Cave bears and paleolithic artifacts in Yarimburgaz Cave,Turkey: Dissecting a palimpsest

This article addresses the taphonomic issues surrounding artifact-bear associations in Yarimburgaz Cave, northwestern Turkey. Our purpose is to evaluate the circumstances of bone assemblage formation in the Middle Pleistocene deposits of the cave, identifying the agencies responsible for the accumulations and the causes of bone damage before and following deposition. Pleistocene species representation, bone damage, body part representation, and mortality data indicate that cave bear remains in Yarimburgaz are unrelated to hominid use of the same site. None of the observations on the cave bear remains contradicts the expectations developed from modern wildlife accounts of modern bear behavior; these accumulations resulted from mortality normally associated with hibernation over many generations of den use. Nonursid carnivores also played roles in bone collection and/or modification. We conclude that at least three distinct biological processes contributed to the formation of the Middle Pleistocene faunas: hibernating bears, bone-collecting carnivores such as wolves, and hominids in descending order of importance. The Yarimburgaz faunas represent palimpsests or overlays of many short-term depositional events, the close spatial associations of which are explained by slow or uneven sedimentation rates inside the cave. Although occupations by hominids appear to have been ephemeral in nature, hominids ultimately discarded nearly 1700 stone artifacts in Yarimburgaz Cave. The hominids did not discard many ungulate bones in the same circumstances. These observations suggest that hominid foraging efforts focused on resources other than large game while at the cave. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

湖北郧西黄龙洞骨化石表面改造痕迹研究

湖北黄龙洞遗址出土有距今约10万年的7枚晚期智人牙齿化石,以及大量哺乳动物化石,并发掘出石制品和骨制品等。本研究使用光学显微镜、超景深数码显微镜以及三维扫描仪等对该遗址骨化石表面具有明显改造痕迹的标本进行形态学观察,并参考国内外关于标本表面改造痕迹的认识,对痕迹性质(种类)进行鉴定。然后以鉴定工作为基础,对痕迹在骨骼表面的分布组合特征进行量化分析。痕迹研究结果支持了发掘者此前提出的关于黄龙洞骨骼堆积属于原地埋藏的研究结论,并表明:黄龙洞内古人类的狩猎与屠宰等活动,是造成洞穴内骨骼堆积的主要原因;当时古人类可能在居址附近猎获动物后,将动物集中到洞穴内进行过较细致的屠宰。居住在黄龙洞的古人类屠宰技术行为主要有:切割、刮切、砍斫和砸击等。大多数切割痕迹主要是为了剥取肉食,部分位于骨骺端的切割痕迹以及砍斫痕迹是肢解行为的结果,而砸击痕迹则与取食骨髓以及骨器制作的行为有关。与人工痕迹同时出现的动物改造痕迹还反映出食肉动物和啮齿动物对人类遗留在洞穴内的骨骼有一定程度的再利用。     

The fauna and overall interpretation of the “Cutting 10” Acheulean site at Elandsfontein (Hopefield), southwestern Cape Province,South Africa

The Cutting 10 site at Elandsfontein (Hopefield), southwestern Cape Province, South Africa, is one of only three sites in southern Africa where bones and Acheulean artifacts have been documented together in primary or near primary context and the only such site where the association is in the open air. The Cutting 10 bones belong to a minimum of 15 mammalian species, which together suggest both a mid-Pleistocene age for the site and a vegetational setting in which grasses played a much more important role than they did historically. The absence of evidence for hearths, windbreaks, and other features, the composition of the artifact assemblage, the relatively sparse scatter of bones and artifacts, the relatively high bone to artifact ratio, the species composition of the fauna, and the numbers of different kinds of skeletal elements represented all indicate that the Cutting 10 occurrence was more a butchering site than a campsite. Although people are probably responsible for most of the bones, some of them probably come from animals that were killed by large carnivores or that died naturally.     

Paleoanthropological implications of the Nonarcheological Bone Assemblage from Swartklip I,South-Western Cape Province,South Africa

The relative frequencies of different skeletal elements within the bone assemblage recovered from a late Pleistocene fissure fill at Swartklip (South-Western Cape Province, South Africa) are shown to resemble those in the assemblage from the Transvaal australopithecine site of Makapansgat. Since there is evidence that carnivores, probably hyenas, accumulated the bones at Swartklip, it follows that carnivores, rather than hominids, may have accumulated the bones at Makapansgat.     

Early Devensian sediments and palaeovenvironmental evidence from the excavations at the Royal Oak Portal Paddington,West London,UK

This paper discusses the results of the investigation of Pleistocene sediments at the Royal Oak Portal (ROP) site on the new Crossrail scheme near Paddington Station, London. The site was sampled and recorded in May 2011 by archaeologists from Oxford Archaeology commissioned by Crossrail Ltd. The investigation revealed a sedimentary sequence associated with cool climate waterlain deposition towards the edge of the River Westbourne floodplain. During excavation an assemblage of around 100 identifiable large mammal bones was recovered, dating to the Late Pleistocene. The major concentration of bones, from bison and reindeer, was located and excavated from a shallow sequence of sediments. Analysis of the bones indicates that they represent a natural death assemblage, scavenged and subsequently disarticulated, transported by water, exposed and further dispersed and broken by trampling. The site is of regional and national importance because the assemblage derives from a well-constrained geological context, with associated dating evidence suggesting accumulation during the later parts of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 and continuing within MIS 4. The site is also of significance because it is one of a growing number of recently discovered sites away from the main fluvial archive for the British Middle and Upper Pleistocene. These sites have the potential to add significantly to our understanding of parts of the Pleistocene record that remain difficult to document through the investigation of the more active systems associated with major rivers such as the Thames, Severn or Trent.     

Ground Stabilization for foundation and excavation construction in Florida karst topography

The construction of additional facilities at the Florida Power Corporation's Crystal River Energy Complex required an extensive stabilization program to construct foundations for approximately one half mile of cooling towers. This paper presents an overview of the techniques and methods used in the construction of additional facilities at the Crystal River Generating Station. Excavations for intake and discharge structures were to be more than 20 ft below the water table. Cooling tower foundations were constructed on extensively solutioned Florida limerock located on the central Gulf Coast of Florida. Hybrid ground modification techniques were used to stabilize soft or loose soils and solution features in the underlying limerock, allowing mat and spread footing foundations to be used for most of the facility. The ground modification techniques were used to detect, collapse, densify, and fill solution features below the structure foundations. The bearing capacity after ground modification was verified by field load tests. Subsurface investigations indicated that sheet pile excavations with grouted seals were the optimal technique for cofferdam excavations in the limerock formation. Existing collapsed caverns were encountered during construction of the cofferdam for the intake structure and the adjacent discharge structure, requiring a fast-track design change, considerable field coordination, and daily modifications to accommodate the varied conditions encountered. Tied-back soldier pile cofferdam construction was combined with grouting, underwater excavation, and a massive, unreinforced, concrete tremie slab with grouted anchors, and installed off a barge to provide a dewatered excavation. This project involved the use of hybrid soil-rock anchors to anchor one of the largest continuous placement tremie seals installed in Florida. Other excavations used sheeting and grouting of the underlying limerock formation to provide a dewatered excavation. Ground modification techniques were used to treat a filled cavern discovered in the corner of one discharge structure. The entire construction of this facility was confined to a narrow work area by existing wetlands and the generating station discharge canal. Strict environmental restrictions required by the regulatory agencies to prevent impacts to the surrounding area were imposed on this project.     

甘肃武都龙家沟三趾马动物群化石的聚集特点

龙家沟三趾马动物群中不同类型、不同大小动物的保存量及保存部位相差很大，实际保存量仅为理论保存量的６%左右，其化石材料明显经过水流的搬运作用。搬运过程中的分选作用是造成材料流失的主要原因，其中小型动物的流失最为明显。这是古生态恢复及古环境再造值得注意的问题。     

西秦岭中志留统含铀岩组沉积相初析

西奏岭中志留统的层控袖矿床是在沉积作用构成铀源层的基础上,经地下水热液改造富集而成。志留系为被动大陆边缘海的沉积,其南侧为若尔盖古陆。中志留统分为三组,每组的下段均为泻湖相的细碎屑岩,每组的上段均为含炭硅灰泥岩组成的含铀岩组。中志留世时期有大体平行古海岸的水下隆起构成岛链障壁,含铀岩组属于泻湖-礁后潮坪-礁滩相组合。近岸的浅水条件,丰富的陆源细碎屑,局部的还原相带,是形成富铀沉积物的三个基本条件。铀的沉积主要发生在礁滩内缘和礁后潮坪相环境,具中偏低能量、有陆源细碎屑参与、存在生物大量死亡分解而造成的局部还原场,在较缓慢的沉积过程中,海水中的UO_2~(2 )系通过底水与有机质和粘土质等产生充分的渗透扩散和交替吸附而形成。     

内蒙古阿鲁科尔沁旗陶海营子地区林西组沉积环境

阿鲁科尔沁旗陶海营子地区是上二叠统林西组发育较好的典型地区之一.林西组岩性为一套以黑、灰黑、灰绿色调为主的砂板岩组合,上部含丰富的非海相生物化石.应用地球化学方法,对陶海营子剖面和鲁D2井上二叠统林西组泥岩样品进行常量、微量元素分析,发现林西组整体具有高硅、铝、钙,低磷、锰的特点.并结合化石组合特征和保存状态,对林西组沉积环境进行探讨.认为该地区林西组形成于咸水-淡水的沉积环境,水体环境有一个逐渐淡化的过程.底部为海陆交互相沉积环境,上部为陆相淡水湖泊沉积环境.     

Serpentinization: a review

The common alteration assemblage produced by serpentinization of ultramafic rocks is: lizardite, chrysotile, magnetite±brucite±antigorite. Lizardite-chrysotile serpentinites are more common than antigorite; the presence of antigorite indicates that the serpentinite has undergone prograde metamorphism or that the periootite was serpentinized in a higher P,T regime than lizardite and chrysotile. The iron subsitution into serpentine minerals and brucite is a function of temperature at low f_O2, with increased temperature enhancing magnetite formation. The presence of awaruite and native Fe are strong evidence for a locally very reducing environment. Isotopic studies have shown a wide variety of origins for the fluids involved in serpentinization. The increased boron content of serpentinized rocks when compared to boron contents of the parent ultramafic body indicates a possible sea water origin for the fluids. Serpentinization takes place under both constant volume and constant chemical composition conditions. The factors in evaluating the importance of the two processes for an individual serpentinite are: (1) determination of the mineral assemblage and its paragenesis, (2) the structural and tectonic relationship of the ultramafic body to its country rock, (3) fluid access to the rock in duration and amount, and (4) timing of serpentinization - before, during or after emplacement into the crust.     

Paleoeskimo site taphonomy: An assessment of the integrity of the Tayara site,Qikirtaq Island,Nunavik, Canada

A detailed taphonomic study was undertaken at the Tayara site in order to determine the impact of natural processes such as surface water flow on spatial patterning and site formation. The study focused on Paleoeskimo level II, which contains many lithics and significant faunal remains. Level II integrity was assessed through spatial analysis and by examining the size distribution of lithic artifacts and bone orientation. Experimental knapping aimed at replicating Paleoeskimo lithic technology was used to assess the possible size sorting of lithics. The study indicates that artifact burial by water‐laid sediments did not result in a selective impoverishment in small‐sized lithics. Statistically significant lithic concentrations and associations suggest that spatial distribution was not significantly modified by site formation processes. However, slight post‐depositional changes were presumably induced by water flows in the form of statistically significant horizontal bone reorientations. These occurred when gently flowing water inundated bone accumulations without inducing significant washing or sorting of smaller lithic debris. The spatial integrity evaluation of the level II assemblage reveals a low degree of spatial disturbance and disorganization of the material (i.e., limited entropy), which is likely related to low‐energy hydraulic forces and rapid burial soon after Paleoeskimo occupation. The grouping and deposition of much of the occupation debris is likely the result of Paleoeskimo activities (e.g., knapping and butchering), and the lithics and fauna specimens are probably at or very near their original location. These results show the behavioral significance of the grouping and deposition of debris in Tayara's level II. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The chemistry and origin of the Lewisian gneisses of the Scottish mainland: The Scourie and Inver Assemblages and sub-crustal accretion

New chemical data for 21 elements with appropriate factor analyses and new Sr isotope data, together with previously published chemical, geochronological and Pb isotope data are used to re-examine the origin and history of the garnet-pyroxene granulites of the Scottish Mainland Lewisian and their amphibolised equivalents. The quartz-dioritic average composition is allied to chemical variations which bear resemblances to a calc-alkalic differentiation trend, but the behaviour of Na, K, Sr, Zr, Zn and Cr differ from a standard volcanic pattern. The arguments used hitherto in favour of a volcanic or sedimentary origin or both, are rejected in favour of a modified plutonic igneous hypothesis in which magma was accreted to a primitive crust from below in an underplating process, with crystallisation occurring under granulite-facies conditions accompanied by synchronous deformation. As a result, the primitive andesitic magma crystallised directly to rock singularly devoid of some incompatible elements, especially K, Rb, Nb, Y, Th and U. The garnet-pyroxene granulites of the Scourie assemblage have exceptionally high K/Rb and Ca/Y ratios, and low K/Ba and K/Sr ratios to a degree unusual even in the granulite facies elsewhere. The extreme deficiency in Rb and U has led to a ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio today of only 0.7021 ± 0.0004 and to equally primitive Pb isotope ratios. These latter may indicate an age-stratified crust with older isotopic ages at the top, compatible with an underplating process occurring over a considerable period, which we name slow sub-crustal accretion.Subsequent to the development of the Scourie assemblage, release of stored stresses led to near-isochemical metamorphism in a succession of shear zones with the formation of the amphibolite-facies Inver assemblage. On its northern margin, adjacent to the more alkaline Laxford assemblage, enrichment in Li, K and Rb occurred in Inver assemblage rocks, a phenomenon not seen elsewhere.     

注聚调驱井聚合物堵塞物的矿物复合结构形貌及组成特征

胜利油田渤19区块注交联聚合物开采多年后,因注入水的水质不达标导致聚合物过度交联形成强凝胶,造成聚合物注入区块许多油水井的堵塞。对现场聚合物垢样品所做的化学组分、表面元素能谱及红外光谱的研究表明,垢的主体结构由交联的聚丙烯酰胺组成,交联体吸收了大量水分,在交联体内小环境中因富集而形成氯化物矿物晶体无机垢结构,而在成垢的过程中又将地层内的一些粘土矿物包裹于交联体内,形成具有聚合物-矿物复合结构的强胶凝态物质,严重影响聚合物注入—调剖—驱油过程中的聚合物溶液的流动。     

Adjustment preferences to groundwater depletion in the American high plains

This paper explores the adjustments that residents in one part of the High Plains prefer in coping with the depletion of the Ogallala aquifer. The authors identify 31 possible adjustment policies and report on public preferences, examining differences among socioeconomic groups and also the preferred governmental agencies to administer specific programs. Adjustments involving improved water use efficiency were most favored; those entailing financial incentives were least liked. The local groundwater management district was the preferred agency overall. Most significant differences in preference were between those in agribusiness and those outside agriculture.     

9000 years of salmon fishing on the Columbia River, North America

A large assemblage of salmon bones excavated 50 yr ago from an ∼10,000-yr-old archaeological site near The Dalles, Oregon, USA, has been the primary evidence that early native people along the Columbia River subsisted on salmon. Recent debate about the human role in creating the deposit prompted excavation of additional deposits and analysis of archaeologic, geologic, and hydrologic conditions at the site. Results indicate an anthropogenic source for most of the salmonid remains, which have associated radiocarbon dates indicating that the site was occupied as long ago as 9300 cal yr B.P. The abundance of salmon bone indicates that salmon was a major food item and suggests that migratory salmonids had well-established spawning populations in some parts of the Columbia Basin by 9300-8200 yr ago.     

Legal protection for caves in the United States

This study reviews significant state and federal laws that can be used to protect karst, caves, and associated unique minerals and biota. The first state cave protection act was passed in Colorado in 1883; unfortunately it was repealed in 1971. From that modest beginning there are now a total of 22 states, Puerto Rico, and the Cherokee Nation that have specific cave protection acts. Most of these have been legislated during the last 20 years. There are a number of laws on the federal level that can be used for cave protection. The most important of these is the Federal Cave Resources Protection Act of 1988, which mandates cave conservation for many federal land management agencies. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 and the Federal Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1976 can also be of significant use in the conservation of caves on federal land. The effects of these acts are variable. One factor is how important agency officials and law enforcement officers regard caves. It has not been unusual that little was done in the way of protection or prosecution even when the perpetrators have been apprehended. This attitude is changing rapidly primarily because those involved in enforcing the laws have been educated to the uniqueness and values of caves and their contents.     

Preliminary small mammal taphonomy of FLK NW level 20 (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)

The Bed-I series of Olduvai Gorge (Tanzania) is a reference site in human evolution, having yielded the holotypes of Paranthropus boisei and Homo habilis, together with manufactured artefacts and abundant large and micro-fauna. Excavations in Olduvai Gorge have been recently resumed, with new aims and new results. This paper presents the results of the taphonomic analysis carried out on a fossil small-mammal assemblage recovered from FLK NW level 20, a layer overlying Tuff C, dated from 1.84 Ma. The analysis provides good evidence of a category 1 predator, most likely a barn owl, as the predator of the bone assemblage. Trampling and sediment compression might influence postdepositional breakage of the bones. This study is especially relevant since previous taphonomic analyses carried out at levels above and below this sample led to inconclusive results due to a low number of fossils (Fernández-Jalvo et al., 1998). The new sample provides new information to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental context in which early hominins inhabited.     

三峡库区巴东组地层的发育特征及其空间变化规律

根据大量的野外实际观察、室内岩石标本的薄片鉴定及化学成分分析结果,作者详细论述了三峡库区巴东组地层(T2b)的发育特征及其空间变化的规律性。巴东组地层在秭归、巴东、巫山、奉节等4个地区的总厚度最小约为830m,最大约为1420m,自东而西地层总厚度具有逐渐增大的趋势。红色与灰色是巴东组地层的两大基本色调,红色系列的岩层(第二、四段),多见为碎屑或砂泥质岩类,而灰色系列的岩层(第一、三、五段),多见为碳酸盐岩类。由其发育特征可知,巴东组为典型的易滑岩组。     

陆相高分辨率层序界面识别的地球化学方法

粘土矿物、微量元素普遍存在于各种类型的沉积物和沉积岩中,它们对环境的变化敏感,同时它们的沉积分异、组合特征、矿物成分及其含量都从不同的角度记录了形成过程中各种环境因素的变化。这些对恢复古环境,研究陆相湖盆水深变化具有重要的指示意义。通过对东营凹陷胜北断层下降盘沙三段 -沙四上段各层序内部高分辨率层序地层单元中岩石地球化学标型参数的研究发现,在一个高分辨率层序地层单元形成过程中,在古气候驱动下的湖平面变化旋回中,沉积岩中的矿物成分 (主要指粘土矿物和胶结物 )、化学成分 (微量元素 )等皆发生周期性变化。     

A Geoarchaeological Study of the Middle and Upper Pleistocene Levels at Canteen Kopje,Northern Cape Province,South Africa

Canteen Kopje, situated in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, has two main archaeological deposits: alluvial gravels and a mantle of overlying fine sediments known locally as the “Hutton Sands.” This paper focuses on the fine sediments, the three industries contained within them, and the interface with the underlying gravels in an attempt to clarify their formation and transformation. A Fauresmith assemblage is found at this interface; it is thus crucial to understand the processes of deposition and modification at this poorly understood boundary. The methods used in this study involved the analysis of artifact depositional (dip and orientation) and spatial data, artifact condition, raw materials, and assemblage size profiles. Data presented document the mixing between the lowest levels of the fine sediments and the underlying alluvial gravels. This study thus provides important contextual information for the Fauresmith industry at Canteen Kopje.