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One of the most entrenched binary oppositions in archaeology and anthropology has been the agriculturalist vs hunter-gatherer-fisher dichotomy fuelling a debate that this paper tackles from the bottom-up by seeking to reconstruct full past diets. The Japanese prehistoric Jōmon cultures survived without fully-developed agriculture for more than 10,000 years. Here we compile a comprehensive, holistic database of archaeobotanical and archaeozoological records from the two ends of the archipelago, the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido and the southernmost island-chain of Ryukyu. The results suggest Jōmon diets varied far more geographically than they did over time, and likely cultivated taxa were important in both regions. This provides the basis for examining how fisher-hunter-gatherer diets can fulfil nutritional requirements from varied environments and were resilient in the face of environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractAccording to archaeological data, Otaria flavescens and Arctocephalus australis were exploited at the mouth of the Santa Cruz River by hunter-gatherers in the late Holocene. These studies suggest the past existence of reproductive colonies from where individuals of different ages were taken, highlighting the offspring available in the austral summer. This paper presents new information on sex, age, and season of death based on the study of teeth growth layers and rings recorded on canines of both species recovered in three archaeological sites located in Punta Entrada, on the southern bank of Santa Cruz River. The results confirm that otariids were captured in the austral summer and show that winter and spring were also important seasons. Prey included females, pups, and adult males captured according to the abundance of each age group at different seasons of the year. These data are in agreement with those obtained from other lines of evidence, such as osteometry and sclerochronology, which indicate this sector of the Patagonian coast was occupied recurrently to hunt otariids as one of the main resources taken by hunter-gatherers when visiting Punta Entrada at different times of the year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a review on more than hundred years of palaeoenvironmental research in Sweden; from early descriptions of peat and tufa deposits in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to multiproxy transfer function studies in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries CE. Research on Holocene climate variability has a long history in Sweden and many ideas and concepts about changes in temperature and precipitation during the Holocene originated in Fennoscandia. The Holocene climate evolution in Sweden follows a pattern in common for many northern latitude records with a rapid warming starting at the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary at c. 11 650 cal a BP, followed by the middle Holocene thermal maximum between c. 8000 and 5000 cal a BP. A change to colder and wetter conditions starts c. 4000 cal a BP and lasts until the late 1800 s CE. There is evidence for climatic anomalies such as the 8.2 and 4.2 ka BP events and the Little Ice Age (LIA) but only inconclusive evidence for other events, such as the 10.3 ka BP event. The main pattern of Holocene climate and environmental evolution is well known for most parts of Sweden, but the present review also shows that several research questions remain to be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formation and evolution processes of natural tombolos involve many interrelated geomorphological, sedimentary, oceanographic and anthropogenic factors, making their measurement and simulation an extremely difficult task. The present study attempts to fill this knowledge gap by detecting the natural tombolos in Greece, formed in the current sea level, through the statistical analysis of their morphometric and socio-environmental parameters. In addition, the long-term evolution of these coastal depositional landscapes has been determined by comparing old aerial photos taken in 1945 or 1960 and recent satellite images taken from 2020 to 2022. Two thirds of the twenty tombolos studied are subject to erosion, while eight are sporadically destroyed and turned into salients. The Greek tombolos are mildly or heavily exploited for touristic purposes, and fourteen of them are protected by national and international environmental laws. Future studies need to focus on the unstable type of these coastal landforms that are modified from tombolo to salient and vice versa to obtain helpful information about the morphodynamic conditions necessary for their evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The identification of mobility patterns in prehistoric communities is crucial for the understanding of their social and economic strategies. Though factors such as economics, environment, and cultural choices are strictly related to mobility, it has been demonstrated how anticipated mobility is pivotal in generating different aspects of site structure and spatial organization. Considering the stone structures uncovered at Takarkori rock shelter (southwestern Libya, central Sahara), we performed morphometrical and spatial analysis to provide appropriate indicators of mobility patterns, site structure, and activity areas among hunter-gatherers and pastoral groups that inhabited the shelter during the Early and Middle Holocene. We recognized year-round semisedentary patterns and shorter seasonal occupations, based on the number, size, typology, and topography of stone structures. The paper discusses how, through the analysis of stone structures, it is possible to recognize mobility patterns in the archaeological record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During recent detailed recording of Nanguluwurr, a rock art site that is part of the Burrungkuy (Nourlangie) complex of cultural sites in Kakadu National Park, Australia, the data showed discrete clusters of specific motif types distributed throughout the length of the gallery. This paper focuses on the spatial distribution of the main motif clusters depicting spirit figures, material culture, fish, and painted hand and forearm motifs in order to understand the significance of these clusters within the site and the significance of Nanguluwurr as part of a wider complex of cultural sites. We consider the concept of these motif groupings as "meaning clusters," as well as their chronological sequence, and discuss the possibility that they are the result of bursts of painting activity that occurred during the long history of the site manifest through depictions of ancient Dynamic Figures to the recent painting of X-ray fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Israelite Plain, a narrow terrace at the western edge of the Great Australian Bight, is characterised by a series of schizohaline, ephemeral lakes leeward of a marginal marine eolianite dune complex that has many similarities to the Coorong Coastal Plain (CCP). The late Pleistocene and Holocene sediments are a mixture of dominantly quartzose sand and lesser carbonate components. Paleolagoon to shallow marine MIS 5e, mollusc-rich quartzose deposits are capped by calcrete or karst and contain a biota similar to the well-documented, coeval Glanville Formation on the CCP. Holocene sands with minor carbonate are also lagoonal and resemble many modern Coorong Lagoon deposits. Both deposits are interpreted to reflect marine accumulation during sea-level highstands. Lakes today range from dry to water-filled with most floored by calcareous quartzose sand. Microbial influenced sedimentary structures in the form of pustular to laminated mats veneer lake margin bedrock and sediment. Carbonate minerals are mostly calcite with abundant accessory magnesium-calcite, aragonite and traces of magnesite, monohydrocalcite and halite. Gypsum is minor but ubiquitous and floors one of the smaller, marginal-marine lakes. Although having a similar evaporative climate and evidence of groundwater resurgence like Coorong lakes, there is no significant synsedimentary dolomite. This aspect is interpreted to reflect the narrow width of the plain, and the Mg-poor source of groundwater from the nearby karst Nullarbor Plain to the north. The Israelite Plain, together with other coeval, young successions marginal to the Southern Ocean under a semiarid climate now illustrate the depositional variations and early diagenetic differences that can occur in similar environments adjacent to a cool ocean. The Israelite Plain is a narrow, marginal marine terrace covered by Quaternary, lagoonal, eolian to lacustrine, calcareous siliciclastic sands, similar to several other calcareous terraces along the southern Australia coast. The interpreted sediment ages are late Pleistocene stage MIS 5e with the deposit sporadically overlain by similar Holocene deposits. Most 14C age dates are suspicious because of interpreted diagenesis or MIS 5e age, whereas U/Th age dates appear correct or altered by diagenesis. Pleistocene biota is dominated by the bivalve Anadara trapezia, whereas Holocene deposits contain a varied array of cooler water molluscs. The carbonates are similar to those on the Coorong Coastal Plain but do not contain any dolomite likely because of climate and lack of Mg-groundwater flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study provides valuable new information on the evolution of Sydney estuary by tracing the development of the complete marine–estuarine–fluvial system through a full glacial cycle (Last Interglacial, LIG, to the present Interglacial). Extensive seismic (361.3-line km) and sedimentological studies provided a sound foundation for production of a detailed litho- and seismic-stratigraphic record for the estuary. In the absence of reliable age data, a relative chronology was constructed based on Quaternary flooding surface elevations constrained by a recent local relative sea-level record supported by other global studies. A thick, ubiquitous estuarine unit deposited during the LIG period (MIS 5.5; 130–115 ka BP) was an important chronological marker horizon and played a critical role in controlling seismic interpretation and correlation throughout the estuary. Deposition during the MIS 5.1/5.3 interstadial period (100–80 ka BP) resulted in deposition of fine-grained, estuarine sediments in the lower estuary and time-equivalent, fluvial-sourced estuarine and channel sediments, and marsh sediments in the upper and central estuary, respectively. The MIS 3 interstadial event did not play a significant role in sedimentation in Sydney estuary. An eolian dune field formed adjacent to the southern shores of the estuary during the last glacial (31–24 ka BP) when most of the sediment in the lower estuary had been removed by fluvial erosion. Transgressive marine sand, which deposited in the lower paleovalley after the ocean re-entered the estuary, experienced repeated erosion and infilling by laterally migrating paleoriver channels. A marine flood-tide delta now occupies the estuary mouth, and the lower and upper/central estuary are mantled in a veneer (mean 7 m) of Holocene sand and mud, respectively. A relative chronology was based on Quaternary flooding surface elevations constrained by relative sea-level. First geological history of the Sydney estuary with a complete marine–estuarine–fluvial system. A late Quaternary estuary evolution through a full glacial cycle. Geological history includes an interstadial (MIS 5.3/5.1) estuarine sequence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a geomorphological map of the southwestern coast of Sardinia encompassing inland and offshore areas of the S’Omu e S’Orku Mesolithic site. The submerged area was documented by high-resolution multibeam bathymetry combined with Side-Scan Sonar data. The emerged coastal area was surveyed using Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle Remote Sensing and field surveys. The inland landforms were shaped by coastal, fluvial, and gravity-induced processes. Most of the submerged landforms appear be modeled in subaerial conditions during sea-level lowstands, and then sealed by the rising sea level. The coastal evolution has been characterized by the rapid cliff retreat facilitated intense linear erosion of watercourses, by debris flows, rockfalls and toppling. Geomorphological evidences of cliff retreat due to landslide was supported by a simplified analytic hydraulic model of the wavecliff interaction. These processes and the sea level rise canceled any possible Mesolithic settlement along the coast. The survival of the S’Omu e S’Orku site is only due to a protected morphological position and to the distance from the Early Holocene coastline. The dearth of coastal Early Holocene prehistoric sites is likely the outcome of the presented coastal dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The island laboratory concept has long been an important construct in island archaeology, with an emphasis on human biogeography and issues of isolation, connectivity, interaction, evolution, and extinction. The Pacific Coast of Alta and Baja California contains several offshore islands that offer a framework for evaluating a variety of cultural and ecological issues. The California Islands include large islands (>100 km2) with abundant resources that were attractive to ancient people for 13,000 years and numerous small islands (5 km2 in area or less), many of which contain evidence of human occupation for centuries to millennia. Most of these small islands have seen limited archaeological research and often are presumed to have been marginal locations for past human settlement. Today, small islands from San Francisco Bay to Baja California provide key habitat for endemic species, breeding seabirds and marine mammals, and rare plants. Here, we review the archaeology of small islands on California's outer coast, focusing on paleogeography, human settlement dynamics, and ecology and biodiversity. Synthesis of archaeological and environmental data demonstrate the utility of small islands as model systems for evaluating changes in island ecology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Odd palynomorphs are identified in sediments in a shallow core from the Rømø barrier island in the Danish Wadden Sea. The palynomorphs occur in five stratigraphic samples of lacustrine mud, peat and sand. The sand has a chaotic structure and was deposited by a tsunami associated with the Storegga slide in the North Atlantic Ocean, 8150 years ago. The palynomorphs are very common in the lower samples from in situ gyttja and peat and are less common in the overlying sand bed. Reworked lumps of peat occur in the sand and the palynomorphs are therefore also considered reworked into the sand during the tsunami event. The variable morphology of the palynomorphs is considered to represent the ontogeny as well as the specific morphology of fern annuli. The wall tissue of the sporangium is coherent with annulus cells and reveals the fern relationship. The tissue shows a characteristic succession of elongated, rectangular cells in the sporangium wall with stomium and annulus. The palynomorphs are interpreted as parts of annuli from sporangia of leptosporangiate ferns. The modern fern species Hemionitis glabella has a comparable sporangium morphology, and the palynomorphs are considered to come from a fern relative. Hemionitis is cosmopolitan but absent in Europe north of France. This annulus type and the derived palynomorph types have not been described from fossil material before. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]