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Umwelt und Jagdökonomie der Ahrensburger Rentierjäger im Mittelgebirge

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... Surprisingly of a similar age is a reindeer bone with cut marks from the Grotte de Remouchamps in the northern Belgian Ardennes; here, too, the Ahrensburgian is amply documented with numerous lithic artefacts and reindeer as hunting prey being typical [49]. It is, however, an Oxford AMS measurement (OxA-4191) from the early 1990s. ...
... Thus, on the left and right of the Rhine on the northern edge of the low mountain range zone, two Ahrensburgian assemblages with numerous reindeer remains and other typical cold-age faunal elements are present [9,47,49,53], which date to the second half of the Younger Dryas period. This current picture is also not contradicted by the relatively flat calibration curve for the younger section of the Younger Dryas period [cf. ...
... Five other bone fragments can be assigned to the Cervidae (deer) family which includes reindeer (Rangifer tarandus). During the Younger Dryas in the North German Plain and the adjacent uplands to the south, these were among the main hunted prey [9,49,53,105] and evidence of this was anticipated for the period under investigation at the Blätterhöhle, but no reliable evidence has yet been found. ...
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Until now, it was considered certain that the last reindeer hunters of the Ahrensburgian (tanged point groups) existed exclusively in northwestern Central Europe during the Younger Dryas Cold Period (~ Greenland Stadial 1). The excavations carried out since 2006 on the forecourt (Vorplatz) of the small Blätterhöhle in Hagen on the northern edge of the Sauerland uplands of southern Westphalia (North Rhine-Westphalia, western Germany) have now changed this view. Beneath a surprisingly extensive sequence of Mesolithic find horizons, Pleistocene sediments could be reached whose excavations yielded a Final Palaeolithic lithic ensemble of the Younger Dryas, unusual for the region and beyond. It is characterised by numerous backed lithic projectile points of high variability. Comparisons suggest a typological-technological connection with the Western European Laborian / Late Laborian. Neither in the nearer nor in the wider surroundings has a comparable lithic find ensemble been found so far. In addition, there is a lack of clear evidence for the reindeer in the fauna. Surprisingly, the vast majority of radiocarbon dates of bones and charcoals from the investigated archaeological horizon of the Final Pleistocene proved to be significantly older than expected from their stratigraphic position. This phenomenon has not yet been clarified.
... The reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L.) was the main game of the Dryas 3 period and thus an essential part of the nutrition during the annual cycle of Ahrensburgian hunters (Aaris-Sørensen et al., 2007;Baales, 1996;Bratlund ,1990;Eriksen, 1996;Grønnow, 1987;Kollau, 1943;. Accordingly, large quantities of reindeer bones were found at the archaeological site on the banks of the Nahe palaeolake . ...
... Nevertheless, two clear seasonal movements can be observed in most populations (Burch, 1972;Grønnow et al., 1983;Kelsall, 1968;LeResche and Linderman, 1975;Parker, 1972;Spiess, 1979). On both these migrations reindeers were hunted during the Dryas 3 period, but especially during the autumn as the archaeological finds of the region clearly demonstrate (Baales, 1996;Bratlund, 1990;Grønnow, 1987;. ...
... For the present study, longer migratory movements of reindeer are assumed to roughly follow the glacial meltwater valley of the Elbe river (Elbe-Urstromtal) (Price et al., 2017;. The hypothesis is that large quantities of reindeer moved into the vast grasslands of the present North Sea basin, or Doggerland, east of the Elbe-Urstromtal during the summer months (Baales, 1996;Coles, 1998; and in smaller bands benefited from the nutritional potential of the pine dominated forests in the region around present-day Berlin/ Brandenburg during the winter months of the Dryas 3 period (Kobe et al., 2019). ...
... Hohler Stien, Rémouchamps, and Karstein ( Baales 1996Baales , 1999Gordon 1988:215;Kierdorf 1992). ...
... Hohler Stien, Rémouchamps, and Karstein ( Baales 1996Baales , 1999Gordon 1988:215;Kierdorf 1992). ...
... It has been hypothesized that Ahrensburgian hunters used artificial obstructions, such as drive lanes, to further channel migrating reindeer (Baales 1999:71, Figure 9 caption). Lastly, similar to the Upper Paleolithic, Late Glacial reindeer hunts were most likely situated into a wider array of site types and base camps ( Baales 1996). ...
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Hunter-gatherers are foundational to anthropology. Ethnographic accounts of foragers have been essential in building classic anthropological theories of human evolution, kinship, social organization, and religion. From these studies, a normative view of foragers as simple, highly mobile, egalitarian band societies with limited or no property/ownership, emerged and continues to be pervasive in the discipline. This larger issue frames the central problems addressed in this dissertation. It concerns hunter-gatherer societies and how they are effected by hunting architecture, such as drive lanes, animal corrals, and fishing weirs. These comparable built elements are found across time, space, and cultures because they are conditioned by similar traits in animal behavior. Subsistence strategies adopting such hunting features present a fundamental shift in exploitation by actively modifying the landscape (i.e. niche construction) to increase the yield and predictability of natural resources. It is argued that the creation and use of hunting architecture is among the most significant subsistence innovations in prehistory prior to the origins of agriculture; as similar to large-scale food production, the adoption of hunting architecture has demonstrable social and economic repercussions. This dissertation investigates the global phenomenon of hunting architecture by drawing on a regional case study – caribou hunting in the Great Lakes, where some of the oldest hunting structures (9,380-8,830 cal yr BP) have been submerged beneath Lake Huron. The preservation of a virtually unmodified, culturally engineered landscape underwater is an ideal laboratory for investigating broader issues. New underwater research conducted for this dissertation provides an unprecedented view of forager societies and hunting architecture in the past, problematizing our normative characterization of prehistoric hunter-gatherers. Ultimately, this dissertation makes contributions to three core areas; the local archaeological problem of Great Lakes caribou hunters, the theoretical anthropological problem of hunting architecture and forager lifeways, and lastly, the global problem of conducting inundated archaeology. It provides a model for anthropological archaeology underwater and demonstrates that submerged prehistoric research can contribute to anthropology’s most significant questions.
... It is argued that those groups were still present during the Younger Dryas in the mid-range mountain areas, while the North German Plain was colonised by people that followed a tanged point or Ahrensburgian tradition (Gramsch 2004, 184-196;Street et al. 2001, 396). However, evidence for the presence of FMG in the mid-range mountains during the Younger Dryas is rare, while Ahrensburgian sites can be found well into the northern parts of this area (Baales 1996). Rockshelter and cave sites in southern Germany and eastern France, such as Mannlefels, Rochedane, Jägerhaushöhle, and Zigeunerfels with sequences from the Late Pleistocene into the Holocene, suggest a continuous development there and, hence, placing the FMG at the base of the Mesolithic development. ...
... A well-known Ahrensburgian assemblage was found at the rockshelter Kartstein that is located only some 60 km south of Bedburg-Königshoven but already in the mid-range mountain area (Baales 1996). The environmental indicators from the site are reflecting a mixed climate environment but with a dominance of tundra/open landscape elements (Baales 1996, 153). ...
... Hohler Stein' at Rüthen-Kallenhardt was excavated in the 1920s/1930s and provided an Ahrensburgian assemblage comprising lithics and organic remains. Zooarchaeological investigations showed that the site was used for reindeer hunting in spring, according to radiocarbon dates during the late Younger Dryas (Baales 1996;Baales et al. 2013b). ...
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Time and timing are essential to many archaeological questions, especially when dealing with archaeo-cultural borders or transitions. In this paper, we address the transition from the Final Palaeolithic to the Early Mesolithic on the North German Plain with respect to chronological evidence. Based on several well-dated sites from the area, we aim to discuss preconditions and consequences for the spreading of Early Mesolithic technocomplexes. Furthermore, we highlight which problems have to be approached when dealing with this timeframe. It is shown that the onset of the Mesolithic in the area under consideration currently appears to date not prior to the Middle Preboreal, i.e. from ca. 9200 calBC onwards. The short cold spell, the Preboreal Oscillation, seems to coincide with a seizure between the hunter-gatherers of the Ahrensburgian and the aforementioned Early Holocene societies. It is made clear that the Pleistocene/Holocene border should not generally be parallelised with the Ahrensburgian/Early Mesolithic in the respective area.
... The bulk of directly dated Ahrensburgian sites have produced radiocarbon dates that typically cluster in the latter stages of the Younger Dryas Stadial (broadly equating to GS-1) while others range well into the early Holocene (Weber et al., 2011). Ahrensburgian-type assemblages are found around and north of the upland margins of central western Europe (Cziesla, 1992;Baales, 1996) and are generally associated with specialized reindeer hunting. This interpretation derives from the still impressive but not entirely unproblematic old excavations, such as Stellmoor and Meiendorf north of Hamburg (Rust, 1937(Rust, 1943, and the preferential presence of reindeer in northern Europe during the Younger Dryas (see Riede et al., 2010;Sommer et al., 2014). ...
... More importantly, microlithic elements and oblique truncations on blades Figure 8. Chipped stone artefacts from grid square A20, Context 111/2: 1-4, marginally retouched pieces; 5, blade; 6, platform core; 7-8, asymmetrical points; 9-10, angled truncations; 11-12, truncations; 13, backed blade; 14, endscraper; 15, notch; 16, marginally retouched piece. known as Zonhoven points are a recurring and at times dominant feature in many Ahrensburgian assemblages, including Stellmoor (Rust, 1943), Gahlen (Richter, 1981) and Kallenhardt (Baales, 1996) in Germany, the eponymous site of Zonhoven-Molenheide (Vermeersch, 2013), Remouchamps (Dewez et al., 1974) and many others in Belgium (cf. Gob, 1991;Vermeersch, 2011), as well as coastal Ahrensburgian assemblages such as Tossk€ arr in Bohusl€ an, Sweden (Kindgren, 2002), and Galta 3 in south-western Norway (Prøsch- Danielsen and Høgestøl, 1995). ...
... The technological and typological characteristics of the (111/2) chipped stone assemblage suggest a Lateglacial date. (Baales, 1996); 5, Karstein (Baales, 1996); 6-7, Stellmoor (Rust, 1943); 8-10, Hofer (Veil, 1987); 11-13, Gahlen (Richter, 1981); 14-21, Deimern (Taute, 1968); 22-23, Galta 3 (Prøsch- Danielsen and Høgestøl, 1995). Redrawn at 1 : 1 scale. ...
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© 2015 The Authors.The exact pattern, process and timing of the human re-colonization of northern Europe after the end of the last Ice Age remain controversial. Recent research has provided increasingly early dates for at least pioneer explorations of latitudes above 54°N in many regions, yet the far north-west of the European landmass, Scotland, has remained an unexplained exception to this pattern. Although the recently described Hamburgian artefacts from Howburn and an assemblage belonging to the arch-backed point complex from Kilmelfort Cave have established at least a sporadic human presence during earlier stages of the Lateglacial Interstadial, we currently lack evidence for Younger Dryas/Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) activity other than rare stray finds that have been claimed to be of Ahrensburgian affiliation but are difficult to interpret in isolation. We here report the discovery of chipped stone artefacts with technological and typological characteristics similar to those of the continental Ahrensburgian at a locality in western Scotland. A preliminary analysis of associated tephra, pollen and phytoliths, along with microstratigraphic analysis, suggest the artefacts represent one or more episodes of human activity that fall within the second half of GS-1 and the Preboreal period.
... The bulk of directly dated Ahrensburgian sites have produced radiocarbon dates that typically cluster in the latter stages of the Younger Dryas Stadial (broadly equating to GS-1) while others range well into the early Holocene (Weber et al., 2011). Ahrensburgian-type assemblages are found around and north of the upland margins of central western Europe (Cziesla, 1992;Baales, 1996) and are generally associated with specialized reindeer hunting. This interpretation derives from the still impressive but not entirely unproblematic old excavations, such as Stellmoor and Meiendorf north of Hamburg (Rust, 1937(Rust, 1943, and the preferential presence of reindeer in northern Europe during the Younger Dryas (see Riede et al., 2010;Sommer et al., 2014). ...
... More importantly, microlithic elements and oblique truncations on blades Figure 8. Chipped stone artefacts from grid square A20, Context 111/2: 1-4, marginally retouched pieces; 5, blade; 6, platform core; 7-8, asymmetrical points; 9-10, angled truncations; 11-12, truncations; 13, backed blade; 14, endscraper; 15, notch; 16, marginally retouched piece. known as Zonhoven points are a recurring and at times dominant feature in many Ahrensburgian assemblages, including Stellmoor (Rust, 1943), Gahlen (Richter, 1981) and Kallenhardt (Baales, 1996) in Germany, the eponymous site of Zonhoven-Molenheide (Vermeersch, 2013), Remouchamps (Dewez et al., 1974) and many others in Belgium (cf. Gob, 1991;Vermeersch, 2011), as well as coastal Ahrensburgian assemblages such as Tossk€ arr in Bohusl€ an, Sweden (Kindgren, 2002), and Galta 3 in south-western Norway (Prøsch- Danielsen and Høgestøl, 1995). ...
... The technological and typological characteristics of the (111/2) chipped stone assemblage suggest a Lateglacial date. (Baales, 1996); 5, Karstein (Baales, 1996); 6-7, Stellmoor (Rust, 1943); 8-10, Hofer (Veil, 1987); 11-13, Gahlen (Richter, 1981); 14-21, Deimern (Taute, 1968); 22-23, Galta 3 (Prøsch- Danielsen and Høgestøl, 1995). Redrawn at 1 : 1 scale. ...
Article
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The exact pattern, process and timing of the human re-colonization of northern Europe after the end of the last Ice Age remain controversial. Recent research has provided increasingly early dates for at least pioneer explorations of latitudes above 54˚N in many regions, yet the far northwest of the European landmass, Scotland, has remained an unexplained exception to this pattern. Although the recently described Hamburgian artefacts from Howburn and an assemblage belonging to the arch-backed point complex from Kilmelfort Cave have established at least a sporadic human presence during earlier stages of the Lateglacial Interstadial, we currently lack evidence for Younger Dryas/Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1) activity other than rare stray finds that have been claimed to be of Ahrensburgian affiliation but are difficult to interpret in isolation. We here report the discovery of chipped stone artefacts with technological and typological characteristics similar to those of the continental Ahrensburgian at a locality in western Scotland. A preliminary analysis of associated tephra, pollen and phytoliths, along with microstratigraphic analysis, suggest the artefacts represent one or more episodes of human activity that fall within the second half of GS-1 and the Preboreal period.
... Quite a lot has also been written about method of achieving this. Th e most commonly mentioned (8) methods are immersing in water (Cnotliwy 1956, 152-154; Edholm 1999, 74; Lindemann 2000, 8; MacGregor 1985, 63; Newcomer 1976, 293; Schibler 2001, 52) and boiling in water (Baales 1996; Cnotliwy 1973, 41; Izjumowa 1949, 19; Szafrański 1961, 44; Watts 1999, 62; Żurowski K. 1974, 3-23; Tamla Ü., Maldre L. 2001, 372; Zhilin M. G. 2001, 150). More rarely mentioned are: soft ening in sorrel (Kempisty A. 1961, 138; MacGregor 1985, 63-64; Żurowski 1950, 1974 Drzewicz A. 2004, 4852), sour milk (Żurowski 1974, 3-23; Drzewicz A. 2004, 48-52), formic acid (Pawlik A. 1992, 57), ashes or lye (9) (Bagniewski 1992, 18; Moszyński 1929, 338, Rajewski 1950), water with ashes (Bagniewski 1992, 18), oil (Hołubowicz 1956, 144 ) and, known only from ethnographic observations, in urine (Newcomer 1976, 293; Hanh J., Scheer A., Waibel O. 1991, 33). ...
... More over it is a method known from ethnographic observation. Untill recently it was used by North American Indians (Baales 1996) and Asian peoples: the Czukcz, the Koriak and the Kamchedal (Izjumowa 1949, 19). (13) Some scholars suggest that it was used in the Mesolithic (Zhilin 2001, 150). ...
... Water should have immediate access to both the outside and the inside of the bones. Division of bone prior to their soft ening is also confi rmed ethnographically (Baales 1996). ...
... Economic dimensions of lithic technology are often studied in relation to settlement patterns and past human land use, as mobility is widely regarded to act as a key interface between human and environmental systems (Kelly 1988(Kelly , 1992Torrence 1989;Bousman 1993;Baales 1996;Richter 1997Richter , 2018Uthmeier 2004;Kuhn et al. 2016: Fig. 1). While the relationship between technology and mobility has been examined from varying viewpoints and theoretical angles -e.g. ...
... Logistical foragers exhibit low dislocation frequencies due to the anchoring role of stable basecamps, but basecamp moves can cover considerable distances of up to 300 km or more (cf. Weniger 1982;Floss 1994;Kuhn 2004) and are often connected to the availability of specific resources such as migrating herds of reindeer (Baales 1996). Residential collectors, by contrast, tend to display elevated dislocation frequencies due to high-interval relocation moves and relatively short-term presence in a given area. ...
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Al-Ansab 1 is a stratified Early Ahmarian site of unusual preservation, extent and occupational intensity close to a highquality raw material outcrop. The site is located in the Lower Wadi Sabra in the Greater Petra Area, southern Jordan. This paper presents the results of a detailed raw material, technology and curation study of the lithic material from the 2009 to 2011 field campaigns at Al-Ansab 1. The lithic technology from the site is well-defined, relatively homogeneous, and oriented towards the production of regular, narrow and pointed laminar blanks, which are preferentially transformed into el-Wad points. The assemblage attests to an integrated production system, yielding blanks of varied morphotechnical characteristics at various stages of the reduction process to supply a diversified toolkit. Raw material exploitation focuses on locally available raw materials and is generally expedient. Tool shares are low, and modification tends to be marginal and minimally invasive. Curation analysis of the lithic toolkit suggests that most tools exhibit short use-lives and were only moderately resharpened. Combined with a high investment in core preparation, maintenance, and blank control evident in operational chains, this qualifies the Early Ahmarian at Al-Ansab 1 as a blank production economy (économie du débitage). This status entails particular consequences for economization and planning and is grounded in a strong convergence between blank production and tool design. Al-Ansab 1 provides insights into the exceptional residential mobility of Early Ahmarian foragers and showcases the importance of localities close to predictable key resources in the southern Levant.
... Finds from the Ahrensburger culture have been made in Hohlenstein near Rüthe-Kallenhardt, a cave that was excavated in the 1920s and 30s (Baales, 1996), and some open air sites also date to this period (Taute, 1968;Schwabedissen, 1954;Baales, 1996;Günther, 1988;Baales et al., 2007: 31-32). However, as with the Federmesser culture there are no finds with stratigraphical context from modern excavations. ...
... Finds from the Ahrensburger culture have been made in Hohlenstein near Rüthe-Kallenhardt, a cave that was excavated in the 1920s and 30s (Baales, 1996), and some open air sites also date to this period (Taute, 1968;Schwabedissen, 1954;Baales, 1996;Günther, 1988;Baales et al., 2007: 31-32). However, as with the Federmesser culture there are no finds with stratigraphical context from modern excavations. ...
... Renssen and Vandenberghe, 2003;Benecke, 2004). Reindeer seemed to significantly contribute to the subsistence of hunter-gatherers of the Ahrensburgian culture in northern Germany and Belgium (Baales, 1996;Bratlund, 1996a), in southern England (Lewis and Rackham, 2011), and potentially in the area of the Dry North Sea. On the other hand, the discovery of fishhooks from northeast Germany and its surroundings directly dated to the Younger Dryas period (Hanik, 2009;Gramsch et al., 2013) raises the question of the exploitation of fish. ...
... In contrast, the possible contribution of the freshwater resources ranged from ca. 40 to 90% and the most likely proportion was around 75% (Fig. 5). The relatively low contribution of the reindeer over averaged years to the subsistence of the human of Rhünda fits the hypothesis of a seasonal consumption of reindeer in contrast to a subsistence pattern based on herd-following strategy all over the year (see discussion in Gronnøw, 1985;Bratlund, 1996a;Baales, 1996). The seasonal access to reindeer was in this case complemented by the exploitation of the freshwater ecosystem. ...
... The regional ahrensburgian has recently been studied by J. Deeben (1994Deeben ( -1999, who looked at sites from the Southern Netherlands, and M.l Baales (1996), who has given an overview of the ahrensburgian in the upland area. p.m. Vermeersch (2008Vermeersch ( , 2011 In the region around Zonhoven-molenheide, a number of sites have been attributed to the ahrensburgian (De Bie & Vermeersch 1998). ...
... Based on data from sites in the area of the river Somme, it would seem that red deer, roe deer and elk were replaced by reindeer at the onset of 7 -DIScUSSIon the Younger Dryas (Baales, Street 1999). Seasonal patterns in the way ahrensburgian groups used the landscape may be interpreted as essentially determined by seasonal movements of reindeer (Baales 1996). ...
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The late Palaeolithic Ahrensburgian site at Zonhoven-Molenheide was situated mainly but not only in the A2 horizon of a carbic podzol. It comprised several concentrations with more than 11,500 flint artefacts, of which more than 1,800 were refitted. Horizontal en vertical distribution of the remains is discussed in detail. 76 figures illustrate profile sections, artefacts and refits. The occupation fits into the Younger Dryas (Late Glacial) period with a AMS date of 10,760 BP. Regionally, the Ahrensburgian is defined typologically as an assemblage with numerous Zonhoven points, a variable number of Ahrensburgian points and numerous end scrapers and burins. Connections with other European sites are discussed.
... L'Ahrensbourgien classique à pointes pédonculées est daté de la chronozone du Dryas récent dans l'ouest de la grande plaine européenne et dans la zone des plateaux qui la limite au sud (Taute, 1968 ;Baales, 1996). Dans l'état actuel de nos connaissances, l'extension la plus occidentale de l'Ahrensbourgien dans sa phase classique se situe en Belgique dans le bassin mosan avec en particulier la grotte de Remouchamps (Dewez, 1974et 1987. ...
... This new observation was unexpected in that the bone, by virtue of its cut-marks, now dated human activity to the Lateglacial (Younger Dryas) Stadial. The technology found at this time over a large area of northern Europe was the Ahrensburgian which combined microliths (some tanged or stemmed and clearly intended as arrowheads) with scrapers and burins (Baales 1996). However, there is no Ahrensburgian known from Wales and only a single site in England with indisputable Ahrensburgian tanged microliths (Froom 2005) plus a first site in Scotland, Rubha Port an t-Seilich, Islay (Mithen et al. 2015). ...
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New evidence has now come to light which suggests that the samples of human and animal remains datedto the Late Pleistocene, the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age/Beaker period, and to the Iron Age,recovered from the central passage of the Parc le Breos Cwm early Neolithic Cotswold-Severn tomb,Gower, during excavations by Richard Atkinson in the 1960s, are now likely to have originated from thenearby Cat Hole Cave and to have been deposited at Parc le Breos Cwm in modern times. (1) (PDF) Skeletal remains from Parc le Breos Cwm and Cat Hole Cave: a case of mistaken identity. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367531912_Skeletal_remains_from_Parc_le_Breos_Cwm_and_Cat_Hole_Cave_a_case_of_mistaken_identity [accessed Jan 31 2023].
... The lithics recovered from Wetland Basin 2 include a slightly unusual, tanged piece ( Fig. 4) with Ahrensburgian affinities, a class of artefact associated with the Lateglacial (Late Upper Palaeolithic) period. Given that Britain was connected to Continental Europe at this time, the presence of an Ahrensburgian-related tanged point (Fig. 4) compliments similar assemblages identified to the south on the Humber margins at Risby Warren, at Tayfen Road, Suffolk and Doniford Cliff, Somerset (Barton 2009), but also from sites to the north at Low Hauxley (Waddington and Bonsall 2016) and in Scotland at Shieldaig (Ballin and Saville 2003), Howburn Farm (Ballin et al. 2010) and Rubha Port (Mithen et al. 2015), as well as from the main cluster of sites across the north European Plain from Belgium to western Poland and north into southern Denmark (Cziesla 1992;Baales 1996;Weber 2011). The evidence from Killerby adds to the growing evidence for human occupation at least towards the end of the Younger Dryas, if not possibly during it, although the latter remains uncertain until more securely stratified deposits are dated. ...
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The hunter‐gatherers that entered the British peninsula after ice‐retreat were exploiting a dynamic, rapidly changing environment. Records of vegetation change and human occupation during the Lateglacial to Early Holocene in northern Britain are more commonly found at upland and cave sites. However, recent research highlights many areas of the Swale‐Ure Washlands that preserve extensive environmental sequences in low‐lying ice‐wastage basins, channels and depressions. The Lateglacial‐Early Holocene environment of Killerby Quarry, North Yorkshire, is investigated here using a multi‐proxy approach of sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA), pollen, sedimentological (geochemistry and pOSL), and rare and well‐preserved archaeology (lavvu structures and lithics). Results show that the wetland basins and kettleholes were small lakes or ponds in the Lateglacial surrounded by sedge‐fen and birch woodland. A gradual (centennial scale) succession to reed‐swamp and then marsh is seen by the Early Holocene. This environment formed the resource‐scape for hunter‐gatherer transitory settlement in both the Lateglacial (Late Upper Palaeolithic) and Holocene (Early Mesolithic), attracted by the rich communities of pond‐related flora and fauna as well as easy strategic landscape access by way of the River Swale, an arterial route through the landscape connecting the North Sea Basin with the Pennine uplands via the palaeolakes around Killerby. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
... Annual movement cycles were caused by the seasonal distribution of available resources (Baales, 1996;Bratlund, 1996). Cultural cycle reflects populations' repeating or changing seasonal mobility patterns, with significant similarities in material culture over a period of time (e.g., archaeological culture, technocomplex, etc.). ...
Chapter
Mobility is a fundamental part of Mesolithic settlement systems, and it is essential to understand contacts, exchanges, and interactions between Mesolithic groups. Mobility is also a general term, and can be used at different levels and scales (Lovis et al., 2006). In this paper, we will focus on seasonal mobility and the annual time frames that can be reconstructed from features that are often present at Dutch Mesolithic sites.
... Annual movement cycles were caused by the seasonal distribution of available resources (Baales, 1996;Bratlund, 1996). Cultural cycle reflects populations' repeating or changing seasonal mobility patterns, with significant similarities in material culture over a period of time (e.g., archaeological culture, technocomplex, etc.). ...
Chapter
Mobility is an adjective inextricably linked to hunter-gatherer populations, in contrast with agricultural societies, which lead a sedentary lifestyle. Numerous models of hunter-gatherers’ mobility are based on the number and function of lithics, the presence or lack of domestic features/fireplaces, the zooarcheological assemblage, and so on (e.g., Baales, 2002; Deeben, 1988). Data derived from ethnoarcheological observations and studies of remote societies show strong differentiation in the degree of mobility between particular population groups (Binford, 1980, 2001; Kelly, 2013; Weniger, 1991). One of the latest approaches is grounded in such conditions as energy and ecological requirements. Most generally, mobility of hunter-gatherers is the function of the energy potential of a given environment, and also depends on evolutionary developed biochemical and bioenergetic conditions of human organisms. Mobility decreases with increasing temperature, which determines the biodiversity of the environment. This includes the species diversity of plants, mammals, birds, and reptiles, etc. (Hamilton et al., 2016; Kelly, 2013). Of course, other factors also impact population movements.
... Behre. 1988;Binford 1991;Baales 1996Baales , 1999. Even if alternative models are presented (Cziesla 2018), environmental conditions would still have played a significant role in the selection of camp sites and weapon types. ...
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This paper summarises the results of multidisciplinary research, including pollen, plant macroremains, diatoms, Cladocera, molluscs and geochemistry from a 14C dated core and geomorphological records, which reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental conditions faced by Late Palaeolithic hunter-gathers in western Poland. Particular attention was paid to evidence for both human activity and the degree to which Late Palaeolithic groups may have affected the local environment, as recorded by the biogenic sediments in lakes located close to their campsites. Vegetation first appears locally in the Oldest Dryas, and consisted of subarctic tundra vegetation. During the Bølling period the landscape was generally open, with dwarf shrubs and scattered patches of Juniperus and Hippophaë shrubs. Betula (tree birch) expanded locally in the area only in the later Allerød; during the second part of the Allerød period, Pinus and Populus joined birch as a sparse woodland developed. During the Younger Dryas, the landscape changed significantly in comparison to the preceding warm period, as a result of cooling and drying of the climate. The presence of microscopic charcoal and charred herbaceous plant particles made it possible to detect human activity. These analyses allowed us to reconstruct fire events near the site during its occupation by Hamburg and Federmesser cultural groups. An increase in the proportion of biogenic elements such as Na, K and Mg in the sediments indicate soil erosion, reflecting the activity of Hamburg groups. A relative increase in the frequency of Cladocera which favours eutrophic and turbid water was recorded in the period linked to Federmesser group activities. The intense use of this area was also indicated during the Younger Dryas.
... The first Danish specimen recovered at Nørre Lyngby of a so-called Lyngby-axe (Fisher et al., 2013;Jessen and Nordmann, 1915;Stensager, 2004; see Degerbøl and Krog, 1959: 19, in particular "h", "i" and "p" for other possible Lyngby-axes from there), from the moment of discovery, served to define a new fossil directeur for the Late Glacial of the European Stone Age (Müller, 1901: n°1-2;Mathiassen, 1948: n°143 and 144). Perceived as bearing cultural value (Clark, 1936;Baales, 1996), this artefact-type was considered typically relevant of the Ahrensburgian archaeological culture when similarly worked antler pieces were discovered during excavations at the Stellmoor site in Germany (Rust, 1943). The original Stellmoor-publication records 46 Ahrensburgian Lyngby-axes from the upper horizon that date into the Younger Dryas. ...
... settlement systems (Bosinski 1987). The following Ahrensburgian shows a strongly similar settlement organisation and land use (Baales 1996). Therefore, on environmental terms, the contrast of logistical systems in cold climatic settings and a residential system in warmer, forested settings is clearly visible in the Rhenish late Palaeolithic. ...
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Hunter-gatherer mobility in the Allerød has long been suspected to be fundamentally different from preceding and following periods due to the development of forested vegetation following the Allerød warming. Now, new primary data from a recently excavated, well-preserved Federmesser site in Wesseling can contribute to this question. An in depth analysis of the raw material use and spatial organisation of Wesseling including operational chain reconstruction, refittings, least cost analysis and statistical evaluation in comparison with other Federmesser assemblages can shed light on the mobility patterns of the Rhenish Allerød hunters. The results indicate a residential mobility pattern focused on an embedded procurement of the closest sources of raw material in a radius of roughly 100 km around the sites. In the case of Wesseling the potential route of raw material acquisition could be reconstructed to have led from the end-moraines at Krefeld, over Aachen and Bonn- Muffendorf to Wesseling. The comparison of contemporary Rhenish inventories furthermore hints at the presence of different regional systems oriented along the major drainages and topographic features as of yet insufficiently understood.
... The general model of this Final Palaeolithic settlement, as presented in the literature, envisages a rather scattered population consisting of small groups moving around on the North West European Plain. Several economic and social models have been promoted for the Ahrensburg Culture, mainly including high mobility and seasonal exploitation of migrating reindeer in combination with hunting of other species the rest of the year (Burch 1972;Grønnow 1987;Eriksen 1990;Bokelmann 1991;Larsson 1991;Petersen and Johansen 1994;Baales 1996;Bratlund 1996a;1996b;Weber et al. 2011). The picture of social organization, as well as the size and extent of this population, is based on somewhat limited archaeological material, supported by ethnographic models. ...
Chapter
At the end of the last Ice Age, Northern Scandinavia was colonized from the north European mainland by groups of hunters and gatherers. It seems that the entire coast from Bohuslän to Finnmark was settled within only a couple hundred years. At present approximately 550 sites dated to this period are known in Norway alone. However, we don’t know the character of these groups, how they were organized or the size of the population. Felix Riede has pointed out that isolation of population groups was a major threat to the survival of Late Palaeolithic societies in Northern Europe. This must have been of equal importance to the pioneer settlers of the Scandinavian Peninsula in the early Mesolithic. To the settlers their technology was decisive for their survival in an unfamiliar landscape. Maintenance and development of the technology would therefore be crucial to their success. Technology is closely connected to social and cultural practices, and communication and transfer of knowledge is thus both part of and essential to technology. Joseph Heinrich has argued that maintenance and development of technology is closely connected to population size and organization. Following this, and on the basis of recent studies of Fosna, Hensbacka and Ahrensburgian technology, I will discuss the implications for the population size and organization in Preboreal Northern Scandinavia
... Of particular interest were the finds of ca. 150 animal bones, most of them belonging to reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), a species typical of the Younger Dryas and its use typical for the Ahrensburgian culture (cf. Baales, 1996, Bratlund, 1996. This was confirmed by four 14 C-dates obtained in the aftermath of the excavation (WeBer et al., 2011). ...
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The 26th Annual Meeting of the German Mesolithic Workgroup took place in Wuppertal from 10-12 March 2017 and was organised and hosted by Annabell Zander (University of York) and Birgit Gehlen (CRC 806, University of Cologne). In sum, more than 70 academics, students and amateur archaeologists from 8 different countries attended this conference. The international programme consisted of 24 talks and 10 poster presentations which were held in English and German. The presentations ranged from international to regional themes concerning the Final Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Early Neolithic.
... Despite considerable efforts to understand the timing and location of dog domestication much uncertainty still remains. The oldest confirmed dog remains date to between 12 500 and 16 000 years before present (YBP) in Europe (Nobis, 1979;Baales, 1996;Boudadi-Maligne and Escarguel, 2014;Morey, 2014). Domestication in Europe is consistent with close mitochondrial DNA relatedness between ancient and extant European wolves and modern dogs (Thalmann et al., 2013), but patterns of genetic variation indicate a southern East Asian, Mongolian or Nepalese origin of dogs (Pang et al., 2009;Shannon et al., 2015;Wang et al., 2015). ...
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Adaptations allowing dogs to thrive on a diet rich in starch, including a significant AMY2B copy number gain, constituted a crucial step in the evolution of the dog from the wolf. It is however not clear whether this change was associated with the initial domestication, or represents a secondary shift related to the subsequent development of agriculture. Previous efforts to study this process were based on geographically limited data sets and low-resolution methods, and it is therefore not known to what extent the diet adaptations are universal among dogs and whether there are regional differences associated with alternative human subsistence strategies. Here we use droplet PCR to investigate worldwide AMY2B copy number diversity among indigenous as well as breed dogs and wolves to elucidate how a change in dog diet was associated with the domestication process and subsequent shifts in human subsistence. We find that AMY2B copy numbers are bimodally distributed with high copy numbers (median 2nAMY2B=11) in a majority of dogs but no, or few, duplications (median 2nAMY2B=3) in a small group of dogs originating mostly in Australia and the Arctic. We show that this pattern correlates geographically to the spread of prehistoric agriculture and conclude that the diet change may not have been associated with initial domestication but rather the subsequent development and spread of agriculture to most, but not all regions of the globe.Heredity advance online publication, 13 July 2016; doi:10.1038/hdy.2016.48.
... The transition from Lateglacial to Post-glacial was most clearly expressed in the periglacial zone of the Weichselian, or Valdayan glaciations, it means in the continuous belt of outwash plains of Northern and Eastern Europe up to the Upper Volga and Kama basins in Central Russia. Similar final Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archeological cultures (Hamburg, Federmesser, Lyngby, Ahrensburg, Swidry, Komornitsa, Yanislavitsa) are described in the vast sandur areas in Northern Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine as evidences of equal living conditions (Clark, 1975;Szymosak, 1987;Sorokin, 1989Sorokin, , 1999Sorokin, , 2006Baales, 1996;Larsson, 1996;Rimantene, 1996;Shild, 1996;Zhilin, 1996Zhilin, , 2005Zaliznyak, 1997Zaliznyak, , 1999Kopytin, 1999;Sulgostowska, 1999;Carpelan, 2006;Kozlowski, 2006;Dolukhanov, 2008;Hartz et al., 2012). Some of them, as Lyngby and Ahrensburg, are found in Russia also. ...
... The transition from Lateglacial to Post-glacial was most clearly expressed in the periglacial zone of the Weichselian, or Valdayan glaciations, it means in the continuous belt of outwash plains of Northern and Eastern Europe up to the Upper Volga and Kama basins in Central Russia. Similar final Palaeolithic and Mesolithic archeological cultures (Hamburg, Federmesser, Lyngby, Ahrensburg, Swidry, Komornitsa, Yanislavitsa) are described in the vast sandur areas in Northern Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine as evidences of equal living conditions (Clark, 1975;Szymosak, 1987;Sorokin, 1989Sorokin, , 1999Sorokin, , 2006Baales, 1996;Larsson, 1996;Rimantene, 1996;Shild, 1996;Zhilin, 1996Zhilin, , 2005Zaliznyak, 1997Zaliznyak, , 1999Kopytin, 1999;Sulgostowska, 1999;Carpelan, 2006;Kozlowski, 2006;Dolukhanov, 2008;Hartz et al., 2012). Some of them, as Lyngby and Ahrensburg, are found in Russia also. ...
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The local landscapes of Early Mesolithic–Neolithic settlements within the Upper Volga outwash plain are reconstructed based on the investigation of the multilayer archaeological sites Minino 2 and Zamostye 5, Moscow district, Russian forest zone according to former descriptions by the authors (Vandenberghe et al., 2010). Regional environments in the different stages of the Holocene beginning from the Preboreal, are considered using pollen data while local landscapes (including relief, soil, vegetation and water regime) are reconstructed on the base of sediments, fossil soils and macrofossils, as preserved in a series of burial pits of different age. Colonization of the area by hunters–fishermen followed the local proglacial lake filling and shallowing at the end of the Lateglacial – Postglacial period, about cal 12.0–12.2 ka BP. Drying landscape inherited sharply undulating topography where elevated dry sites were populated up to a flooding episode between cal 2.5 and– 2.8 ka BP, or about 850 BC. Water receded between 1.7 and 1.9 cal ka BP, while large-scale peat accumulation and wetland expansion began about 650–700 BP. During the Holocene depressions had been gradually filled with organic deposits reflecting change of hydrological regimes; the most significant wetting occurred about cal 5.3–5.4 ka BP. Soil evolution has proceeded from initial calcareous alkaline soils to leached acid soils and further to peaty soils.
... Ein Zusammenhang mit den Frühjahrswanderungen weiblicher Tiere zu den Kalbungsplätzen erscheint möglich (vgl. Baales 1996). ...
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Zusammenfassung -Der Beitrag diskutiert die 1959 in einem Steinbruch entdeckte und in den Folgejahren in mehrmonati-gen Kampagnen unter der Leitung von W. Barner untersuchte Fundstelle Aschenstein, Lkr. Hildesheim. Der Ausgräber hatte sich früh auf die Ansprache als jungpaläolithische Fundstelle festgelegt und unter den zahlreichen überlieferten Rengeweih-resten verschiedene Bearbeitungsspuren sowie auch künstlerische Gravuren postuliert. Aufgrund eines konventionellen Ra-diokarbondatums wurde die Station Aschenstein dann später zeitlich in die Nähe des zweiten Kältemaximums der letzten Eiszeit gestellt. Die Untersuchung musste sich auf wenige Angaben des Ausgräbers, zwei geowissenschaftliche Gutachten und die heute noch vorhandenen Funde stützen. Eine kritische Diskussion des Kontextes lässt erkennen, dass die Funde aus unter-schiedlichen Bereichen des Steinbruches und des Umfeldes kommen. Die angeblichen zahlreichen Belege für Geweihzerle-gung, ornamentale Gravuren und sonstige Artefakte müssen zurückgewiesen werden. Nur einzelne bearbeitete Faunenreste und Steinartefakte weisen auf eine ehemalige Fundschicht am Aschenstein hin, die vermutlich in den Schuttkegel einer Dolo-mitklippe verlagert wurde. Ein an einem Geweihabfallstück der Spangewinnungstechnik gewonnenes AMS-Datum spricht für einen Zusammenhang dieser wenigen Funde mit dem jüngeren Magdalénien (ca. 12 600 – 12 200 calBC). Ein unbearbeitetes Rengeweihfragment datiert hingegen in die Zeit kurz nach dem zweiten Kältemaximum im engeren Sinne um ca. 21 000 calBC und bestätigt das früher gewonnene Datum. Das Datierungsergebnis spricht dafür, dass in dieser Zeit Rentiere im Zuge jahres-zeitlicher Wanderungen in größerer Zahl in das Gebiet am Nordrand der Mittelgebirgszone gelangten und somit grundsätz-lich die Voraussetzungen auch für die Anwesenheit des Menschen kurz nach dem Höhepunkt des zweiten Kältemaximum ge-geben waren. Abstract -This contribution discusses the site of Aschenstein in Lower Saxony, Germany, which was discovered during quar-rying in 1959 and investigated over a period of several months under the direction of W. Barner. The excavator decided early on that the locality represented an Upper Palaeolithic site and claimed that numerous recovered reindeer antlers (mainly shed specimens of young and / or female animals) showed traces of human working or even artistic engravings. Later, on the evi-dence of a single conventional radiocarbon date (Kn 2712: 18 820 ± 180 BP), Aschenstein was assigned a context close to the second glacial maximum of the last glaciation. This attribution appeared to be supported by the faunal remains which, apart from the numerous specimens of reindeer antler and ribs, represent a variety of typically Pleistocene species, albeit repre-sented by only one or two fragments. The evidence available for the present investigation consisted of the few details given by the excavator, two geoscientific reports and those finds from the site which can still be located. Many of those originally described can no longer be located and an appreciable quantity of faunal material was certainly destroyed in order to obtain the bulked sample for the radiocarbon measurement. Critical examination of these sources shows that the finds must originate from different zones of the previous quarry and the surrounding area. Traces of rust on some lithic artefacts suggest that they may even be plough damaged surface finds and that their attribution to an excavated site must be viewed most critically. The claimed numerous specimens of antler working and engraving must be rejected and only a very small number of finds of fauna and lithic artefacts remains as potential evidence for a human occupation site, probably in the scree debris in front of the Aschenstein dolomite cliff. One of the very few humanly modified faunal remains, a reindeer antler fragment showing traces of working by the groove and splinter technique, was directly dated by AMS to 12 366 ± 61 BP (KIA-33772), which would cor-respond to ca. 12 600 – 12 200 calBC and thus suggest a context within the younger Magdalenian. By contrast, an AMS result on an unmodified reindeer antler (KIA-33773: 19 570 ± 100 BP) dates this specimen to the period shortly after the second last glacial maximum and thus quite close to the previous bulked conventional result. The discrepant results suggest that the Aschenstein faunal material must represent a mixed assemblage. The older dates can be seen as confirmation that reindeer
... The pioneer settlers of Southern Scandinavia, in particular the Hamburgians were specialized reindeer hunters (Bokelmann 1979(Bokelmann , 1991. The following of reindeer herds does provide a viable economic base (see discussions in Baales 1996), but puts enormous mobility pressures on the groups practicing it. Petersen & Johansen (1993) have reconstructed the reindeer hunters' settlement pattern as linear, with sites located along the hypothesized reindeer migration routes. ...
... Some 200 years after the LSE, populations in northern Europe were again set into motion as temperatures plummeted with the onset of GS-1. Northern populations were pushed southwards and, coming into contact with the curve-backed point groups of the uplands, once again took up bow-and-arrow technology, albeit without changing the overall morphology of their armatures (Baales 1996). The Ahrensburgian and its eastern European counterpart the Sviderian (Kobusiewicz 2002) are characterized first and foremost by their diminutive tanged rather than backed points. ...
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... Considering the frequency of microliths, in particular Zonhoven points, in these assemblages, the presence of microburins in the same inventories is not necessarily related to the Ahrensburgian tanged points. Baales, 1996). ...
Chapter
The Havelte point is the first implement to develop and spread genuinely across Northern Europe during the Late Glacial. Despite its interesting geographical, chronological as well as morphological position, this type has rarely been the focus of archaeological studies. In fact, since its definition in the 1930s and 1940s this point had hardly been considered as a significant type in Late Glacial literature until Dick Stapert published the Lateglacial material from the Dutch site Oldeholtwolde in the early 1980s. Since the 1990s, assemblages yielding Havelte points (usually attributed to the Havelte Group) are frequently presented from NW Europe creating a small corpus of data connected with this point type. Reviewed information based on this corpus is assembled in the present paper to consider the development of this type of points in the context of their distinction from other Late Glacial points, their possible use, and their occurrence in the Late Glacial environment.
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The application of high-resolution methods to reconstruct the ecology and behavior of large-herbivores within Late Pleistocene contexts in Europe has revealed increasing evidence for variability in diet, habitat preference, ranges and mobility patterns through time and space. This data has major implications for interpretations of hominin subsistence strategies in terms of prey-species selection, which rest to a large extent, on the spatial ecology of these animals and their resulting availability in the environment. To this end, multi-isotope analysis of faunal remains from archaeological sites has been shown to provide direct information in herbivore movements and ranges that move beyond assumptions of consistency in animal behavior through time. The Middle Paleolithic site of Salzgitter-Lebenstedt, Northern Germany, has been put forward as a prime example of specialized hunting of a single taxon – reindeer – by Neanderthals. However, questions remain around the number and season of hunting events. Here we employ strontium ( ⁸⁷ Sr/ ⁸⁶ Sr) isotope analysis in combination with stable oxygen (δ ¹⁸ O) and carbon (δ ¹³ C) isotope analysis of sequentially-sampled tooth enamel from reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus ) and horse ( Equus sp.) to reconstruct the sub-annual dietary and ranging behaviors of these prey-species at Salzgitter. We find that reindeer exhibit parallel seasonal shifts in diet and likely experienced similar environmental conditions. While the majority of the reindeer display the potential for long-distance climate-induced migrations, mobility patterns and seasonal ranges appear to have differed between individuals. This may be indicative of behavioral flexibility, particularly in migratory behavior of reindeer, during this period in Northern Germany. Horses analyzed here likely consumed a graze-based diet year-round, while potentially undertaking more residential movements on a seasonal basis. We briefly discuss potential implications of these findings on Neanderthal hunting strategies at the site. Finally, we discuss the challenges to the application of ⁸⁷ Sr/ ⁸⁶ Sr as a provenancing tool in Central Europe, and the importance of multi-isotope approaches and development of additional spatial proxies.
Preprint
The European Final Palaeolithic witnessed marked changes in almost all societal domains. Despite a rich body of evidence, our knowledge of palaeodemographic processes and regional population dynamics still needs to be improved. In this study, we present regionally differentiated estimates of absolute numbers and population densities for the Greenland Interstadial 1d-a (GI-1d-a; 14-12.7 ka BP) and the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1; 12.7-11.6 ka BP) for western and central Europe. The data were obtained by applying the Cologne Protocol, a geostatistical approach for estimating prehistoric population size and density, to a newly compiled dataset of Final Palaeolithic sites. On a large spatio-temporal scale, we observe a shift of the main areas of human occupation from the Franco-Cantabrian region, which was intensely occupied during most phases of the preceding Upper Palaeolithic, to regions north of the Alps. At smaller scales, we observe divergent regional trends in the Final Palaeolithic meta-population: during GI 1d-a, a decreasing population in southwestern Europe and an increasing population in north-eastern Central Europe. For the first time since the dispersal of anatomically modern humans into Europe, we see that Central Europe becomes the dominant demographic growth area. Subsequently, the climatic cooling of GS-1 coincides with a pronounced population decline in most parts of the study area. An apparent increase in population density occurs only in north-eastern Central Europe and north-eastern Italy. Our estimates suggest that the total population was reduced by half. Similar results, with a relationship between decreasing temperatures and decreasing populations, have already been observed for the late phase of the Gravettian, when populations were reduced to only one third of those estimated for the early phase. Yet, in contrast to the collapse of local populations during the late Gravettian, the increase in population densities in central Europe during GS-1 indicates population movements eastwards, possibly in response to deteriorating climatic conditions, particularly in western regions during the Younger Dryas.
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Currently in NW Europe little is known about the human response to the extensive cold reversal at the end of the Pleistocene, the Younger Dryas (ca. 12,850 till ca. 11,650 cal BP), mainly due to the poor chronological resolution of the archaeological sites belonging to the Ahrensburgian Culture. Here we present a series of 33 radiocarbon dates performed on the seminal cave site of Remouchamps, situated in the Belgian Meuse basin. Combined with a revision of the available radiocarbon evidence along the southern North Sea basin (Belgium, southern Netherlands, western Germany), it is suggested that the first half of the Younger Dryas, characterized as extremely cold and wet, faced a significant population reduction. Repopulation started around the middle of the Younger Dryas, from ca. 12,200 cal BP onward, probably in response to a slight climatic improvement leading to somewhat warmer summers. This might be considered a prelude to the subsequent population boost of the Early Holocene (Mesolithic).
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This chapter starts with a theoretical introduction to the concept of the creation and perception of cultural landscapes. Niche construction theory and human agency, often treated as controverse concepts are discussed as complementary aspects of human environment relations. The DPSIR framework (the concept of Driving forces, Pressures, States, Impacts and Responses) is applied as valuable approach for the explanation of the transformations in human behaviour in reaction to environmental developments. Aspects of intended and unintended reactions to human agency and action are discussed as well as the temporal and spatial scales of transformations that consequently occured. Therefore, four examples are presented from case studies within the CRC 1266. The Palaeolithic and Mesolithic use of natural resources will have left visible but short-lived traces in the landscape as first steps towards a cultural landscape. The role of humans in the spread of plants and the influence of human action on the plant distribution and composition are discussed in this context. The Neolithic transformation shows a new dimension of changes in the landscape. The producing economy leads to a wide range of resource extractions that enable a much higher population being nourished by the manipulated environment with anthropogenic open land as a new landscape element or niche. Bronze Age progression and intensification of land use in many areas lead to soil degradation and the widespread expansion of heathlands. Even though the process was too slow to be perceived consciously, associated economic adaptations to this new type of cultural landscape are observable. The fourth example explains an unexpected positive aspect of deforestation. In the context of Neolithic Trypillian megasites the soil developed towards a deep and fertile Chernozem. The role of earthworms is discussed as key factor for the soil development in the transition from a forest and forest steppe towards the agrarian steppe of today. The difference between human agency and human action is discussed for the presented examples as the awareness of the consequences of human behaviour very much depends the velocity of changes and human perception.
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Sediments from the Nahe palaeolake in Schleswig-Holstein provided a continuous and high-resolution palynological record in the vicinity of a Lateglacial archaeological site in northern Germany. The principal objective of the study was to investigate potential reflections of Palaeolithic human-environmental interaction, which is generally regarded as challenging. Charcoal particle frequencies in different size classes and coinciding fungal spores reveal a remarkable pattern at the transition from the Dryas 3 to the Preboreal period that corresponds to the chronological attribution of parts of the archaeological record. The applied indicators of human action render it possible to define a temporally limited phase of generally elevated large charcoal particle inputs, reflecting potentially anthropogenic activity. The interpretation of the palynological record leads to the hypothesis that the climatically driven rapid change of the vegetation at the Pleistocene-Holocene transition caused temporally increased hunting activities by Late Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers. The excellent age control of the record allowed to date this phase between 11,650 and 11,520 cal yr BP.
Conference Paper
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The Pleistocene last Late Glacial site of Bonn-Oberkassel in the northern Rhineland was among the first Upper Palaeolithic sites at which fragmentary dog remains were identified. They were recovered with two almost complete skeletons of a male and female human interpreted as part of an Upper Palaeolithic double burial but initially attributed to a wolf. By the time of their re-identification as remains of a dog their context was provided by the recognized association of dogs with early food producing peoples, in some cases as far back as the terminal Pleistocene, and by the acknowledged presence of dogs in Holocene hunter-gatherer contexts such as the European Mesolithic or the Japanese early Jomon. Subsequent studies of the Oberkassel dog have provided or revised details of its absolute (calibrated 14C) age, morphology, size, age at death and pathology, and of its genetic status In more recent years, increasing numbers of dogs or “dog-like” canids have been described from Upper Palaeolithic contexts, some of them appreciably older than Bonn-Oberkassel. Discussion of a potentially Pleistocene domestication of the wolf has come to occupy a prominent position in the field of Palaeolithic research; however debate has in some cases been heated rather than illuminating. The present paper reassesses the contribution of the Oberkassel dog to our understanding of the processes by which wolves became part of Pleistocene hunter-gatherer communities and the possible role or function of these first domesticated animals - dogs - within these societies.
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The Magdalenian in Central Europe is not a completely homogeneous unit, but exhibits regional differences. This chapter analyzes the inner structure of the Central European Magdalenian (CEM) in terms of spatial and temporal variability. It starts by critically reviewing the recorded assemblages and identifying major factors that determine their distribution pattern. In a second step, lithic raw material acquisition and sources of fossil and subrecent marine mollusks are analyzed to estimate site catchment areas as well as regional and supra-regional interaction patterns. Subsequently the typological spectrum and the applied knapping techniques are investigated and analyzed statistically. Last, some aspects of CEM sculptures and engravings discussed with regard to similarities and differences in different regions. The joined evaluation of the individual results is used to distinguish regional groups within the CEM.
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This paper deals with the geographical variability in the size of reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) in western and central Europe during the Late Glacial (ca. 13-10 ka B.P.). Osteometrical data suggests that a size cline existed from NW to SE, with animals in Great Britain being smaller than those from northern Germany, which, in turn, were smaller than in Moldavia. This cline can be explained by the continentality gradient of the climate. Additionally, a difference in the mean size of reindeer from the northern European Plain and from more southern areas was detected. This difference was mostly due to a smaller size of the females in the south. We postulate that the smaller size of the females was probably caused by food-stress during the summer and early autumn periods of the year.
Article
Although Central Germany is a classical research area regarding the late Young Palaeolithic of Europe many inventories information lack information entirely or in parts. This contribution therefore presents comprehensive information for a local concentration of sites from the valley of the Weisse Elster between Bad Köstritz and Zeitz. Only one of these eight sites has been explored by excavation, the others have come into existence by collecting surface finds. Consequently seven inventories also contain younger artefacts, especially prehistoric flints dominating in four complexes. For this reason neither the differentiation between Palaeolithic and post-Mesolithic flints nor between retouching and simple core damages is unproblematic. Five inventories comprise not more than 100, only three more than 400 Palaeolithic lithics. Nevertheless, the inventories allow an archaeo-stratigraphical classification of a find record from the Magdalenian to the Late Palaeolithic.
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Abstract The association of dogs with early food producing peoples has often been documented, in some cases as far back as the terminal Pleistocene. Their presence in Holocene hunter-gatherer contexts such as the European Mesolithic or the Japanese early Jomon has also long been accepted. More recently, dogs or “dog-like” canids have increasingly been described and in some cases discussed controversially from Upper Palaeolithic contexts. One of the first Palaeolithic sites at which dog remains were recognized and generally accepted was the Pleistocene late glacial site of Bonn-Oberkassel in the northern Rhineland. Here fragmentary remains of a canid recovered with two human skeletons are interpreted as a dog interred as part of an Upper Palaeolithic human double burial.
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A conspicuous feature of the Late Upper Palaeolithic settlement pattern in Northern Germany and adjacent regions is an about 100 km broad, east-west oriented zone, situated between the settlement areas of the Hamburgian in the north and the Magdalenian in the south, from which virtually no sites from either archaeological entity are reported so far. The Westphalian lowlands, which are situated in this empty zone, are usually thought to have been populated only during the late Allerød-Interstadial (GI-1c1). Recent research, however, indicates that this zone became populated already during the early Allerød-Interstadial (GI-1c3). From a typological point of view, the four investigated sites, namely Rietberg, Reken, Borken- Gemenkrückling and Haltern-Lavesum, can generally be attributed to the Early Federmessergruppen. However, since the tool spectrum exhibits certain idiosyncrasies in comparison to other sites of this period in Central and Northwestern Europe, we consider these assemblages to represent a distinguishable regional group within the Early Federmesser complex. In this paper, we present the typological and technological characteristics of the four Westphalian sites and discuss them in the context of the Late Upper to Late Palaeolithic transition.
Article
Investigations within the Collaborative Research Centre 806 "Our Way to Europe: Culture-Environment Interaction and Human Mobility in the Late Quaternary" of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft led to the discovery of new sites of the Aurignacian and Magdalenian in North Rhine-Westphalia. The investigations were conducted in close cooperation with the Rhenish and Westphalian cultural heritage management as well as with numerous local history researchers. After summarising the current state of research in the region, the newly discovered sites are discussed in detail and interpreted in the context of the Aurignacian and Magdalenian settlement pattern in the area under investigation. Eventually, a systematic review of private archaeological collections almost doubled the number of known Upper Palaeolithic sites in North Rhine-Westphalia within three years. With regard to the Aurignacian and Magdalenian, the potential to discover new sites seems comparably large for the former, whereas for the latter the overall picture only changed in a minor way.
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The paper describes a small late Upper Palaeolithic open-air site situated on a prominent ridge top interfluve in the English Midlands. A discrete cluster of worked flint of late Palaeolithic blade technology was discovered within an excavated area of 100 m2. The lithic scatter represents the hearth-side activities of a short-term occupancy by a small hunting group with evidence for provisioning of flint, production of blades/bladelets, and toolkit maintenance. Spatial analysis provides some dynamics to these activities. The assemblage has strong affinities with the Late Glacial-early Post-glacial Long Blade industries of southern England and northern France but displays many attributes that are atypical of the classic sites. The Launde assemblage appears to be a missing fades of the Long Blade tradition. The blade technology and the typology of the projectile points are also closely paralleled further afield in Belgium, the Netherlands and western Germany, what might be termed a late Western Ahrensburgian, probably dating to the early Pre-Boreal at the beginning of the 10th millennium BP.
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