Browsing by Author "Lauer, Tobias"
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- Hominin glacial-stage occupation 712,000 to 424,000 years ago at Fordwich Pit, Old Park (Canterbury, UK)Publication . Key, Alastair; Clark, James; Lauer, Tobias; Bates, Jennifer; Sier, Mark-Jan; Nichols, Claire; Martín-Ramos, Carmen; Cebeiro, Adela; Williams, Eleanor; Kim, Sunghui; Stileman, Finn; Mika, Anna; Pope, Matthew; Bridgland, David; Redhouse, David; Leonardi, Michela; Smith, Geoff M.; Proffitt, TomosFew high-latitude archaeological contexts are older than marine isotope stage (MIS) 15 and even fewer provide evidence of early human occupation during a glacial period. New discoveries at Old Park, Canterbury (UK), provide evidence of both the oldest accessible artefact-bearing sediment in northern Europe and cold-stage adaptation. Radiometric and palaeomagnetic dating places the earliest suggested occupation of this site between 773 thousand years ago (ka) and 607 ka, with hominin presence inferred during MIS 17–16. Two additional artefact-bearing stratigraphic units, dated to around 542 ka and 437 ka, strongly align with the MIS 14 and 12 cold stages, respectively. The latter unit contains convincing evidence of glacial-stage occupation by Acheulean hominins; fresh, unabraded flakes (including biface-thinning) between clearly defined glacial-aged sediments displaying mixed grassland palaeoenvironmental evidence. An historically collected assemblage of more than 330 handaxes is argued to be derived from both the MIS 17–16 and MIS 12 sediments, providing evidence of the earliest known Acheulean bifaces in northern Europe, and re-occupation by Acheulean populations 200,000 years later. Together, Old Park provides evidence for Lower Palaeolithic hominins reoccupying a location over several mid-Pleistocene MIS cycles, early human presence above 51° latitude during a glacial stage and handaxe production in northern Europe from MIS 17 to 16.
- Late acheulean occupations at Montagu Cave and the pattern of middle Pleistocene behavioral change in Western Cape, southern AfricaPublication . Archer, Will; Presnyakova, Darya; Aldeias, Vera; Colarossi, Debra; Hutten, Louisa; Lauer, Tobias; Porraz, Guillaume; Rossouw, Lloyd; Shaw, MatthewPatterns of so-called modern human behavior are increasingly well documented in an abundance of Middle Stone Age archaeological sites across southern Africa. Contextualized archives directly preceding the southern African Middle Stone Age, however, remain scarce. Current understanding of the terminal Acheulean in southern Africa derives from a small number of localities that are predominantly in the central and northern interior. Many of these localities are surface and deflated contexts, others were excavated prior to the availability of modern field documentation techniques, and yet other relevant assemblages contain low numbers of characteristic artifacts relative to volume of excavated deposit. The site of Montagu Cave, situated in the diverse ecosystem of the Cape Floral Region, South Africa, contains the rare combination of archaeologically rich, laminated and deeply stratified Acheulean layers followed by a younger Middle Stone Age occupation. Yet little is known about the site owing largely to a lack of contextual information associated with the early excavations. Here we present renewed excavation of Levels 21-22 at Montagu Cave, located in the basal Acheulean sequence, including new data on site formation and ecological context, geochronology, and technological variability. We document intensive occupation of the cave by Acheulean tool-producing hominins, likely at the onset of interglacial conditions in MIS 7. New excavations at Montagu Cave suggest that, while Middle Stone Age technologies were practiced by 300 ka in several other regions of Africa, the classic Acheulean persisted later in the Fynbos Biome of the southwestern Cape. We discuss the implications of this regionalized persistence for the biogeography of African later Middle Pleistocene hominin populations, for the ecological drivers of their technological systems, and for the pattern and pace of behavioral change just prior to the proliferation of the southern African later Middle Stone Age. (c) 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
- Post-LGM environments and foragers on the move: New data from the lower Altmühl Valley (Franconian Jura, SE Germany)Publication . Barbieri, Alvise; Maier, Andreas; Lauer, Tobias; Mischka, Carsten; Hattermann, Merlin; Uthmeier, ThorstenAfter the Last Glacial Maximum, the Swabian and Franconian Jura (in SW and SE Germany, respectively) were repopulated by Magdalenian hunter-gatherers within the same communication network. However, while the Magdalenian settlement of the Swabian Jura dates to 17-14 ka cal BP, permanent Magdalenian occupations in the Franconian Jura date to 15-14 ka cal BP. In comparison with its western counterpart, the Franconian Jura was mostly excavated in the early days of archaeological research. Does this different chronology reflect the different history of research? Why did Magdalenian foragers establish permanent occupation in the Franconian Jura nearly 2 millennia after settling in Swabia, despite the fact these regions are only 150 km apart? To address these questions, we reinvestigated two sites in the Altmithl Valley with micromorphology and luminescence dating, namely Felsenhausl-Kellerhohle and Klausennische. Our data show that both sites have intact Pleistocene deposits. Among these, we identified sediments dating between 17 and 15 ka that show only rare lithic artifacts and microfeatures indicative of cold and arid conditions. Our work and published data suggest that the steady settlement of Magdalenian foragers in the Altmithl Valley starting 15 ka cal BP coincides with the end of this harsh period and the onset of cool and wetter environments. Data from the Swabian Jura demonstrated that in the Lone Valley, similar environments and Magdalenian occupations commenced earlier, starting 17 ka cal BR. Therefore, we propose that regional environments acted as a barrier against the dispersal of foragers in the Franconian Jura and determined its later Magdalenian occupation. Our research highlighted that different environments, taphonomic processes, and site uses probably coexisted across the German Jura. Therefore, it remains fundamental to expand the multisite data set proposed in this article to further test hypotheses about human/environment interaction in this region. (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.
- Short-term occupations at high elevation during the Middle Paleolithic at Kalavan 2 (Republic of Armenia)Publication . Malinsky-Buller, Ariel; Glauberman, Philip; Ollivier, Vincent; Lauer, Tobias; Timms, Rhys; Frahm, Ellery; Brittingham, Alexander; Triller, Benno; Kindler, Lutz; Knul, Monika V.; Krakovsky, Masha; Joannin, Sebastian; Hren, Michael T.; Bellier, Olivier; Clark, Alexander A.; Blockley, Simon P. E.; Arakelyan, Dimidry; Marreiros, João; Paixaco, Eduardo; Calandra, Ivan; Ghukasyan, Robert; Nora, David; Nir, Nadav; Adigyozalyan, Ani; Haydosyan, Hayk; Gasparyan, BorisThe Armenian highlands encompasses rugged and environmentally diverse landscapes and is characterized by a mosaic of distinct ecological niches and large temperature gradients. Strong seasonal fluctuations in resource availability along topographic gradients likely prompted Pleistocene hominin groups to adapt by adjusting their mobility strategies. However, the role that elevated landscapes played in hunter-gatherer settlement systems during the Late Pleistocene (Middle Palaeolithic [MP]) remains poorly understood. At 1640 m above sea level, the MP site of Kalavan 2 (Armenia) is ideally positioned for testing hypotheses involving elevation-dependent seasonal mobility and subsistence strategies. Renewed excavations at Kalavan 2 exposed three main occupation horizons and ten additional low densities lithic and faunal assemblages. The results provide a new chronological, stratigraphical, and paleoenvironmental framework for hominin behaviors between ca. 60 to 45 ka. The evidence presented suggests that the stratified occupations at Kalavan 2 locale were repeated ephemerally most likely related to hunting in a high-elevation within the mountainous steppe landscape.
- Subarctic climate for the earliest Homo sapiens in EuropePublication . Pederzani, Sarah; Britton, Kate; Aldeias, Vera; Bourgon, Nicolas; Fewlass, Helen; Lauer, Tobias; McPherron, Shannon P.; Rezek, Zeljko; Sirakov, Nikolay; Smith, Geoff M.; Spasov, Rosen; Tran, N.-Han; Tsanova, Tsenka; Hublin, Jean-JacquesThe expansion of Homo sapiens across Eurasia marked a major milestone in human evolution that would eventually lead to our species being found across every continent. Current models propose that these expansions occurred only during episodes of warm climate, based on age correlations between archaeological and climatic records. Here, we obtain direct evidence for the temperatures faced by some of these humans through the oxygen isotope analysis of faunal remains from Bacho Kiro Cave, Bulgaria, the earliest clear record of H. sapiens in Europe. The results indicate that humans ∼45,000 years ago experienced subarctic climates with far colder climatic conditions than previously suggested. This demonstrates that the early presence of H. sapiens in Europe was not contingent on warm climates. Our results necessitate the revision of key models of human expansion and highlight the need for a less deterministic role of climate in the study of our evolutionary history.