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- Ancient DNA reveals interstadials as a driver of common vole population dynamics during the last glacial periodPublication . Baca, Mateusz; Popović, Danijela; Lemanik, Anna; Bañuls‐Cardona, Sandra; Conard, Nicholas J.; Cuenca‐Bescós, Gloria; Desclaux, Emmanuel; Fewlass, Helen; Garcia, Jesus T.; Hadravova, Tereza; Heckel, Gerald; Horáček, Ivan; Knul, Monika Vlasta; Lebreton, Loïc; López‐García, Juan Manuel; Luzi, Elisa; Marković, Zoran; Mauch Lenardić, Jadranka; Murelaga, Xabier; Noiret, Pierre; Petculescu, Alexandru; Popov, Vasil; Rhodes, Sara; Ridush, Bogdan; Royer, Aurélien; Stewart, John R.; Stojak, Joanna; Talamo, Sahra; Wang, Xuejing; Wójcik, Jan M.; Nadachowski, AdamAim Many species experienced population turnover and local extinction during the Late Pleistocene. In the case of megafauna, it remains challenging to disentangle climate change and the activities of Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers as the main cause. In contrast, the impact of humans on rodent populations is likely to be negligible. This study investigated which climatic and/or environmental factors affect the population dynamics of the common vole. This temperate rodent is widespread across Europe and was one of the most abundant small mammal species throughout the Late Pleistocene. Location Europe. Taxon Common vole (Microtus arvalis). Methods We generated a dataset comprised of 4.2 kb long fragment of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from 148 ancient and 51 modern specimens sampled from multiple localities across Europe and covering the last 60 thousand years (ka). We used Bayesian inference to reconstruct their phylogenetic relationships and to estimate the age of the specimens that were not directly dated. Results We estimated the time to the most recent common ancestor of all last glacial and extant common vole lineages to be 90 ka ago and the divergence of the main mtDNA lineages present in extant populations to between 55 and 40 ka ago, which is earlier than most previous estimates. We detected several lineage turnovers in Europe during the period of high climate variability at the end of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3; 57-29 ka ago) in addition to those found previously around the Pleistocene/Holocene transition. In contrast, data from the Western Carpathians suggest continuity throughout the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) even at high latitudes. Main Conclusions The main factor affecting the common vole populations during the last glacial period was the decrease in open habitat during the interstadials, whereas climate deterioration during the LGM had little impact on population dynamics. This suggests that the rapid environmental change rather than other factors was the major force shaping the histories of the Late Pleistocene faunas.
- Geological and archeological insight into site formation processes and acheulean occupation at wonderwerk cave, northern cape province, South AfricaPublication . Goldberg, Paul; Rhodes, Sara E.; Chazan, MichaelWonderwerk Cave, located in the Northern Cape Province of South Africa, is a rare cave site with a sequence of Acheulean occupation that is derived from activity within the cave rather than via avens. Building on previous publication of the sedimentary context for the Acheulean sequence based on the North Profile of Excavation 1 at Wonderwerk Cave, we present here new observations based on micromorphological analysis of the Southern Profile of Excavation 1 and the Acheulean component of Excavation 2, along with preliminary observations on the context of artifact deposition based on renewed high-precision excavation. The results largely support earlier observations including the low density of artifacts, the aeolian contribution to the sediments, and the absence of water transport within the cave. New observations are primarily the presence of a significant component of rhizoliths in the South Profile that appear to be the result of the penetration of roots into the cave from the surface of the hill. This study adds significantly to our understanding of site formation processes and hominin activity during the Acheulean at the front of the cave. However, these remain limited windows into a much larger system that will require continued investigation.
- Microvertebrate studies in archaeological contexts: Middle Paleolithic to early Holocene past environmentsPublication . López-García, Juan Manuel; Blain, Hugues-Alexandre; Rhodes, Sara; Blanco-Lapaz, ÁngelSince 2016, the Microvertebrate Working Group (MVWG), which is part of the International Council for Archaeozoology (ICAZ), has held meetings every 2 years with the aim of exchanging data from the study of herpetofauna and small mammals in archaeological contexts. This special issue is the culmination of the III Microvertebrate Working Group (MVWG) meeting that was held virtually between September 1st and 2nd 2020 at the Institut de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES), Tarragona, Spain. The meeting gathered 50 small vertebrate zooarchaeologists virtually from Algeria, Argentina, Chile, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, the Philippines, Scotland, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, and Tunisia. The present special issue is the result of a total of 18 oral communications and 11 posters.
- Exploring the Later Stone Age at a micro-scale: new high-resolution excavations at Wonderwerk CavePublication . Rhodes, Sara; Goldberg, Paul; Ecker, Michaela; Horwitz, Liora Kolska; Boaretto, Elisabetta; Chazan, MichaelIn 2018, we initiated renewed excavation of the Later Stone Age (LSA) deposits at Wonderwerk Cave. Here we describe the goals and initial results of the first two seasons of excavation, including the first micromorphological description of these deposits. We employed a small-scale excavation technique to emphasize precision recording and limit the destruction of sensitive deposits. Our preliminary results indicate that meaningful patterns in material culture records and paleoecological proxy materials can be derived from such investigations. Bioturbation of the LSA deposits is widespread in our micromorphological samples, suggesting that some postdepositional movement of the sediment occurred but did not impact overall stratigraphic integrity. This is supported by the radiocarbon chronology (derived from various material records), which indicates that this movement had a limited effect on the material record. Three technocomplexes (the Kuruman/Oakhurst, Wilton, and Historic) were identified in the new Wonderwerk lithic material record, alongside increasing evidence for a period of intensified use and/or occupation of the site during the Wilton - a pattern previously identified by the F. Thackeray's and A. Thackeray's 1970s excavations. New radiocarbon ages support previous determinations placing the timing of this intensification at ca. 6200 years cal BP. Faunal and ostrich eggshell records also support previous findings, confirming an anthropogenic origin for the faunal remains and suggesting that different pathways of OES bead production were employed at the site at different times. The presence of herbivore dung and associated spherulites in a micromorphology thin section provides a new potential line of evidence to support the Thackeray's tentative suggestion for sheep herding at the site ca. 2000 years BP. While this evidence is far from conclusive, it suggests that the Wonderwerk Cave LSA record may have a role to play in resolving the timing of the adoption of sheep by hunter-gatherers on the Ghaap Plateau. Our work on the LSA at Wonderwerk Cave serves as a touchstone within the more regionally focused Northern Cape Archaeology and Ecology Project (NCAEP) - an international and interdisciplinary research project studying the LSA paleoenvironment of the South African arid interior. Ultimately, NCAEP is designed to produce a multi-proxy diachronic climatic record of the Northern Cape firmly situated within new and existing radiocarbon chronologies.
- Paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstructions based on the small vertebrates from the Middle Paleolithic of Hohle Fels Cave, SW GermanyPublication . Luzi, Elisa; Blanco-Lapaz, Àngel; Rhodes, Sara; Conard, Nicholas J.In this paper, we analyse the fish and small mammal assemblages from the Middle Paleolithic horizons of Hohle Fels Cave to reconstruct the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental conditions faced by the Neanderthal groups who occupied the site. The fish assemblage indicates that the freshwater ecosystem around this site was characterized by a pre-mountain river system with the presence of permanent, oxygen-rich, and cold running waters. The results of the Habitat Weighting Method and the Bioclimatic Model applied to the small mammal assemblage, coupled with the new dates obtained for the Archaeological Horizon (AH) IX, allow us to identify two different climatic phases. One phase (AH X-XII) is more temperate possibly corresponding to the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5; the other (AH VI-IX) is colder and more arid corresponding to the end of MIS 4 through the beginning of MIS 3. Open environments with a relatively stable forest component dominated the landscape during this part of the Middle Paleolithic. These two climatic phases appear to correspond to different levels of occupational intensity by Neanderthals, with higher occupational intensity during mild climatic periods and lower intensity during cold, arid periods. Our climatic reconstruction and recent absolute dating, together with the recovery of a complete leaf point near the top of AH X, have important implications for the cultural stratigraphy and cultural chronology of the region. Archaeologist have traditionally viewed leaf points as key artefacts of the Blattspitzengruppe, a cultural complex attributed to the end of Middle Paleolithic; however, this stratigraphic, climatic, and chronological context indicates the need to revise this interpretation.