pestera cu oase 2 and the cranial morphology of early modern europeans between 2003 and 2005 the pestera cu oase romania yielded a largely complete early modern human cranium oase 2 scattered on the surface of a late pleistocene hydraulically displaced bone bed containing principally the remains of ursus spelaeus multiple lines of evidence indicate an age of 40 5 thousand calendar years before the present 35 ka 14c b p morphological comparison of the adolescent oase 2 cranium to relevant late pleistocene human samples documents a suite of derived modern human and or non neandertal features including absence of a supraorbital torus subrectangular orbits prominent canine fossae narrow nasal aperture level nasal floor angled and anteriorly oriented zygomatic bones a high neurocranium with prominent parietal bosses and marked sagittal parietal curvature superiorly positioned temporal zygomatic root vertical auditory porous laterally bulbous mastoid processes superiorly positioned posterior semicircular canal absence of a nuchal torus and a suprainiac fossa and a small occipital bun however these features are associated with an exceptionally flat frontal arc a moderately large juxtamastoid eminence extremely large molars that become progressively larger distally complex occlusal morphology of the upper third molar and relatively anteriorly positioned zygomatic arches moreover the featureless occipital region and small mastoid process are at variance with the large facial skeleton and dentition this unusual mosaic in oase 2 some of which is paralleled in the oase 1 mandible indicates both complex population dynamics as modern humans dispersed into europe and significant ongoing human evolution once modern humans were established within europe

an example of an accretionary forearc basin from northern central anatolia and its implications for the history of subduction of neo tethys in turkey deformed sedimentary sequences of late cretaceous middle eocene age located between the sakarya continent and the anatolian complex have been interpreted as the fill of a forearc basin the history and structure of this basin are critical for understanding the evolution of the neo tethyan subduction in the middle east i test and elaborate upon this interpretation on the basis of three basic outcrop areas of upper cretaceous lower tertiary sedimentary sequences confined to a northeast southwest trending belt in north west ankara these are the alci kinik and orhaniye areas they expose two different sedimentary sequences called alci and orhaniye in the alci area the sequence starts at the base with the continental red clastic rocks on the erosional surface of an underlying ophiolitic melange and continues upward into the shallow marine reefal buildup of the late maastrichtian age the upper half of the alci sequence is separated from its lower half by a local disconformity and dominated by the continental debris flow deposits composed mostly of volcanic material by contrast both the kinik and orhaniye areas are characterized by a thick continuous and coarsening upward sequence overlying conformably the underlying ophiolitic melange the lower half of the orhaniye sequence is dominated by a deep marine flysch its middle part by continental clastic material and the topmost part by the shallow marine reefal buildup lower contact relationships lithologic composition facies distribution internal structures and the regional tectonic settings of both sequences strongly suggest that the above mentioned three outcrops preserve the remnants of a peripheral accretionary forearc basin forming the north northwestern margin of the haymana polath accretionary forearc basin during middle campanian middle eocene time this peripheral basin is here named orhaniye accretionary forearc basin

fifty thousand years of flint knapping and tool shaping across the mousterian and uluzzian sequence of fumane cave abstract grotta di fumane a mousterian site in northern italy has been extensively explored over the last two decades in order to gather data on neanderthal behaviour from during the late pleistocene up to the appearance of modern humans the 12 m thick sedimentary sequence includes several layers that have yielded variable amounts of flint artefacts and faunal remains particularly in br11 a11 a8 a9 and a5 a6 related to repeated and complex human occupations the earliest assemblages record the exclusive use of the levallois method from s9 to br7 for the production of flakes with unidirectional and centripetal recurrent modalities in br9 bifaces and different types of cores have also been found the first striking technological replacement occurs in br6 up to br3 where there is a complex of layers with the infrequent occurrence of bones flakes and scrapers made with a method closely resembling the quina technique further evidence of variability in lithic technology is provided by the re appearance of the levallois technology during mis3 in layer a11 although here focused more on blades than flakes and by the levallois discoid alternance throughout the transect from a10v to a5 a6 the persistence of the mousterian tradition in the lowermost a4 uluzzian level continues to be evidenced by levallois flakes and cores side scrapers points and thinned implements the presence of conjoined flakes and cores proves that innovations occurred in a4 and a3 and with the disappearance of the levallois technology in a3 other methods focused on different kinds of flakes short thick blades thin bladelets and flake bladelets even though most of this evidence is similar to that of other levallois sequences in the mediterranean rim some such as the bifaces and the quina assemblages provides us with new details of the cultural scenario the former are ascribable to the vast spread of bifacial industries from north west france to central and eastern europe in mis4 and early mis3 whereas the latter can be linked to the dissemination of quina in southeast france the perspectives adopted for assessing the significance of the a units are broadly borne out in the other late mousterian industries where the replacement of levallois techniques by discoid technologies is recorded independently of geographical and palaeo environmental context and site function striking innovations in lithic technology occurring at the top of the sequence record the appearance of the uluzzian in southern italy and the balkans

cave deposits as a sedimentary trap for the marine isotope stage 3 environmental record the case study of pod hradem czech republic pod hradem cave located in the moravian karst czech republic offers an excellent opportunity for environmental reconstructions of marine isotope stage 3 mis 3 in central europe due to its detailed sedimentary record dated 50 000 to 28 000 cal bp identifying the natural environments of the middle to upper palaeolithic mup transition is necessary to understand the settlement strategies and related behaviour of both neanderthals and anatomically modern humans both of whom may have occupied the region at the same time a multidisciplinary excavation was carried out between 2011 and 2016 detailed analyses of the sediments vertebrate microfauna pollen and charcoal revealed minor but observable fluctuations in climate with little change in the surrounding vegetation the pod hradem palaeoenvironmental dataset is complex but generally reflects a predominantly glacial climate with a range of vegetation types and habitats during the late pleistocene followed by the warmer and more humid holocene the mup transition as recorded in pod hradem cave was a glacial environment interrupted by two relatively warmer periods central europe experienced extreme climate fluctuations during mis3 as recorded from different sedimentary archives but it seems that the pod hradem cave environment may have acted as a buffer zone ameliorating those extremes and providing a suitable refuge for both bears seeking winter hibernation dens and occasionally visiting humans

the reset project constructing a european tephra lattice for refined synchronisation of environmental and archaeological events during the last c 100 ka this paper introduces the aims and scope of the reset project response of humans to abrupt environmental transitions a programme of research funded by the natural environment research council uk between 2008 and 2013 it also provides the context and rationale for papers included in a special volume of quaternary science reviews that report some of the project s findings reset examined the chronological and correlation methods employed to establish causal links between the timing of abrupt environmental transitions aets on the one hand and of human dispersal and development on the other with a focus on the middle and upper palaeolithic periods the period of interest is the last glacial cycle and the early holocene c 100 8 ka during which time a number of pronounced aets occurred a long running topic of debate is the degree to which human history in europe and the mediterranean region during the palaeolithic was shaped by these aets but this has proved difficult to assess because of poor dating control in an attempt to move the science forward reset examined the potential that tephra isochrons and in particular non visible ash layers cryptotephras might offer for synchronising palaeo records with a greater degree of finesse new tephrostratigraphical data generated by the project augment previously established tephra frameworks for the region and underpin a more evolved tephra lattice that links palaeo records between greenland the european mainland sub marine sequences in the mediterranean and north africa the paper also outlines the significance of other contributions to this special volume collectively these illustrate how the lattice was constructed how it links with cognate tephra research in europe and elsewhere and how the evidence of tephra isochrons is beginning to challenge long held views about the impacts of environmental change on humans during the palaeolithic

the east irish sea basin from caterpillar to butterfly a thirty year metamorphosis in the thirty years since the award of the first licenses the east irish sea basin has emerged as a significant hydrocarbon province this paper first lists some of the occasionally almost arbitrary events that led to the first success in the basin the discovery of the morecambe field in 1974 an attempt is made to review progress over those thirty years in certain topics namely 1 stratigraphy 2 structure 3 sedimentology 4 diagenesis the platy illite problem and others 5 uplift and inversion 6 hydrocarbon sources and types 7 east irish sea basin analogues the paper concludes by summarizing the current state of knowledge 1995 represented the thirtieth anniversary of the first award of licences in the east irish sea basin eisb the twenty sixth anniversary of the drilling of the first wells and the twenty first anniversary of the discovery of the south morecambe field it is perhaps appropriate to look back on some of the crucial events of the last thirty years and on some of the earlier concepts and interpretations with a view to seeing how these last have progressed or been found wanting undoubtedly the biggest spur to exploration was the discovery in 1974 by the british gas corporation subsidiary hgb ltd of the south morecambe field how a fledgling organization came to discover this 5 tcf gas accumulation in its first venture is itself noteworthy key events that led to this discovery might be summarized as follows 1 the wish of the government in power in 1969 to foster a national presence in the exploration of british waters by allowing the then gas council to take 100 interests in eisb blocks 2 the readiness of the gas council to exploit this opportunity 3 the unwillingness of the council s main north sea partner to participate in the proposed application with its offer of a firm well 4 the unwillingness of other majors to join the application 5 the informal gift by gulf in 1973 of the logs of wells 110 8 1 and 2 on the basis of a gentleman s agreement that hgb would likewise make data available from any wells it

structural and climatic controls on facies distribution in a mixed fluvial and aeolian reservoir the triassic sherwood sandstone in the irish sea

contextual technological and chronometric data from cova gran their contribution to discussion of the middle to upper paleolithic transition in northeastern iberia abstract the middle to upper palaeolithic transition in western europe is a central topic in current paleoanthropological research recently neanderthal survival during mis 3 and the emergence of anatomically modern humans have been the focus of much discussion in iberia here we analyse the stratigraphic and contextual resolution of the s1b 497d archaeological levels from cova gran in which a techno typological discontinuity has been identified affecting raw material knapping systems blanks and retouched tools attributes such as radial reduction systems to obtain flakes for subsequent preferential modification into notches and denticulates place level s1b within the mousterian tradition however in 497d attributed to the early upper palaeolithic laminar production intermingles the extraction of blades bladelets and flakes blades were transformed into burins end scrapers and retouched blades and bladelets into microlithic tools such as backed points and backed bladelets these artefacts are associated with a significant assemblage of notches denticulates and scrapers on flakes radiometric data places the end of the mousterian tradition ca 42 ka cal bp and the appearance of the early upper palaeolithic ca 39 38 ka cal bp the geographic and temporal ascription of levels s1b and 497d stimulate discussion on neanderthal survival at the end of mis 3 in northeastern iberia likewise the 497d lithic assemblage is compared to other techno complexes assigned to this chronological range the chatelperronian tradition assigned to neanderthals and protoaurignacian linked to the appearance of anatomically modern humans the archaeological resolution and techno typological discontinuity documented in cova gran are useful points of reference in analysis of the middle to upper palaeolithic transition in northeastern iberia and have implications affecting the characterization of this process across western europe

the middle to upper paleolithic transition in the southern levant new insights from the late middle paleolithic site of far ah ii israel abstract far ah ii is an open air site in the north western negev desert israel previous excavations in the 1970 s revealed a rich in situ middle paleolithic mp assemblage composed of flint and limestone artifacts animal bones and charcoal renewed excavation at the site were undertaken in 2017 to re date it and provide a more accurate constrain to the sites age as well as collect samples for paleoclimatic proxies our new optically stimulated luminescence and 14c ages together with the stable oxygen isotope signature of the loess sediments constrain the age of the upper archaeological horizon to

space time patterns of magmatism along the tethysides a preliminary study five maps showing spatio temporal evolution of magmatism along the tethysides for the following time intervals late carboniferous and permian 320 248 ma triassic and early jurassic 247 188 ma

kastamonu granitoid belt of northern turkey first arc plutonism product related to the subduction of the paleo tethys many granitoid plutons of middle jurassic age arc plutonic in character form a belt to the north of the paleo tethyan suture zone in northern anatolia these plutons are here called the kastamonu granitoid belt when they are interpreted in a regional geologic setting it can be shown that they may be formed by the magmatism related to the northward subduction of paleo tethyan oceanic crust

petrology and geochemistry of tertiary volcanic rocks from the ikizce ordu area ne turkey implications for the evolution of the eastern pontide paleo magmatic arc abstract tertiary volcanism in the ikizce region at the western edge of the eastern pontides paleo magmatic arc is represented by basaltic and andesitic rocks associated with sediments deposited in a shallow basin environment the basaltic rocks contain plagioclase an58 80 olivine fo82 84 clinopyroxene wo44 48en35 42fs7 17 hornblende mg 0 68 0 76 phenocrysts and magnetite microcrysts whereas the andesitic rocks include plagioclase an25 61 clinopyroxene wo46 49en38 43fs11 13 hornblende mg 0 48 0 81 biotite mg 0 48 0 60 phenocrysts titanomagnetite apatite and zircon microcrysts geochemical data indicate magmatic evolution from tholeiitic alkaline transitional to calc alkaline characteristics with medium k contents the geochemical variation in the rocks can be explained by fractionation of common mineral phases such as clinopyroxene olivine hornblende plagioclase magnetite and apatite the trace elements distributions of the volcanic rocks show similarities to those of e type morb have a shape that is typical of rocks from subduction related tectonic setting with enrichment in lile and to a lesser extent in lree but depletion in hfse the rocks evolved from a parental magma derived from an enriched source formed by subduction induced metasomatism of basaltic rocks the latter formed through clinopyroxene olivine controlled fractionation in a high level magma chamber the andesitic rocks developed through hornblende plagioclase controlled fractionation in shallow level magma chamber s

burin core technology and laminar reduction sequences in the initial upper paleolithic from kara bom gorny altai siberia abstract using a taphonomic and techno economic approach we describe the laminar reduction sequences from levels 5 and 6 of kara bom gorny altai siberia the reconstructed technological system includes the production of large laminar blanks convergent laminar flakes and small laminar blanks transcending analytic categories such as blades and bladelets the burin core technology is integrated into the general knapping strategy using byproducts from the large blade production as core blanks the kara bom initial upper paleolithic is associated with the production of ornamental items such as perforated ungulate teeth and is dated around 43 ka uncal bp

rethinking emireh cave the lithic technology perspectives abstract the emiran is the earliest technocomplex within the levantine upper palaeolithic sequence it was defined after biased lithic assemblages from el wad and emireh caves by dorothy garrod the term emiran was further adopted and was incorporated into a broader definition known as the initial upper palaeolithic iup that is commonly used as a proxy for identifying human migrations during the middle upper palaeolithic interphase more specifically it is conceived to represent the first arrival of modern humans to the levant from africa arabia as well as being the forbearers for post mousterian entities in south and central europe in this study we reanalyzed the same lithic assemblage from emireh cave that was published by garrod in 1955 as the typical emiran site our technological study shows the assemblage contains at least three distinctive knapping methods levallois broad base blades non levallois and narrow base blade lets in addition there is a substantial number of endscrapers that could not be technologically defined we suggest the assemblage indeed contains an emiran component including emireh points but it also bears mousterian ahmarian and aurignacian components thus the emireh cave lithic assemblage is assorted we propose that the scenario at emireh cave in which emiran and other industries are included in the same layer is likely to be the case in other southern levantine sites where emireh points were noted i e el wad kebara qafzeh it is suggested that the mixture is due to the ephemeral nature of the emiran occupation at these sites

origin and assembly of the tethyside orogenic collage at the expense of gondwana land abstract the tethysides are a superorogenic complex flanking the eurasian continent to the south and consisting of the cimmerides and alpides products of palaeo and neo tethys respectively we here review their evolution mainly on the basis of new maps showing the distribution of sutures magmatic rocks certain palaeobiogeographically and palaeoclimatologically significant taxa and facies and fragments of pan african 900 450 ma orogenic system forming the basement of many tethyside blocks these are supplemented by palaeomagnetic data reported in the literature a fundamental tenet of this paper is that major sutures which contain ophiolite fragments represent tectonic sections between continental blocks where oceanic crust has been subducted palaeo tethys came into existence largely in late carboniferous time coevally it began to be consumed by both internal and peripheral subduction zones which continued into the permian some of these had been inherited from pre tethyan times in the later permian rifting subparallel with the northern margin of gondwana land began between the zagros and malaysia separating a cimmerian continent from n gondwana land and thus heralding the opening of neo tethys and other smaller oceans that were back arc basins of palaeo tethys this rifting possibly also extended farther west into crete and mainland greece however the north china block yangtze block huanan block the eastern moity of the qangtang block north tibet and annamia all originally pieces of the end proterozoic early palaeozoic gondwana land had already separated from it in pre late carboniferous times possibly during the devonian all of these blocks and the cimmerian continent were characterized by cathaysian floral elements in late palaeozoic time palaeomagnetic and palaeontological data showing the original gondwana land affinity of these continental blocks are supplemented by correlating late proterozoic early palaeozoic pan african sutures orogenic belts and sedimentary basin fragments across tethyside sutures late permian foraminiferal provinces are related to this palaeogeographical interpretation by triassic times most cimmeride subduction zones were already in existence the cimmerian continent accelerated its separation from gondwana land and locally in the late permian began disintegrating internally along the waser rushan pshart banggong co nu jiang mandalay ocean by late triassic time all of the chinese blocks except lhasa and annamia had collided with each other and with laurasia the resulting enormous orogenic collage had a soft cushion between itself and laurasia in the form of the enormous accretionary complex of the songpan ganzi this connection enabled laurasian land vertebrates to reach south east asia by late triassic time in late triassic to middle jurassic times most major cimmeride collisions were completed widespread aridity in central asia occurred in late jurassic time probably in the rain shadow of the newly formed cimmeride mountain wall neo tethyan subduction systems formed along the s margin of the cimmerides or within neo tethyan oceanic lithosphere during the jurassic most if not all were north or east dipping they continued the northerly migration of the tethyside blocks evolution of the tethysides influenced the distribution of marine and terrestrial organisms and affected sea level changes and patterns of atmospheric circulation during much of the mesozoic and cainozoic it is likely to have reflected the surface expression of a persistent trend in the large scale convective circulation in the mantle that continuously transported material northward into the tethyan domain

stratigraphical relationships and a revised lithostratigraphical nomenclature for the carboniferous permian and triassic rocks of the offshore east irish sea basin

chronostratigraphic context of the middle to upper palaeolithic transition recent data from belgium abstract the chronological and palaeoenvironmental context for the industries identified in europe during the middle to upper palaeolithic transition mupt is not accurately known this situation is mainly due to insufficient knowledge of the context of the archaeological data much of which comes from old excavations any major progress in the understanding of the mupt can only be achieved with the study of long sedimentary sequences providing a semi continuous record and situating archaeological remains in a reliable palaeoenvironmental and chronological framework strict attention must also be paid to stratigraphic control and site formation processes interdisciplinary studies undertaken over the last ten years in belgium contribute to research on the mupt belgium plays an important role due to its specific geological context that includes many caves a well developed loess cover which acts as a reference sequence for the upper pleistocene and the presence of tephras this enables detailed reconstruction of climatic change and more accurate chronological control in cave sequences initial results from new fieldwork on long sequences are presented here walou and scladina caves as well as the open air site of maisieres canal combined with results of recent analyses on old material mainly from the spy and trou de l abime collections they enable establishment of a reliable and more accurate chronostratigraphic framework for the archaeological assemblages and provide new data on the humans responsible for them thus around 45 000 bp a mousterian industry was made by neandertals in trou de l abime around 40 000 38 000 bp belgium was still occupied by neandertals associated with a typical middle palaeolithic as shown in walou the spy neandertals have recently been directly dated by 14c to 36 000 bp but the techniques of the early excavations prevent clear identification of the associated industry still the 14c results are more coherent with the lincombian ranisian jerzmanowician lrj chronology than the mousterian both of which are identified at spy the earliest convincing age for the belgian aurignacian is about 32 000 33 000 bp maisieres canal and spy

assessing bone and antler exploitation at riparo mochi balzi rossi italy implications for the characterization of the aurignacian in south western europe abstract the aurignacian typo technological tradition has long been considered linked with the dispersal of anatomically modern humans over western eurasia at the onset of the upper palaeolithic in europe it is commonly divided into two main phases the proto aurignacian and the early aurignacian whose definitions is based on the typo technological features of lithics and some osseous markers like the split based points the osseous industry has recurrently been cited as a major innovation signaling the transition from middle to early upper palaeolithic nevertheless recent studies strongly suggest that the real innovation is antler working as bone working has been found to be similar in the mousterian and the early upper palaeolithic riparo mochi is among the key western european sites for assessing the nature of shifts and continuities between the proto and early aurignacian phases of the technocomplex these data are significant for the study of the distribution of the first anatomically modern humans in eurasia owing to several factors 1 preservation of the proto and early aurignacian levels 2 their location along the likely southern dispersal route of the aurignacian 3 the richness of archaeological evidence and 4 recent re evaluation of their chrono stratigraphy the study of worked osseous remains allows us to establish the comparative characteristics of animal raw material exploitation within the riparo mochi aurignacian results demonstrate that animal raw material exploitation increases from the bottom to the top of the archaeological sequence at this site hunting weapons as well as personal ornaments other than those made on shells are only present in early aurignacian layers antler working is not documented in the proto aurignacian which is consistent with the hypothesis of the appearance of antler hunting weapons only after the heinrich stadial 4 and campanian ignimbrite climatic events

new radiocarbon dating of the transition from the middle to the upper paleolithic in kebara cave israel the middle to upper paleolithic transition mp up transition is considered a major technological and cultural threshold at the time when modern humans spread out of africa expanded from the levant into europe and possibly into central and northern asia the dating of this techno cultural transition has proved to be extremely difficult because it occurred sometime before 40 000 radiocarbon years before present 14c years bp which is close to the end of the effective dating range of radiocarbon other dating methods such as thermoluminescence tl or electron spin resonance esr are not sufficiently precise to date the recorded archaeological mp up transition in the levant here we report a consistent set of stratified radiocarbon ages on freshly excavated charcoal from kebara cave mt carmel israel that span the late middle paleolithic mp and early upper paleolithic eup this study applied novel strategies to improve sample preparation techniques and data analysis to obtain high resolution radiocarbon models from this study it is proposed that the mp up transition for this site can be placed immediately after 45 200 700 14c years bp and before 43 600 600 14c years bp or from 49 48 to 47 46 radiocarbon calibrated years before present years cal bp

tephrostratigraphy of grotta del cavallo southern italy insights on the chronology of middle to upper palaeolithic transition in the mediterranean abstract the grotta del cavallo contains one of the most important stratification of mousterian uluzzian and final epigravettian tecnocomplexes its chronology is of paramount importance for understanding the timing of the transition between middle and upper palaeolithic in the mediterranean region as well as the demise of the neanderthal and the dispersal of the first anatomically modern humans through europe within the stratigraphy of the cave three different volcanic ash layers occur layer g fa and c ii they are located in the middle section of the mousterian layer g in between the mousterian and uluzzian layers layer fa and on top of the uluzzian horizons layer c ii the three tephra layers were chemically fingerprinted and correlated to well known and precisely dated widespread late pleistocene tephra markers specifically layer g fa and c ii were correlated to the x 6 108 7 0 9 ka y 6 45 5 1 0 ka and campanian ignimbrite 39 85 0 14 ka respectively these findings provide robust chronological points allowing to conclude that i the mousterian occupation of the cave took place after the fall of the sea level following the mis 5e high stand ii the mousterian uluzzian boundary can be dated to 45 5 1 0 ka and climatostratigraphically firmly placed at the transition between the greenland interstadial 12 gi12 greenland stadial 12 gs12 iii the uluzzian lasted for at least five millennial spanning the gs12 gi9 period and ended at beginning of the heinrich event 4

the rock shelter abrigo del molino segovia spain and the timing of the late middle paleolithic in central iberia the timing of the late middle paleolithic and late disappearance of neanderthals in the iberian peninsula are hotly debated subjects in paleolithic archeology several studies suggested a late survival in south and central iberia until about 32 ka but were probably subject to significant age underestimation due to contamination of dating samples undiagnostic lithic assemblages and or lack of stratigraphic integrity we conducted a radiocarbon and luminescence dating study backed by detailed sedimentological and micromorphological investigations at the newly discovered rock shelter sequence of abrigo del molino central spain accumulation of the sediment sequence was rapid it started with deposition of paleoflood slack water deposits at around 48 ka and continued until about 41 ka with deposition of colluvial and detrital sediments these contain two mousterian levels which place the latest neanderthal occupation at around 45 to 41 ka i e between heinrich stadials 5 and 4 and probably during a time of climate amelioration abrigo del molino thus provides a detailed and chronologically well constrained record of late neanderthal presence and morphodynamic change in central iberia during times of millennial scale climate changes the site gives further evidence for an early disappearance of neanderthals in central iberia

rethinking the initial upper paleolithic the term initial upper paleolithic iup was originally proposed to describe a specific assemblage from the site of boker tachtit level 4 the use of the term was subsequently extended to cover the earliest upper paleolithic assemblages in the levant characterized by forms of blade production that combines elements of levallois method faceted platforms hard hammer percussion flat faced cores with features more typical of upper paleolithic blade technologies more recently the term iup has been broadened again to include any early upper paleolithic assemblage with levallois like features in methods of blade production irrespective of location artifact assemblages conforming to this broadest definition of the iup have been reported from a vast area stretching from the levant through central and eastern europe to the siberian altai and northwest china whereas it is indisputable that similar lithic technologies can be found in all of these areas it is not self evident that they represent a unified cultural phenomenon an alternative possibility is convergence common responses to adapting mousterian msa levallois technology to the production of blade blanks or some combination of multiple local origins with subsequent dispersal in this paper we suggest that the current definition of iup has become too broad to address such issues and that understanding the origins of this phenomenon requires a more explicit differentiation between analogies and homologies in lithic assemblages

new radiometric ages for the early upper palaeolithic type locality of brno bohunice czech republic comparison of osl irsl tl and 14c dating results new radiometric data are reported from the recent excavation of the type locality of the early upper palaeolithic entity of the bohunician recently obtained radiocarbon 14c data on charcoal are compared with new optically stimulated luminescence osl dating of sediment osl ages were determined on sediment from the archaeological occupation at brno bohunice as well as from the over and underlying loessic sediments multiple techniques were applied which all gave congruent results while a dual protocol post ir osl failed the quality criteria tests ages were obtained by multiple aliquot additive dose maad on polymineral material and single aliquot regeneration sar on fine grain quartz extract as well as on polymineral material fading tests show significant loss of infrared stimulated luminescence irsl after storage for 3 and 12 months for one sample but little or no fading for others the resulting uncorrected age estimates are smaller than those on quartz by osl methods the latter are considered to be more reliable estimates of the sedimentation age of these deposits the measured osl doses do not show a simple distribution and the lowest 5 was used for age calculation to represent the most likely sedimentation age the quartz from the loess overlying the archaeological layer is osl dated to 30 9 3 1 ka while the sediment for the paleosol which contains the archaeological layer gave an age of 58 7 5 8 ka the attribution of this paleosol to the hengelo interstadial is therefore questionable however if the hengelo interstadial is correlated with the dansgaard oeschger d o event 12 statistical agreement within 2 is achieved the osl result for the archaeological layer is in accordance with a weighted average tl date on heated flint artifacts of 48 2 1 9 ka from this layer as well as calibrated radiocarbon data calpal hulu 2007 from nearby locations however radiocarbon data on charcoal samples obtained during excavation at brno bohunice 2002 provide age estimates between 30 and 40 ka 14c years which translate to approximately 33 35 44 ka on the calendric time scale according to the hulu 2007 model for the underlying loess a depositional age of 104 3 10 6 ka was obtained by osl the presented osl ages indicate that a simple correlation of soil sequences between sites within a region has to be verified by chronometric dating

reconstruction of the neanderthal and modern human landscape and climate from the fumane cave sequence verona italy using small mammal assemblages abstract fumane cave located at an altitude of 350 m a s l in the monti lessini in the veneto pre alps northeastern italy is a reference site for southern europe for the study of the behaviour of neanderthals and anatomically modern humans amh from marine isotope stages 5 to 2 mis5 mis2 it is one of the few well dated and closely studied sites in the italian peninsula with a finely layered sedimentary sequence from the mousterian to gravettian in this paper we present for the first time a palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstruction of the mis3 and mis2 sequence based on the small mammal insectivore bat and rodent assemblages the environmental and climatic results coupled with the radiocarbon dating together with previous studies on large mammals birds and charcoal and other studies on small mammals and pollen for the same time span in italy enable us clearly to identify distinct climatic periods within our data heinrich event 5 in units a7 to a6 greenland interstadial 12 in units a5 a6 to a4 heinrich event 4 in units a3 to a1 and heinrich event 3 in unit d1e finally the study shows that neanderthals and anatomically modern humans were well adapted to the different climatic and environmental conditions of mis3 at the foot of the alps

stratigraphic and structural development of the eastern pontides turkey this paper describes the stratigraphic and structural development of the eastern pontides north turkey based on section logging at eight localities construction of three structural profiles across the mountains and published literature the eastern pontides comprise a late carboniferous to miocene sequence resting on a basement of hercynian metamorphics late carboniferous to scythian sediments are continental clastics interpreted as having been deposited in an extensional half graben the middle triassic is limestone reflecting the development of a south facing passive margin in the late triassic the ocean palaeotethys began to close flysch was deposited in most places with minor shallow water limestones in the sinemurian above an inverted half graben all pre aalenian strata were deformed during the cimmerian orogeny after a phase of subduction related volcanism in the mid jurassic limestones were deposited during the late jurassic and early cretaceous mainly in shallow water the aptian and albian are absent due to doming in the western pontides prior to the opening of the western black sea but there is a thick sequence of upper cretaceous arc volcanic rocks and intervening turbidites the upper palaeocene is absent possibly due to rifting in the eastern black sea major compression affected the pontides from the eocene to the pliocene associated with the closure of the tethyan ocean oligocene and younger rocks are accordingly non marine

problems with radiocarbon dating the middle to upper palaeolithic transition in italy abstract radiocarbon dating of material from late pleistocene archaeological sites is challenging small amounts of modern 14c labelled contamination will significantly affect the reliability of dates from the period producing erroneous results recent developments in sample pre treatment chemistry have shown that problems in reliable age determination during this period are surmountable in this paper we provide an example of one such case from the middle to upper palaeolithic transitional site of the grotta di fumane in northern italy we ams dated two fractions of the same charcoal samples derived from a series of superimposed mousterian aurignacian and gravettian levels excavated at the site one fraction was treated using the routine acid base acid aba method the other with the more rigorous acid base oxidation stepped combustion abox sc method the latter method produced consistently older and almost certainly more reliable results the eruption of the known age campanian ignimbrite from the phlegrean fields near present day naples at 39 3 ka yr bp seals ulluzzian and proto aurignacian levels in the south of italy equivalent cultural levels are present at fumane and the results obtained with the abox sc methods are consistent with the ages inferred for sites in the south of italy based on the presence of the campanian ignimbrite new results from a sample found beneath the campanian ignimbrite at the russian site of kostenki obtained using both the aba and abox sc methods are also presented they support the conclusion reached at fumane by demonstrating that in many cases the abox sc treatment effectively removes contamination where the aba treatment does not the results of the work offer a sobering examination of the problems inherent in the current radiocarbon database relating to the period and highlight the dangers of an uncritical use of the corpus of 14c results obtained over the last few decades based on our results we predict that more than 70 of the 53 previously available determinations from fumane are erroneously young a way forward is suggested using these improved chemical preparation methods applying analytical methods to characterise the material dated and testing existing site chronologies to establish which previous determinations are liable to be inaccurate

mechanical characterization of raw material quality and its implication for early upper palaeolithic moravia abstract raw material mechanical tests were conducted to answer the question whether differences in raw material procurement among early upper palaeolithic populations in moravia czech republic may have been driven by different mechanical properties of those materials characterization of mechanical properties of erratic flints and krumlovsk les i type chert show that the relatively finer grained erratic flints preferred by local aurignacian populations are more easily and probably also predictably knapped at higher speeds such as reached with soft antler wood percussors whereas cherts of krumlovsk les i type exploited by both szeletian and aurignacian populations are more resistant to fracture propagation this implies the suitability of the former material for fine blade and bladelet production and of the latter to projectile e g szeletian leaf points manufacture and possibly explains the export of leaf points from szeletian areas the krumlov forest to bohunician and aurignacian sites within moravia exploitation of erratic flints was easier as regards aurignacian and probably entire upper palaeolithic knapping technology certain tasks however were better met with other raw materials thus reflecting the relativity of chipped stone raw material quality perception in the palaeolithic

stratigraphic comparisons along the pontides turkey based on new nannoplankton age determinations in the eastern pontides geodynamic implications we compared the stratigraphic formations along the southern margin of the black sea using 196 nannoplankton ages determined in the western and central pontides and 112 new samples from the eastern pontides we inferred that the istanbul and sakarya zones were amalgamated prior to the early cretaceous extensional subsidence migrated eastwards along the pontides from the barremian to the palaeocene an eastwards younging of the cretaceous magmatism suggested that the eastern black sea basin is younger locally angular unconformities and a stratigraphic gap testify to the late albian uplift of the central pontides as the consequence of the collision of an oceanic edifice cretaceous oceanic red beds are marker beds of santonian age along the much of the pontides and are of mainly campanian age within the eastern pontides the middle campanian paleocene was a non volcanic period characterized by extensional subsidence mainly along the eastern black sea basin the end of cretaceous volcanism can be correlated with a southwards subduction jump syn compressional basins show that contraction started during the ypresian along the entire pontide belt eocene volcanism started earlier in the north lutetian than in the south bartonian of the eastern pontides this propagation of syn collisional volcanism could have resulted from slab steepening under the eastern pontides

the middle and upper palaeolithic at la crouzade cave gruissan aude france new excavations and a chronostratigraphic framework abstract this paper presents new archaeological material and first dates on upper pleistocene layers at the site of la crouzade cave gruissan aude france the site was first excavated by t and p helena at the beginning of the twentieth century and the excavations were recently completed during three years 2016 2018 of systematic campaigns we obtained dates from middle palaeolithic layers using two methods ams 14c dates were obtained from bone and charcoal and combined esr u series dating was undertaken on horse teeth together these methods allowed us to date this mousterian sequence to 49 776 44805 cal bp for the deepest level layer c8 and from 42 000 3000 years bp for the top layer c6 the upper palaeolithic layers are preserved only as patches in the actual excavation area but a date was obtained from a piece of charcoal collected from a small hearth preserved in the first layer c5 above middle palaeolithic deposits which indicates an age similar to that of a modern human maxillary previously analysed and re dated here from 36 014 to 34402 cal bp confirming its stratigraphic attribution the middle palaeolithic lithics at the site were first described as para charentian cultural facies following typological analyses the revision of the earlier collection supplemented with the new material using a technological approach allow to identify two layers dominated by levallois production followed by discoid production layers c8 and c6 surrounding an original assemblage layer c7 characterised by a dominant levallois production completed by three secondary production systems of equal importance including discoid ssda and a quina like production the faunal spectrum predominantly comprises an assemblage of pleistocene large mammals and biochronological studies corroborate the dates obtained

bondi cave and the middle upper palaeolithic transition in western georgia south caucasus abstract the late pleistocene expansion of anatomically modern humans amhs into eurasia and the concurrent demise of the neanderthals appears to be a complex and regionally variable process the southern caucasus region with its rich cave sites has recently provided important results regarding this process in this paper we report on the results of fieldwork in bondi cave western georgia providing a new radiocarbon chronology stratigraphic observations analyses of lithic technology and provenance faunal and floral remains as well as paleoenvironmental data the cave includes middle palaeolithic ca 45 000 ka cal bp cultural horizons and a long upper palaeolithic sequence ca 40 000 27 000 cal bp from layer v to iv a modern human tooth was found in layer vb we estimate its age at 39 000 35 800 cal bp 95 4 based on the bayesian age model we built if the context of the tooth is reliable as we think it is this would make it the oldest morphologically modern human in the caucasus upper palaeolithic hunting of tur and bison as well as the collection of various plants including flax is attested mobile upper palaeolithic foragers inhabited the cave in generally cold and dry periods but a mosaic of environments including forests and meadows was nonetheless available to them the archaeological sequence of bondi and adjacent sites indicates a substantial time gap between the middle and upper palaeolithic occupations thus disproving neanderthal amh interaction in this area and lending support to a replacement scenario in the southern caucasus assuming of course that the early upper palaeolithic eup is related to the arrival of amhs

the dual nature of the alpine himalayan system progress problems and prospects abstract two distinct groups of sutures belonging to two different orogenic complexes have been recognized within the alpine himalayan system associated with the development of the tethyan chains they are interpreted as places where two independent tethyan ocean complexes viz palaeo and neo tethys vanished during the permo carboniferous to early cretaceous and the late cretaceous to the present intervals respectively the older orogen is called the cimmerides and the younger the alpides cimmerides and alpides together constitute the super orogenic complex tethysides tethyside orogenic events also generated vast cratonic fields of deformation in eurasia until recently the recognition of these two orogenic complexes hidden within the alpine himalayan system had been hindered because of the artificial tripartite grouping of orogenic events of the phanerozoic into caledonian hercynian and alpine orogenic eras the most important current problems in the study of the tethysides are the relative importance of the various suture strands as sites of consumption of main tethyan oceanic branches the precise timing of ocean opening and closing along these sutures and the original provenance of the continental blocks constituting the tethyside orogenic collage a number of avenues of future research are suggested to tackle these problems

petroleum geology of the black sea abstract the black sea comprises two extensional basins formed in a back arc setting above the northward subducting tethys ocean close to the southern margin of eurasia the two basins coalesced late in their post rift phases in the pliocene forming the present single depocentre the western black sea was initiated in the aptian when a part of the moesian platform now the western pontides of turkey began to rift and move away to the south east the eastern black sea probably formed by separation of the mid black sea high from the shatsky ridge during the palaeocene to eocene subsequent to rifting the basins were the sites of mainly deep water deposition only during the late miocene was there a major sea level fall leading to the development of a relatively shallow lake most of the margins of the black sea have been extensively modified by late eocene to recent compression associated with closure of the tethys ocean gas chromatography mass spectrometry and carbon isotope analysis of petroleum and rock extracts suggest that most petroleum occurrences around the black sea can be explained by generation from an oil prone source rock of most probably late eocene age although a wider age range is possible in the basin centres burial history modelling and source kitchen mapping indicate that this unit is currently generating both oil and gas in the post rift basin a palaeozoic source rock may have generated gas condensate in the gulf of odessa in bulgarian waters the main plays are associated with the development of an eocene foreland basin kamchia trough and in extensional structures related to western black sea rifting the latter continue into the romanian shelf where there is also potential in rollover anticlines due to gravity sliding of neogene sediments in the gulf of odessa gas condensate has been discovered in several compressional anticlines and there is potential in older extensional structures small gas and oil discoveries around the sea of azov point to further potential offshore around the central azov high in offshore russia and georgia there are large culminations on the shatsky ridge but these are mainly in deep water and may have poor reservoirs there are small compressional structures off the northern turkish coast related to the pontide deformation these may include eocene turbidite reservoirs the extensional fault blocks of the andrusov ridge mid black sea high are seen as having the best potential for large hydrocarbon volumes but in 2200 m of water

the early upper palaeolithic in greece the excavations in klisoura cave a new greek sequence of early upper palaeolithic aurignacian epigravettian and mesolithic assemblages which differs from the sequences of franchthi and kephalari caves was uncovered during the excavations in cave 1 in klisoura gorge western peloponnese this is the first case of middle palaeolithic deposits immediately covered by an early upper palaeolithic assemblage the long middle palaeolithic in this site underlies a long sequence of upper palaeolithic layers most interesting is the early upper palaeolithic industry which contains numerous arched backed blades and other lithics demonstrating morphological affinities to the italian uluzzian a resemblance that raises questions concerning the potential makers of this industry above it several aurignacian levels dated from 24 to 34 ka bp were exposed this is the first well dated sequence of aurignacian occupations in greece in which a number of basin like hearth structures were exposed lined with a clay that had been brought in and specially prepared the aurignacian sequence is covered by epigravettian layers the unconformity between the epigravettian and the underlying aurignacian corresponds to the last glacial maximum a mesolithic layer caps the prehistoric sequence

far field contractional polarity changes in models and nature abstract a change in contractional polarity occurs when the direction of tectonic transport switches along strike this switch is conditioned by lateral variations in rheology or inherited asymmetries such as contrasts in structure or changes in the polarity of subduction zones the parameters controlling contractional polarity changes are less understood in situations when the strain is transferred at large distances from indenters analysing this type of strain transfer is critical for understanding the mechanics of thrusting in fore or back arc settings of orogenic areas comparison of crustal scale analogue modelling with the inversion of the black sea back arc and the formation of the new guinea new britain fore arc suggest that far field changes in contractional polarity are related to rheological contrasts across inherited normal faults the initial extension creates rheological weak zones that localize the subsequent far field contractional deformation along groups of thrusts with opposite vergence along the strike of the system the largest amount of far field contractional deformation is recorded in the transfer zone located between the two indenters moving in opposite directions and is particularly high when inverting oblique extensional systems

mineral chemical investigation on sulfide mineralization of the istala deposit gumushane ne turkey abstract the mineralogy of the istala deposit gumushane northeastern turkey was studied in detail and a geochemical investigation was carried out using electron probe micro analysis epma sphalerite galena chalcopyrite and pyrite are the major sulfide minerals found in the istala deposit with minor amounts of bornite idaite tetrahedrite tennantite anilite yarrowite mckinstryite covellite and chalcocite in addition to these barite and a small quantity of quartz occur as gangue minerals based on the textural relations and mineral assemblages five different stages of crystallization have been recognized mineral paragenesis of the first four stages has been found to be similar whereas clear enrichment has been observed in the modal abundance of the copper sulfide mineral assemblage at the fifth stage ore formation whole rock geochemical analyses of the istala ore show an enrichment of ag content up to 3328 ppm optical observations and epma study indicated that abundant silver mineralization was found in the istala ore especially during the later stage ore deposition repetition to the presence of native silver in the samples a significant amount of silver was incorporated in bornite idaite tetrahedrite tennantite anilite yarrowite mckinstryite covellite and chalcocite whereas a trace amount of silver has been detected in sphalerite galena chalcopyrite and pyrite the homogenization temperatures th of the primary fluid inclusions were measured between 98 and 284 c with frequency peaks around 140 c 190 c and 240 c all data obtained support the theory that later stage copper rich sulfides formed under the low temperature conditions are responsible for the large amounts of silver content in the istala mine

the modern human colonization of western eurasia when and where dating the timing of the replacement of local neandertal populations by modern humans in western eurasia at the dawn of the upper palaeolithic remains challenging due to the scarcity of the palaeontological evidence and to the complexity of the archaeological record furthermore key specimens have been discovered in the course of excavations that unfortunately did not meet today s archaeological standards the importance of site formation processes in the considered time period makes it sometimes difficult to precisely assign fragmentary remains a posteriori to distinct techno complexes the improvements in dating methods have however allowed for the clarification of many chronological issues in the past decade archaeological and palaeontological evidence strongly suggest that the initial modern colonization of eastern europe and central asia should be related to the spread of techno complexes assigned to the initial upper palaeolithic this first expansion may have started as early as 48 ka cal bp the earliest phases of the aurignacian complex protoaurignacian and early aurignacian seem to represent another modern wave of migrations starting in the levant area the expansion of this technocomplex throughout europe completed the modern colonization of the continent the interpretation of a third group of industries referred to as transitional assemblages in western and central europe is much debated at least in part these assemblages might have been produced by neandertal groups that may have survived until c 41 ka cal bp according to the directly dated neandertal specimens of saint c france and spy belgium 2014 the author published by elsevier ltd this is an open access article under the cc by nc nd license http creativecommons org licenses by nc nd 3 0

new chronological constraints for middle palaeolithic mis 6 5 3 cave sequences in eastern transylvania romania abstract the middle to upper palaeolithic transition is one of the crucial periods of change in the prehistory of europe due to the full emergence continent wide of modern human lithic technologies and detrimental of neanderthal survival knowledge about the transition is growing however the evidence for cultural and technological developments for the middle palaeolithic in the carpathian lower danube basin is still rather sparse here we discuss latest findings arising from a chronological investigation of middle palaeolithic assemblages within the varghis karst eastern transylvania romania combining our first chronological results with information from previous excavations we can distinguish two main stages of habitation albeit middle palaeolithic lithics and faunal remains appear scattered throughout the investigated profile within the abri 122 rock shelter in order to augment the typological cultural considerations we applied direct radiocarbon dating on bones and charcoal from within the occupation layers radiocarbon dating of bones suggests that the middle palaeolithic sequence is older than the upper dating limit of the method whereas direct luminescence ages on the lowermost productive horizon and immediately above it indicate surprisingly old ages of ca 106 141 ka osl optically stimulated or 99 174 ka irsl infrared stimulated multiple protocol dating of charcoal found within the two habitation layers produced ages 38 14 c ka bp also suggesting that the lowermost lithic rich horizon pertains to the middle palaeolithic industries overall the recovered lithics currently forming one of the most significant collections for romania are fully consistent with two main habitation phases connected to middle palaeolithic cultural affinities the occurrence of a volcanic ash layer within ursului cave and originating from the ciomadul volcanic complex carpathians is first reported here recently dated to 43 50 ka it might represent an important marker horizon providing that it is identified within other palaeolithic cave assemblages