abrupt mousterian aurignacian boundary at c 40 ka bp accelerator 14c dates from l arbreda cave catalunya spain abstract the cultural transition from mousterian to aurignacian is abrupt at l arbreda cave and occurs within a homogeneous sedimentary unit with no visible lithologic changes fragments of milligram size charcoal were collected immediately above and below the cultural boundary for radiocarbon dating by accelerator four charcoal fragments from the lowest basal aurignacian level yielded dates of 37 7 1 0 37 7 1 0 39 9 1 2 and 38 7 1 2 ka bp average 38 5 1 0 ka bp these ages are similar to three dates from the same cultural horizon at el castillo cave in cantabria and both sets of dates are significantly older than the earliest reported for the aurignacian in the aquitaine and in other parts of central and western europe the dates are in accord with similarly early dates for aurignacian in bulgaria and suggest that appearance of aurignacian peoples is synchronous across europe three fragments from the uppermost mousterian level yielded dates of 39 4 1 4 34 1 0 75 and 41 4 1 6 ka bp discounting the spurious 34 1 ka bp result these dates are slightly older average 40 4 1 4 ka bp but overlap with counting error the basal aurignacian dates the data show that the transition from mousterian to aurignacian was chronologically abrupt at this location these results strongly support the replacement hypothesis

upper pleistocene palaeoenvironmental change in eastern spain new pollen analytical data from cova beneito alicante abstract the results of a palynological investigation of the upper palaeolithic interval from the beneito cave southeastern spain are herewith considered in the context of results from a previous report on the underlying deposits two new percentage and concentration pollen diagrams with good correspondence are presented the upper palaeolithic sequence is dominated by poaceae chenopodiaceae and artemisia whereas arboreal pollen are less important mesophilous trees and mediterranean taxa show a constant presence but in low proportions the new data add support to the view that interpleniglacial development of mediterranean taxa was important in eastern spain while they were considerably reduced during upper pleniglacial times emphasis is placed on aridity as a limiting factor in influencing major vegetation changes in the area two additional topics are also presented they deal with the extrapolation of north european interstadials to mediterranean spain and the palaeoecological value of archaeopalynological records

short and long term erosional processes affecting the stability of the mediterranean coastal cliffs of israel abstract the destructive processes affecting the coastal cliffs of israel are seen as time dependent processes acting in two independent zones at the top and bottom of the cliffs at the top of the cliff these processes are classed as short term phenomena that may be seen as seasonal changes or those initiated by man two main phenomena are recognized as multiple sliding at the contact of hamra clay and kurkar sandstone horizons and collapse of an overlying hard calcarenite layer high water content is by far the most significant contributor to instability which is aggravated by excessive watering of gardens near the cliff edge other factors contributing to instability are grain size and lack of cementation at the bottom of the cliff these processes are classed as long term phenomena where several climatic seasons to a number of years may pass between events these processes are mainly dependent on the abrasive action of waves and to a lesser extent on wind stability is dependent on factors such as grain size distribution of particles cross bedding and degree of cementation of the sandstone the factor of safety f for kurkar slopes ranges from f 1 29 1 78 and that of hamra slopes from f 0 59 0 60 recognition of the active processes causing instability in the different parts of the cliffs and the factors controlling them is essential for the design and remedial measures required for controlling the continued destruction of the cliffs

the middle to upper paleolithic transition in la guelga cave asturias northern spain abstract la guelga cave is located at the bottom of a mountain valley in the eastern part of asturias northern spain 186 m above sea level and 15 km far away from the coast it currently comprises a group of caves that were occupied during the middle and upper paleolithic periods mp and up respectively in recent years we have studied the levels of la guelga cave d zone proposing a sequence for the mp up transition mousterian aurignacian ch telperronian which we review in this paper after a detailed analysis of the chronostratigraphy we also provide new radiocarbon dates for the mousterian aurignacian and ch telperronian levels finally the geoarchaeology taphonomy archaeological data and chronology suggest that the interstratification initially identified on the basis of stratigraphic observations during excavation cannot be maintained in any case the stratigraphy of the internal d zone of la guelga cave is one of the most interesting from the cantabrian region for analyzing the last phases of the mousterian and the rise of the aurignacian in the north of the peninsula

a mosaic of change the middle upper paleolithic transition as viewed from new mexico and iberia abstract from the cultural archeological perspective there is growing evidence that there was not only considerable variability but also significant change within the block of time that prehistorians call the middle paleolithic mp this was not a period of stasis and thus the actors homo sapiens neanderthalensis in europe were quite capable of adapting to new environmental circumstances in sensu lato likewise the so called upper paleolithic up was a cultural monolith neither in time nor in space in particular humans had to react in significant ways to the environmental crisis of the last glacial maximum that began some 20 14 c kyr after the transition to modernity adaptation is a continuously ongoing process sometimes slow but at other times fast the complementary opposition that has been set up by archeologists between the mp and the up obscures the considerable amount of variation and change that existed both before and after the mythic date of 40 14 c kyr this paper reviews and compares relevant aspects of the records from europe and africa and then focuses on the iberian peninsula to highlight the arbitrary nature of our concept of an mp up transition changes took many forms not all of them novel or abrupt with many examples of up type precursor behaviors and products in the mp many clear cases of continuity across the transition and abundant evidence that the entire phenomenon was a cultural and biological mosaic rather than starkly black and white replacement of one adaptive system by another the iberian evidence is a microcosm of the complexity of the situation which cannot be glossed over for the sake of mere simplification or to continue to prop up 19th century culture historical notions and analytical units

accelerator 14c dates for early upper paleolithic basal aurignacian at el castillo cave spain abstract three fragments of charcoal taken from different parts of the lowermost bed containing aurignacian artifacts at el castillo cave yielded ams dates of 37 7 1 8 ka bp 38 5 1 8 ka bp and 40 0 2 1 ka bp average 38 7 1 9 ka bp these dates are almost identical to new ams dates from l arbreda cave in catalunya on the same cultural horizon average 38 5 1 0 ka bp and are significantly older than the earliest dates for aurignacian industries in the aquitaine and in other parts of central and western europe

radiometric dating of quaternary deposits and the hominid mandible of lake banyolas spain we report results of u series analyses of the travertine matrix surrounding the banyolas mandible that indicate an age of 45 4 ka bp the mandible an archaic hominid fossil generally deemed of mid pleistocene age was recovered from a travertine matrix in 1887 similar analyses on 21 travertine samples from quarries near the discovery site yield coherent u series dates in correct stratigraphic order ranging from 44 ka bp to 117 ka bp isotopic composition of these samples and the mandible matrix show no evidence of open system behaviour coherent isotopic results from adjacent quarries support the validity of the date on the mandible travertine and we conclude the mandible is much younger than previously believed

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

flint thermoluminescence dates from the cfr laboratory at gif contributions to the study of the chronology of the middle palaeolithic abstract flint tools are among the most durable objects marking the presence of prehistoric humans methodological advances of the last decade have made thermoluminescence of burnt flint a reliable dating tool and have provided new dates which require reassessment of the chronology of numerous middle palaeolithic sites dates for several near eastern sites show the presence of neanderthals from at least oxygen isotope stage 6 until after 50 ka ago and push the appearance of modern humans to before 100 ka ago long before their arrival in europe whether the two populations were present continuously or intermittently and precisely when they appeared is uncertain at the moment thermoluminescence results suggest that the mousterian lithic industries were introduced at about the same time in europe as in the near east with the difference that in the latter area this industry was used by early modern humans as well as by neanderthals the new tl chronology assigns a much longer life span to specific types of levantine mousterian lithic industries than previously believed finally new dates for the ch telperronian site of saint cesaire open up the possibility that the last neanderthals were still present after some cro magnons had already settled in western europe

cave sediments upper pleistocene stratigraphy and mousterian facies in cantabrian spain abstract archaeological sediments are analysed from karst cave columns in cantabrian spain cueva morin el pendo the castillo cave complex including la flecha las chimeneas la pasiega las monedas hornos de la pena and cobalejos external sediment influx including loess is calibrated by an index of cave and slope run off energy while other features slope and roof rubble chemical precipitates cryoturbations fine soil derivatives and cultural components are discussed the key sequences morin el pendo castillo are each interpreted in local terms and then combined into a regional climatostratigraphy that includes 40 environmental phases within deep sea isotope stages 2 5 trends in run off energy reflecting slope stability temperature and summer moisture are rarely in phase indicating complex environmental change mid pleistocene and older deposits exist but have largely been destroyed explaining the apparent absence of acheulian settlement mousterian occupation is verified by isotope stage 5b and two or three mousterian facies that span 25 50 000 years are coeval in several caves regardless of the direction of climatic oscillations this suggests the flexible lithic technology of a single population maintaining an adaptive steady state despite repeated environmental changes by contrast the distinct upper palaeolithic industries each span only a few millennia but in part overlap temporally within the region between 35 000 and 9500 bp

current issues in late middle palaeolithic chronology new assessments from northern iberia abstract the iberian peninsula plays a central role in the current debates on the middle upper palaeolithic transition and the neanderthal extinction this is largely due to the chronological data which some authors have suggested show a clear divide between northern iberia where the upper palaeolithic appeared as early as 36 5 ka 14c bp and southern iberia where the middle palaeolithic survived until ca 32 30 ka 14c bp or later the best example of this view is the ebro frontier hypothesis however there are chronological data in both northern and southern iberia that do not fit this pattern and some of the evidence supporting the ebro frontier hypothesis has been questioned in recent years this paper focuses on the chronology of the final middle palaeolithic of northern iberia where several assemblages have been found to post date the first upper palaeolithic in the region and be of a similar age to the final neanderthal occupations of the south in order to improve the chronological framework of the middle upper palaeolithic boundary in the northern iberian peninsula a radiocarbon dating program is focused on sites from both the cantabrian and mediterranean regions the first results of this program are presented in this paper new radiocarbon dates have been measured by two laboratories using a range of pre treatment methodologies these do not support a late middle palaeolithic in northern iberia

u series dating of impure carbonates an isochron technique using total sample dissolution abstract u series dating is a well established technique for age determination of late quaternary carbonates materials of sufficient purity for nominal dating however are not as common as materials with mechanically inseparable aluminosilicate detritus detritus contaminates the sample with extraneous th we propose that correction for contamination is best accomplished with the isochron technique using total sample dissolution tsd experiments were conducted on artificial mixtures of natural detritus and carbonate and on an impure carbonate of known age results show that significant and unpredictable transfer of radionuclides occur from the detritus to the leachate in commonly used selective leaching procedures the effects of correcting via leachate residue pairs and isochron plots were assessed isochrons using tsd gave best results followed by isochron plots of leachates only

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

red deer antler technology and early modern humans in southeast europe an experimental study abstract in technological approaches to prehistoric industries there is currently a renewed interest in the transformation of osseous materials this approach requires the construction of a technical reference base of manufacturing stigmata as well as of the procedures and methods used to produce tool blanks one of the better known processes for the production of blanks in the upper palaeolithic is extraction by a double longitudinal groove observed only in the gravettian aurignacian artefacts indicate that during this period blanks were obtained through a procedure of longitudinal fracturing splitting or diffuse percussion fracturing the manner of implementing these procedures is however still poorly known in order to better characterise this stage in the manufacturing of blanks for antler points we conducted an experimental study based on a thorough analysis of the spanish archaeological materials we tested the procedure of fracturing by indirect percussion on deer antler the results provide new criteria for the identification of blanks and their manufacturing processes they also emphasize the possibility of predetermining the size of the blank and consequently the size of future projectile point

impact of the late triassic dashtak intermediate detachment horizon on anticline geometry in the central frontal fars se zagros fold belt iran abstract integration of 2 d seismic lines well data and field studies allow us to determine the geometry variations of anticlines in the highly prolific central frontal fars region in the se zagros fold belt these variations are directly related to changes in thickness of the principal evaporitic intermediate detachment level located along the late triassic dashtak formation anticlines of short wavelength contain a significant over thickening of the evaporitic detachment level in their crestal domain that may reach 1900 m from an original thickness of 550 800 m folds containing thick dashtak evaporites show decoupling across the detachment level and thus a shift of the anticline crest in the underlying permo triassic carbonates of the dehram group which form the major gas reservoir in the central frontal fars four main parameters control the extent and distribution of the decoupled anticlines in the study area a original large thickness of the late triassic evaporitic basin b coinciding larger amounts of anhydrites with increasing total thickness of formation c parallel occurrences of abnormally high fluid pressures and d shortening variations across and along the strike of specific folds the present work relating the different parameters of the dashtak evaporites with the anticline geometry allows a better understanding of the fold geometry variations with depth which is applicable to oil and gas exploration in the se zagros and other similar hydrocarbon provinces characterised by intermediate detachment horizons

a test of uranium series dating of fossil tooth enamel results from tournal cave france abstract a series of well preserved mammal bones and horse teeth was analyzed from archaeological levels of tournal cave magdalenian aurignacian and mousterain to test the hypothesis that well crystallized enamel behaves more as a closed system than does whole bone the isotopic composition of bones and tooth enamels from this deposit meet criteria for confidence and gave no reasons to suspect contamination or open system behavior two samples for which231pa could be analyzed showed internal concordance with the respective230th ages in spite of the favourable isotopic criteria however comparison of the u series ages of the bones and the tooth enamel with stratigraphic position and14c control indicated the dates were not meaningful in general both bones and tooth enamels gave ages too young although some were clearly too old neither group showed any systematic increase of age with stratigraphic depth tooth enamel therefore shows no advantage over bone for u series dating for this site in tournal cave both bones and enamel are apparently open to u which is probably cycling as a consequences of post depositional groundwater movement

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

palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstruction of the latest pleistocene of l arbreda cave serinya girona northeastern iberia inferred from the small mammal insectivore and rodent assemblages abstract l arbreda cave is one of the southernmost of the reclau caves serinya girona northeastern iberian peninsula located between the west margin of the pla d usall and the serinyadell river at an altitude of about 211 m a s l the pla d usall forms part of the banyoles besalu basin which is bounded by eocene and neogene reliefs it is filled with sediments of plio pleistocene age the cave is a shelter formed by travertine cascades with a degree of karstification and contains sedimentary deposits ranging from the end of the middle pleistocene to the early holocene thus constituting an important archaeo palaeontological record for an understanding of the prehistoric occupation of northeastern iberia it is one of the most complete and best dated terrestrial sequences in iberia from the mousterian to the early holocene period in this paper we present a palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic reconstruction of the sequence based on non flying small mammals insectivores and rodents and pollen analyses the environmental and climatic results together with the absolute dating of the sequence and direct comparison with northgrip 18 o and the sea surface temperatures sst of the alboran sea allow us to identify various climatic periods within our sequence a cold period between interstadials 12 and 10 in level i probably interstadial 10 in level h the last glacial maximum lgm in levels c and b the bolling allerod interstadial b a in level a and the preboreal boreal pr b in the terra rossa level

esr and ams based 14c dating of mousterian levels at mujina pecina dalmatia croatia abstract this paper presents the first chronometric dates for sediments that contain a mousterian industry in dalmatia south croatia electron spin resonance esr dating was conducted on two teeth from the mousterian level e1 at the site of mujina pecina additionally five bone and one charcoal sample from five different strata of origin at this site were dated by accelerator mass spectrometry ams assuming 30 moisture for both the gamma and beta dose rate calculations the mean lu esr age estimate is 44 5 ka for level e1 which is statistically indistinguishable from the mean eu esr age estimate of 40 7 ka a single uncalibrated 14 c age from the e1 e2 interface yielded an age estimate of 45 170 2780 2060 years bp while the mean of the five samples from overlying mousterian levels is 39 3 ka the true calibrated age of this mean is about 42 ka which means that the entire stratigraphic profile in mujina pecina apparently was very rapidly deposited and that the esr age regardless of uptake model is in good agreement with the calibrated 14 c mean age temporally mujina pecina overlaps with pontinian mousterian sites in west central italy and vindija level g3 from northwestern croatia however there are notable differences between the mousterian industry from mujina pecina and these other sites collectively the croatian sites yield important evidence on the adaptation of european mousterian people

thermoluminescence electron spin resonance and14c dating of the late middle and early upper palaeolithic site of geisenklosterle cave in southern germany abstract thermoluminescence tl dating of burnt silex flint chert electron spin resonance esr dating of teeth and 14 c accelerator mass spectrometry ams dating of bones has been carried out on samples from the late middle palaeolithic and early upper palaeolithic levels of the geisenklosterle cave south germany esr dating on tooth enamel from the upper part of level iv which contains a very small undefined middle palaeolithic assemblage yields a mean age of 43 3 4 ka the overlying early aurignacian level iii is placed in the hengelo interstadial by palaeoecological analysis 14 c ams results give a mean age of 38 4 0 85 ka whereas a mean age of 40 2 1 5 ka is obtained by tl of burnt silex confirming the correlation of the early aurignacian level with the hengelo interstadial in oxygen isotope stage ois 3 14 c ams of bone samples from the aurignacian level ii resulted in a mean age of 33 5 0 35 ka whereas the tl ages on burnt silex are again older at c 37 ka these tl results can be taken as an indication of the age underestimation by 14 c caused by the lack of calibration the aurignacian level contains some of the most elaborate symbolic representations from the upper palaeolithic artwork of comparable quality is radiocarbon dated to 31 000 ka at the grotte chauvet thus being significantly younger furthermore the geisenklosterle cave provides evidence of the existence of early rock art in central europe although only small pieces survived erosion the gravettian assemblage of the geisenklosterle cave yielded a mean 14 c ams age of 29 0 0 25 ka