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In the Basilicata region, located in southern Italy and known for hosting among the first occurrences of the Acheulean culture in southwestern Europe, the Lower Paleolithic site of Loreto at Venosa is located less than a kilometer from the emblematic site of Notarchirico and less than 25 km from Cimitero di Atella. The Loreto site has not been studied as thoroughly as the two other sites and, although geological investigations have been carried out in the Venosa basin, no direct numerical dating has ever been published for the three archaeological levels brought to light during the excavation campaigns. We present a multi-method geochronological approach combining ESR/U-series, ESR, and 40Ar/39Ar permitting to refine the age of the most ancient archaeological level (A) of the Loreto site. These data allow us to propose an MIS 13 age for this level, in accordance with previous hypotheses based on geological and paleontological data. We also propose a technical review of the lithic tools preserved in the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Venosa to integrate Loreto in the evolution scheme of the European Acheulean techno-complex emergence and diffusion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Middle Paleolithic site of Mutzig-Rain, discovered in 1992, has been studied through several pits (called M1 to M15) and excavation area since 2009, evidencing several localities and delivering more than 5000 lithic artifacts and 12,000 well preserved paleontological remains. The main excavation M2 sequence corresponds to a collapsed rock shelter, containing several levels of Middle Paleolithic occupation. The faunal assemblage of the main archaeological levels (l.7a to 7c) from this sequence includes woolly mammoth, reindeer, horse, bison and woolly rhinoceros, reflecting both cold climate and a steppe context for the whole sequence, while microfauna from the lower levels (l.7d and l.10) indicate the occasional presence of forests that could correspond to a cooler climate. In 1995, U-series analyses on bones from M8 were attempted but the obtained results did not follow the sample stratigraphic order. Later, an OSL dating study has placed the M2 archaeological sequence as coeval to the onset of the Weichselian glacial stage (MIS5d-5a), between 100 and 80 ka. The good preservation of the abundant faunal remains at Mutzig-Rain has allowed their use for ESR/U-series dating studies and the results obtained on Mutzig horse teeth are given in the present paper. A first set of analyses of teeth carried out from the M2 excavation provided ages around 106-96 ka for levels M2 l.7, in agreement with the OSL data, despite quite systematic evidence of U-leaching from the dental tissues and the consequent use of the Accelerating Uptake (AU) model for the age calculation. A second set of analyses on teeth from the M2 and M8 localities confirms this uranium leaching trend, placing the deposition of these levels ca 133 -122 ka. Taking the whole set of ESR/U-series ages, which are slightly older than the OSL dates, would suggest that the stratigraphic sequence was deposited between ca 130 ka (M8 l. 6 and M2 l.10) and ca 100 ka (M2 l.7), i.e. on a time range covering the Eemian Interglacial (MIS5e) and the subsequent Early Weichselian Glacial stage (MIS5d-5a). However, as the faunal record indicates a cool climate and an open steppe-like environment for the whole archaeological sequence, the ESR/U-series dating to the Eemian Interglacial in the Mutzig-Rain sequence seems unlikely. In order to check the quality of the paleodosimetric reconstruction of the ESR/U-series analyses, an additional isochron study was performed for the two levels for which several teeth were analyzed: M2 l.7 (n = 4) and M8 l.6 (n = 3). This isochron study validates the proposed reconstruction and confirms the Early Weichselian age of these two levels. These results confirm the chronology established previously with OSL and places Mutzig-Rain as a reference site for the understanding of the Neanderthal Middle Palaeolithic occupation in Eastern France. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents an overview of Middle Pleistocene loess–palaeosol sequences (LPS) in northern France and discusses the palaeoclimatic significance of the pedosedimentary record in the context of western European LPS and of global climatic cycles for the last 750 ka. In this area, the oldest loess deposits (early Middle Pleistocene) are preserved in sedimentary traps (leeward scarps of fluvial terraces and dissolution sinkholes). They result from local deflation processes reworking Pleistocene sandy fluvial deposits or relicts of Tertiary sands. A large extension of typical calcareous loess over the landscape, the Loess Revolution, is then observed during MIS 6, with heavy mineral assemblages testifying to long‐distance transport from the polar desert area of the dried eastern Channel. A correlation scheme is proposed between the global records of northern France in continental environments and both global palaeoclimatic records and other main western European LPS. After 30 years of research, northern France LPS stand as a fundamental archive of the impact of interglacial–glacial climatic cycles as well as millennial events. Finally, these works provide a robust chronoclimatic framework for the study of the western European Late Acheulean and Middle Palaeolithic and for the relative dating of the various fluvial terraces that they fossilise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

North‐West Europe yields few traces of early human occupation, in particular for the Acheulean. In this context, the Somme Valley in northern France offers a route to Britain during various Pleistocene low sea levels, and has provided numerous evidence of Lower Palaeolithic human occupation through fieldwork initiated during the 19th century. These localities are associated with the original definition in the 1930s by the French prehistorian Abbé Henri Breuil of the 'Abbevillien' (Abbevillian facies), based on lithic pieces including crudely made bifaces recovered in particular in some famous key localities of Abbeville, Carpentier, Léon and Moulin Quignon quarries. The history of the term and its definition subsequently gave rise to debates concerning the chronocultural framework of Palaeolithic assemblages among the scientific community of prehistorians over time, from Jacques Boucher de Perthes, Gabriel de Mortillet, Geoffroy d'Ault du Mesnil, Victor Commont, Henri Breuil and François Bordes. New investigations at these three localities, all associated with the High Terrace of the Somme system, pushed back the age of the expansion of the Acheulean both in northern France and in Western Europe to c. 670–650 000 years. They imply that early hominins were able to settle in North‐West Europe during both climatic temperate and cold phases. Our work, including new excavations and associated field observations of the three Abbeville localities involved at the onset of the controversy, allows a re‐examination of the Abbevillian and contributes to the discussion of the history of Prehistoric Science and the Earliest 'Acheuleans' in North‐West Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paleolithic site of Kalinga, in the Cagayan River basin (Luzon Island), preserves the oldest known traces of human occupation of the Philippines archipelago (709 ± 68 ka1). Luzon island is also known for the fossil's discovery of Homo luzonensis (Callao cave) recently dated at 66.7 ± 1.0 ka2, that constitute the oldest human remains in the Philippines. This contribution presents the results of a geomorphological and geochronological study of the Kalinga site: the Cagayan valley, in order to precise the geochronological framework of this first human settlement. In this area, the sedimentary deposits are mainly fluvial sands terraces partly formed from volcanic minerals. Following the discovery of abundant paleontological remains and lithic tools on surface, the region was the subject of numerous excavations on several sites from the 1970s until now. Since 2014 a new project led by our research team unearthed hundreds of archeological remains (lithic tools and butchery traces) discovered undisturbed in several sequences. Apart from the early middle Pleistocene ages obtained for the Kalinga site, the geomorphology and geochronology of the area are still little known. Through the use of ESR on bleached quartz and 40Ar/39Ar on plagioclase dating methods in association with palaeomagnetism analyses, the chronology of four sequences has been constrained. Our results assert a human occupation between 709 ± 68 ka and 528 ± 40 ka reducing the chronological and archaeological gap between Kalinga and Callao hominins and placing this basin as a central piece of the human arrival in insular Asia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Middle Pleistocene archaeological site of Guado San Nicola was discovered in 2005 in a fossil fluvial terrace of the Volturno River, close to the village of Monteroduni, Molise, Italy. Palaeontological remains and lithic artefacts, including both handaxes and Levallois, discoid and opportunistic debitage, were recovered in fluvial and slope sediments rich in volcanoclastic materials. This site includes four distinct human occupation levels. In two of them both “shaping-façonnage” and “knapping-débitage” technologies are highlighted, placing this site at the Lower/Middle Palaeolithic transition. In the present study, geochronological analyses by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar on single-crystal and ESR/U-series on teeth were performed to precise the chronological framework of the occupations. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar data obtained securely bracket the human occupation levels at the transition between the interglacial and glacial marine isotopic stages MIS 11 (i.e. 400 ± 9 ka) and MIS 10 (i.e. 345 ± 9ka). The weighted mean age obtained from ESR/U-series dating of six teeth (i.e. 364 ± 36 ka) is in very good agreement with the 40 Ar/ 39 Ar results. The radio-isotopic constraints we presented place the Guado San Nicola site as one of the earliest testimonies of Levallois debitage in Western Europe and confirm the potential and accuracy of paleo-dosimetric methods to date Middle Pleistocene sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present here the results of a technological and typological analysis of the Acheulian and early Middle Paleolithic assemblages from Torre in Pietra (Latium, Italy) together with comparisons with the Acheulian small tools of Castel di Guido. The assemblages were never chronometrically dated before. We have now 40Ar/39Ar dates and ESR-U-series dates, within a geomorphological framework, which support correlations to marine isotope stages. The Acheulian (previously correlated to MIS 9) is now dated to MIS 10 while the Middle Paleolithic is dated to MIS 7. Lithic analyses are preceded by taphonomic evaluations. The Levallois method of the Middle Paleolithic assemblage is an innovation characterized by the production of thin flake blanks without cortex. In contrast, the small tool blanks of the Acheulian were either pebbles or thick flakes with some cortex. They provided a relatively easy manual prehension. The choice of Levallois thin flake blanks in the Middle Paleolithic assemblage suggest that the new technology is most likely related to the emergence of hafting. Accordingly, the oldest direct evidence of hafting technology is from the site of Campitello Quarry in Tuscany (Central Italy) where birch-bark tar, found on the proximal part of two flint flakes, is dated to the end of MIS 7. Nevertheless, a peculiar feature of the Middle Paleolithic at Torre in Pietra is the continuous presence of small tool blanks on pebbles and cores and on thick flake albeit at a much lower frequency than in the older Acheulian industries. The adoption of the new technology is thus characterized by innovation combined with a degree of stability. The persistence of these habits in spite of the introduction of an innovative technique underlies the importance of cultural transmission and conformity in the behavior of Neandertals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yumidong (Corn Cave) is a newly discovered Paleolithic site in the Three Gorges region of central China. Numerous Paleolithic artifacts have been excavated from the sedimentary deposits of the cave in association with faunal remains attributed to the Middle-Late Pleistocene Ailuropoda - Stegodon fauna of southern China. To establish the chronology of the sedimentary sequence (>5 m thick), 14C dating was applied to bone and charcoal samples (n = 6); the U-series method was used to date in situ precipitated speleothems (n = 12), transported speleothem samples (n = 6) and 18 subsamples of a fossil tooth; and the coupled ESR/U-series method was used to date fossil teeth (n = 6). The derived dates were combined using a hierarchical Bayesian approach to generate a unified chronostratigraphy for the Yumidong sequence. In our Bayesian analyses, the 14C and coupled ESR/U-series dates were considered to provide direct age estimates for the target layers, while the U-series dates of the in situ precipitated speleothems and fossil tooth were used as minimum age constraints and those of the transported speleothem fragments as maximum age constraints. The Bayesian analyses provided robust time intervals for the archeological layers: L2-Upper (14–23 ka), L2-Lower (27–63 ka), L3 (106–171 ka), L4 (140–192 ka), L10 (157–229 ka), L11 (181–256 ka), and L12 (214–274 ka) with a probability of 95%, allowing the establishment of a ∼300 ka long geological and archeological history for the Yumidong site and placing it as a reference site for Paleolithic cultural evolution in the Three Gorges region from the late Middle Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fluvio-lacustrine sequences in the Nihewan Basin, northern China, provide important terrestrial archives about Palaeolithic settlements and, therefore, about early human occupation in high northern latitude in East Asia. Here we present detailed ESR dating of the Donggutuo Palaeolithic site, located in this basin. Four levels A, B, C and E of the Donggutuo archaeological layer yield ESR ages ranging from 1060±129 ka to 1171±132 ka with a mean of 1119±132 ka. The ages are consistent with the paleomagnetic data, which show that the Donggutuo Palaeolithic site lies just below the onset of the Jaramillo normal subchron (0.99-1.07 Ma). Furthermore, our results indicate that the reliable ESR dating range of bleached quartz using Ti-Li centre can be effectively extended to 1100 ka and the Ti-Li centre was zeroed before the last deposition, which requires improvement of the understanding of the bleaching mechanism conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have suggested that the Lower-to-Middle Paleolithic transition was associated with the earliest Neanderthals, but recent research has established that the oldest Neanderthal fossils and the first signs of their technologies and behavior appear from MIS 11 or possibly earlier. To understand these changes, re-evaluation of the evidence is necessary to determine if this transition corresponds to a progressive evolution rather than abrupt change. Orgnac 3 is a key and appropriate site to study this research context. Located in southern France, it yields a long stratigraphic sequence testifying the evolution of technical and subsistence behaviors of pre-Neanderthal human groups during a Middle Pleistocene interglacial-glacial cycle. In this article, a new chronological framework is provided for the sequence based on results of dating methods applied to various types of geological materials. Speleothems and volcanic minerals, dated in previous studies by U-series and 40Ar/39Ar, respectively, show periods of calcitic crystallization and regional volcanic activity. Other materials, such as heated flints and herbivore teeth, are directly related to evidence of anthropogenic activities and are analyzed in the present work by trapped-charge dating methods such as thermoluminescence and electron spin resonance combined with uranium series (ESR/U-series). The new thermoluminescence and ESR/U-series dates confirm the attribution of the Orgnac 3 stratigraphic sequence to the MIS 10–MIS 8 period and are discussed in relation to paleoenvironmental data derived from bioarchaeological studies. The paleoanthropological levels, including the emergence of Levallois technology, are dated to ca. 275 ka (early MIS 8) and appear coeval to a wet and temperate period recorded locally, the Amargiers interstadial, defined in the regional palynological records. The implications of this reassessed chronology for the archaeological assemblages are discussed in the wider context of behavioral innovations from MIS 11 onward and their establishment in subsequent periods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The area of Pléneuf-Val-André, Brittany, France, has delivered several Palaeolithic sites containing palaeontological remains, very rare into this granitic area. In order to precise the stratigraphical framework of the prehistoric human occupations of this zone, an ESR dating program was initiated in the late 1980s and different kinds of materials (mammal bones and teeth, naturally bleached quartz extracted from marine or aeolian sediments and marine mollusc shells) were then sampled for geochronological analyses. The present paper displays the main obtained results on three stratigraphically connected middle Palaeolithic sites: Piégu, Les Vallées and Nantois. The results are consistent with the regional chronostratigraphic framework and permit to suggest palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the area and the dating of the various archaeological evidences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lower Palaeolithic site of Cimitero di Atella is located in the Basilicata region (Southern Italy), about 10 km south of the extinct Monte Vulture volcano. The site was discovered in the early 1990s and was continuously excavated for nearly twenty years under the supervision of Professor E. Borzatti von Löwenstern (University of Florence). This open-air site contained a 5-m-thick fluvio-lacustrine sequence characterized by the occurrence of two main archaeological units with lithic industries and faunal remains. Based on the composition of the lithic assemblages, and in particular the presence of handaxes in the Lower unit, Borzatti von Löwenstern (et al., 1997) attributed the site to the Early Acheulean. Cimitero di Atella was interpreted as the result of various lake shore occupations linked to the exploitation of large mammals (Palaeoloxodon antiquus and Bison sp.) and the opportunistic use of raw materials to produce simple small and large lithic tools (Borzatti von Löwenstern et al., 1997). The purpose of this paper is to present the last five years of research at the site. Geochronological, palaeontological and palynological investigations have been conducted to shed light on the environmental and chronological context of the site and the associated human occupations levels. This essential step enables us to evaluate the nature and potential of archaeological data in order to place the results in a broader framework. The accurate study of the context and of the archaeological material of Cimitero di Atella enable us to rethink the crucial question of the emergence of the bifacial phenomenon in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The archaeological site of Guado San Nicola (Monteroduni, Central Italy), under excavation since 2008, is located in the Upper Volturno Valley, near the top of a fluvial terrace attributed to the Middle Pleistocene. Several anthropic levels have been recognized within a stratigraphic sequence of more than two meters in thickness, characterized by alternating gravelly and sandy fluvial layers rich in pyroclastic materials, attributable to the end of MIS 11–beginning of MIS 10, according to the obtained radiometric dates ( 40 Ar/ 39 Ar and ESR/U-series). In this paper we discuss the chrono-stratigraphic record, the paleontological and zooarchaeological data and we provide a detailed techno-economic analysis of the lithic industry, characterized by the coexistence of handaxes and Levallois debitage. The site of Guado San Nicola represents the oldest evidence of the emergence of prepared-core technologies in the Italian Peninsula, adding new data to the debate on the Lower/Middle Palaeolithic transition in Western Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

De nouvelles datations ont été effectuées sur les ossements de la grotte de Geum-Gul sur la commune de Daniang en République de Corée. Les datations obtenues par U-Th LA-ICPMS-MC donnent un âge trop récent pour les industries à bifaces, à pics et à choppers de cette grotte. Il est vraisemblable que les ossements analysés aient été enrichis en uranium par des eaux d'infiltration lors des crues régulières de la rivière Nam Han. New datings have been carried out on bones of the Geum-Gul cave in the city of Daniang in the Republic of Korea. The dating obtained by U-Th LA-ICPMS-MC give an age that is too recent in view of the handaxes, picks and chopper industries found in this cave. It is likely that the bones analyzed were enriched in uranium by infiltration water during regular flooding of the Nam Han River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fluvial sedimentary archives are important repositories for Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts throughout the ‘Old World’, especially in Europe, where the beginning of their study coincided with the realisation that early humans were of great antiquity. Now that many river terrace sequences can be reliably dated and correlated with the globally valid marine isotope record, potentially useful patterns can be recognized in the distribution of the find-spots of the artefacts that constitute the large collections that were assembled during the years of manual gravel extraction. This paper reviews the advances during the past two decades in knowledge of hominin occupation based on artefact occurrences in fluvial contexts, in Europe, Asia and Africa. As such it is an update of a comparable review in 2007, at the end of IGCP Project no. 449, which had instigated the compilation of fluvial records from around the world during 2000–2004, under the auspices of the Fluvial Archives Group. An overarching finding is the confirmation of the well-established view that in Europe there is a demarcation between handaxe making in the west and flake–core industries in the east, although on a wider scale that pattern is undermined by the increased numbers of Lower Palaeolithic bifaces now recognized in East Asia. It is also apparent that, although it seems to have appeared at different places and at different times in the later Lower Palaeolithic, the arrival of Levallois technology as a global phenomenon was similarly timed across the area occupied by Middle Pleistocene hominins, at around 0.3 Ma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is a key area of early human settlement in East Asia, with numerous Paleolithic localities indicating an early Pleistocene presence of hominins in northern and southern China. Considerable research has been devoted to determining possible migration routes for hominins linking the two areas. In this paper, we report the discovery of several loess-covered Paleolithic sites in the Hanzhong and Ankang Basins along the Hanjiang River in the southern piedmont of the Qinling Mountains (QLM) in central China. A chronology is developed for these sections using a combination of detailed optically stimulated luminescence dating, magnetostratigraphic analyses, and pedostratigraphic correlation with the well-dated loess–paleosol sequence of the central Chinese Loess Plateau. The results indicate that the age of the oldest lithic assemblage at the Longgangsi locality 3 Paleolithic site in Hanzhong Basin is ∼1.20 Ma, thus making this locality as one of the oldest sites in central China. Our work also indicates that hominins occupied the Hanjiang valley at several times: ∼1.2, 0.9, ∼0.6, and ∼0.1 Ma. We propose that the Hanjiang River Valley was a probable hominin routeway through the QLM because many sites corresponding to these different phases were also discovered to the north of the QLM. Future study on the Hanjiang River Valley is important for verifying the hypothesis of an early human migration route between southern and northern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An integrated geological study, including sedimentology, stable isotope analysis (δ 18 O, δ 13 C), geochemistry, micromorphology, biomarker analysis, 40 Ar/ 39 Ar geochronology and tephrochronology, was undertaken on the Quaternary infill of the Valle Giumentina basin in Central Italy, which also includes an outstanding archaeological succession, composed of nine human occupation levels ascribed to the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic. 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating, and other palaeoenvironmental and tephrochronological data, constrain the sedimentary history of the whole succession to the MIS 15-MIS 12 interval, between 618 ± 13 ka and 456 ± 2 ka. Palaeoenvironmental proxies suggest that over this time interval of about 150 ka, sedimentary and pedogenic processes were mainly influenced by climatic changes, in particular by the pulsing of local mountain glaciers of the Majella massif. Specifically, the Valle Giumentina succession records glacio-fluvial and lacustrine sedimentation during the colder glacial periods and pedogenesis and/or alluvial sedimentation during the warmer interglacial and/or interstadial periods. During this interval, tectonics played a negligible role as a driving factor of local morphogenesis and sedimentation, whereas the general regional uplift experienced in the Middle Pleistocene led to capture of the basin and its definitive extinction after MIS 12. These data substantially improve previous knowledge of the chronology and sedimentary evolution of the succession, providing for the first time, a well constrained chronological and palaeoenvironmental framework for the archaeological and human palaeoecological record of Valle Giumentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mirak is a Palaeolithic site in Iran comprising several localities ("mounds") scattered over a dry floodplain environment extending from the southern foothills of the Alborz Mountains to the northern edge of the Central Desert in the Semnan area. The area has been studied since 2015 by an Iranian-French archaeological mission. The archaeological excavations carried out at the Mirak N°8 mound uncovered a 7 m-thick pedo-sedimentary sequence, in which two sequences corresponding to contrasting depositional environments have been observed. Sequence I, comprising alternating horizons of poorly pedogenised clayey silt intercalated with sand layers, is interpreted as an alluvial pedo-sedimentary body deposited in a wetland (floodplain) environment during cold periods, periodically interrupted by shallow sheet flooding deposits. According to the stratigraphy, OSL dates and sedimentological analyses, there is a long sedimentary hiatus before the occurrence of sequence II which corresponds to calcareous aeolian deposits typical of a desert environment. The Mirak N°8 deposits were affected by several stages of incipient aridisol formation with desiccation cracks implying a gradually increasing prevalence of more arid conditions. According to the OSL data, the Mirak N°8 sequence was deposited from the Late Pleistocene to the Late Holocene (52ka to 0.4ka). In this sequence, upper Palaeolithic remains were recovered at distinct levels and it can be presumed that the most recent archaeological layer is made up of palimpsests resulting from repeated human occupations. Results from various mineralogical and sedimentological analyses (XRD, FTIR, SEM, optical microscopy) show very minor differences in mineralogy throughout the record regardless of the type of depositional regime, suggesting a local, and most probably polygenic, sedimentary source. Both alluvial and aeolian accumulations were subjected after deposition to a variety of post-sedimentary pedogenesis processes indicated by pedogenic features characteristic of calcareous, gypsiferous aridisols (Bk, By), including ferruginous root coatings, evaporates and little-developed pedo-structures and horizons. Apparent differences in colour between the two sequences at Mirak N°8 can be attributed to deposition in environments with varying iron contents and oxygenizing conditions, presumably related to higher groundwater levels and Fe-reducing conditions, especially for the units deposited during the late Pleistocene as opposed to the generally warm and dry conditions of the Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Because only a few radiometric data are actually available, the chronology of the Amudian – a blade-dominated industry of the Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex (AYCC) of the late Lower Paleolithic in the Levant – is still not well constrained. Qesem Cave offers the opportunity to enhance our knowledge of the chronological position of this industry which is unique to the Levant. The Qesem Amudian bearing layers yielded also human remains showing affinities with those of modern populations recovered in the Middle Paleolithic sites of Skhul and Qafzeh. The results presented here are the first attempt to apply the TL and ESR/U-series dating methods at this site and these methods yielded results which are generally in agreement. They support a time interval of hominid-bearing occupation of the areas of the cave where Amudian lithic artifacts were recovered during MIS 8 and likely 9 for the Deep Pit Area, and during MIS 8 and possibly 7 for the Upper part of the sequence (Square K/10 and the Eastern Microfauna-Bearing Area). An older occupation of the cave is also conceivable on the base of two dating results (MIS 11). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The Bytham River was one of the major pre-Anglian (MIS 12) rivers of eastern England. Flowing from the Midlands to the East Anglian coast, it has been recognised at numerous sites by its distinctive lithological suite, containing significant quantities of quartzite, quartz and Carboniferous chert that originate from central England. In the Breckland of Suffolk and Norfolk, deposits of the Bytham River can be identified at 26 sites by this distinctive clast lithological composition. These sediments, referred to as the Ingham Formation, consist of a series of sand and gravel aggradations, which due to their differences in elevation can be interpreted as at least four early Middle Pleistocene terrace remnants of the former river, and a final phase of deposition along the river valley prior to its destruction. This paper reports on recent fieldwork at six of these sites, which through stratigraphic and lithological analyses, together with new Electron Spin Resonance age estimates, contribute to a revised geological framework for the Bytham River as represented in the Breckland. These sites can be attributed to the four lowest fluvial aggradations, with the lowest and youngest of these aggradations shown to be early Anglian in age. The river was subsequently overrun by Anglian ice during Marine Isotope Stage 12. This revised geological and chronological interpretation provides an important framework for understanding the Lower Palaeolithic artefacts that have been found within these gravel aggradations, and contributes to the understanding of the human occupation of north-west Europe during the early Middle Pleistocene. • Report on field investigations at six sites attributed to the Bytham River, UK. • Six aggradations with height differences representing terrace remnants, identified. • Lithostratigraphy and ESR ages place the deposits in the early Middle Pleistocene. • Terraces provide framework for dating the contained Lower Palaeolithic archaeology. • Bytham archaeology furthers understanding of the early human occupation of Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The cooperative French-Iranian Paleoanthropological Project (FIPP) discovered three Paleolithic localities in Central Alborz, Northern Iran during its 2005 field mission. In the northern foothills near Baliran in Mazandârân province, Garm Roud yielded an open-air site with an archaeological layer attributable to the last glacial period that dates from the end of OIS 3 (28,486±190 cal BP). These geochronological data and the typo-technical observations converge to place the Garm Roud 2 assemblage in the Upper Paleolithic. Garm Roud 2 is thus the first site of this kind discovered in the area. In the southern foothills near Damâvand in Tehran province, Moghanak and Otchounak represent two open-air surface localities with lithic assemblages of Mousterian to Ante-Mousterian affinity. Garm Roud, Moghanak, and Otchounak provide some of the first direct field evidence of early human settlements in this central area of the Middle East. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

De nouvelles prospections ont été entreprises à Abbeville en 2016 et 2017 à l'emplacement de l'ancien site du Moulin Quignon exploité de 1837 à 1868 par Boucher de Perthes, relocalisé grâce aux travaux archivistiques menés par des chercheurs du MNHN. Ces recherches ont conduit 150 ans plus tard à la redécouverte de ce site paléolithique emblématique. Des sondages et une fouille extensive ont permis de retrouver des niveaux alluviaux en place et une série lithique composée de 254 éclats, 15 nucléus et 5 bifaces. Les nucléus et éclats attestent d'un débitage sur nodules de silex selon principalement des schémas de débitage unipolaires et centripètes unifaciaux excepté pour un nucléus qui indiquent d'un débitage sur plusieurs surfaces de débitage. Les bifaces sont diversifiés morphologiquement et techniquement (modes de façonnage). Ils attestent d'une gestion générale du volume bifacial et de la géométrie du biface, d'un soin apporté à la pointe de l'outil et à la régularisation des bords tranchants souvent périphériques. Ils ressemblent en cela à ceux découverts par Boucher de Perthes en 1837–1868. L'étude stratigraphique et les âges ESR sur quartz datent l'occupation humaine entre 670 et 650 ka. Cette découverte vieillit ainsi (1) l'âge de la plus ancienne occupation du Nord de la France (précédemment 550 ka) et (2) l'âge des plus anciens bifaces pour l'Europe du Nord-Ouest (100 ka plus anciens que les bifaces de Grande-Bretagne). Ces artefacts appartiennent à la plus ancienne occupation acheuléenne jamais datée dans le bassin de la Somme et plus généralement au nord du cinquantième parallèle nord et la série lithique découverte à Moulin Quignon prouve incontestablement la présence d'occupations humaines datées de plus de 650 ka dans la vallée de la Somme, voie naturelle de circulation vers des secteurs encore plus septentrionaux, l'actuelle Grande-Bretagne. New surveys were undertaken in Abbeville in 2016 and 2017 on the site of the Moulin Quignon discovered before 1850 by Boucher de Perthes, relocated thanks to the archival work carried out by MNHN researchers. This research led 150 years later to the rediscovery of this emblematic Paleolithic site. Test pits and extensive excavation have led to the discovery of alluvial levels in situ and a lithic series composed of 254 fragments, 15 cores and 5 bifaces. The cores and flakes attest to in situ debitage on flint nodules according mainly to unipolar and centripetal unifacial technology, except for one core, which indicates a management on several debitage surfaces. The bifaces are diversified morphologically and technically (shaping modes). They attest to a general management of the bifacial volume and geometry of the tool, to the care taken at the tip of the tool and to the regularisation of the often peripheral edges. They resemble those discovered by Boucher de Perthes in 1837–1868 and described in the past as "Abbevillian". Stratigraphic and ESR age studies on quartz date human occupation between 670 and 650 ka. These artifacts belong to the earliest Acheulean occupation ever dated in the Somme basin and more generally north of the 50th parallel north. The lithic series discovered at Moulin Quignon is indisputable proof of the presence of human occupations dated at more than 650 ka in the Somme valley, a natural pathway to northern sectors, present-day Great Britain. This discovery thus ages (1) the age of the oldest occupation in the North of France (previously 550 ka) and (2) the age of the oldest bifaces for Northwest Europe (100 ka older than the bifaces in Great Britain). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]