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Taxonomic identification of whale bones found during archaeological excavations is problematic due to their typically fragmented state. This difficulty limits understanding of both the past spatio-temporal distributions of whale populations and of possible early whaling activities. To overcome this challenge, we performed zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry on an unprecedented 719 archaeological and palaeontological specimens of probable whale bone from Atlantic European contexts, predominantly dating from ca 3500 BCE to the eighteenth century CE. The results show high numbers of Balaenidae (many probably North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)) and grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) specimens, two taxa no longer present in the eastern North Atlantic. This discovery matches expectations regarding the past utilization of North Atlantic right whales, but was unanticipated for grey whales, which have hitherto rarely been identified in the European zooarchaeological record. Many of these specimens derive from contexts associated with mediaeval cultures frequently linked to whaling: the Basques, northern Spaniards, Normans, Flemish, Frisians, Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. This association raises the likelihood that early whaling impacted these taxa, contributing to their extirpation and extinction. Much lower numbers of other large cetacean taxa were identified, suggesting that what are now the most depleted whales were once those most frequently used.

Benthic foraminifera have rarely been reported from saline springs in Germany. To fill this gap, we investigated live (Rose Bengal stained) and dead benthic foraminifera from saline ponds, springs, and meadows in central Germany. For foraminiferal investigations, we collected surface samples along transects with changes in vegetation at Sülldorf in Saxony-Anhalt, in Artern and close to Auleben, Luisenhall, and Esperstedt in Thuringia. We found live and dead foraminifera at all investigated saline locations. We observed seven different agglutinated species that commonly inhabit coastal salt marshes (Trochamminita irregularis, Trochamminita salsa, Entzia macrescens, Miliammina fusca, Siphotrochammina lobata, Haplophragmoides manilaensis, and Haplophragmoides wilberti), one agglutinated species, Entzia sp., which has not been described to date, and one calcareous species, Gordiospira arctica, which has earlier been described from shallow-water settings at high northern latitudes. We hypothesize that foraminifera have been repeatedly transported to the inland saline habitats in central Germany by migratory birds on their routes from northern and southern Europe probably since the early Holocene. Future genetic investigations of the species in central Germany and comparisons with sequenced specimens from other localities will provide a better understanding of their provenance and phylogenetic position.

Taxonomic identification of whale bones found during archaeological excavations is problematic due to their typically fragmented state. This difficulty limits understanding of both the past spatio-temporal distributions of whale populations and of possible early whaling activities. To overcome this challenge, we performed zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry on an unprecedented 719 archaeological and palaeontological specimens of probable whale bone from Atlantic European contexts, predominantly dating from ca 3500 BCE to the eighteenth century CE. The results show high numbers of Balaenidae (many probably North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis)) and grey whale (Eschrichtius robustus) specimens, two taxa no longer present in the eastern North Atlantic. This discovery matches expectations regarding the past utilization of North Atlantic right whales, but was unanticipated for grey whales, which have hitherto rarely been identified in the European zooarchaeological record. Many of these specimens derive from contexts associated with mediaeval cultures frequently linked to whaling: the Basques, northern Spaniards, Normans, Flemish, Frisians, Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians. This association raises the likelihood that early whaling impacted these taxa, contributing to their extirpation and extinction. Much lower numbers of other large cetacean taxa were identified, suggesting that what are now the most depleted whales were once those most frequently used.

Two loess sections from the Upper Palaeolithic site of Kammern-Grubgraben (Lower Austria) were analysed to test geochemical proxies, as well as radiocarbon data of different components, for their reliability and consistency in an archaeological context. Only a reliable basal age (28.9-27.8 ka cal BP) was obtained from charcoal fragments derived from a tundra gley underlying the archaeological horizons and assigned to Greenland Interstadials 3 or 4. Grain size, organic and inorganic geochemistry, and stable isotopes of the fine organic fraction (delta C-13(org)) and of rhizoconcretions (delta C-13, delta O-18) were analysed to provide information on palaeoenvironmental conditions. Low-resolution geochemical and sedimentological analyses document a humidity-related variability, while delta C-13(org) values indicate predominant C-3 vegetation. High-resolution elemental variations derived from X-ray fluorescence scanning exhibit increasing Ca and decreasing Fe and Ti values, indicating drier conditions towards the top. Secondary pedogenic carbonate concretions provide post-sedimentary (Holocene) ages and are not suitable for assessing climate and environmental changes for the Palaeolithic.