artifact orientations and site formation processes from total station proveniences it is well understood that the orientation of clasts within a deposit can yield information on site formation processes although the term clast usually refers to the natural component of a deposit the artifactual and faunal components are also known to be sensitive to site formation processes there are a number of ways in which orientations can be recorded and analyzed and this paper describes how orientations can be recorded as part of piece proveniencing artifacts with a total station after the method is described the calculation statistical analysis and presentation of artifact orientations are considered the final part of the paper presents orientation data from pech de l aze iv recorded and analyzed in this way the example demonstrates the effectiveness of the total station method of recording orientations their sensitivity to site formation processes and the importance of using multiple methods of data analysis and presentation to assess and interpret patterning

fabric analysis application to paleolithic sites abstract this paper reviews data on the strike and dip fabric of clasts in slope deposits and stresses the usefulness of such investigations in regard to the study of prehistoric living floors particularly to test the occurrence of disturbance processes nine paleolithic sites have been studied for this purpose five of them located in rockshelters or cave entrances show a preferred orientation of the artefacts along the slope this pattern appears to be the result of periglacial mass movements so far such processes have been largely underestimated and may explain the absence of clear anthropogenic structures at these sites

trampling experiments at cova gran de santa linya pre pyrenees spain their relevance for archaeological fabrics of the upper middle paleolithic assemblages the study of fabrics that is the analysis of the orientation and slope of archaeological and sedimentary materials associated with the middle palaeolithic upper palaeolithic mp up transition at cova gran shows substantial differences archaeological assemblages are characterised by greater isotropy in the fabrics than the sedimentary levels within which they are located indicating that these differences may be generated by anthropic processes one of the anthropogenic processes associated with horizontal and vertical displacement of archaeological artefacts is trampling and circulation caused by later occupations in order to evaluate the effect of movement on materials we undertook experiments simulating geological and archaeological conditions at cova gran the results show that human trampling does not cause major isotropy in fabrics but arranges archaeological assemblages towards planar or linear materials according to surface geometry we were not able to replicate the fabric pattern of materials from the archaeological levels of cova gran suggesting that they must be associated with the activities of human occupation at each level

beyond maps patterns of formation processes at the middle pleistocene open air site of marathousa 1 megalopolis basin greece abstract recent excavations at the middle pleistocene open air site of marathousa 1 have unearthed in one of the two investigated areas area a a partial skeleton of a single individual of palaeoloxodon antiquus and other faunal remains in spatial and stratigraphic association with lithic artefacts in area b a much higher number of lithic artefacts was collected spatially and stratigraphically associated also with faunal remains the two areas are stratigraphically correlated the main fossiliferous layers representing an en mass depositional process in a lake margin context evidence of butchering cut marks has been identified on bones of the elephant skeleton as well on elephant and other mammal bones from area b however due to the secondary deposition of the main find bearing units it is of primary importance to evaluate the degree and reliability of the spatial association of the lithic artefacts with the faunal remains indeed spatial association does not necessarily imply causation since natural syn and post depositional processes may equally produce spatial association assessing the degree and extent of post depositional reworking processes is crucial to fully comprehend the archaeological record and therefore to reliably interpret past human behaviours the present study uses a comprehensive set of spatial statistics in order to disentangle the depositional processes behind the distribution of the archaeological and palaeontological record at marathousa 1 preliminary results of our analyses suggest that a high energy erosional process attributed to a hyperconcentrated flow deposited at the margin of a swamp reworked an autochthonous exposed or slightly buried scatter of lithic artefacts and faunal remains minor reworking and substantial spatial association of the lithic and faunal assemblages support the current interpretation of marathousa 1 as a butchering site

the earliest late paleolithic in north china site formation processes at shuidonggou locality 7 abstract shuidonggou sdg has long been recognized as the type site complex for the chinese late paleolithic as defined by the presence of blade technology and by its chronology recent field and laboratory research conducted in the past decade has revealed the presence of paleolithic ornaments and two different technological components of an industry equivalent to the early upper paleolithic levallois like blades and simple core and flakes which appear at sdg localities although clearly important for paleolithic research in china and broader old world prehistoric studies relatively little is known about the sdg site formation processes and the specifics of site context here we explore the various formation processes and sedimentary context associated with the stone artifact assemblage from one key site shuidonggou locality 7 sdg7 contrary to earlier suggestions that the sdg7 lithic accumulations are the result of secondary deposition our study indicates that sdg7 has been preserved in near primary context features that were previously argued to reflect fluvial disturbance are in fact localized collapse features caused by saturated sediment load in loess deposits in a lakeshore context multiple lines of evidence support the argument that the site preserves the original foraging behavior of the sdg hunter gatherers this evidence consists of the sedimentary matrix and the distribution patterns of archaeological materials particularly the artifact assemblage composition debitage size distribution artifact conditions orientation analysis inclination and spatial patterning the sdg7 archaeological deposits were buried rapidly in shallow lake margin deposits of fine sands silts and clays that were minimally disturbed and subjected only to relatively low energy hydraulic forces this indicates that the sdg7 occurrences are suitable for early hominin behavioral studies in north china at the start of the late paleolithic

islands in a stream reconstructing site formation processes in the late middle paleolithic site of ein qashish northern israel abstract information retrieved from open air sites is necessary for a more complete reconstruction of middle paleolithic behaviors which is currently often based mainly on data from caves and rockshelters however open air sites present methodological and analytical challenges that differ from those encountered in cave sites being essentially an integral part of their paleo landscape open air sites are affected by localized as well as landscape scale processes that need to be distinguished from the anthropogenic signatures ein qashish is an open air late middle paleolithic occurrence located in the yizra el valley just east of mt carmel situated on the pleistocene floodplain of the qishon stream the site is found at the interface of the sediments deposited by the qishon stream which drains the yizra el valley and paleo wadi qashish which flowed off mt carmel artifacts and bones are dispersed over a vertical distance of some 90 cm observations in geological trenches located at variable distances from the excavated area indicate that this cluster of finds occurred at a circumscribed locality on the landscape rather than as a part of a continuous distribution on the paleo surface we reverse engineer site formation processes starting with the latest post depositional moving to earlier syn depositional processes and relate them to their most likely causative agents through the examination of a series of explicit models gis techniques were applied in order to parse the variable lines of information which include lithic and faunal taphonomy size distributions and spatial and stratigraphic dispersal of objects fabric analysis and osl results we discuss the implications of the results for distinguishing anthropogenic from non anthropogenic effects and for reconstructing the timeline of depositional events that led to the current distribution of artifacts insights into these questions inform our understanding of human activities at the site suggesting that the excavation samples the margins of an occupation horizon where activities focused on knapping and resource processing rather than task specific behaviors such as hunting

challenges for a cross disciplinary geoarchaeology the intersection between environmental history and geomorphology abstract geoarchaeology is a growing subfield of cross disciplinary research at the intersection between geomorphology environmental history and archaeology this prospective essay does not aim to analyze the nature or evolution of geoarachaeology or to review available techniques and methods instead it addresses challenges exciting challenges confront geoarchaeology in the form of persistent problems that demand satisfactory solutions despite improving skills and innovative technologies drawing from the full record of human history a number of practical issues can be highlighted to explicate these challenges 1 open air archaeological sites are the main object of study for the early to mid pleistocene even though they represent open systems that raise fundamental questions about archaeo taphonomic integrity how were sites buried and then modified by selective preservation horizontal or vertical disturbance and the role of carnivores is it possible to determine the degree to which such sites accurately record prehistoric human behavior prior to the late pleistocene when hearths and living structures lend better definition to occupation surfaces can non primary open air sites also shed light on human activities and environmental history 2 cave sites have long been favored by archaeologists because of the impression that they represent relatively complete and undisturbed archaeostratigraphic sequences but serious problems also exist here in regard to the nature of accumulation and the sources of mineral and biogenic sediments in what were open systems liable to disturbance despite comparatively low energy processes 3 less familiar are urban and other architectural sites where processes of formation and degradation mimic natural sedimentation and erosion such a geoarchaeology can be highly informative for urban processes demographic cycles or the intersection between sites and their surrounding landscapes 4 spatial components of geoarchaeological research need more systematic consideration for locational strategies and with an appreciation that site presence or absence allows a more dynamic modeling of settlement and procurement strategies 5 regional settlement expansion and contraction may also inform on mosaic evolution or pleistocene dispersals including the out of africa hypothesis 5 finally multiple themes connected with environmental degradation during holocene times may open new windows to examine specific problems by objective criteria so contributing to a wider academic discourse about long term trends the interfingering of climatic and land use factors in cause and effect dilemmas or the construction of future scenarios in an era of accelerating planetary change the focus of archaeology is shifting to later ranges of prehistory so that geoarchaeologists now have a mandate to engage more directly with urban spatial and degradation issues this should be met with a broader and more inclusive agenda one that optimizes on expertise with historical geomorphology and environmental history but in collaboration with archaeologists and other social scientists that would sustain a more prominent role for geoarchaeology in the university curriculum

problematic urn shaped fossils from a paleoproterozoic 2 2ga paleosol in south africa abstract small 0 3 1 8 mm long locally abundant urn shaped fossils within surface horizons of a paleosol in the 2 2 ga hekpoort formation near waterval onder south africa are here described and named diskagma buttonii retallack gen et sp nov the fossils are from fresh rock of a deep highway cutting and have been metamorphosed to upper greenschist facies like their matrix despite metamorphic alteration total organic carbon of the samples was 0 04 and its isotopic composition 13 c was 25 6 0 08 two standard deviations versus vienna pee dee belemnite standard organic outlines of the fossils are also accentuated by recystallized berthierine and opaque oxides the fossils are locally clumped within surface swales of a vertisol paleosol identified from characteristic penecontemporaneous deformation clastic dikes between swales of mukkara structure and from pronounced geochemical differentiation phosphorus and copper strain corrected mass depletion characteristic of an oxidized biologically active soil this paleosol s chemical composition is evidence of temperate humid climate mean annual temperature 11 3 4 4 c and mean annual precipitation 1489 182 mm associated paleosols indicate atmospheric co 2 of 6640 12 880 4293 ppm 0 6 and 0 9 5 atmospheric o 2 the best preserved examples of diskagma are shaped like an urn with a flared rim and closed below the flare observation of hundreds of specimens in thin section reveals substantial variation in growth elongation and decay shredding and deflation they had a hollow ellipsoidal interior that is unusually devoid of opaque debris unlike the matrix diskagma is superficially comparable with lichens such as cladonia ascomycota and geosiphon glomeromycota definitive reproductive structures remain unknown they predate the oldest other likely fossil eukaryotes 1 9 ga and fungi 1 5 ga and current molecular clock estimates for eukaryotes 1 6 ga and fungi 1 1 ga lichenized actinobacteria are plausible prokaryotic alternatives permitted by molecular clocks although biological affinities of diskagma are uncertain these fossils reveal the general appearance of paleoproterozoic life on land

the river that never was fluvial taphonomy at olduvai bed i and ii sites and its bearing on early human behavior olduvai site integrity has been questioned through interpretations of fluvial inputs on most assemblages from beds i and ii that rest on a contradictory use of taphonomic variables lack of geological support and lack of adequate experimentally supported referential frameworks most variables used to address fluvial impact in faunal assemblages have been independently used in other contexts and all of them are subjected to variable degrees of equifinality their resolution when applied to archaeological assemblages is low a more recent approach founded on experimentation simulating actual archaeological sites shows that it is the intrinsic properties of each bone specimen i e composition and shape that best determine the resistance of each bone to be moved by water regardless of size the application of this approach which combines the relative representation of specimens according to their composition i e texture dense or spongy trabecular or mixed and shape flat tube or cube polyhedral shows not only that fluvial inputs on bone assemblages can be well detected but also that the scale and magnitude of such inputs can be efficiently assessed thus site formation can be more accurately interpreted with the aid of these new experimental analogical frameworks a selection of some of the most relevant olduvai sites from bed i and bed ii have been used to show that all represent autochthonous concentrations of fossil materials and that their potential fluvially caused distortion was marginal in most sites and moderate in the form of semi lag assemblages in just a couple of them this reinforces the causality of biotic agents i e hominins and carnivores in the formation of these sites

the ongeluk basaltic andesite formation in griqualand west south africa submarine alteration in a 2222 ma proterozoic sea abstract the ongeluk lavas form part of the palaeoproterozoic transvaal griqualand west supracrustal sequence of the archaean kaapvaal craton of south africa they form a thick shallow marine volcanic sequence of pillow lava massive flows and hyaloclastite which together with their comagmatic subaerial hekpoort correlate once covered most of the craton in this study the magmatic composition and alteration features of ongeluk samples were distinguished using geochemistry and radiogenic isotopes the ongeluk hekpoort magma was a basaltic andesite derived from anomalous kaapvaal craton lithosphere with a long history of high u pb high rb sr and chur like sm nd ratios little evidence for magmatic fractionation was found although contamination of the lower lavas with cr rich material is evident in both hekpoort and ongeluk sequences the alteration of ongeluk lavas is characterised using diagrams which compare pillow core rim pairs hyaloclastite and massive lava samples with the estimated original magma composition alteration is ascribed to a shallow 87 sr 86 sr ratios decreased from magmatic 0 7071 towards seawater 0 7025 during submarine alteration the rb sr system also reveals a much later 1200 ma phase of ca and rb mobility in a few samples in contrast the submarine alteration affected pb isotope ratios so little that a 2222 13 ma isochron age is regarded as a refinement of earlier dates for the ongeluk hekpoort extrusion the ongeluk hyaloclastites acted as a sink for k and rb in the overlying sea while the mn and ca entering the sea could have contributed to the overlying kalahari manganese deposits

particle size distribution of lithic assemblages and taphonomy of palaeolithic sites abstract lithic debris derived from knapping and used tools can be assimilated to simple sedimentary particles that may undergo size sorting when exposed to geomorphic processes such as streamflow or overland flow sorting can be identified by comparing the size distribution of archaeological assemblages to that of experimental core reduction sequences a new database including different types of raw material mainly flint and quartzite and palaeolithic debitage blade levallois discoid on anvil and shaping has been built for this purpose palaeoeskimo data have also been added to illustrate microlithic industries for all the debitages and raw materials the particle size of knapping products 2 mm in width fits with a power law distribution and shows only minor fluctuations the range of which is always

a long and winding road towards a palethnograpic interpretation of the middle gravettian site of la picardie indre et loire france abstract after nine years of excavation 1998 2008 the site of la picardie has delivered a significant lithic collection more than 13 000 artefacts coordinated chronologically related to the raysse burin phase of the gravettian second phase of middle gravettian ca 25 23 ky bp uncal the study of the lithic material has provided several important results including the chronological attribution of the site the description of a new type of retouched bladelet and the reconstruction of the flint knapping process for blade and bladelet production on site the palethnographic study and interpretation of the site have however not been discussed to date in spite of some taphonomic issues the coalescence of different studies has allowed us to further our understanding of the site notably via the functional analysis of stone tools the evaluation of different skill levels in flint knapping the vertical and horizontal distributions of artefacts and tools and finally the study of the different organised structures made of limestones blocks using several examples we will describe in a step by step manner the various elements that helped us to rebuild the probable function s of the site and propose a first palethnographic assessment

sampling surface orientation and clast macrofabric in periglacial colluvium to isolate the influence of sampling surface orientation on the macrofabric of periglacial colluvial deposits clast orientation measurements were obtained from seven paired horizontal and vertical exposures in turf banked solifluction lobes on niwot ridge colorado front range most samples form moderately strong upslope plunging clusters aligned with the local slope orientation fabrics obtained from vertical faces were stronger than those from horizontal exposures in six of the pairs near horizontal sampling surfaces yield less biased results than vertical exposures owing to operator perceptions procedural difficulties and the relative thinness of the layer affected by colluvial processes sampling procedures must be standardized before comparative studies of colluvium can yield reliable results copyright 2001 john wiley sons ltd

solifluction induced modifications of archaeological levels simulation based on experimental data from a modern periglacial slope and application to french palaeolithic sites the taphonomic study of petit bost croix de canard and cantalouette ii three palaeolithic sites that were recently discovered near perigueux and bergerac dordogne france in a colluvial context has enlightened the difficulty of adequately appreciating the relative role of cultural and natural processes in site spatial patterning periglacial solifluction was thought to have played a significant role in site formation because the nature of the modifications induced by solifluction was still poorly understood a simulation was made using data of soil movement recorded at la mortice french southern alps 3100 m in elevation in a modern periglacial environment the results show that for a knapping location the first steps of deformation are typified both by a downslope translation of the location center and by an anisotropic diffusion of the artifacts the knapping spot becomes elongated along the slope with a dense relic concentration of artifacts in the upslope portion this type of pattern has been obtained after 100 to 200 years of simulated displacement according to the climatic and soil conditions that characterise the la mortice site the ultimate stages of deformation show that the artifact distribution tends to homogenise on larger surfaces and resemble a random distribution the ability of the simulated patterns to closely fit those observed in archaeological contexts is evaluated at three sites from south western france at petit bost the hypothesis of limited solifluction explains accurately the association of both cultural artifact concentrations and natural artifact preferred orientation features at croix de canard long term solifluction can be proposed by contrast the simulated patterns do not describe the structures observed on the steeper slopes at cantalouette ii where the knapping spot transforms into distinct solifluction lobes

re os isotope and pge constraints on the timing and origin of gold mineralisation in the witwatersrand basin abstract analyses of the re os isotope system and pge abundances have been used to investigate the timing and origin of mineralisation in the vaal reefs section of the witwatersrand basin the world s largest gold deposit consistent interelement pge fractionation in both organic and sulphide phases intimately associated with gold mineralisation suggests that the re os isotope system was fractionated during gold mobilisation the re os isotope data on organic separates intimately associated with the gold in this part of the basin indicate open system behaviour until 2 26 0 19 ga 2 of the order of 450 myr younger than the minimum age of sedimentation the overlying ventersdorp volcanics preserve a re os isochron age of 2 43 0 21 ga 250 ma younger than their u pb zircon emplacement age these data indicate substantial post sedimentary noble metal mobility within portions of the witwatersrand basin re os model age calculations on os rich fractions suggest that noble metals were derived from a 3 0 3 1 ga terrain of granite greenstone affinities significantly younger than the barberton greenstone belt these data support a hybrid model involving post depositional mobilisation of ancient probably detrital noble metals for the origin of mineralisation in this part of the witwatersrand basin such a model is applicable to other areas of gold mineralisation in the basin that display similar textural characteristics and geochemistry

autochthony and orientation patterns in olduvai bed i a re examination of the status of post depositional biasing of archaeological assemblages from flk north flkn recent excavations at flk north olduvai gorge tanzania have produced new information on the orientation of archaeological materials at various levels of the site this information includes the uniform distribution of material azimuths which contrasts with previous inferences of highly patterned orientations of materials in the bed i archaeological sites those previous inferences of patterned material orientations are based on mary leakey s 50 year old drawings of artifact and fossil bone distribution but are not verified by our precise measurements of archaeological objects made in situ nor do those previous results agree with the general lack of geological geomorphological and or taphonomic data that would indicate significant post depositional movement of archaeological materials in the sites we argue here that leakey s drawings are incomplete only portions of each assemblage were drawn and inaccurate in their representation of the original locations shapes and orientations of most archaeological specimens this argument is supported by several important mismatches in object representations between a photograph taken of a small portion of the flk 22 zinjanthropus site floor before the removal of the archaeological items and the sketch of the same area drawn by leakey thus we conclude that primary orientation data of excavations i e direct measurements taken from items generated prior to object removal are the only valid indicators of the relative isotropy or anisotropy of these important paleoanthropological assemblages

evaluation of the astronomically calibrated time scale for the late pliocene and earliest pleistocene an astronomically calibrated time scale was recently established hilgen 1991a b for the pliocene and earliest pleistocene based on the correlation of dominantly precession controlled sedimentary cycles sapropels and caco3 cycles in mediterranean deep sea sections to astronomical solution ber90 berger and loutre 1991 this time scale which differed substantially from the conventional time scales then widely used is essentially confirmed by a new generation of radiometric dates using the ar 40 ar 39 laser fusion technique to evaluate this time scale we here extract both precession and obliquity related components from late pliocene earliest pleistocene climatic proxy records in the mediterranean and determine coherencies and phase time lags between these components and the respective orbital variations this work is found to support the new time scale because significant coherencies are found between the astronomically related components in our proxy records and the orbital variations not only at the main period of precession but also at the main period of obliquity and because of the eccentricity modulation of precession in the low frequency eccentricity bands of the spectrum but the calculated time lag between obliquity and 41 kyr components in the climatic proxy records shows a significant increase of 5 6 1 kyr with respect to the late pleistocene if the phase relation with precession is kept constant this increase can be explained by a change in the climate response time to obliquity or to precession by a small uncertainty in the astronomical solution or by a combination of these factors

the impact of periglacial processes on palaeolithic sites the case of sorted patterned grounds during the last glaciation western europe witnessed recurrent millennial scale episodes of periglacial climates that had significant impact on palaeolithic site preservation after a review on the genesis and climatic meaning of sorted patterned grounds examples of polygons stripes and stone banked solifluction lobes taken from archaeological contexts are described sorted features in palaeolithic sites imply that caution should be taken in site patterning analysis for reconstructing past human behaviours since spatial alteration of the original anthropogenic pattern took place on low gradients artefact movements remain limited but may increase dramatically on slopes when solifluction adds to sorting processes although these features are widespread in modern periglacial environments archaeological examples remain scarce multiple factors are probably involved including lack of knowledge of periglacial processes and landforms by archaeologists leading to misinterpretation but also more or less complete obliteration of surface features by sedimentary processes upon burial however it is assumed that scarcity of clear anthropogenic patterning in french palaeolithic sites before the late glacial is due for a large part to post depositional disturbance by periglacial processes

microscale biopitting by the endolithic lichen verrucaria baldensis and its proposed role in mesoscale solution basin development on limestone data are reported demonstrating the potential role of microscale morphologies induced by endolithic lichen communities specifically verrucaria baldensis in the initiation and development of mesoscale solution basin formation on limestone in the burren county clare a biophysical model is proposed outlining the different microscale stages leading to solution basin initiation with a progression from initial lichen colonization and growth associated perithecial biopitting followed by biopit coalescence to form biotroughs their subsequent enlargement and eventual incipient solution basin formation this model provides one explanation for solution basin development as this end state may also be achieved through simple solutional means without biological input the complexity of interactions at the lichen rock interface are identified with emphasis on the spatial and temporal variability of these underlining the point that as with macrotopographies at the landscape scale rock surface microtopographies also reflect historical weathering legacies copyright 2011 john wiley sons ltd

a middle stone age paleoscape near the pinnacle point caves vleesbaai south africa abstract open air middle stone age msa contexts in southern africa have received relatively little research attention compared to caves rock shelters msa caves rock shelters can provide long sequences of msa behaviors dominated by residential activities in circumscribed contexts but most procurement activities occurred on the landscape in uncircumscribed space we have a limited understanding of these activities at present making studies of open air sites crucial to alleviate this bias the south african coast paleoclimate paleoenvironment paleoecology paleoanthropology sacp4 project expanded its research scope to include msa archaeology from open air contexts we report on a series of msa open air assemblages that are exposed on ancient land surfaces suggestive of intact paleosols at vleesbaai and visbaai south africa importantly these sites occur in close proximity to the long cave rock shelter sequences at pinnacle point this presents the novel potential to study evidence of msa behavior in closed and open settings where their proximity to each other approximates the typical hunter gatherer daily foraging radius documented in ethnography we present a fabric and technological analysis of msa stone tool assemblages from three areas analysis of total station piece plotting of artifact bearing plunge suggests that the lithic assemblages have undergone limited post depositional disturbance the technological analysis and exploratory comparisons between these open air assemblages and msa cave and rock shelter contexts at pinnacle point cave 13b and 9 and cape st blaize cave suggest that the quartzite artifacts from vleesbaai were procured from locally available sources and may have been field processed there before being transported elsewhere perhaps to the caves rock shelters further the analysis suggests a dichotomous pattern of retouched tool discard where quartzite tools are discarded similarly across the landscape in contrast non quartzite tools may have been made primarily at the cave sites and discarded or lost more frequently on the landscape

the vesicular layer and carbonate collars of desert soils and pavements formation age and relation to climate change abstract the vesicular fine grained a horizon av is the widespread ubiquitous surficial horizon of desert soils in diverse landforms and parent materials of varying ages now known to form mostly through accumulation of eolian dust recent studies show that dust accumulation and concomitant soil development are genetically linked to stone pavement formation changes in the magnitude of eolian activity and effective leaching related to quaternary climatic changes are also hypothesized to have influenced the evolution of the av horizon numerical modeling geochronologic and field laboratory studies elucidate the nature of pedogenic processes controlling compositional evolution of av how the changing av horizon increasingly influences soil infiltration and carbonate translocation and accumulation and the control that clasts of the evolving pavement exert on pedogenic processes results of a model that determines soil bulk chemical composition based on mixing of estimated proportions of externally derived eolian material and parent materials imply that the evolution of the soil bulk composition is strongly influenced by av horizon formation the early development of a weakly to moderately developed av horizon directly over gravelly parent material in late and middle holocene soils moderately influences soil infiltration but significant leaching of very soluble materials and some carbonate in dust are permitted in older pleistocene soils however the texturally more mature av and underlying cumulic nongravelly horizons more strongly limit the rate and depth of leaching and soil bulk composition therefore more closely approximates a simple mixture of dust and parent material other aspects of av horizon development and its relations to the pavement are evaluated through studies of pavement clasts with coatings of soil carbonate referred to as carbonate collars development of a numerical model that integrates soil hydrology a co2 production diffusion model calcite kinetics and thermodynamic considerations composition and thermal characteristics of pavement clasts and the textural and structural properties of the surface horizon provides the basis for testing a hypothesis of collar formation model results combined with results of 13c and 18o analyses of collar carbonate demonstrate how precipitation of calcite on pavement clasts and within the av is favored at a depth much shallower than that indicated by the classic carbonate depth climate relationship of jenny and leonard jenny h j leonard c d 1935 functional relationships between soil properties and rainfall soil science 38 363 381 and arkley arkley r j 1963 calculations of carbonate and water movement in soil from climatic data soil science 96 239 248 or simulated by numerical models of carbonate accumulation simultaneous development of thick carbonate collars and the av horizon requires the sustained pavement clast av horizon coupling for at least centuries to possibly millennia new thermoluminescence ages also indicate that much of the av horizon formed in the holocene and that it is certainly much younger than the older pleistocene pavements this supports the previously proposed hypothesis that increased dust flux during the pleistocene to holocene transition triggered and or greatly accelerated av horizon development an understanding of the genesis of collars provides not just an understanding of how carbonate can accumulate in surface environments but it also provides important clues into processes of pavement evolution and preservation of av horizons during long glacial periods the av horizon is not merely an insignificant surficial zone of recent dust accretion instead its development profoundly influences the genesis of desert soils and pavements

a paleoweathering profile from griqualand west south africa evidence for a dramatic rise in atmospheric oxygen between 2 2 and 1 9 bybp a core drilled near wolhaarkop in griqualand west south africa intersected highly oxidized kuruman iron formation below red beds of the gamagara formation the lateral equivalents of the kuruman iron formation in this drill hole consist largely of siderite ankerite magnetite greenalite and quartz the oxidation of the kuruman iron formation in wol 2 occurred almost certainly during weathering prior to the deposition of the gamagara formation the date of this weathering episode is bracketed between about 2 2 and 1 9 bybp by the age of the ongeluk lavas in the transvaal sequence below the unconformity and by the age of the hartley lavas in the olifantshoek group above the unconformity the ratio of iron to sio2 in the several facies of the weathered kuruman iron formation in wol 2 is nearly the same as that in their unweathered equivalents since sio2 loss during weathering was almost certainly minor the similarity of the fe sio2 ratio in the weathered and unweathered bif indicates that nearly all the feo in the kuruman iron formation was oxidized and retained as feo3 during weathering such a high degree of iron retention is best explained by an o2 content of the atmosphere or 0 03 atm at the time of weathering such an o2 pressure is very much greater than that suggested by the composition of paleosols developed on basalt or 2 2 bybp but is consistent with the highly oxidized nature of the 1 85 by flin flon paleosol the new data suggest that po2 rose dramatically from about 1 percent pal present atmospheric level to or 15 percent pal between 2 2 and 1 9 bybp

middle to upper palaeolithic site formation processes at the bordes fitte rockshelter central france transformation in technological patterns associated with the middle to upper palaeolithic transition between 50 and 40 ka in western europe and their relationship with the neanderthal and anatomically modern human populations and behaviors are issues that continue to stimulate heated debate in this article we use the middle and early upper palaeolithic archaeo stratigraphic record from the bordes fitte rockshelter les roches d abilly site central france a bayesian analysis of the ages obtained by accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon on ultrafiltered collagen and by luminescence on quartz and feldspar grains to establish a timeline for material culture and sedimentary dynamic changes during the middle to upper palaeolithic transition technology refitting studies and taphonomy of lithic artifacts recovered in the geoarchaeological field units d1 and d2 permit to characterize 3 reduction strategies levallois discoidal and ch telperronian blade that took place between the cold heinrich events 5 and 4 we discuss the implications of the results to characterize the end of the middle palaeolithic and for distinguishing anthropogenic and non anthropogenic factors in middle to upper palaeolithic assemblage s variability

metamorphic alteration of a precambrian 2 2 ga paleosol from south africa revealed by backscattered electron imaging abstract like many precambrian paleosols the 2200 ma old waterval onder clay has been metamorphosed to the greenschist facies of regional metamorphism the extent of metamorphic alteration of the fine grained uppermost horizons of the paleosol is assessed here using optical and backscattered electron microscopy in hand specimens and under low power optical examination the paleosol shows surficial lamination cumulic horizon of soil terminology rounded clasts coated with opaque sesquioxides manganoferriargillans cracks defining a fitted breccia of blocks that were evidently soft in places blocky angular peds cracks filled with multiple generations of material from above illuviation argillans and zones of unusually highly birefringent clay climobimasepic plasmic fabric with backscattered electron microscopy however at a resolution of less than about 10 m the fine structure of originally colloidal parts of the paleosol mangans argillans matrix and plasma separations is shown to be extensively recrystallized to illite and berthierine original soil structure has been obscured at this resolution by crystal growth at random across original microscopic discontinuities preferred orientation of metamorphic crystals can still be seen along what are presumed to be highly birefringent zones of oriented clay similar to those in modern soils but the matrix itself shows random clusters of crystals suggestive of an advanced stage of illitization by ostwald ripening the style of recrystallization of laminae in the surface horizon is similar to that seen lower in the profile where recrystallized beds are thicker and coarser grained thus the paleosol probably formed on an upward thinning and fining sequence of sandstone and shale rather than on basalt on this assumption the profile has gained iron compared with its shaly parent material rather than lost iron compared with basalt this may be an indication of greater oxygenation of the atmosphere than previously thought possible microbial traces can be seen in thin section but because of pervasive recrystallization these remain dubiofossils

clay minerals of late pleistocene sites jonzac and les cottes sw france applications of x ray diffraction analyses to local paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions abstract the crystal chemical properties of clay minerals are closely dependent on the physicochemical conditions prevailing at the time when they formed in soils and weathered zones the degree of alteration of primary minerals and the composition of the secondary products are clearly linked to climate and plant cover in particular changes are rapid under temperate conditions which favor the development of thick soils but slow in cold contexts favoring thin and fragile soils in this paper the mineral composition of two pleistocene clay rich deposits is investigated in order to contribute to reconstructing paleoenvironmental changes jonzac charentes sw france and les cottes vienne sw france are two rock shelters with long archaeological sequences which include faunal remains and were recently radiometrically dated the decomposition of xrd patterns at each site allows identification of the principal mineral phases and semi quantitative estimation of their relative proportions the variation of these proportions is analyzed through indexes based on the relative intensities of the decomposed bands the clay fraction of both sites mostly results from the transformation of the minerals forming the sediments in the surrounding area of the rock shelter terrace including contributions from the hillside mineralogical clay data are compared with the faunal spectrum identified at both sites in order to discuss paleoenvironmental implications at jonzac during the quina mousterian period dated to mis4 the environment was cold and dry the dominant mineralogical phases are inherited from the rocks weak pedogenesis this is consistent with the faunal analysis data typical of the mis4 during the mousterian of acheulean tradition period dated to mis3 the mineralogical composition of the clay deposits changed significantly suggesting a less wet environment the aurignacian deposits dated to the end of mis3 early mis2 are rich in mixed layer minerals mlms which are produced by the hydrolysis processes in soils the climatic conditions probably became milder however because no faunal remains were found this evolution is uncertain the les cottes deposits dated between mis3 and early mis2 are mineralogically typical of a cold environment where soil reactions are not very active however some weak variations of the indexes suggest temporary temperate conditions during the les cottes interstadial and in the aurignacian the parallelism between mineral signature and paleontological evidence in recording relatively rapid variations between contrasted climates suggests that clay mineral assemblages from rock shelter deposits can be used to assess paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental dynamics at a local scale

testing a taphonomic predictive model of edge damage formation with middle stone age points from pinnacle point cave 13b and die kelders cave 1 south africa the interpretation of taphonomic and behavioral lithic edge wear formation is complicated by equifinality of edge damage morphologies rejecting hypotheses that edge damage originates from taphonomic processes is standard practice for many archaeological analyses and should be incorporated into lithic use wear more explicitly quantitative hypothesis testing is advocated here and facilitated by recording edge wear observations in an image referenced gis spatial environment a taphonomic predictive model was generated using trampling and flint knapping experiments trampling experiments were conducted to determine how edge damage is distributed along tool edges due to non use related taphonomic processes experiments designed to test the assumption that undisturbed flakes do not preferentially orient either surface side up dorsal or ventral were performed furthermore it is argued that artifact orientation data if available can also be used to assess whether the frequency of edge damage is correlated with the degree of disturbance this taphonomic predictive model is then statistically compared with frequency and distribution edge damage data from two south african middle stone age sites the research presented here illustrates the usefulness of edge damage distribution analysis for accounting for taphonomic processes as causal agents of edge damage formation and strengthening behavioral interpretations regarding tool function bringing tool wear observations into a uniform spatial structure is one avenue for standardization of lithic use wear analysis

experimental archaeology in a mid latitude periglacial context insight into site formation and taphonomic processes abstract experiments have been carried out at two sites in periglacial maat 0 c and alpine maat 4 c contexts in the pyrenees including open air and cave loci to document in detail the role of site formation processes and taphonomic agents in the degradation of archaeological assemblages in both sites the experimental cells have undergone significant changes over the five years of measurements these are marked by slow downslope creep of lithic artefacts due to solifluction rain creep and the impact of debris fallen from the wall in the cave the behaviour of bone material was significantly different from that of lithics due to the activity of scavengers this was responsible for scattering a high proportion of bone remains and displacements were typically significant such activity was also responsible for a high number of bone elements being lost 1 3 to 2 3 of the bones weathering mostly cracking and exfoliation also affected dry bone material in the open air cells the measurements have highlighted the specific nature of the cave context which plays a protective role for bone remains against meteoric agents the talus at the entrance of the cavity was also characterized by a strong spatial heterogeneity in sedimentary processes which may generate a differential preservation of the assemblages

fabric of palaeolithic levels methods and implications for site formation processes fabric analysis in archaeological contexts i e the study of the orientation and dip of artefacts has been significantly improved during the last decade mainly with respect to the statistical treatment of data the development of a reference base for natural sedimentary processes as well as the increased number of data for palaeolithic levels these works show that fabrics are an efficient tool for assessing site formation processes fabrics allow discrimination between i undisturbed or minimally disturbed levels ii levels that have undergone strong pedoturbations due to biological activity or to shrinking and swelling of clayey sediments and iii levels that have been significantly reworked by slope processes such as periglacial solifluction or overland flow however in the present state of knowledge fabrics do not allow precise estimation of the degree of perturbation if not associated with other archaeological and geological criteria from the set of data on french palaeolithic sites used here it is demonstrated that slope dynamics and particularly solifluction for sites predating the late glacial may have played an important role in site formation

fabric shape and the interpretation of sedimentary fabric data abstract the concept of fabric shape provides a powerful means of visualizing and analyzing data on sedimentary fabric the shape of a fabric is defined in terms of the ratios between eigenvalues s1 s2 and s3 derived using the orientation tensor method a continuum of all possible orthorhombic fabric shapes can be clearly represented on equilateral ternary diagrams originally developed for the presentation of particle shape data two indices are of particular value in scaling these diagrams fabric isotropy i s3 s1 and fabric elongation e 1 s2 s1 together these indices uniquely define the shape of any orthorhombic fabric and provide a rational and quantitative basis for reconstructing depositional and de ormational processes equilateral ternary diagrams provide a more versatile and powerful basis for analyzing fabric data than other eigenvalue diagrams now in use use of the diagrams in reconstructing processes of sediment transport and deposition is illustrated using fabric data from subglacial tills and a variety of slope deposits

gombore ii melka kunture ethiopia a new approach to formation processes and spatial patterns of an early pleistocene acheulean site abstract to assess the integrity of pleistocene archaeological sites is crucial in the analysis of human behaviour most of the early palaeolithic sites are in active fluvial environments where it is necessary to understand the degree of sedimentary disturbance the analysis of the formation processes through geoarchaeological and geostatistical techniques offers new tools to evaluate if the archaeological assemblage is in autochthonous or allochthonous position gombore ii 850 ka within the archaeological and paleontological complex of melka kunture ethiopia extends over estimated 1000 m2 and yielded a large number of acheulean artefacts fossil mammal bones and two fossil hominin remains the geomorphological setting and deposition patterns of high energy sedimentation in a fluvial channelized environment are similar to those of many other early palaeolithic african sites this is traditionally described as producing a disturbed record with the fortuitous association of faunal remains and lithic industry driven by fluvial processes to assess this hypothesis we analyse here the formation processes and the spatial patterning of the remains we apply geoarchaeological orientation and fabric and spatial tests density grouping k means to the mapped archaeological surfaces and to a present day fluvial surface we observe substantial differences in geoarchaeological features and spatial patterning between the archaeological record lithic materials and faunal remains and the natural clasts of both the archaeological deposit and the bed of the present day river this suggests different depositional processes or temporal events we conclude that the remains produced by the hominins did not haphazardly accumulate after extensive erosion and re sedimentation they rather preserve a reasonable degree of taphonomic and spatial integrity and are possibly representative of different activities

the human settlement of central iberia during mis 2 new technological chronological and environmental data from the solutrean workshop of las delicias manzanares river valley spain abstract the recent excavations 2008 2009 conducted at the open air site of las delicias located in the manzanares river valley madrid have revealed new important data for the understanding of the human settlement of central iberia during solutrean times in this paper we present a geomorphological and taphonomic study of the pleistocene deposits of las delicias a technological analysis focused on the bifacial lithic reduction processes documented at the site new optically stimulated luminescence dates and new palynological data together with the existence of numerous solutrean lithic assemblages from the early 20th century excavations of the manzanares terraces these new data highlight the importance of the manzanares valley as a focus of solutrean settlement not only related to flint procurement but also to foraging activities moreover they require reconsideration of central iberia as a virtually unpopulated region during the late pleniglacial mis 2 and of the associated idea of its cultural dependence on the coastal areas of the iberian peninsula we propose new avenues of research aimed at approaching the central region of iberia in its own cultural and ecological terms

rock varnish in the sonoran desert microbiologically mediated accumulation of manganiferous sediments rock varnish occurs in virtually all environments most commonly in arid and semi arid climates including antarctica rock varnish consists of thin layers of intimately mixed aeolian and chemical sediments often showing botryoidal and more rarely stromatolite like morphologies typical rock varnish samples collected at twin peak mountain park near phoenix arizona consist of abundant quartz with plagioclase illite and a mixed layer fe clay mineral probably corrensite eds sem bse and tem analyses revealed that the typical mn fe minerals occur as minute particles some of these particles and other mineral grains are attached to filaments xrd and electron diffraction showed that the mn fe bearing particles are poorly crystalline the filaments based on morphological criteria are virtually indistinguishable from fungal filaments most filaments are fragments probably broken by scraping during sample collection coccoid and rod shaped forms resembling cyanobacteria and other bacteria respectively are also present unlike definitive minerals these filaments disintegrated in the concentrated energy of the sem electron beam at the instrumental and experimental conditions used in addition no filamentous rod shaped or coccoid forms were observed in samples hydrolysed with 6 n hcl for 24 h at 100 c bacteria and fungi in powdered rock varnish were cultured on four media incubated aerobically in the dark at 25 c the culture media yielded dense growths of spore forming bacteria and filamentous fungi one fungus and two bacillus isolates oxidized and concentrated manganese control experiments revealed that fungi and bacteria are present on and below the surfaces of rock varnish free and hydrolysed peptide protein bound amino acids were identified in the rock varnish amino acids showed virtually no racemization with the exception of d l asp 0 1 relatively high molecular weight humic matter was also separated from the rock varnish high resolution mass spectrometry revealed non hydrocarbon moieties similar to a suwannee river fl humic acid standard micro organisms and their original biochemical compounds do not seem to be preserved for long in the accreting varnish layer the studies showed that the filaments helped to trap mineral particles of rock varnish and that bacteria and fungi abetted mn concentration some structures in the layers of rock varnish resemble stromatolites and present definitions would allow them to be termed as such

site formation and chronology of the new paleolithic site sima de las palomas de teba southern spain abstract the newly identified paleolithic site sima de las palomas de teba hosts an almost seven m thick sediment profile investigated here to elucidate the rock shelter s chronostratigraphy and formation processes at its base the sediment sequence contains rich archeological deposits recording intensive occupation by neanderthals luminescence provides a terminus ante quem of 39 4 2 6 ka or 44 9 4 1 ka osl and 51 4 8 4 ka tl this occupation ended with a rockfall event followed by accumulation of archeologically sterile sediments these were covered by sediments containing few middle paleolithic artifacts which either indicate ephemeral occupation by neanderthals or reworking as suggested by micromorphological features above this unit scattered lithic artifacts of undiagnostic character may represent undefined paleolithic occupations sediment burial ages between about 23 0 1 5 ka osl and 40 5 3 4 ka pirir provide an upper paleolithic chronology for sediments deposited above the rockfall finally a dung bearing holocene layer in the uppermost part of the sequence contains a fragment of a human mandible dated to 4032 39 14 c yr bp overall the sequence represents an important new site for studying the end of neanderthal occupation in southern spain

does clast size influence fabric strength abstract clast fabric strength is commonly used as a quantitative tool to determine the depositional history of subglacial tills this paper emphasizes the variance in fabric strength relative to clast size data on 46 clast fabric analyses were sampled from two basal till localities in southeast denmark and another eleven analyses from a basal till locality beyond a glacier in south iceland it is demonstrated that clasts longer than 2 3 cm show a stronger preference for parallel orientation than do shorter clasts this implies that two operators sampling fabric data a few meters apart within the same till unit but selecting clasts longer or shorter than 20 mm may classify the till as two different types of basal till because of differences in clast size alone additionally this study demonstrates considerable variations in fabric strength over short lateral distances within the same basal till bed it is concluded that caution should be exercised in using eigenvalues to infer depositional processes and strain histories in subglacial environments sedimentological criteria other than clast fabric must also be considered before drawing final conclusions on subglacial deposition

loess in a cave lithostratigraphic and correlative value of loess and loess like layers in caves from the krakow czestochowa upland poland abstract although debris loams and clays are usually regarded as typical cave sediments loess and loess like sediments are common among clastic cave deposits in the near entrance facies of caves and rock shelters late weichselian loess layers are very common in caves from the krakow czestochowa upland and were recognized in almost each excavated cave and rock shelter these layers were initially dated to the lgm last glacial maximum but new chronometric dating results are available that allow us to present a more detailed scheme of the geological age of the series this paper evaluates the significance of polish in cave loess layers as correlative horizons we present the lateral and vertical stratigraphy and lithological variability of cave loesses and their usefulness as lithostratigraphic markers these features are especially important for archeology and paleontology as cave sediments including loess are usually the carriers of archeological and paleontological material

formation processes and stratigraphic integrity of the middle to upper palaeolithic sequence at cova gran de santa linya southeastern prepyrenees of lleida iberian peninsula sediments from cova gran de santa linya southeastern prepyrenees of lleida iberia are investigated by geoarchaeological means micromorphological textural quartz grain morphoscopy and geochemical analyses are coupled with stratigraphic and sedimentary macroscopic data to provide new insights into the formation processes and the integrity of the occupation layers and embedded sterile deposit documented at the middle to upper palaeolithic boundary direct indicators of the anthropogenic and natural dynamics involved in the deposition and alteration of the sediments investigated are provided results reveal the presence of in situ combustion structures as a major sedimentary indicator of human activity and occupation surfaces at the site the overall good preservation of the combustion residues indicates that occupation layers have been preserved in their original context of deposition traits of surface exposure in parallel to progressive lessening of evidence related to human activity at the top of the middle palaeolithic sequence suggest discontinuity in the occupation of the site and a possible abandonment of the rock shelter at the end of this period formation processes of the sterile deposit documented between the mousterian and the early upper palaeolithic levels involved the accumulation of debris from local sediments and soils as well as from the structure of the rock shelter soil forming dynamics related to palaeoenvironmental moisture fluctuations have also been recorded throughout the sequence investigated and indicate periods of surface stability during the formation of the sterile deposit environmental dynamics active during the formation of the sterile partially disturbed the top of the mousterian layer however our data indicate that such dynamics did not substantially affect the overall integrity of the archaeological record our results highlight the crucial contribution of geoarchaeology and microstratigraphy to the characterisation and assessment of the anthropogenic and natural dynamics involved in the accumulation and taphonomy of middle to upper palaeolithic sequences

sedimentological and archaeological fabrics in palaeolithic levels of the south eastern pyrenees cova gran and roca dels bous sites lleida spain abstract the comparative study of sedimentary fabrics in relation to archaeological fabrics in various levels of the sites of cova gran de santa linya middle and early upper palaeolithic and the roca dels bous middle palaeolithic has made it possible to analyse the formation dynamics of the deposits and determine the extent of disturbance of the archaeological levels by natural processes to achieve this diagrams and two and three dimensional indices were calculated from the azimuth and dip angle of natural clasts and artefacts the results indicate that the sedimentary levels were formed mainly by planar fabric shape gravitational processes low depositional angles which differ notably from the archaeological fabrics they contain characterised by a greater degree of isotropy this difference in the fabrics would reflect human activity and indicates that the archaeological levels both in cova gran and roca dels bous have not been subject to significant natural modifications and are preserved in situ

middle pleistocene hominin occupation in the danjiangkou reservoir region central china studies of formation processes and stone technology of maling 2a site abstract danjiangkou reservoir region drr is one of the areas where acheulean like stone technology mode 2 was reported in central and south china it is located at the end of the upper reaches of the hanshui river the largest tributary of the yangtze river systematic field investigations documented more than ninety paleolithic sites along the fluvial terraces of the hanshui and danjiang rivers the latter a tributary of the upper reach of the hanshui river subsequent excavations at more than 30 sites led to the discovery of a large number of paleolithic stone artifacts in the past decade showing that early hominins lived in the region at least by the early part of the middle pleistocene however little is known from the archaeological record about the context of the sites and their formation processes the technological characteristics of the stone artifact assemblages and whether they truly belong to mode 2 technology or just to core and flake technology and the overall hominin behavioral patterns and adaptation during the middle to late pleistocene maling locality 2a ml2a is buried in the front edge of the third alluvial terrace of the danjiang river archaeological excavations undertaken at the site in 2011 recovered 1026 stone artifacts from a red clay deposit preliminary osl dating and geomorphological comparisons between the terraces in the hanshui river system suggest that the site is dated to the late middle pleistocene patterns of artifact concentration suggest that the site was buried in secondary context where the stone artifacts were transported by water from a relatively higher location nearby the artifacts primarily made on quartzite and quartz cobbles include cores whole flakes various fragments retouched pieces two bifaces and a hammerstone all flaking is by direct hard hammer without core preparation the majority of flakes in the early stages of core reduction indicate that the cores are not extensively reduced choppers are the predominant core category together with discoids polyhedrons and core scrapers it should be noted that two bifacially flaked cobbles can classed as mode 2 implements eleven retouched pieces are recognized and they were casually modified by direct hammer percussion although only two bifaces were excavated from this site many more are recorded in the larger study area the ml2a artifact assemblage may be considered as a chinese variant of an acheulean like mode 2 industry it can be deduced that homo erectus was likely the responsible for manufacturing the stone artifacts

approaches to middle stone age landscape archaeology in tropical africa the southern montane forest grassland mosaic ecosystem in the humid subtropics southern rift valley of africa comprised the environmental context for a large area in which modern human evolution and dispersal occurred variable climatic conditions during the late pleistocene have ranged between humid and hyperarid changing the character of the ecosystem and transforming it at different points in time into a barrier a refuge and a corridor between southern and eastern african populations alluvial fans presently blanket the areas adjacent to major river systems which were key areas of prehistoric human habitation these sets of variables have created conditions that are both challenging and advantageous to conduct archaeological research lateritic soil development has resulted in poor organic preservation and facilitated insect bioturbation which has demanded an integrated micro macro scale approach to building a reliable geochronology an integrated field and analytical methodology has also been employed to identify the nature and degree of post depositional movement in alluvial deposits which preserve a wide range of spatial integrity levels in buried stone artifact assemblages between 47 and 30 ka in karonga northern malawi this paper describes the methodological advances taken toward understanding open air middle stone age archaeology in sub tropical africa and explores the inferential potential for understanding pleistocene human ecology in the important southern rift valley region

the timing and cause of megafauna mass deaths at lancefield swamp south eastern australia abstract lancefield swamp south eastern australia was one of the earliest sites to provoke interest in pleistocene faunal extinctions in sahul pleistocene australia new guinea the systematic investigation of the deposit in the early 1970s identified megafaunal remains dominated by the 100 200 kg kangaroo macropus giganteus titan associated radiocarbon ages indicated that the species was extant until c 30 000 bp suggesting significant overlap with human settlement of sahul this evidence was inconsistent with contemporary models of rapid human driven extinctions instead researchers inferred ecological tethering of fauna at lancefield swamp due to intense drought precipitated localised mass deaths consistent with late pleistocene climatic variability later investigations in another part of the swamp the mayne site remote to the initial investigations concluded that mass flow disturbed this area and electron spin resonance esr analyses on megafauna teeth returned wide ranging ages to clarify site formation processes and dating of lancefield swamp we excavated new test pits next to previous trenches in the classic and mayne sites we compared absolute chronologies for sediments and teeth sedimentology palaeo topography taphonomy and macropod age at death across the swamp luminescence dating of sediments and esr analysis of teeth returned ages between c 80 000 and 45 000 years ago we found no archaeological remains in the bone beds and evidence of carnivore activity and fluvial action in the form of reactivated spring flow the latter disturbed limited parts of the site and substantial areas of the bone beds remained intact the faunal assemblage is dominated by megafaunal adult macropus consistent with mass die offs due to severe drought such droughts appear to have recurred over millennia during the climatic variability of marine isotope stages 4 and 3 these events began tens of millennia before the first appearance of aboriginal people in sahul and only the very youngest fossil deposits could be coeval with the earliest human arrivals therefore anthropogenic causes cannot be implicated in most if not all of mass deaths at the site climatic and environmental changes were the main factors in site formation and megafauna deaths at lancefield swamp