A correlation of stratigraphic subdivisions of the late Middle Pleistocene (MIS 12-6) in central Europe is extremely difficult, because of abundant hiatuses. Therefore, the site Rechitsa in western Belarus is extremely important for a regional stratigraphy, because of its well documented sediments of the Alexandrian Interglacial (Holsteinian; MIS 11) and a crucial palaeoclimate and palaeoenvironmental

Pollen analysis is rarely applied to cave sediments because of the complex range of processes influencing the origin, transport and taphonomy of pollen grains in caves. In order to evaluate the potential of pollen spectra from within caves for vegetation reconstruction, we compared the modern pollen from the interior and exterior of four caves in Guangxi and Guizhou, in southwestern China. The results

Until recently the Epigravettian occupation of Bohemia has remained relatively unknown. After re-evaluating an old assemblage from Ostroměř (first published by S. Vencl like the Ostroměř group of Late Palaeolithic) we can assign it to the Epigravettian cultural complex. A newly excavated site in Slatinky near Jičín probably dates to the Late Epigravettian, but only the specialised part of the site

The paper presents the newly established radiocarbon dates of the Late Upper Palaeolithic (LUP) settlement in Gvardjilas Klde in the Imereti region in Georgia. The analysed samples were collected by Stefan Krukowski in 1916 during his fieldwork in the cave. Krukowski identified two separate UP cultural horizons. The older one was connected with what he called layer 10, and the younger one - with layer

The Caspian Sea is the world's largest lake noted for a unique history of its evolution in the past. One of most important events in the Caspian history is the Atelian regression. The purpose of this work is to specify the extent, the time, and environments of the Atelian regression, as well as its correlation with events in the adjacent regions, on the basis of multidisciplinary studies of the Atelian

A survey of the Pearl Island archipelago discovered a Preceramic shell-bearing midden on the island of Pedro González located in Panama Bay in the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. This occupation dates between ca. 6200 and 5600 cal yr BP, and revealed a mixed marine and terrestrial economy including the exploitation of sea and terrestrial turtles, snakes, iguanas, dolphins, and land mammals such as

For a long time, the rich bone industries of the Upper Palaeolithic were opposed to the opportunistic Neandertal bone tools among which the bone retoucher was the most common type. The recent finding of a few shaped bone tools into Mousterian contexts has been taken as an emergence of a “modern behaviour”. However, this outlook is based on biased corpuses. On one side, the large number of unshaped

In this paper we present a revision of the lithic industries of El Abra 2 and El Abra 3 sites (Sabana de Bogotá, Eastern Cordillera, Colombia), one of the most ancient and significant sites of Colombia. Dated to 12,400 ± 160 years BP, El Abra archaeological complex is a reference site for the prehistory of the country. Our review mostly deals with the: a) methodological approach adopted for the study

The period of the second half of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the beginning of the Late Glacial (LGT) belongs to a remarkably interesting period of human history because humans had to adapt to severe conditions. Moravia, in the eastern part of the Czech Republic, is one of the crucial European regions where we can study human behaviour during the mentioned period. This area was not depopulated

The Palaeolithic rock engravings that are located along the Nalón river basin in Northern Spain (central area of Asturias) have been studied from various perspectives (morphology, depth, style, manual range), but no use-wear studies on the stone tools used to produce such engravings have ever been undertaken. This paper aims to explore a new approach to this type of incisions based on use-wear analysis

In order to find out about and discuss the peopling of the Americas, there is evidence that comes from a range of scientific disciplines. In archaeology, stone tool vestiges are one of the main pieces of evidence used for assessing the knowledge and understanding of this topic. One of the most iconic lithic remains from the South American Paleoindian record is the so-called Fishtail, or just “Fell”

Lacustrine sediments in a poorly documented region regarding to lake sedimentation and paleo-environments (Bangladesh) were investigated using a multiproxy approach. Pukurpara Lake is located in eastern Bangladesh at an elevation of 360 m above sea level with a maximum water depth of 28 m. An age-depth model allowed us to investigate the changes in sedimentation that occurred since 850 CE. The high

This article presents data from detailed analyses of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic personal ornaments and formal bone tools excavated from the East Chamber of Denisova Cave. The bone tools include an eyed needle and an awl made from tubular, marrow bones of large mammals. The personal ornaments include flat and volumetric beads, pendants, plaques, rings, a button/fastener, decorated bone and bracelet

Subsidence, changes in sediment supply and environments, sea storms, current sedimentary deficit and recent anthropic action are factors determining coastal geomorphological processes and evolution of a transgressive Mediterranean coastal barrier lagoon. At a longer timescale, the barrier landward migration is partially due to local subsidence of tectonic origin. Peatmarsh remains under seawater at

The Chaco Region is the third biogeographic and morpho-structural territory of South America after the Amazon and Cerrado savannahs. This Region is one of the few areas in the world where the transition from the tropics to temperate zones does not consist of a desert but of semi-arid woodlands and savannahs. The modern biodiversity patterns of the region were severely affected by the climatic and environmental

In this paper, we elucidated deformational and kinematic characteristics of the NW-SE trending Vigodi Fault (VF) and its associated subsidiary faults in the western Kachchh basin. We applied paleostress inversion technique to understand the past stress regime from the acquired fault slip data. The subsidiary faults strikes NW-SE and NE-SW and slickensided surfaces are well developed on the fault planes

LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) remote sensing is the most popular technology delivering higher detailed information and accuracy. LiDAR data is majorly used for generating a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM), which is one of the primary data for most of the remote sensing applications. DEM forms the basis to derive other terrain parameters that are important to understand the topographic

The study presents the fluvial response to late Quaternary sea level changes in the Mahanadi delta. Channel morphological adjustments indicative of sea level changes such as; anastomosing-meandering transition, dendritic channels, and river mouth shift, have been used to reconstruct the paleo-coastlines. Major rivers in the Mahanadi delta (e.g., Mahanadi, Devi, Brahmani, and Baitarani) show alteration

Extensive alpine meadow soil on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) plays a core role in the local ecological system, however, its ages of formation and pedogenic processes are relatively poorly understood. In this study, we reconstructed a soil development chronology for two alpine meadow soil sections on Riyue Mountain, southeast of Qinghai Lake (QHL), using quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and

Kammern-Grubgraben is among the few stratified Upper Palaeolithic sites in Central Europe dating to the Last Glacial Maximum which provided not only substantial amounts of archaeological materials but also extensive preserved occupational structures. Although the site has been known since the last quarter of the 19th century, systematic excavations didn't start until the 1980's. These were carried

Pottery technology, originating in Northeast Asia, appeared in Alaska some 2800 years ago. It spread swiftly along Alaska's coastline but was not adopted on Kodiak Island until around 500 cal BP, as part of the Koniag tradition. While in the southeast pottery was used extensively, people on the northern half of the island did not adopt the technology. What drove these patterns of adoption and non-adoption

The aim of this work was to carry out a paleoenvironmental study of Holocene sedimentary deposits in the southern sector of Pernambuco's coast (northeastern Brazil). This work addresses an important aspect of Quaternary research that has implications for current climate debates, for instance, how does vegetation react to changing climate and rising sea levels. Thus, we provide a combined approach using

Southwestern Australia has a Mediterranean-type climate, with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters that support vegetation types ranging from tall closed forest and open woodland, to dense, low heath. At the Last Glacial Maximum, the coast was located as far as 100 km distant of its current location, after which rising post-glacial sea levels radically altered the southwestern coastline, drowning

The investigation of two profiles (DYS1 and DYS5) from the Daiyun Mountains in southeastern China sheds new light on the history of regional climate changes and the variability of the intensity of the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM) over the past 10350 years based on the degree of peat humification, loss on ignition (LOI), magnetic susceptibility (MS) and geochemical (Rb, Zr and Zr/Rb) data. The records

This paper examines archaeological bird bones from Viljandi – one of the strongest centres in prehistoric and medieval Estonia – and covers material from the Late Iron Age to Early Modern Period, c. 950–1700. Over 5000 bird bones were analysed in this study. Our main aim was to explore the role of birds in people's diet and its relevance to social status, but also to explore the birds' habitats and

The Pamir plateau is one of the highest mountain systems in the world, presenting a highly challenging environment for human occupation. During the Soviet era, researchers discovered several stratified archaeological sites in the Pamir zone – including the Oshhona site, which yielded a large collection of lithic artefacts and personal ornaments made of bone. Pairing archaeozoological and biomolecular

The destroyed site(s) of Koskobilo (Olazti, Navarre, Northern Iberian Peninsula) have yielded unique archaeo-paleontological evidence in the Western Pyrenees region. The quarry uncovered a karstic site with faunal remains in 1940, and fossils were recovered both in situ and from the dump. Ten years later, while the quarry was still working, a new visit to the dump yielded a large lithic assemblage

This preliminary report concerns the micromammalian remains recovered from the Pleistocene strata in Excavation 1 at Wonderwerk Cave by Peter B. Beaumont during the 1980s and early 1990s. Because of the large size of the samples (170 656 specimens representing a minimum of 71 304 individuals), identification has so far only been taken to the generic level. Remains belonging to 34, and possibly 36,

Cleaning stone tool surfaces is a common procedure in lithic studies. The first step widely applied at any archaeological site (and/or at field laboratories) is the gross removal of sediment from the surfaces of artifacts. Lithic surface alterations due to mechanical action applied in wet or dry cleaning regimes have never been examined at a microscopic scale. This could have important implications

The Karakoram region contains a large number of surge-type glaciers, but few surging glaciers have been investigated by surface displacement and DEM differencing. The paper presents the surge dynamics of one unnamed glacier in Yarkand basin, of Karakoram region between 2000 and 2019 using satellite imagery (e.g., Landsat and Sentinel 2). Also, multiple high-resolution DEMs (e.g., HMA and Cartosat 1)

In July 2013, a Stephanorhinus kirchbergensis (Jäger, 1839) skull was found along the Po River near Spinadesco (Cremona, Lombardia, Northern Italy). It was found in an excellent preservation status even if without the lower jaw as well as the third left upper molar. At that time, a certain amount of plant remains was found inside the dental fossettae. Later pollen analyses on this material were carried

The ∼74 ka Toba super-eruption was the largest known explosive volcanic event of the past 2.5 million years and has been held responsible for presumed dramatic global cooling and large-scale hominin extinction. The hypothesis that the Toba super-eruption resulted in human extinction outside of tropical Africa has been cited as a mechanism to support models of a Middle Pleistocene African origin for

Several foodborne diseases have been described in coastal populations from the past, many of them including parasitic infections related to marine diets. Considering this background, the strong relationship between hunter-gatherers from Patagonia and the marine species implies a possible source of parasitic infections and zoonotic risk. However, marine parasitic species have not been identified in

The quartz electron spin resonance (ESR) signal intensity (SI) of the Al and Ti–Li centers in sediment samples collected from the mainstream and major tributaries of the Yangtze River Basin were measured to determine whether they can be used as fluvial sediment provenance indicators. The results show significant spatial variation in the ESR-SI between the bulk, coarse (200–355 μm), and fine (75–154 μm)

Impact of climate change on glaciers brings the favorable conditions of lakes formation within glacier moraines. These lakes may produce outburst floods and transport the huge amount of debris (debris flow) in downstream settlements. The present study addresses the current knowledge on mass movement activity occurred in the Gangotri glacier area, Garhwal Himalaya Uttarakhnad. Temporal response (terminus

The hunting technical sphere has a particularly important socioeconomic role among hunter-gatherers as it provides vital nutritive goods and serves numerous technical spheres. Approaching Upper Palaeolithic hunting techniques therefore offers a valuable insight into past cultural dynamics. Microliths are often the only conserved evidence of Magdalenian hunting equipment, occasionally accompanied by

Mixed grass pastures which occupy the eolian sand dunes of the southern Great Plains provide stabilizing soil cover, soil carbon (C) storage, and are a critical resource for livestock production. Large areas of dunes cover the American Great Plains, were active 700–1000 years ago during periods of frequent drought and have the potential to reactivate under forecasted climate scenarios and poor management

The Saurashtra peninsula, a Deccan Trap terrain, in western India lacks the studies that document on-land information of tectonically active faults. In the present paper, the tectonogeomorphology of the Shetrunji River basin is investigated to identify the neotectonic signatures of the buried structural element by detailed analyses of the landforms and drainage pattern using quantitative geomorphic

The archaeological site of Checua is located at the north end of the Sabana de Bogotá, Northern South America. New archaeological research at the site has revealed significant evidence of well-preserved hunters and gatherers’ funerary contexts which date back to 7580-5052 BP (cal 2σ). Former studies reported 33 human interments, and a recent excavation at the site revealed 24 additional individuals

The surface treatment of handmade pottery is often described in ceramological studies of prehistoric collections. However, beyond inferences about its meaning, few works have addressed this issue in depth. For this study, an experimental program has been carried out, where the main variable being explored was the category of tool involved in the fabrication of prehistoric handmade pottery. Therefore

Torrential rains, landslides, and seismic activity are the common factors that are causing unprecedented damage to life, property and infrastructure in Mandakini and Bhilangana basins of Garhwal Himalaya. Owing to such conditions, we demonstrate the feedback this landscape in Garhwal Himalaya in response to episodic tectonic uplift and monsoon precipitation. We calculated conventional geomorphic parameters

Residue analysis is a sub-discipline in archaeology that uses a variety of techniques which can be useful for determining the function of prehistoric stone tools. Past experimental studies have revealed the non-diagnostic nature of residues under reflected light microscopy and the challenges of identifying them as plant or animal and assigning them to a specific origin (i.e. use-related vs incidental)

The glaciers are considered as iconic indicators of climate change, and receding at differential rates worldwide. Variable retreat rates of glacier termini and inadequate supporting field data (e.g. mass balance, ice thickness, velocity, etc.) of the glaciers make it difficult to develop a coherent picture of climate change impact. Here, we examined eight glaciers from the monsoon-dominated regime

Intratooth stable isotope profiles in enamel provide time series of dietary and environmental information that if correctly interpreted, serve as archives of seasonal variability in past environments. A major challenge in interpreting these profiles arises from time averaging imparted by enamel mineralization and developmental geometry, whereby the primary (δ13C or δ18O) input signal is attenuated

Problems of dispersals of early hominins into Europe are widely discussed. In the Early Pleistocene, the dispersal of mammals and humans from Africa, Asia, and Eastern Europe into the south of Western Europe passed mostly through the Eastern Mediterranean and the Balkans. Data on evolution and distribution of mammal faunas provide a solid basis for correlation and estimation of main dispersal events

Multi-isotope analyses on diverse body tissues can offer valuable information on individual life-histories at different temporal resolutions. Here, we reconstruct the diet and mobility of a Late Mesolithic (ca. 5500 cal. BC) young woman buried in Aizpea rockshelter (Navarre, north-central Iberia). To this end, we combine δ13C and δ15N isotope analyses of bone collagen, together with sequential δ13C

Here, we apply geometric-morphometric shape analysis to Middle Paleolithic bone retouchers from Chagyrskaya Cave in the Altai Mountains of southern Russia. The cave contains evidence of the easternmost manifestation of the Micoquian industry, associated with Neanderthals at end of MIS4 and the beginning of MIS3. Taphonomic and scar pattern analyses were performed first on random samples exhibiting

Lumentxa is a classic site in Basque Prehistory, excavated in three different phases during the 20th century, which has yielded evidence of both Pleistocene and Holocene occupations. In this article, we present a detailed study of the human remains from this site including paleobiological, taphonomic, biomechanical and chronological perspectives. The human assemblage comprises of a minimum number of

The so-called Basque crossroads constitutes a small region disposed on both slopes of the western Pyrenees, with one part on the north of the Iberian Peninsula and another, on the southwest of present-day France. Throughout the Pleistocene, it has been the main path for human populations to transit between the Iberian Peninsula and the rest of Europe, given that the orography and the presence of a

The Wallacean archipelago between the Indian and Pacific Oceans is a critical biogeographic boundary for all kinds of animals, from butterflies to birds. Humans are no exception, and in this paper we offer a three stage model for how our genus overcame this boundary. We review how Lower Palaeolithic hominins were able to colonize the larger islands of western Wallacea through incidental seagoing, and

The aim of this study is to understand Neanderthals' techno-functional behavior at Riparo Tagliente (VR). To this purpose, the use-wear analysis on the lithic artefacts from the upper levels of the Mousterian sequences was carried out. In particular, two main features of the Mousterian lithic assemblage of Riparo Tagliente are considered: how the laminar component and the pointed tools were differently

The NNE–SSW-striking Yangsan Fault in southeastern Korea has been regarded as one of the most prominent seismogenic structures in the Korean Peninsula on the basis of instrumental and historical seismicity, and paleoseismic records along the fault zone. Its seismic behavior is, however, still uncertain due to long recurrence intervals of strong earthquakes and insufficient historical and geologic records

The Eastern Romanian Carpathians harbor a rich Upper Paleolithic archaeological record, mostly concentrated on the Bistrița river terraces. Despite extensive field research spanning decades, the regional archaeological record has long suffered from poor chronometric support and contradictory taxonomy. The recently excavated spot at Bistricioara-Lutărie III, located in the Ceahlău Basin, brought a wealth

Palynological investigations of Toll Cave, a carnivore and archaeological cave site in northeastern Spain, are presented. The inferred vegetation reveals the long-term permanence of mixed pine-oak forests through a long period of environmental changes within the interval MIS 4 to MIS 1, and probably before. A relatively high diversity of woody taxa is found, including conifers, mesophytic angiosperms

Noailles burins are one of the main lithic types of the European Upper Palaeolithic which characterizes the “Noaillian” Gravettian. Their typological definition is well accepted today by the scientific community despite a long debate lasted several decades between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. On the contrary, the functional role of Noailles burins remains a matter of debate. In order to

Off-road trafficability is one of the most important factors during military operations. Primarily, there are four factors like landuse, soil type, slope and moisture, which are responsible for predicting off-road trafficability. In the present study, multi-level approach leading from landform, land use to terrain factors was used to assess the obstacle induced towards the cross country movement of

The present study is an attempt to infer the response of the dryland fluvial sequences to paleoenvironmental change since the last glacial maximum (LGM) from the semi-arid Saurashtra region, a basaltic terrain of the Late Cretaceous age (Deccan Trap), of Western India. We employed a conventional sedimentological analysis supported by sediment geochemistry, which was constrained by optical dating. Based

The Coc Muoi fauna provides a good example of the type of tropical mammalian communities that existed in northern Vietnam during the late Middle Pleistocene. The first results of the analysis of hypoplasia indicated that rhinoceroses and wild cattle were exposed to multiple physiological and psychological stress events specific to age [Bacon et al., 2018. A rhinocerotid-dominated megafauna at the MIS6-5