summit the diversity of the internal architecture and external morphology results from the variable combinations of tide and wind driven processes occurring in the study area the asymmetry of tidal peak current velocity and the relative strength of wind driven currents are the parameters that have the most important influence on dune architecture asymmetric dunes with cosets result from a strong asymmetry in tidal peak current velocity which is reversed only slightly during storms dunes with mega herringbone structures and dunes with symmetric megaripple units at their summit are observed in areas where the asymmetry of the tidal peak current velocity is negligible allowing reversal of the sediment transport and dune migration directions each time moderate winds blow the latter architectural type is specific to sand rich areas the different dune architecture types display strong geometrical similarities to structures observed in dunes from other shelf environments where driving processes are different this implies that a study based only on a geometric description of internal structures will not enable the reconstitution of ancient depositional environments a better discriminant criteria seems to be the thickness of the second order sets of cross beds which is correlated with specific hydro sedimentary processes dune height also probably has an important influence on the thickness of second order sets of cross beds as dune height and set thickness display a clear relationship in the present study

deformation style and controlling geodynamic processes at the eastern guadalquivir foreland basin southern spain the tectonic structure of the guadalquivir foreland basin becomes complex eastwards evolving from a single depocenter to a compartmented basin the deformation pattern within the eastern guadalquivir foreland basin has been characterized by combining seismic reflection profiles boreholes and structural field data to output a 3d model high dipping nne ssw to ne sw trending normal and reverse fault arrays deform the variscan basement of the basin these faults generally affect tortonian sediments which show syntectonic features sealed by the latest miocene units curved and s shaped fault traces are abundant and caused by the linkage of nearby fault segments during lateral fault propagation preexisting faults were reactivated either as normal or reverse faults depending on their position within the foreland at tortonian time reverse faults deformed the basin forebulge while normal faults predominated within the backbulge along strike variation of the betic foreland basin geometry is supported by an increasing mechanical coupling of the two plates alboran domain and variscan basement towards the eastern part of the cordillera thus subduction would have progressed in the western betics while it would have failed in the eastern one there the initially subducted iberian paleomargin nevado filabride complex was incorporated into the upper plate promoting the transmission of collision related compressional stresses into the foreland since the middle miocene nowadays compression is still active and produces low magnitude earthquakes likely linked to nne ssw to ne sw pre exiting faults reactivated with reverse oblique slip kinematics seismicity is mostly concentrated around fault tips that are frequently curved in overstepping zones

not so deserted paleoecology and human subsistence in central iberia guadalajara spain around the last glacial maximum abstract in contrast to the coastal areas of the iberian peninsula the upper palaeolithic settlement of central iberia dominated by the spanish plateau is poorly known traditional models assume a total or virtual depopulation of the interior of the iberian peninsula during the last glacial in this paper we present a detailed investigation of human environment interactions through the first zooarchaeological taphonomic and isotopic study of the key site of pena capon a rock shelter located in the south eastern foothills of the central system range that contains a multi layered deposit dated to marine isotope stage 2 mis 2 analyses of the faunal assemblages of the proto solutrean 3 and middle solutrean 2 layers show that human preferentially hunted horse deer and iberian ibex living in the vicinity of the rock shelter isotope geochemistry of the animal remains of pena capon provides us with the first detailed intra tooth multi proxy analysis for this time period in south western europe providing estimates of climatic conditions seasonal flucturation of diet as well as patterns of seasonal mobility our results indicate that human presence at pena capon was apparently restricted to relatively warm intervals around the lgm or reflects the presence of an ecological refuge and provide us with evidence of recurrent human presence in the iberian interior during the upper paleolithic prior to the magdalenian