A new palaeoenvironmental model for the evolution of the Byzovaya Palaeolithic site,northern Russia

Recently, the sediment stratigraphy and geochronology of the well‐known Palaeolithic site Byzovaya in northern Russia were investigated. New technological analyses of the artefacts suggest a Middle Palaeolithic Mousterian culture, and occupation by Neanderthals, not Modern humans as previously thought. We present here a new and detailed documentation of the stratigraphy, including the geological context of the artefacts and faunal remains. From sedimentological criteria we confidently interpret the find‐bearing strata as debris‐flow deposits, covered by aeolian sediments. The chronology is based on radiocarbon and luminescence (OSL) dates from the find‐bearing and overlying strata. The results are utilized to reconstruct the geological history at the excavation area. The stratigraphy varies considerably across the excavation area. The most intact and undisturbed part of the sequence was found inside the most recent Excavation II. In this part the artefacts and bones appear to have been permanently sealed and protected by aeolian sand. The older Excavation I shows a more complicated stratigraphy, as the finds may have been temporarily exposed during the early Holocene owing to ravine incision and slumping activity. The individual radiocarbon dates that were collected from different parts of the site and from various stratigraphic positions are re‐investigated in this study. By using Bayesian statistics the conclusion is that the site was occupied during a restricted period around 30.6–34.7 ka. A series of partly unpublished OSL dates of coversand from different sites demonstrates a regional aeolian signal during the Lateglacial in northern Russia, 15–14 ka.     

Eurasian ice-sheet interaction in northwestern Russia throughout the late Quaternary

Sediment successions from the Kanin Peninsula and Chyoshskaya Bay in northwestern Russia contain information on the marginal behaviour of all major ice sheets centred in Scandinavia, the Barents Sea and the Kara Sea during the Eemian-Weichselian. Extensive luminescence dating of regional lithostratigraphical units, supported by biostratigraphical evidence, identifies four major ice advances at 100-90, 70-65, 55-45 and 20-18 kyr ago interbedded with lacustrine, glaciolacustrine and marine sediments. The widespread occurrence of marine tidal sediments deposited c. 65-60 kyr ago allows a stratigraphical division of the Middle Weichselian Barents Sea and Kara Sea ice sheets into two shelf-based glaciations separated by almost complete deglaciation. The first ice dispersal centre was in the Barents Sea and thereafter in the Kara Sea. It is possible to extract both flow patterns from ice marginal landforms inside the southward termination. Accordingly, it is proposed that the Markhida line and its western continuation are asynchronous and originate from two separate glaciations before and after the marine transgression. The marine sedimentation occurred during a eustatic sea-level rise of up to 20 m/1000 yr, i.e. the Mezen Transgression. We speculate that the rapid eustatic sea-level rise triggered a collapse of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet at the MIS (Marine Isotope Stage) 4 to 3 transition. This is motivated by lack of an early marine highstand, the timing of events, and the marginal position of Arkhangelsk relative to open marine conditions.     

Late Quaternary history of northern Russia and adjacent shelves — a synopsis

This synopsis highlights some of the main results presented in this issue of Boreas. The collection of papers deals with ice sheet reconstruction in space and time, isostatic and eustatic response to deglaciation, land to shelf sediment interaction, and Eemian and Holocene environmental variations. The most significant new results are that the last glacial maximum of the Kara Sea and Barents Sea ice sheets were both much smaller and much older than in most previous hypotheses. This puts new constraints on, for example, climate and ice sheet linkages, ice sheet interactions (Scandinavian-Barents Sea-Kara Sea), and land-ocean riverine input through time.     

晚第四纪钱塘江下切河谷充填物物源特征*

对晚第四纪钱塘江下切河谷内SE2孔沉积物重矿物和稀土-微量元素进行系统分析,并与邻区长江沉积物相应特征进行对比。结果显示: (1)晚第四纪钱塘江下切河谷充填物中河床(U5)、河漫滩(U4)和古河口湾(U3)沉积物的重矿物组合为赤褐铁矿-磁铁矿-锆石-白钛石-锐钛矿;微量元素中的铁族元素、大离子亲石元素和高场强元素与平均大陆上地壳(UCC)相近,且大离子亲石元素和大部分高场强元素与北美页岩(NASC)相近,在Th/Co-Cr/Th投点图中靠近钱塘江物源区,远离现代长江沉积物投点区;稀土元素球粒陨石和NASC标准化曲线与钱塘江沉积物特征相似,不同于现代长江沉积物。(2)近岸浅海(U2)和现代河口湾(U1)沉积物的重矿物组合为绿帘石-辉石-角闪石-石榴石-榍石-金红石-电气石;微量元素具有与UCC较为相近或富集的铁族元素,大离子亲石元素和高场强元素相对亏损,且与NASC相比,铁族和高场强元素明显亏损,大离子亲石元素亏损较弱,在Th/Co-Cr/Th投点图中主要落于长江和钱塘江来源沉积物之间;稀土元素在球粒陨石和NASC标准化曲线中,配分模式与现代长江沉积物极为相似。(3)U5、U4和U3单元具有与U1和U2单元不同的沉积物来源: 前者母岩主要为长英质中酸性火成岩,为古钱塘江提供; 而后者沉积物主要来源于中基性物源区,由长江提供,同时上游钱塘江也提供了部分沉积物。可见,长江沉积物自近岸浅海沉积时期开始大量进入到钱塘江下切河谷内,为钱塘江下切河谷的沉积环境演化提供了重要物质基础。     

Problems correlating the late Brigantian–Arnsbergian Western European substages within northern England

A detailed study of foraminiferal assemblages recorded in limestones from northern England in the Stainmore Trough and Alston Block permits their assignment to different European substages than in previous studies. Comparisons with foraminiferal assemblages, mostly from Russia, allow the biozonations to be correlated with the Viséan, Serpukhovian and Bashkirian international stages, as well as with the Russian (and Ukrainian) substages for the Serpukhovian (Tarussian, Steshevian, Protvian and Zapaltyubian). The Scar Limestone and Five Yard Limestone Members are assigned to the Tarussian and, thus, represent the lowermost part of the formal Serpukhovian Stage. This new correlation coincides closely with the first occurrence of the conodont Lochriea ziegleri from levels equivalent to the Single Post Limestone that could potentially form the revised base for the Serpukhovian. The Three Yard Limestone Member is correlated with the base of the Steshevian substage which also includes the Four Fathom Limestone Member, Great Limestone Member and Little Limestone. The base of the Protvian is considered to lie within the Crag Limestone, whereas the Rookhope Shell Band contains foraminiferal assemblages more typical of the Zapaltyubian in the Ukraine and Chernyshevkian in the Urals. Assemblages of the Upper Fell Top Limestone and Grindstone/Botany Limestones contain foraminiferal species that have been used for the recognition of the Bashkirian elsewhere. There is no other fossil group which allows the calibration of those foraminiferal assemblages, because ammonoids are virtually absent in the shallow‐water cyclothemic successions and conodonts have not been studied in detail in this region. The Mid‐Carboniferous boundary and the Voznessenian substage might be reasonably located below the Upper Fell Top Limestone. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Landscape evolution of the Ulan Buh Desert in northern China during the late Quaternary

The evolution of arid environments in northern China was a major environmental change during the Quaternary. Here we present the dating and environmental proxy results from a 35 m long core (A-WL10ZK-1) collected from the Ulan Buh Desert (UBD), along with supplemental data from four other cores. The UBD is one of the main desert dune fields in China and our results indicate the UBD has undergone complex evolution during the late Quaternary. Most of the present UBD was covered by a Jilantai-Hetao Mega-paleolake lasting until ~ 90 ka ago. A sandy desert environment prevailed throughout the UBD during the last glacial period and early Holocene. A wetland environment characterized by the formation of numerous interdunal ponds in the northern UBD occurred at ~ 8–7 ka, although a dune field persisted in the southern UBD. The modern UBD landscape formed after these wetlands dried up. During the last 2000 years, eolian sand from the Badain Jaran Desert has invaded the northern UBD, while farming and overgrazing resulted in the formation of the eastern UBD. We suggest that the formation of UBD landforms is related to the disintegration of the megalake Jilantai-Hetao and to summer monsoon changes during the last glaciation and Holocene.     

Marginal formations of the last Kara and Barents ice sheets in northern European Russia

Glacial landforms in northern Russia, from the Timan Ridge in the west to the east of the Urals, have been mapped by aerial photographs and satellite images supported by field observations. An east-west trending belt of fresh hummock-and-lake glaciokarst landscapes has been traced to the north of 67°N. The southern boundary of these landscapes is called the Markhida Line, which is interpreted as a nearly synchronous limit of the last ice sheet that affected this region. The hummocky landscapes are subdivided into three types according to the stage of postglacial modification: Markhida, Harbei and Halmer. The Halmer landscape on the Uralian piedmont in the east is the freshest, whereas the westernmost Markhida landscape is more eroded. The west-east gradient in morphology is considered to be a result of the time-transgressive melting of stagnant glacier ice and of the underlying permafrost. The pattern of ice-pushed ridges and other directional features reflects a dominant ice flow direction from the Kara Sea shelf. Traces of ice movement from the central Barents Sea are only discernible in the Pechora River left bank area west of 50°E. In the Polar Urals the horseshoe-shaped end moraines at altitudes of up to 560 m a.s.l. reflect ice movement up-valley from the Kara Ice Sheet, indicating the absence of a contemporaneous ice dome in the mountains. The Markhida moraines, superimposed onto the Eemian strata, represent the maximum ice sheet extent in the western part of the Pechora Basin during the Weichselian. The Markhida Line truncates the huge arcs of the Laya-Adzva and Rogovaya ice-pushed ridges protruding to the south. The latter moraines therefore reflect an older ice advance, probably also of Weichselian age. Still farther south, fluvially dissected morainic plateaus without lakes are of pre-Eemian age, because they plunge northwards under marine Eemian sediments. Shorelines of the large ice-dammed Lake Komi, identified between 90 and 110 m a.s.l. in the areas south of the Markhida Line, are radiocarbon dated to be older than 45 ka. The shorelines, incised into the Laya-Adzva moraines, morphologically interfinger with the Markhida moraines, indicating that the last ice advance onto the Russian mainland reached the Markhida Line during the Middle or Early Weichselian, before 45 ka ago.     

钱塘江北岸晚第四纪沉积与古环境演变

通过钱塘江北岸第四系钻孔岩心的岩石学、年代学以及孢粉带、有孔虫化石组合的综合分析,认为HQB7孔全新世沉积始于孔深35.7 m处(年代约为10.4 ka B.P.),其下至孔深71.1 m属晚更新世沉积,并将该孔31.2 ka B.P.以来的古环境演变划分为5个发展阶段.系统阐述了各阶段的古植被、古气候与古地理特征,指出第2阶段(20.1～10.4ka B.P.)处于低海面时期,气候凉冷干燥,其早期可能对应于末次盛冰期(LGM);第4阶段(7.5～2.5 ka B.P.)为高海面时期,气候温热潮湿,相当于与全球变化相一致的全新世气候适宜期.本区晚第四纪3万年以来的气候变化特点与中国南方的深圳湾地区有很好的可比性.     

Vegetation history of the European Quaternary

Lang, G. 1994: Quartäre Vrgetationsgeschichte Europas. Methoden und Ergebnisse . Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart/New York. 462 pp. (177 Figures, 54 Tables, 109 pp. addenda, index lists and references).     

Organic stable carbon isotopic composition reveals late Quaternary vegetation changes in the dune fields of northern China

Vegetation changes during the late Quaternary in the dune fields of northern China are not well understood. We investigated organic carbon stable isotopic composition of surface soils, related mainly to the ratio of C₃ and C₄ plants, across a range of arid to subhumid climates in this region. Isotopic composition is weakly related to both temperature and moisture (multiple R² = 0.53), with the highest δ¹³C (greatest C₄ abundance) in the warm, subhumid Horqin dune field. In late Quaternary, eolian stratigraphic sections of the Mu Us and Horqin dune fields, but not in the much colder Otindag dune field, δ¹³C is higher in organic carbon from paleosols than in eolian sands. This contrast, most evident for paleosols recording a major early to middle Holocene phase of dune stabilization, is interpreted as evidence for expansion of C₄ plants due to increased effective moisture, high temperature because of high insolation, and decreased disturbance related to eolian erosion and deposition.     

Palaeolithic archaeology of the Bytham River: human occupation of Britain during the early Middle Pleistocene and its European context

The Early and early Middle Pleistocene archaeological record in Britain from c. 900 to 500 ka marks a critical shift in human occupation of northwest Europe, from occasional pioneer populations with simple core and flake technology to more widespread occupation associated with the appearance of Acheulean technology. Key to understanding this record are the fluvial deposits of the extinct Bytham River in central East Anglia, where a series of Lower Palaeolithic sites lie on a 15 km stretch of the former river. In this paper we present the results of new fieldwork and a reanalysis of historical artefact collections of handaxes and scrapers to: 1) establish the chronostratigraphic context of the Bytham archaeological record; 2) examine variability in lithic artefact typology and technology through time; and 3) explore the implications for understanding variation in lithic technology in the European record. Six phases of occupation of Britain are identified from at least marine isotope stage (MIS) 21 to MIS 13, with the last three phases characterised by distinctive lithic technology. We argue that this relates to the discontinuous occupation of Britain, where each phase represents the arrival of new groups derived from different European populations with distinctive material culture.     

The artefacts from the present land surface at the Palaeolithic site of Warren Hill,Suffolk, England

Over 2000 handaxes located in museum collections point to the archaeological importance of Warren Hill, a Lower Palaeolithic site in the path of the pre-Anglian Bytham River in East Anglia that was worked for gravel until about 1950. Yet apart from the initial report by Solomon (1933), detailed archaeological study was not undertaken until 2002. This report describes the surface fieldwalking carried out from 1964 to the time of the 2002 excavations, during which over 400 Palaeolithic artefacts have been recovered. Over 92% of these are flakes, some retouched, thus redressing the bias towards handaxes in the museum collections, and suggesting that flake tools played a major role in Lower Palaeolithic daily life. Also represented are notched pieces, scrapers, cores and a few Neolithic flakes. The surface comprises a lag deposit in which artefacts are concentrated in two main zones, contrasting with the subsurface material which is sparse and well-spread through the lithostratigraphy. The Palaeolithic artefacts are mostly rolled and edge-damaged, and patination is variable, suggesting a complex history. The two types of handaxe noted by Solomon – crude and fine – are confirmed. The preservation of typological integrity amongst surface finds that appear to lie in the path of a major fluvial feature is either a relic of humanly assembled, pre-Anglian bankside clusters eroded into the stream, or it may signal the arrival of post-Anglian humans who discovered a lag deposit rich in artefacts and flint clasts and proceeded to use, resharpen and re-arrange them. The dense clustering noted at Warren Hill is placed in a world context. Amongst the surface gravels an assemblage of flakes together with early 20th century rubbish was discovered; it is interpreted as a collector's dump of unsaleable artefacts.     

An abandoned estuary within Marajó Island: Implications for late Quaternary paleogeography of northern Brazil

Several previous studies have recognized paleochannels as the most typical geomorphologic features imprinted in the modern landscape of Marajó Island, northern Brazil. A characterization of these paleochannels by detailed mapping has not yet been accomplished, despite their great potential for helping reconstructing the succession of events responsible for the origin and evolution of the drainage system at the mouth of the Amazon River during the Quaternary. The present study aims to provide a detailed mapping and characterization of these paleochannels using remote sensing (i.e., SRTM, Landsat 5-TM, and Landsat 7-ETM+), integrated with sedimentological and radiocarbon data obtained from outcrops and cores. The mapped paleochannels allowed for the first time correlation of the channel-like morphologies with fining-upward sedimentary successions, typical of channel deposits. The study focuses on the Lake Arari area located in the northeast of Marajó Island, where a complex fluvial network dominated by a funnel-shaped structure attributed to a Late Pleistocene paleoestuarine system was recognized. The inner estuary was connected to three fluvial channels that ran from the east-southeast throughout an area currently occupied by Marajó Bay, implying that this bay did not exist when the estuarine system was active. Separation of the eastern side of Marajó Island due to tectonic causes related to capture of Tocantins River by northeastward-orientated faults would have interrupted the fluvial inflow, ultimately causing the abandonment of the estuarine system. Today, the central part of the funnel-shaped structure related to the Late Pleistocene paleoestuary is occupied by Lake Arari, where sediments started to accumulate no earlier than the mid-Holocene. It is proposed that this lake might have developed from the Late Pleistocene estuary as the fluvial inflow was cut off during the detachment of Marajó Island. Marajó Island serves as an example of a very dynamic site of changing landscapes throughout the Quaternary as a result of tectonic activity.     

A micromorphological and mineralogical study of site formation processes at the late Pleistocene site of Obi‐Rakhmat,Uzbekistan

Site formation processes at the Late Pleistocene rockshelter deposit of Obi‐Rakhmat were reconstructed through soil micromorphology and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The entire sequence has undergone limited diagenesis and is well preserved. The base of the stratified sequence represents a karstic setting with intermittent, low‐energy deposition of autochthonous gravitational debris and anthropogenic material in a wet, muddy environment. These sediments were post‐depositionally affected by episodic waterlogging. The bulk of the sequence overlying the karstic layers comprises a continuous series of primary freshwater spring deposits containing reworked anthropogenic material that was buried penecontemporaneously with calcium carbonate deposition. The top of the sequence is weakly cryoturbated, indicating a periodically cold, wet environment. No alluvial elements that could suggest sediment inputs from the nearby river terraces were documented. A single exogenous layer was identified, representing an episode of colluviation from directly above the rockshelter preceding a major roofspall event. The basal part of the sequence contains slightly reworked anthropogenic remnants of intense activities, including combustion. The anthropogenic elements present in the spring deposits show higher degrees of reworking, suggesting within‐layer translocation. The development of spring activity at the site did not cause humans to abandon the rockshelter; they continued to carry out their activities throughout a changing local environment. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Vegetation dynamics during the Younger Dryas-Holocene transition in the extreme northern taiga zone, northeastern European Russia

Vegetation dynamics during the Younger Dryas-Holocene transition in the extreme northern taiga zone of the Usa basin, northeastern European Russia, were reconstructed using plant macrofossil and pollen evidence from a sediment core from Lake Llet-Ti. The pollen stratigraphy during the Younger Dryas (about 12 500-11 500 cal. yr BP) is characterized by pollen types indicative of treeless arctic vegetation, whereas the macrofossil evidence shows the occurrence of scattered spruce and birch trees around the lake. The Younger Dryas-early Holocene transition is characterized by a rapid increase in vegetation density, including an increase in the birch population, followed by the expansion of the spruce population at about 10 000 cal. yr BP. Dense spruce-birch forest dominated until 5000 cal. yr BP. Our results contribute to the debate about the Lateglacial environments in northern Russia, and illustrate the importance of plant macrofossil records in Lateglacial vegetation reconstructions.     

Use of plants in the European Palaeolithic: A review of the evidence

The varied evidence available for the different uses to which plant materials were put during the European Palaeolithic is summarised. Actual remains of plants are more abundant than is generally realised, while the indirect clues provided by tools, human teeth and artistic depictions help to fill out the picture.     

Dating Quaternary volcanism and incision by the River Tigris at Diyarbakır,southeast Turkey

New high‐precision Ar‐Ar dating of basalt underlying the city of Diyarbak?r, southeast Turkey, constrains the Quaternary incision history of the River Tigris, strengthening the pre‐existing chronology based on magnetostratigraphy and K‐Ar dates. The basalt, which overlies Tigris terrace gravel 70 m above the river, is part of the Karacada? shield volcano complex centred ca. 60 km to the southwest. The reverse‐magnetised Diyarbak?r basalt, one of relatively few flow units to reach the Tigris valley axis, has been dated to 1196 ± 19 ka (±2σ). Two lower terraces have been recognised in the Diyarbak?r area, 46 and 32 m above the present river, with at least one other further downstream. From this evidence the rate of Middle‐Late Pleistocene incision by the Tigris can be estimated; it probably reached ca. 0.07 mm a^?1, reflecting the characteristic global increase in uplift rates observed at that time. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.