Dense Forests, Cold Steppes, and the Palaeolithic Settlement of Northern Europe [and Comments and Replies]

Roebroeks, Wil; Conard, Nicholas J.; Kolfschoten, Thijs van; Dennell, Robin; Dunnell, Robert C.; Gamble, Clive; Graves, Paul; Jacobs, Kenneth; Otte, Marcel; Roe, Derek; Svoboda, Jiřı́; Tuffreau, Alain; Voytek, Barbara; Wenban-Smith, Francis; Wymer, John

doi:10.1086/204113

Cited by 159 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…As detailed elsewhere (Roebroeks, 2001), the European record shows that Middle Pleistocene hominins (the first ones generally referred to Homo heidelbergensis) were present in a wide range of environments, including full interglacial and colder steppic ones, over large (but not all) parts of Europe from about half a million years ago (Roebroeks et al, 1992;Gamble, 1999). According to Dennell (2003) around 500 ka hominins also move north into Asia.…”

Section: Middle Pleistocene Europementioning

confidence: 94%

“…From the first substantial presence onward, hominins seem to have been present over large areas of Europe except for its northernmost and easternmost parts, and in quite a wide range of environments, from temperate woodland conditions as testified at Beeches Pit (Preece et al,this issue, and Boxgrove in England and Miesenheim in Germany to colder steppic settings as known from the Kärlich loess sequence in the German Neuwied Basin (Roebroeks et al, 1992). We encounter their traces in various types of landscapes, from dissected limestone valley systems in southern Europe via the loess plains of northern France and the Mittelgebirge of Germany up to the coastal plains at Boxgrove, England.…”

Section: Europementioning

confidence: 99%

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The human colonisation of Europe: where are we?

Roebroeks

2006

J Quaternary Science

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103

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This paper focuses on the earlier parts of the human colonisation of Europe and its wider setting and addresses the two basic tasks of archaeologists working in this field: (1) to identify the spatio-temporal patterns of human presence and absence, i.e. getting the pattern 'right '; (2) to explain these patterns. Archaeologists have invested mostly in the first task, while the second one takes us to the field of biogeography. Study of biogeographical limits of hominins necessitates integration of many aspects of a species, e.g. diet, life history and social organisation, and the way environmental factors shape these. Palaeoanthropologists need to combine these with establishing data on the chronology of hominin presence, on palaeoenvironment and climatic oscillations, on emergence and disappearance of land bridges, and so on. They further have to acknowledge the fact that only very small parts of the former ranges of the species have been sampled 'adequately'. The paper explores some of the key issues at stake in dealing with the human colonisation of Europe.

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Section: Middle Pleistocene Europementioning

confidence: 94%

Section: Europementioning

confidence: 99%

The human colonisation of Europe: where are we?

Roebroeks

2006

J Quaternary Science

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103

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“…The apparent lack of archaeological sites during this period in northern Europe gave support to Gamble's view. However, Roebroeks et al (1992) refuted Gamble's hypothesis by presenting evidence that H. neanderthalensis was present in Europe in interglacial periods. Their extensive review of a number of northern European sites not only indicated the presence of H. neanderthalensis in pre-Eemian interglacial periods but also indicated occupation in mixed-oak forest (fully interglacial) environments of the Last Interglacial.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…Roebroeks and Van Kolfschoten, 1995;Carbonell et al, 2008) and in geographic space (e.g. Roebroeks et al, 1992;Parfitt et al, 2010). The geographic and environmental limits to the spatial distribution of specific hominins are of major interest, as they provide important information about hominin social and/or technological abilities to adapt to a specific ecosystem, or to find new ways of exploiting or competing for resources (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, the archaeological record is strongly biased, and various workers have stressed the role of preservation processes in this apparent absence (Roebroeks et al, 1992;Roebroeks and Speleers, 2002). Explaining the absence of Neandertals in Great Britain could give valuable insight about migration speeds, migration barriers or preferred habitats of H. neanderthalensis.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evidence for the Blake Event recorded at the Eemian archaeological site of Caours, France

Sier

Parés

Antoine

et al. 2015

Quaternary International

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a b s t r a c tA palaeomagnetic study of the Last Interglacial calcareous tufa sequence at the archaeological site of Caours (northern France) identified a geomagnetic excursion that we interpret as the Blake Event. Earlier palaeontological (molluscs, mammals) and geochemical proxy studies at this site allowed recognition of full interglacial conditions prevailing during the deposition of the tufa sequence. The tufa sequence and associated Palaeolithic levels have been dated to the Eemian interglacial by a set of TIMS U/Th measurements on calcitic concretions (average : 123 ± 3 ka). By previous correlations of the Blake Event with the Eemian sensu stricto (as defined in the Netherlands) pollenzones at Neumark Nord 2 (Germany) and Rutten (The Netherlands) it has been shown that the continental Eemian starts after the peak of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e. The identification of the Blake Event at Caours implies a post MIS 5e peak age for all four levels of the Palaeolithic occupation. In perspective of the time lag between the MIS 5e peak and the beginning of the Eemian identified in other studies, it is very likely that during the main occupation of Caours a significant barrier was in place between north western France and Great Britain, in the form of the English Channel. It is possible that the chronological position of the Last Interglacial environments in northwestern Europe in relation to sea-level change is a key factor behind the apparent absence of Last Interglacial Palaeolithic sites in Great Britain.

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A preliminary report on the Stanton Harcourt Channel Deposits (Oxfordshire, England): geological context, vertebrate remains and palaeolithic stone artefacts

1996

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A summary is given of the geological, faunal and archaeological information obtained during excavations in the Stanton Harcourt Channel Deposits from 1990 to 1995. The channel deposits underlie the ‘cold‐climate’ Stanton Harcourt Gravel Member of the Summertown– Radley Terrace Formation. The Channel sediments are attributed to Oxygen Isotope Stage 7, when the Thames was undergoing down‐dip migration and eroding the Weymouth Member of the Oxford Clay (Upper Jurassic), the contemporary Jurassic (Corallian) escarpment being near to Stanton Harcourt at that time. Abundant large vertebrate remains have been recovered, mainly from the base of the Channel deposits, where a cobble and boulder bed rests on thin silt or sand horizons or in scour hollows in the clay bedrock. Smaller bones occur throughout the deposits, which are mainly poorly sorted gravels, but especially at erosive horizons. Several palaeolithic artefacts have been found in the same contexts; many of the bones and some of the artefacts appear not to have been transported far. Although the artefacts cannot be linked directly with the bones, a study of them adds to our knowledge of the Middle Pleistocene human settlement of the Upper Thames Valley. It is of interest that mammoth is abundant as part of the interglacial faunal assemblage, and the significance of this is discussed. The environment clearly included substantial areas of open grassland, although there was also some forest in the vicinity. Evidence appears to be accumulating for important faunal and floral differences between particular interglacial events during the British Middle and Late Pleistocene.

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Dense Forests, Cold Steppes, and the Palaeolithic Settlement of Northern Europe [and Comments and Replies]

Abstract: 6> 1995 by The Wcnncr-Gten Foundation for Anthropological Research. All nghts reserved ooii-32O4/9i/3jos-oooi$i.so Period Interglacial Environments Intermediate Environments "Cold Steppic" Environments

Cited by 159 publications

References 20 publications

The human colonisation of Europe: where are we?

The human colonisation of Europe: where are we?

Evidence for the Blake Event recorded at the Eemian archaeological site of Caours, France

A preliminary report on the Stanton Harcourt Channel Deposits (Oxfordshire, England): geological context, vertebrate remains and palaeolithic stone artefacts

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