Search

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 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 favour 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.

This article discusses the absolute chronology of collective burials of the Trzciniec Cultural Circle communities of the Middle Bronze Age in East Central Europe. Based on Bayesian modeling of 91 accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dates from 18 cemeteries, the practice of collective burying of individuals was linked to a period of 400–640 (95.4%) years, between 1830–1690 (95.4%) and 1320–1160 (95.4%) BC. Collective burials in mounds with both cremation and inhumation rites were found earliest in the upland zone regardless of grave structure type (mounded or flat). Bayesian modeling of 14C determinations suggests that this practice was being transmitted generally from the southeast to the northwest direction. Bayesian modeling of the dates from the largest cemetery in Żerniki Górne, Lesser Poland Upland, confirmed the duration of use of the necropolis as ca. 140–310 (95.4%) years. Further results show the partial contemporaneity of burials and allow formulation of a spatial and temporal development model of the necropolis. Based on the investigation, some graves were used over just a couple of years and others over nearly 200, with up to 30 individuals found in a single grave.

The article presents the results of the absolute dating of 31 pre-Columbian funerary bundles excavated on the Cerro Colorado site located in the northern part of the Peruvian Central Coast, where the Chancay culture developed in the last centuries before the Spanish invasion. The typical custom in this region was to wrap the dead with textiles and a vegetal material, by which the bundle was created. The funerary bundles of the Cerro Colorado differed in terms of the complexity, quantity and quality of the materials used (especially textiles and metal ornament). Before our project, there was not a single radiocarbon (14C) date for an undisturbed Chancay tomb, which made it impossible to understand the temporal dependency between the elaborated, standard, and modest bundles. Our results finally shed light on their proper chronological position, also demonstrating that the most elaborate bundles were created between the 13th and 15th centuries.

Presented herein are the results of a novel recycling method for waste Tetra Pak

Subfossil trunks of pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) from the Late Weichselian were discovered in the site Koźmin in the Koło Basin, central Poland (Dzieduszyńska et al., 2014a). Another part of organic sediments with trunks was excavated in the frame of the research project. Altogether 224 samples from Koźmin were analysed dendrochronologically; they represented generally young trees, 40 to 70 years old. Based on the most convergent sequences, the chronology 2KOL_A1 was produced, 210 years in length. With the wiggle-matching method, it was dated to ca. 13065–12855 cal BP. Dendrochronological dating of trunks buried in organic sediments, most of which occurred in situ, revealed that tree deaths occurred successively, over more than 100 years. That could have been due to unfavourable climatic conditions, as well as extreme events, e.g. strong winds.

In this research, sampling optimisation and modelling based thereon follow from the assumption that each human skeleton can be treated as a set of heterochronous carbon reservoirs capable of supplying at least an elementary sequence consisting of two 14C dates corresponding to the moment of birth (otic capsule) and that of demise (ribs), as well as an anthropologically defined lag between them. Two case studies demonstrate that the approach can raise the precision of 14C dates related to the death of the individuals. The benefits and main issues of this sampling strategy as well as the involved bioarchaeological conflict potential are taken under discussion.

The results of high-resolution records of pollen, plant macroremains and charred plant particles, diatoms, Cladocera and geochemistry from a 14C-dated core, and geomorphological studies enabled the reconstruction of landscape development at a site in western Poland which was occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer groups. Special attention was paid to the evidence of human activities recorded in the sediments of the palaeolake located next to the archaeological site. The presence of pollen types from communities characteristic of openings in the forest, macroscopic/microscopic charcoal, and charred particles of herbaceous plants (mostly from between 5500 and 4600 bc, with clearly visible maxima ca 5300, 4900 and 4700 bc) evidence the changes related to these various kinds of activities. These analyses allowed us to reconstruct the fire events at and around the site as well as to consider whether they originated from natural or human induced fires. The increase in the biogenic sediments of elements such as Na, K and Mg indicate an intensive erosion of mineral soil between 5100 and 4600 bc, mirroring human activity in the vicinity of the Kopanica site. In addition, Cladocera analysis permitted a detailed recognition of palaeolake eutrophication ca 7200–4600 bc, also eutrophication induced by human impact between 5100 and 4600 bc.

The paper presents radiocarbon (14C) dates of samples collected from the Bronze Age cultural strata (VI–II) excavated within Sector P, Tell Arbid, Khabur Triangle, northern Mesopotamia. These strata contain objects (remains of a caravanserai, pits, graves, pottery kilns, and multi-phase houses) representing the periods of Early Jezirah 4-5, and Old Jezirah I-II. 14C dating of these strata was especially important because of a clearly visible period of abandonment of the area at the onset of 2nd millennium BC, recorded on all Khabur Triangle sites studied so far, and because of the questionable reliability of the chronology derived from scarce historical sources. Of the 29 samples of cereal grains, 9 appeared to contain residual material, while Bayesian-analyzed 14C ages of the remaining 20 allowed us to say that, at the turn of the 3rd millennium BC, Tell Arbid was abandoned later than other sites in the area, and that it was occupied over a distinctly longer period during the early 2nd millennium.

Alpine areas are well known biodiversity hotspots, but their future may be threatened by expanding forest and changing human land use. Here, we reconstructed past vegetation, climate, and livestock over the past ~ 12,000 years from Lake Sulsseewli (European Alps), based on sedimentary ancient DNA, pollen, spores, chironomids, and microcharcoal. We assembled a highly-complete local DNA reference library (PhyloAlps, 3,923 plant species), and used this to obtain an exceptionally rich sedaDNA record of 366 plant taxa. The vegetation mainly responded to temperature during the first half of the Holocene, while human activity drove changes from 6 ka onwards. Land-use shifted from episodic grazing (Neolithic, Bronze Age) to agropastoral intensification (Medieval Age). This prompted a coexistence of species typically found at different elevational belts, thereby increasing plant richness to levels that characterise present-day alpine diversity. Our results indicate that traditional agropastoral activities should be maintained to prevent reforestation and preserve alpine plant biodiversity.

SedaDNA reveals regional climate and bedrock nutrients as major drivers of terrestrial plant diversity in northern Fennoscandia., The effects of climate change on species richness are debated but can be informed by the past. Here, we generated a sedimentary ancient DNA dataset covering 10 lakes and applied novel methods for data harmonization. We assessed the impact of Holocene climate changes and nutrients on terrestrial plant richness in northern Fennoscandia. We find that richness increased steeply during the rapidly warming Early Holocene. In contrast to findings from most pollen studies, we show that richness continued to increase thereafter, although the climate was stable, with richness and the regional species pool only stabilizing during the past three millennia. Furthermore, overall increases in richness were greater in catchments with higher soil nutrient availability. We suggest that richness will increase with ongoing warming, especially at localities with high nutrient availability and assuming that human activity remains low in the region, although lags of millennia may be expected.

A new high-throughput on-chip sorter for large particles allows purification of fossil pollen for 14C dating of sediment archives., Particle sorting is a fundamental method in various fields of medical and biological research. However, existing sorting applications are not capable for high-throughput sorting of large-size (>100 micrometers) particles. Here, we present a novel on-chip sorting method using traveling vortices generated by on-demand microjet flows, which locally exceed laminar flow condition, allowing for high-throughput sorting (5 kilohertz) with a record-wide sorting area of 520 micrometers. Using an activation system based on fluorescence detection, the method successfully sorted 160-micrometer microbeads and purified fossil pollen (maximum dimension around 170 micrometers) from lake sediments. Radiocarbon dates of sorting-derived fossil pollen concentrates proved accurate, demonstrating the method’s ability to enhance building chronologies for paleoenvironmental records from sedimentary archives. The method is capable to cover urgent needs for high-throughput large-particle sorting in genomics, metabolomics, and regenerative medicine and opens up new opportunities for the use of pollen and other microfossils in geochronology, paleoecology, and paleoclimatology.

A new accerator mass spectrometry (AMS)‐dated sedimentary record from Lake Ochaul (54°14′N, 106°28′E; 641 m a.s.l.) in Eastern Siberia covers the interval from ca. 27 850 to 20 400 cal a bp at ca. 180‐year resolution and contributes to a better understanding of the complex spatial vegetation pattern during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Non‐arboreal pollen taxa are abundant in the pollen assemblages (mean value ca. 92.6%), but boreal trees are represented by all major taxa that grow in the lake catchment today, including Betula sect. Albae (0.6–4.8%), Picea (0.6–2.8%), Pinus sibirica (Haploxylon type) (up to 1.5%), Pinus sylvestris (Diploxylon type) (up to 2%), Larix (up to 0.6%) and Abies (up to 0.6%). Betula sect. Nanae/Fruticosae (2–5.2%) and Salix (up to 3.2%) are the most representative boreal shrub taxa. Together with existing modern and fossil pollen data from the wider study region, the current record provides further evidence for the long‐debated presence of boreal trees and shrubs in Eastern Siberia throughout the LGM. Our results show that the Upper Lena was a region in which refugia for arboreal taxa existed and that far‐distant pollen transport can be ruled out as the source of the detected arboreal pollen., Government of the Russian Federation, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100000155, Russian Foundation for Basic Research http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002261, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100003182, Vinogradov Institute of Geochemistry, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659, Russian Science Foundation http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100006769

The Linear Pottery people in 5670-5000 BC at the Brunn sites in Austria produced birch and beech bark pitches. Big globular vessels and closed high bowls could have been containers for the production and storage of this substance. Miniature vessels with a handle for hanging had contained small portions. Bark pitch as an adhesive for the repair of pottery and in the construction of big idols is also testified, as is the application of this material in decoration of vessels and idols, where bark pitch was a matrix for inlaying with grains or stones and creation of a contrasting black colour in linear ornamentation. Radiocarbon dating of bark pitch now is one of the most reliable materials for age determination of the Neolithic objects.

Broomcorn millet is one of the most important plants species in pre-history. It was first domesticated in China and subsequently spread across Eurasia becoming a significant staple crop. For a long time, the arrival of millet into Europe was assumed to have taken place in the Neolithic. However, this has recently been challenged, with new direct radiocarbon measurements on reportedly Neolithic charred millet grains in fact dating to the Middle Bronze Age. To aid in understanding the timing of millet's spread across East-Central Europe in the Bronze Age we present the results of over 120 new paired radiocarbon dates and stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) measurements on human bone collagen from individuals across 33 archaeological sites in Poland and western Ukraine. In doing so we directly assess millet's role in the Bronze Age diets. Our results show a clear increase in bone collagen δ13C values from the middle 15th century BC onwards. This increase is rapid across the whole study area, occurring almost simultaneously with respect to the precision of our radiocarbon dates. Pilot stable isotope data for contemporary animals suggests that they were not foddered with millet and hence it was probably eaten directly by humans. Interestingly, individuals consuming millet appear to be exclusive to geographically upland regions compared to lowland ones. However, not all individuals from upland zone have δ13C values consistent with millet consumption. Based on the stable isotope evidence for upland millet consumption and the well documented evidence for connections between these people and those in the northern Carpathian Basin at this time, we posit that it is through this route, across the Carpathians, that millet was introduced into the region. An increase of its economic importance in Lesser Poland was plausibly caused by a significant growth in human populations.

Source at https://doi.org/10.1111/bor.12357 We present a Holocene record of floristic diversity and environmental change for the central Varanger Peninsula, Finnmark, based on ancient DNA extracted from the sediments of a small lake (sedaDNA). The record covers the period c. 10 700 to 3300 cal. a BP and is complemented by pollen data. Measures of species richness, sample evenness and beta diversity were calculated based on sedaDNA sampling intervals and 1000‐year time windows. We identified 101 vascular plant and 17 bryophyte taxa, a high proportion (86%) of which are still growing within the region today. The high species richness (>60 taxa) observed in the Early Holocene, including representatives from all important plant functional groups, shows that modern shrub‐tundra communities, and much of their species complement, were in place as early as c. 10 700 cal. a BP. We infer that postglacial colonization of the area occurred prior to the full Holocene, during the Pleistocene‐Holocene transition, Younger Dryas stadial or earlier. Abundant DNA of the extra‐limital aquatic plant Callitriche hermaphroditica suggests it expanded its range northward between c. 10 200 and 9600 cal. a BP, when summers were warmer than present. High values of Pinus DNA occur throughout the record, but we cannot say with certainty if they represent prior local presence; however, pollen influx values >500 grains cm−2 a−1 between c. 8000 and 7300 cal. a BP strongly suggest the presence of pine woodland during this period. As the site lies beyond the modern tree limit of pine, it is likely that this expansion also reflects a response to warmer Early Holocene summers.

An analysis was performed on samples from a series of well-preserved tree trunks and in situ stumps of Allerod/Younger Dryas age found in Koźmin and Kwiatkow, Kolska Basin, Central Poland. Five different types of wood preparation methods were investigated in three Polish radiocarbon laboratories (Gliwice, Poznan and Krakow) in order to find the most stable, repeatable and reliable procedure. Their effect was tested on the stable carbon isotope ratio (δ13C) and 14C age. Additionally, FTIR spectroscopy was used as a simple technique for obtaining rapid information on the structure of wood constituents and chemical changes taking place in wood due to various chemical treatments. The results of AMS measurements did not show statistically significant differences in radiocarbon ages of samples prepared according to the tested methods. On the other hand, δ13C measurements showed that the smallest scattering results gave α-cellulose obtained by the method BABA + Bleaching (with NaClO2 and HCl) + strong base. Moreover, the mean δ13C values for holo-cellulose samples are higher than those for α-cellulose samples. Studies evidenced that the methods of preparation leading to holo- or α-cellulose gave the same FTIR spectra, while the standard method of the chemical pretreatment of samples for 14C measurements (ABA) preceded by mercerization is insufficient for removing compounds containing aromatic rings.

Environmental DNA retrieved from modern soils (eDNA) and late-Quaternary palaeosols and sediments (aDNA and sedaDNA) promises insight into the composition of present and past terrestrial biotic communities, but few studies address the spatial relationship between recovered eDNA and contributing organisms. Svalbard’s vascular plant flora is well known, and a cold climate enhances preservation of eDNA in soils. Thus, Svalbard plant communities are excellent systems for addressing the representation of plant eDNA in soil samples. In two valleys in the inner fjord region of Spitsbergen, we carried out detailed vegetation surveys of circular plots up to a 4-m radius. One or three near-surface soil samples from each plot were used for extraction and metabarcoding of soil-derived eDNA. Use of PCR replicates and appropriate filtering, plus a relevant reference metabarcode catalogue, provided taxon lists that reflected the local flora. There was high concordance between taxa recorded in plot vegetation and those in the eDNA, but floristic diversity was under-sampled, even at the scale of a 1-m radius plot. Most detected taxa grew within < 0.5–1.0 m of the sampling point. Taxa present in vegetation but not in eDNA tended to occur further from the sampling point, and most had above-ground cover of < 5%. Soil-derived eDNA provides a highly local floristic signal, and this spatial constraint should be considered in sampling designs. For palaeoecological or archaeological studies, multiple samples from a given soil horizon that are spatially distributed across the area of interest are likely to provide the most complete picture of species presence.

This study compares different methods to count biogenic varves in Lake Żabinskie in northeastern Poland. To perform this comparison, we used 2000 years-long varved sediment record from this lake because of the well-preserved laminations as well as the independent age controls, i.e. 29 AMS14C dates, 137Cs activity peaks and volcanic glass shards (1875 AD Askja cryptotephra). Microscopic investigations of thin sections allowed us to identify six major varve microfacies along the sediment profile. Using these microfacies, we tested three counting methods and different approaches of counting uncertainty estimation. These methods provided comparable numbers of varves (1943 ± 30, 2034 ± 34, 2028 +34/-53) and similar shapes in the age-depth relations. However, in two methods, we found possible disadvantages in arbitrary assumptions and subjective decisions in the process of chronology building, procedures leading to age underestimation as well as problems with reliable and objective estimations of counting uncertainty. Based on these results, we propose the counting method which include analyses of major varve microfacies and three independent countings without the need for varve-by-varve microscopic investigations. This method provided acceptable results (

Our project aimed to construct a Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) chronology for part of the Late Glacial and reconstruct changes in the 14C concentrations during this period. Kwiatków (Kolska Basin, central Poland) proved to be very prospective site, in which wood from the end of Allerød was recognized. A level of organic deposits with so-called fossil forest was encountered within the late-Vistulian terrace of the low valley of the Warta river. Dendrochronological analysis of over 267 samples complying to the requirements of the method allowed, at the present stage of the research, to construct a chronology spanning 265 yr. Fifty-two samples (5 consecutive rings each) were subjected to α-cellulose extraction and 14C measurements. Ninety-six results and the wiggle-matching technique anchor the chronology to the period 13,821–13,561 cal BP (Acomb=141.6%) according to the D_Sequence procedure and the IntCal13 calibration curve or to 13,800–13,540 cal BP according to the wiggle-matching technique using the χ2 test and raw data, i.e. the Heidelberg tree-ring sequence.

Post-Pleistocene climatic improvement in the Northern Hemisphere after ca. 9550 BC allowed human populations to recolonize large parts of North Africa in what is today the Sahara Desert. In the Egyptian Western Desert, the beginnings of human occupation date as early as ca. 9300 BC. Occupation continued until the middle of the third millennium BC when final desertification of the area no longer afforded human occupation. The settlement of the Neolithic cattle and sheep/goat herders developed along with the rhythm of alternating wet and dry climatic oscillations. One of the areas occupied intensively during the early and middle Holocene was Gebel Ramlah. Pastoral populations established their settlements around the shores of a paleo-lake adjacent to a rocky massif, to exploit the local savannah environment. During most of the Neolithic, they buried their dead dispersed outside of their settlements. Only during the Final Neolithic (after ca. 4600 BC) did they place them exclusively in cemeteries. Of six Final Neolithic cemeteries investigated at Gebel Ramlah to date, one is entirely unprecedented, not only in North Africa but also globally at such an early date. For just under 200 years (ca. 4500–4300 BC), it served exclusively for the inhumation of infants who died around (perinate) or shortly after the time of birth (neonate). Thirty-two burial pits contained skeletal remains of 39 individuals, not only infants but also at least two adult females accompanied by perinates/neonates. Older children (> 3 years) were interred at a nearby cemetery that primarily comprised adults.

The area of the Upper Dniester Basin in Western Ukraine comprises one of the largest concentrations of barrows with the exception of the steppe zone. This article concerns the absolute chronology of one mound group in Bukivna, built in the Middle Bronze Age by the people of the Komarow culture. It also focuses on reconstructing the spatial arrangement of barrows and explaining the creation of their specific linear alignment. A Bayesian statistical analysis of radiocarbon AMS dates collected from five excavated tumuli revealed the chronological and spatial organization of the Bukivna barrows. Moreover, a seriation and correspondence analysis was performed on pottery from the barrows to expose the chronology of specific ornamentation groups. This research allowed for the scenario of the emergence of mounds in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC to be reconstructed. In light of the presented data, it is theorized that barrows were arranged in linear alignments along selected hill zones, although they did not necessarily proceed in a continuous or defined direction. Structuring of the funerary space resulted from the extension of mound groups, which probably represent family sub-necropolises. Linear arrangements of mounds were derived by merging the particular groups; barrows were erected in areas apart from the ‘planned’ structure, usually during different periods (but sometimes simultaneously). It was only after some time that the final alignment formation was accomplished, thus ending the process of structuring particular fragments of the barrow landscape.

A set of sources embodied by features 1149A and 1149B at Święte 11, Jarosław District, Podkarpackie Province, is one of a kind in Lesser Poland as it includes a vessel associated with steppe cultures of the Northwest Black Sea Coast. The vessel has been discovered in a stratigraphic context that is not fully clear. It probably constituted an offering (trizna) connected with the male burial identified in the niche grave underneath. The vessel appears to be linked to the late Yamnaya/early Catacomb horizon. Such chronological attribution is further supported by an absolute date of the 2nd half of the third millennium BC established for bones. The vessel sits alongside other finds that provide corroboration for connections the population of the younger Corded Ware phase in Lesser Poland had with eastern European regions.

The paper presents δ13C and δ15N isotope content measurements in human bones from 16 graves, being part of the Yampil Barrow Complex. From the results, conclusions may be drawn about the diet of barrow builders and users. It was based on vegetable foodstuffs and characterised by a varied share of terrestrial animal meat, depending on the period. High δ13C values suggest a share of C4-type plants in the diet, possibly millet.

An accurate radiocarbon (14C) dating of mortars requires adjusting the sample preparation procedure to each specific mortar composition. In order to follow the influence of mortar components and the preparation procedure on dating results, a mortar intercomparison study (MODIS) was undertaken by 10 organizations (institutes and laboratories) in the analyses of four different types of mortars (see in this issue Hajdas et al. 2017 and Hayen et al. 2017). This paper presents the preparation protocol DoM v.1 applied by the Poznań team, together with dating results on a set of mortar samples used for the of intercomparison. This procedure involved petrographic observations, SEM-EDS analyses, different mechanical-chemical preparation, a test of leaching reaction for available fractions, and finally 14C dating of chosen samples. The applied preparation allows one to obtain dry-sieved grain fractions and different fractions from suspension: grain fractions from suspension collected in different times of leaching, repeated suspension (different portions), as well as suspension collected at different times of sedimentation. The obtained results show the great importance of good sampling and the influence of sample preparation on 14C dating results.

Even though major faults represent important landslide controlling factors, the role the tectonic setting in actively spreading rifts plays in the development of large complex landslides is seldom discussed. The Ameka complex landslide area is located on the eastern scarp of the Gibe Gorge, approximately 45 km to the west of the Main Ethiopian Rift and 175 km to the southwest of Addis Ababa. Investigation of the complex landslide failures required a combination of satellite and airborne data-based geomorphology, geological field survey complemented with structural analysis, radiocarbon geochronology and vertical electric sounding. The obtained observations confirmed the multiphase evolution of the landslide area. We have documented that, apart from climatic and lithological conditions, the main triggering factor of the Ameka complex landslide is the tectonic development of this area. The ~ E–W extension along the ~ NNE–SSW trending Main Ethiopian Rift is associated with the formation of numerous parallel normal faults, such as the Gibe Gorge fault and the almost perpendicular scissor faults. The geometry of the slid blocks of coherent lithology have inherited the original tectonic framework, which suggests the crucial role tectonics play in the fragmentation of the compact rock-masses, and the origin and development of the Ameka complex landslide area. Similarly, the main scarps were also parallel to the principal tectonic features. The local tectonic framework is dominated by faults of the same orientation as the regional structures of the Main Ethiopian Rift. Such parallel tectonic frameworks display clear links between the extension of the Main Ethiopian Rift and the tectonic development of the landslide area. The Ameka complex landslide developed in several episodes over thousands of years. According to the radiocarbon data, the last of the larger displaced blocks (representing only 2% of the total area) most likely slid down in the seventh century AD. The main scarps, namely the high scarps in the western part, are unstable over the long term and toppling and falling-type slope movements can be expected here in the future.

The period around 50 000–35 000 years ago constitutes one of the most debated research issues in European archaeology of the Palaeolithic. In this time period, the transition from the Middle to the Upper Palaeolithic took place. Locally, in different areas of Europe, this shift is recorded in so-called transitional assemblages. The eastern fringe of these transitional assemblages is represented by the Jerzmanowician, the unit described on the basis of a lithic assemblage from Nietoperzowa Cave (Poland). The unit is a part of a European transitional complex called the Lincombian–Ranisian–Jerzmanowician. Up to now, the radiocarbon dates presented in the literature have only allowed us to set the age of the Jerzmanowician at c.40 000–45 000 ka cal bp. In this study, we present 42 new radiocarbon dates. We attempt to set the archaeological record of the Jerzmanowician from Nietoperzowa Cave in an accurate chronological framework, based on Bayesian statistical processing of radiocarbon dates. We conclude that the lower boundary of layer 6 in Nietoperzowa Cave can be statistically located in the range 44 000–42 000 cal bp and the upper limit for the Jerzmanowician is estimated to c.31 000 cal bp. New data raises a question on the correlation with upper layer 4. In the light of the new chronology, the attribution of the archaeological inventory from layer 4 to the Jerzmanowician seems questionable.

Understanding the dynamics of biodiversity in the past will contribute to a better informed inference of future biodiversity. Palaeoecological patterns in biodiversity are mainly preserved in natural archives such as lake sediments. Using ancient DNA from the sediment of 10 lakes from northern Fennoscandia, we analysed terrestrial plant diversity pattern for the entire Holocene, and how these patterns correspond to drivers of change such as temperature and biota. We modeled temporal trends in taxonomic richness and turnover using generalized additive models (GAM). We included delta oxygen isotope values from North Greenland Ice Core Project as a proxy for regional temperature, and the presence of dominant woody species as biotic drivers of terrestrial plant diversity. Results show a general tendency of an increase in species richness from the early Holocene onwards, but this pattern is asynchronous across the lakes, with some lakes having a peak in diversity in the mid-Holocene (8,000-6,000 cal. BP), late Holocene (~2,500 cal. BP), or in recent times. The turnover decreases in most of the lakes throughout the Holocene. Meanwhile, it consistently increases in a few lakes. With some exceptions, temperature and biotic variable differentially affects the richness and turnover across the lakes. Our study from multiple lakes and heterogeneous habitats may be able to identify the main drivers of past biodiversity changes in these systems. As a result, it may help us to understand the mechanisms of change so that the impacts of current climate change and biotic factors on biodiversity may be assessed. Author's list and affiliations:Dilli Prasad Rijal1, Peter D. Heintzman2, Youri Lammers2, Nigel Gilles Yoccoz1, Tony Gavin Brown2,3, Kelsey Lorberau1, Dorothee Ehrich1, Iva Pitelkova2, Tomasz Goslar4, Jostein Bakke5, Kari Anne Bråthen1, Inger Greve Alsos21Department of Arctic and Marine Biology, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway.2The Arctic University Museum of Norway, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, NO-9037 Tromsø, Norway.3School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK.44Faculty of Physics, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan, Poland5Department of Earth Science, University of Bergen, 5020 Bergen, Norway

International audience

Artykuł prezentuje serię datowań radiowęglowych ze stanowiska Złota-Gajowizna. Są to pierwsze dane chronometryczne dla najważniejszej nekropolii grupy centralnej kultury amfor kulistych. Dzięki specyfice odkrytych na stanowisku konstrukcji możliwe było skorygowanie datowania radiowęglowego za pomocą dendrochronologii. Zaproponowana został również nowa interpretacja organizacji przestrzennej cmentarzyska, która stała się punktem wyjścia do rozważań nad rytuałem pogrzebowym kultury amfor kulistych z Wyżyny Sandomierskiej. The paper presents a new series of absolute age determinations from the Złota-Gajowizna site. Those are the first chronometric data from the most important necropolis of the central group of the Globular Amphora culture. The obtained denrochronological data, which are unique for the sites of the Late Neolithic in Poland, made it possible to specify the results of the calibration. A new interpretation of the arrangement of the cemetery has been proposed, which is the starting point for determining the GAC funeral rite in the Sandomierz Upland.

Andøya on the NW coast of Norway is a key site for understanding the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) in northern Europe. Controversy has arisen concerning the local conditions, especially about the timing and extent of local glacial cover, maximum July temperatures and whether pine and/or spruce could have grown there. We reviewed all existing data and add newly analysed ancient sedimentary DNA (sedaDNA), pollen, macrofossils, geochemistry and stable isotopes from three lake sediment cores from Øvre Æråsvatnet. A total of 23 new dates and age-depth modelling suggests the lake has been ice-free since GI2 (Pinus and Picea sedaDNA was found in all three cores but at such low frequencies that it could not be distinguished from background contamination. LGM samples have an exceptionally high organic matter content, with isotopic values indicating that carbon and nitrogen derive from a marine source. Along with finds of bones of the little auk (Alle alle), this indicates that the lake received guano from an adjacent bird colony.SedaDNA, pollen and macrofossil assemblages were dominated by Poaceae, Brassicaceae and Papaver, but scattered occurrence of species currently restricted to the Low Arctic Tundra Zone (July temperature of 8–9 °C) such as Apiaceae (sedaDNA, 8–9 °C), and Alchemilla alpina (macrofossil, 8–9 °C) were also recorded. The review of >14.7 cal ka BP data recorded 94 vascular plant taxa, of which 38% have a northern limit in Shrub Tundra or more southern vegetation zones. This unusual assemblage likely stems from a combination of proximity to ice-free water in summer, geographical isolation linked with stochastic long-distance dispersal events, and the presence of bird-fertilized habitats. The environmental reconstruction based on all records from the area does not preclude local growth of tree species, as the local climate combined with high nutrient input may have led to periodically suitable environmental ‘hotspot’ conditions.

The shift from foraging to agriculture as an economic way of life can be influenced by multiple ecological and cultural factors. The introduction of rice cultivation in Japan appears to have facilitated a dietary and cultural transition from the Jomon to the Yayoi cultural repertoire (10th/4th century BCE). Here we examine how rice spread across the Yayoi cultural arena (Kyushu, Shikoku, and Honshu regions) using Bayesian modelling applied to a set of radiocarbon (14C) dates obtained from carbonized rice grains. The combined results of radiocarbon analysis and archaeological data suggest that rice could have appeared in the Central Highlands already in the 11th century BCE when the region was occupied by people of the Final Jomon culture group and was mainly used for ritual purposes. It then appeared in western Japan (northern Kyushu) in the 9th century BCE and continued to disperse discontinuously across eastern Japan. This dispersal pattern likely results from the fusion of Jomon hunter–fisher–gatherer groups in eastern Japan with cultural traits introduced from the Eurasian mainland. The main driving factors for the immigration of early rice farmers into Japan (starting around 1000 BCE) appears to have been sociopolitical. Transformations in China led to the dissemination of rice farmers into the Korean Peninsula about 500 years earlier. The main drivers likely comprised: (i) the eastward expansion of the Shang dynasty (ca. 1600–1400 BCE); (ii) the eastward expansion of the Zhou kingdom, accompanied by the establishment of satellite states, such as Lu (Shandong Province) and Yan (Beijing), following the defeat of the Shang in 1045 BCE; and (iii) the strengthening of local states during the early 8th century BCE after the weakening of the Zhou, due to conflicts with agropastoralists from the Asian steppes. In addition, it is likely that the gradual middle–late Holocene decrease in summer monsoon precipitation negatively affected agricultural yields in the regions located closer to the summer monsoon boundary, such as the middle Yellow River, and thus further fostered the observed population dynamics including the spread of rice farmers to the Korean Peninsula and Japan.

Past research has greatly improved our understanding of palaeoenvironmental changes in the Lake Baikal Region, but at the same time has indicated intra-regional variations in this vast study area. Here we present a new AMS-dated late glacial-middle Holocene (ca. 13,500-4000 cal. yr BP) pollen record from Lake Ochaul (54 degrees 14'N, 106 degrees 28'E; altitude 641 m a.s.l.) situated in the less-studied area of Cis-Baikal and compare reconstructed vegetation and climate dynamics with the published environmental history of Trans-Baikal based on the pollen record from Lake Kotokel (52 degrees 47'N, 108 degrees 07'E; altitude 458 m a.s.l.). Although both records show comparable major long-term trends in vegetation, there are considerable differences. Around Ochaul the landscape was relatively open during the Younger Dryas stadial, but forest vegetation started to spread at the late glacial/Holocene transition (ca. 11,650 cal. yr BP), thus ca. 1000 years earlier than around Kotokel. While in both regions taiga forests spread during the early and middle Holocene, the marked increase in Scots pine pollen in the Kotokel record after ca. 6800 cal. yr BP is not seen in that from Ochaul, where birch and coniferous taxa, such as Siberian pine, larch, spruce and fir, dominate, indicating different environmental conditions and driving forces in both study regions. However, the pollen data from Ochaul emphasizes that the Cis-Baikal area also saw a continuous increase in forest cover and in the proportion of conifers over birch trees and shrubs during the early-middle Holocene, which may have contributed to a decrease in the number of large herbivores, the main food resource of the Early Neolithic hunter-gatherer groups. This and rather abrupt reorganization of atmospheric circulation, which affected atmospheric precipitation distribution resulting in thicker and longer-lasting snow cover, may have led to a collapse of Early Neolithic Kitoi populations ca. 6660 cal. yr BP followed by a cultural "hiatus" in the archaeological records during the Middle Neolithic phase (ca. 6660-6060 cal. yr BP). The results stress the importance of sub-regional palaeoenvironmental studies and the need for a representative network of well-dated, high-resolution sediment archives for a better understanding of environmental changes and their potential impacts on the hunter-gatherer populations in the archaeologically-defined micro-regions.

The Middle Upper Palaeolithic (MUP) in eastern Central Europe (ECE) comprises three variants of Gravettian culture: Early Gravettian, Pavlovian, and Late Gravettian. While Early Gravettian and Pavlovian are merely located in Lower Austria and Moravia, the Late Gravettian occupations occurred over the entire territory of ECE. Compared to the number of sites the radiocarbon dating and the absolute chronology of the Late Gravettian is rather poor. The results presented here bring a new set of radiocarbon (14C) dates for the Late Gravettian period in ECE and propose that this period began and ended earlier than previously suggested.

A megaslump at Batagaika, in northern Yakutia, exposes a remarkable stratigraphic sequence of permafrost deposits ~50–80 m thick. To determine their potential for answering key questions about Quaternary environmental and climatic change in northeast Siberia, we carried out a reconnaissance study of their cryostratigraphy and paleoecology, supported by four rangefinder 14C ages. The sequence includes two ice complexes separated by a unit of fine sand containing narrow syngenetic ice wedges and multiple paleosols. Overall, the sequence developed as permafrost grew syngenetically through an eolian sand sheet aggrading on a hillslope. Wood remains occur in two forest beds, each associated with a reddened weathering horizon. The lower bed contains high amounts of Larix pollen (>20%), plus small amounts of Picea and Pinus pumila, and is attributed to interglacial conditions. Pollen from the overlying sequence is dominated by herbaceous taxa (~70%–80%) attributed to an open tundra landscape during interstadial climatic conditions. Of three hypothetical age schemes considered, we tentatively attribute much of the Batagaika sequence to Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage (MIS) 3. The upper and lower forest beds may represent a mid–MIS 3 optimum and MIS 5, respectively, although we cannot discount alternative attributions to MIS 5 and 7.

Despite their great potential, charred particles of chaff-and-straw temper from daub architecture have very rarely been considered as material suitable for 14C dating. This short paper is intended to change this situation. With this aim in mind, we first present the rationale and objectives of the sampling procedure based on archaeobotanical exploration of prehistoric remains of daub architecture, and then report and discuss the results of a short chronometric exercise based on such samples. The empirical verification of the sampling procedure was based on finds related to the epi-Lengyel culture from Upper Silesia.

Starting from questions about the nature of cultural diversity, this paper examines the pace and tempo of change and the relative importance of continuity and discontinuity. To unravel the cultural project of the past, we apply chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates within a Bayesian statistical framework, to interrogate the Neolithic cultural sequence in Lower Alsace, in the upper Rhine valley, in broad terms from the later sixth to the end of the fifth millennium cal BC. Detailed formal estimates are provided for the long succession of cultural groups, from the early Neolithic Linear Pottery culture (LBK) to the Bischheim Occidental du Rhin Supérieur (BORS) groups at the end of the Middle Neolithic, using seriation and typology of pottery as the starting point in modelling. The rate of ceramic change, as well as frequent shifts in the nature, location and density of settlements, are documented in detail, down to lifetime and generational timescales. This reveals a Neolithic world in Lower Alsace busy with comings and goings, tinkerings and adjustments, and relocations and realignments. A significant hiatus is identified between the end of the LBK and the start of the Hinkelstein group, in the early part of the fifth millennium cal BC. On the basis of modelling of existing dates for other parts of the Rhineland, this appears to be a wider phenomenon, and possible explanations are discussed; full reoccupation of the landscape is only seen in the Grossgartach phase. Radical shifts are also proposed at the end of the Middle Neolithic. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10816-016-9307-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Wetlands are very vulnerable ecosystems and sensitive to changes in the ground water table. For the last few thousand years, hydrological balance has also been influenced by human activity. To improve their cropping features, drainage activity and fertilizing were applied. The drainage process led to an abrupt change of environment, the replacement of plant communities and the entire ecosystem. The problem of carbon sequestration is very important nowadays. A higher accumulation rate is related to higher carbon accumulation, but the intensity of carbon sequestration depends on the type of mire, habitat, and climatic zone. The main aim of this article was an examination of the changes in poor-fen ecosystem during the last 200 years in relation to natural and anthropogenic factors, using paleoecological methods (pollen and macrofossils). The second aim was a detailed investigation of the sedimentary record to aid our understanding of carbon sequestration in the poor fen of temperate zone. This case study shows that fens in temperate zones, in comparison with boreal ones, show higher carbon accumulation rates which have been especially intensive over the last few decades. To reconstruct vegetation changes, detailed palynological and macrofossil analyses were done. A 200-year history of the mire revealed that it was influenced by human activity to much degree. However, despite the nearby settlement and building of the drainage ditch, the precious species and plant communities still occur.

The Great Salt Lake is a modern hypersaline system in which an extended modern and ancient microbial sedimentary system has developed. Detailed mapping based on aerial images and field observations can be used to identify non-random distribution patterns of microbial deposits, such as paleoshorelines associated with extensive polygons or fault-parallel alignments. Although it has been inferred that climatic changes controlling the lake level fluctuations explain the distribution of paleoshorelines and polygons, straight microbial deposit alignments may underline a normal fault system parallel to the Wasatch Front. This study is based on observations over a dm to km spatial range, resulting in an integrated conceptual model for the controls on the distribution of the microbial deposits. The morphology, size and distribution of these deposits result mainly from environmental changes (i.e. seasonal to long-term water level fluctuations, particular geomorphological heritage, fault-induced processes, groundwater seepage) and have the potential to bring further insights into the reconstruction of paleoenvironments and paleoclimatic changes through time. New radiocarbon ages obtained on each microbial macrofabrics described in this study improve the chronological framework and question the lake level variations that are commonly assumed.

Blomvag, on the western coast of Norway north of Bergen, is a classical site in Norwegian Quaternary science. Foreshore marine sediments, named the Blomvag Beds and now dated to the Bolling-Allerod from 14.8 to 13.3 cal. ka BP, contain the richest Lateglacial bone fauna in Norway, numerous mollusc shells, driftwood, and flint that some archaeologists consider as the oldest traces of humans in Norway. The main theme of this paper is that the Blomvag Beds are overlain by a compact diamicton, named the Ulvoy Diamicton, which was interpreted previously as a basal till deposited during a glacial re-advance into the ocean during the Older Dryas (c. 14 cal. ka BP). Sediment sections of the Blomvag Beds and the Ulvoy Diamicton were exposed in ditches in a cemetery that was constructed in 1941–42 and have subsequently not been accessible. A number of radiocarbon and cosmogenic 10Be exposure ages demonstrate that the diamicton is not likely to be a till because minimum deglaciation ages (14.8–14.5 cal. ka BP) from the vicinity pre-date the Ulvoy Diamicton. We now consider that sea ice and icebergs formed the Ulvoy Diamicton during the Younger Dryas. The Scandinavian Ice Sheet margin was located on the outermost coastal islands between at least c. 18.5 and 14.8 cal. ka BP; however, no ice-marginal deposits have been found offshore from this long period. The Older Dryas ice margin in this area was located slightly inside the Younger Dryas margin, whereas farther south it was located slightly beyond the Younger Dryas margin.

The paper reports the results of the research at Neolithic site Algay in Saratov region in steppe Povolzhye in 2015. The existence of two levels of cultural layer was traced. New data on the pottery of Orlovskaya culture and the technology of its making were obtained. The vessels were made of clay with clamshell additive or of silt. Stone tools are represented by plaques, scrapers, points and geometric microliths. The co-occurance of trapezoids with planed back and segments with Geluanskaya retouch was noted. The determination of osteological remains at the site shows tour, tarpan, onager and saiga prevailing. Domestic dog bones were found. They were in the layer dated back to 5700 BC. Radiocarbon dating of different materials (bones, charred organic remains, charcoal) from the site makes it possible to compare the results. The low level dates back to between 5800 and 5400 BC and the upper level to 4800 BC. These dates allow to confirm the site development from VI to the beginning of V millennium BC in calibrated meanings. It allows to correct the chronology of the Neolithic in the Low Povolzhye.