A radiocarbon-dated cave sequence and thePleistocene/Holocene transition in Hungary

Abstract

Abstract:The Petény Cave located on the Hungarian Highlands yielded one of the most well-documented vertebrate fauna of the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in Hungary. In addition to the vertebrate remains, considerable numbers of mollusc shells and charcoals were retrieved from the profile of the rock shelter. Furthermore, a pollen sequence close to the cave was also evaluated in order to reconstruct the flora of the region. A new radiocarbon analysis of samples from the Petény Cave was used to correlate data of different methods and to correct the earlier outcomes. The cave sequence exposes layers from 15.180 cal BP to 483 cal BP. Nevertheless, based on our new radiocarbon data, the sequence is incomplete and layers corresponding to the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary are missing from the profile. The results of our radiocarbon analysis clearly support considerable amounts of thermo-mesophylous gastropod species appearing as early as 15.180 cal BP. The appearance of deciduous woodlands in the Carpathian Basin along with the concomitant mollusc elements is much earlier than previously assumed, supporting the presence of temperate woodland refugia in the study area.

Ice Age Terrestrial and Freshwater Gastropod Refugia in the Carpathian Basin, Central Europe

“…The collective appearance of Discus perspectivus and Discus ruderatus indicates the development of a dual refugia in the study area [49], i.e., the collective presence of Pleistocene cold-resistant and cold-loving elements with warmth-loving Holocene taxa during the Late Glacial in the Carpathian Basin as postulated earlier on the basis of paleoecological, geological, geochemical, and sedimentological observations made at the environmental historical site of Bátorliget marshland discussed in the next chapter [55]. According to our findings, rock walls and rock surfaces with a southern exposure in the inner Subcarpathian zone of the Carpathian Mts at suitable heights between 800 and 500 m ASL must have had special microclimatic conditions (angle of incoming radiation, minimal height for air humidity condensation), which allowed for the emergence of temperate woodland refugia [53][54][55][56]67], even during the coldest periods of the ice age [91,92]. Similar woodlands could have developed at the ecotone of floodplains and foothill areas of island-like hills in the heart of the basin as well [93,94].…”

“…The samples taken by Stieber and his colleague Dénes Jánossy yielded numerous terrestrial mollusk shells, which were handed over for further evaluation to the late Endre Krolopp, an outstanding Quaternary malacologist of the late twentieth century. The malacological remains of both caves have been scientifically evaluated along with a revision of the charcoal remains complemented by 14C dating of the major stratigraphic units sampled in the 1950s [55,56]. According to the results of these investigations, Central European woodland mollusk elements prevailed in this area from even the last glacial onward (Figure 4).…”

“…The most characteristic elements of this community are the following: the Carpathian-Baltic Ruthenica filograna, Macrogastra latestriata, and Both regions hosting the referred marshland had direct connections with the foothill areas of the surrounding mid-mountains, the south facing escarpments via the river valleys based on our subfossil distribution data of the mentioned woodland elements. It was these foothill areas which functioned as refugia for woodland elements from the Postglacial onward [55,56].…”

“…Evidence for the survival of temperate woodlands in the Carpathian Basin during the Pleistocene was first presented between 1956 and 1969 by the paleobotanist József Stieber based on his detailed anthraconomical studies of wood remains deriving from cave sites in the Bükk Mts and loess/paleosol profiles from different parts of Hungary [45][46][47][48]. Thirty years after Stieber's seminal work, members of a British-Hungarian research group managed to independently corroborate the idea of Stieber on the presence of temperate woodland refugia in the Carpathian Basin [49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56]. Besides the presence of woodland refugia, ice age refugia for several temperate grassland elements have also been recently identified [57][58][59][60][61].…”

Early and middle Holocene ecosystem changes at the Western Carpathian/Pannonian border driven by climate and Neolithic impact

“…; Tzedakis et al . ; Sümegi & Náfrádi ). Unfortunately, pollen and macrofossil analyses were limited in this study in samples from the beginning of the Holocene (11 750–10 930 cal.…”