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Funder: NOMIS Stiftung; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100008483, The article presents evidence about the Middle Palaeolithic and Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition interval in the karst area of the Danube Gorges in the Lower Danube Basin. We review the extant data and present new evidence from two recently investigated sites found on the Serbian side of the Danube River – Tabula Traiana and Dubočka‐Kozja caves. The two sites have yielded layers dating to both the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and have been investigated by the application of modern standards of excavation and recovery along with a suite of state‐of‐the‐art analytical procedures. The presentation focuses on micromorphological analyses of the caves’ sediments, characterisation of cryptotephra, a suite of new radiometric dates (accelerator mass spectrometry and optically stimulated luminescence) as well as proteomics (zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry) and stable isotope data in discerning patterns of human occupation of these locales over the long term.

Three cryptotephra layers associated with important periods of climatic change were identified in the Middle Palaeolithic sequence of Theopetra Cave, Greece. The lower cryptotephra layer, THP-TII5, is correlated with the P-11 Pantellerian eruption dated to ∼128–131 ka. This cryptotephra postdates a thick sequence of combustion layers that show a complex vegetation succession quite similar to that of the last deglaciation succession in the cave. Two other cryptotephras, THP-TII10 and THP-TII12, are correlated with the Nisyros Upper Pumice and the Pantellerian Y6/Green Tuff, dated to >50 ka and 45.7 ka, respectively. This sequence confirms the position of the Nisyros Upper tephra, below the Pantellerian Green Tuff, in the volcanic event stratigraphy of the Mediterranean. Moreover, these two upper cryptotephras bracket an extended combustion layer with interstadial vegetation characteristics that may be coincident with the complex Greenland Interstadial 13–14. On the basis of this new chronology it can be deduced that the intensity of occupation and presence or absence of humans in the cave were closely related to climatic changes. In addition, a remarkable similarity in the pattern of occupational intensity during the last two deglaciations can be suggested.

Sites in North Africa hold key information for dating the presence of Homo sapiens and the distribution of Middle Stone Age (MSA), Middle Palaeolithic (MP) and Later Stone Age (LSA) cultural activity in the Late Pleistocene. Here we present new and review recently published tephrochronological evidence for five cave sites in North Africa with long MSA/MP and LSA cultural sequences. Four tephra horizons have been identified at the Haua Fteah (Cyrenaica, Libya). They include cryptotephra evidence for the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) eruption dating to ∼39 ka that allows correlation with other Palaeolithic sequences in the eastern Mediterranean and as far north as Russia. Cryptotephra have also been recorded from the Moroccan sites of Taforalt, Rhafas and Dar es-Soltane 1. At Taforalt the geochemical composition suggests a provenance in the Azores, while examples from Sodmein (Egypt) appear to derive from central Anatolia and another unknown source. In these latter examples chemical compositional data from relevant proximal volcanic centres is currently lacking so the identification of tephra in layers of known age and cultural association provides the first reliable age determinations for distal volcanic events and their geographical extent. The future potential for tephrochronological research in North Africa is also discussed.

A palaeolimnological study of Lake Khall was undertaken to reconstruct impacts from five thousand years of climate change and human activity in the Ol'khon region of Lake Baikal. Taiga biome dominated regional landscapes, although significant compositional turnover occurred due to the expansion of eurythermic and drought resistant Scots pine. Climate during the mid-Holocene was wetter than the present, and Lake Khall was fresh, with abundant molluscs. By 4.4 cal ka BP, sedimentary geochemistry indicated a gradual change in lake water chemistry with an increase in lake salinity up to the present day, most likely controlled by groundwater influences. Vegetation turnover rate was highest between 2.75 and 2.48 cal ka BP, with the onset of drier, more continental climate, which resulted in an influx of aeolian particles to the lake. This abrupt shift was coincident with ice rafted debris event (IRD-2) in North Atlantic sediments and an attenuation of the East Asian summer monsoon. A second arid period occurred shortly afterwards (2.12–1.87 cal ka BP) which resulted in the decline in ostracod numbers, especially Candona sp. A rather more quiescent, warmer period followed, between 1.9 and 0.7 cal ka BP, with very little change in vegetation composition, and low amounts of detrital transfer from catchment to the lake. Peak reconstructed temperatures (and low amounts of annual precipitation) were concurrent with the Medieval Climate Anomaly. Between 0.77 and 0.45 cal ka BP, climate in the Ol'khon region became colder and wetter, although Lake Khall did not become fresher. Cold, wet conditions are seen at other sites around Lake Baikal, and therefore represent a regional response to the period concurrent with the Little Ice Age and IRD-0. After AD 1845 the region warms, and Pediastrum appears in the lake in high abundances for the first time. This increase is ascribed to nutrient enrichment in the lake, linked to the rapid increase in regional pastoral farming.

Floodplain and aeolian sediments near Burdukovo reveal a detailed record of Holocene environmental change in the lower Selenga River Valley (Lake Baikal region, Siberia). During the late Pleistocene and early Holocene fine-grained alluvium accumulated on the floodplain followed by a period of increased landform stability and subsequent pedogenic formation. This part of the stratigraphical sequence yielded rich assemblages of terrestrial molluscs, which increase in species diversity from early pioneer communities with about ten taxa to levels containing over twice that number. The land snail assemblages also record an episode of relatively drier local habitats prior to ∼9.2 ka BP with subsequent wetter conditions lasting until ∼8.0 ka BP. This was followed by an abrupt and sustained change in floodplain deposition, shifting from overbank alluvium to aeolian sedimentation, within which a series of weakly developed soil horizons formed during the middle and late Holocene periods. The onset of aeolian processes and relatively drier conditions in the middle Holocene at Burdukovo coincides with major changes observed both in other regional palaeoenvironmental proxy records and in local archaeological sequences, although it is still not clear how the two are linked.

Boreal ecosystems are highly vulnerable to climate change, and severe ecological impacts in the near future are virtually certain to occur. We undertook a multiproxy study on an alpine lake (ESM-1) at the modern tree-line in boreal, southern Siberia. Steppe and tundra biomes were extensive in eastern Sayan landscapes during the early Holocene. Boreal forest quickly expanded by 9.1 ka BP, and dominated the landscape until c 0.7 ka BP, when the greatest period of compositional turnover occurred. At this time, alpine meadow landscape expanded and Picea obovata colonised new habitats along river valleys and lake shorelines, because of prevailing cool, moist conditions. During the early Holocene, chironomid assemblages were dominated by cold stenotherms. Diatoms for much of the Holocene were dominated by alkaliphilous, fragilarioid taxa, up until 0.2 ka BP, when epiphytic species expanded, indicative of increased habitat availability. C/N mass ratios ranged between 9.5 and 13.5 (11.1–15.8 C/N atomic ratios), indicative of algal communities dominating organic matter contributions to bottom sediments with small, persistent contributions from vascular plants. However, δ13C values increased steadily from −34.9‰ during the early Holocene (9.3 ka BP) to −24.8‰ by 0.6 ka BP. This large shift in magnitude may be due to a number of factors, including increasing within-lake productivity, increasing disequilibrium between the isotopic balance of the lake with the atmosphere as the lake became isotopically ‘mature’, and declining soil respiration linked to small, but distinct retreat in forest biomes. The influence of climatic variables on landscape vegetation was assessed using redundancy analysis (RDA), a linear, direct ordination technique. Changes in July insolation at 60 °N significantly explained over one-fifth of the variation in species composition, while changes in estimates of northern hemisphere temperature and ice-rafted debris events in the North Atlantic were also significant, but considerably less important. The potential importance of climate and biome development (tundra, steppe, cold deciduous forest and taiga) on different trophic levels (i.e. chironomid and diatom communities) in lake ESM-1 was also assessed using RDA. Climate predictors had a more significant influence on Holocene chironomid assemblages, especially July insolation at 60 °N, estimates of regional precipitation and estimates of northern hemisphere temperature, while only the development of the taiga biome had a significant impact on these primary consumers. Diatom communities also had a small, but significant influence on Holocene chironomid populations, perhaps linked to variation in faunal feeding strategies. In contrast, climatic and biome predictors explained similar amounts of variation in the Holocene diatom assemblage (approximately 20% each), while chironomids themselves as predictors explained just under 7% of diatom variation. Lake acidity was inferred using a diatom inference model. Results suggest that after deglaciation, the lake did not undergo a process of gradual acidification, most likely due to the presence of continuous permafrost and low levels of precipitation, preventing base cations and dissolved organic carbon entering the lake (except for the period between 1.7 and 0.7 ka BP). We conclude that lakes in continental, boreal regions undergo different models of lake ontogeny than oceanic boreal regions. Unlike other regions discussed, climate is a more important driver of ecosystem change than catchment changes. We also demonstrate that the start of the period coincident with the onset of the Little Ice Age resulted in important thresholds crossed in catchment vegetation and aquatic communities.

Eastern Siberia's Lake Baikal and its tributaries are productive fisheries, and the region's Holocene archaeological sites confirm that this is a long-standing phenomenon. Recent zooarchaeological investigations of sites here allow Holocene fishing practices to be examined in more detail than was previously possible. Along much of the lake's coast, bathymetry is very steep and the water very cold; here fishing appears to have been supplemental to other subsistence practices such as sealing and ungulate hunting. In shallower areas, waters were warmer and supported very productive fisheries for littoral species, perhaps through the use of nets or traps. The region's rivers offered their own resident species but also were used as spawning grounds by some lake fishes. The lake's littoral fisheries, while productive, likely produced fish throughout the year and did not require complex labor organization to be effectively used. Some sections of the region's rivers, particularly those that were spawning...

Floodplainsediments of the upperLenaRiver near Basovo in south-central Siberia have yielded the most detailed Holocenemolluscansuccession yet reported from the entire eastern Palaearctic. Over 72,500 shells from at least 28 species of terrestrial and 23 species of freshwater mollusc have been recovered, an abundance and diversity far higher than previously reported from the region. The molluscan assemblages are dominated by land snails, especially members of the genus Vallonia, represented by five species including Vallonia tenuilabris and two poorly known species Vallonia kamtschatica and Vallonia cf. chinensis. Other noteworthy species recovered include Gastrocopta theeli, Carychium pessimum, Vertigo extima (southernmost record), Vertigo microsphaera and the first Asian records of three other taxa (Vertigo geyeri, Vertigo genesii and Vertigo parcedentata). Illustrations are provided for the critical species, since opinions differ about the status of various taxa and the correct names that should be used. The molluscan assemblages show clear successional trends during the early to mid-Holocene, reflecting episodes of dryness/wetness on the floodplain. Drier conditions at ca 6350 14C yr BP coincide with major changes in the archaeological record seen at other sites in the region but it remains unclear whether the two are linked. A prominent charcoal-rich horizon dated to ca 2800 14C yr BP marks a burning event in the catchment, which resulted in a two-fold increase in sediment accumulation rate. Remains of small mammals occurred throughout the sequence including a tooth of Microtus cf. maximowiczii, possibly the first occurrence of Ungar vole west of LakeBaikal. The faunal analyses have been integrated with a detailed pedological study of the sedimentary profile and a chronology was obtained by means of 12 AMS radiocarbon dates. This study provides the first detailed palaeoecological information relating to Holocenemolluscan assemblages from the Cis-Baikalregion and lays the foundation for future work in the eastern Palaearctic

Overlying a palustrine deposit of unknown age (complex FP), and protected from weathering and erosion inside a large cave/rock-shelter cavity, the sedimentary fill of Cueva Antón, a Middle Paleolithic site in SE Spain, corresponds in most part (sub-complexes AS2-to-AS5) to a ca.3 m-thick Upper Pleistocene terrace of the River Mula. Coupled with the constraints derived from the deposit’s paleoclimatic proxies, OSL dating places the accumulation of this terrace in MIS 5a, and radiocarbon dates from the overlying breccia cum alluvium (sub-complex AS1) fall in the middle part of MIS 3; the intervening hiatus relates to valley incision and attendant erosion. The two intervals represented remain largely unknown in Iberia, where the archeology of the early-to-middle Upper Pleistocene is almost entirely derived from karst sites; Cueva Antón shows that this dearth of data, often interpreted in demographic terms, has depositional underpinnings ultimately determined by past climate variation. In early MIS 5a, the paleobotanical evidence indicates climate conditions similar to present, albeit wetter, followed by progressive cooling, reflected in the replacement of Aleppo pine by black pine and, at the very end, juniper-dominated landscapes — the latter characterizing also mid-MIS 3 times. The variation in sedimentary facies and composition of the mollusk assemblages reflects the changing position of the river channel relative to the back wall of the cave. Such changes represented the major constraint for the occupation of the site — most of the time inaccessible to terrestrial mammals, it was used throughout by the eagle-owl, explaining the abundance of rabbit bones. Human occupation occurred during a few, short windows of availability, and is reflected in well-preserved living floors defined by hearths, artefact scatters, and the remains of hunted herbivores. The stone tool assemblages are Middle Paleolithic, which, in Europe, implies a Neandertal identity for their makers and, hence, that Neandertals persisted in the region until GI 8. Cueva Antón’s high-resolution record provides unique, critical information on the paleoenvironments and adaptations of humans in two short windows of time during which wetter conditions existed in SE Iberia, where arid or semi-arid climates prevailed through most of the Upper Pleistocene and the Holocene., Archeological fieldwork and research at Cueva Antón was funded by the Dirección General del Medio Natural de la Región de Murcia, the Municipality of Mula, the University of Murcia, the Fundación Séneca (Murcia), the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (grants HAR2011-24878, HAR2014-52671-P and CGL2012-34717), the Generalitat Valenciana (grant PROMETEOII/2013/016), the Excellence Research Projects Program of the Andalusian Government (grant P11-RNM-7033), and the Leakey Foundation. The Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) Radiocarbon Facility (NRCF) funded some of the radiocarbon dates, and the German Research Foundation’s (DFG) project CRC 806 (“Our Way To Europe. Culture-Environment Interaction and Human Mobility in the Late Quaternary”) funded the Luminescence dating. M. Sanz was funded by a postdoctoral grant (SFRH/BPD/100828/2014) from the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia using funding from the FSE/POPH

Loess–paleosol sequences from across the Asian interior indicate that Late Quaternary glacial periods were primarily characterized by loess deposition, although in some regions weakly developed paleosols also developed. During interglacial periods, paleosol formation dominated in most, but not all, areas. Possible reasons for this complex spatio-temporal variability of loess–paleosol deposition are investigated through the use of a coupled atmosphere–ocean general circulation model configured for the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and for the early–mid-Holocene. Downstream modification of the westerly trade winds by the Fennoscandian ice sheet affected climate means across much of the Asian interior. In particular, weaker horizontal winds, enhanced atmospheric subsidence, and significantly reduced moisture transport combined to dry the continental interior to such a degree that there was a northeastward expansion of the cool, semi-arid, B-climate zone of the Koppen classification. Orographic precipitation triggered by the Fennoscandian ice sheet, however, increased precipitation and snow melt amounts in the proximity of the ice sheet margin. Glacial climate over the Chinese Loess Plateau, on the other hand, was less susceptible to downstream effects and was determined primarily by changes in the south Asian monsoon. During the more seasonal early Holocene, there were latitude-dependent changes in soil moisture, with significant wetting across low-mid-latitudes and drying in the mid-high latitudes of the Siberian Plain. Our simulated spatio-temporal variability of the hydrological cycle may, therefore, give insight into the interpretation of the complex sediment records from the Asian interior that serve as proxies for paleoclimatic reconstructions.