Early and Middle Pleistocene Faunal and hominins dispersals through Southwestern Asia

Bar‐Yosef, Ofer; Belmaker, Miriam

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.02.016

Cited by 123 publications

(41 citation statements)

References 109 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In the Middle Orontes there is again a well-developed terrace record, newly discovered to extend up the eastern valley side to ~120 m above the modern river, these higher levels (marked by calcreted gravels comparable with those in the Upper Orontes) perhaps representing the Pliocene . The biostratigraphical marker at Latamneh would now be assigned an age in the region of 1.2-0.9 Ma, largely based on small-mammal faunas, interpreted in comparison with the Israeli sites at Ubeidiya and Gesher Benot Yaaqov, which are regarded as older and younger, repectively, than Latamneh (Bar-Yosef and Belmaker, 2010;cf. von Koenigswald et al, 1992;Mein and Besançon, 1993;Goren-Inbar et al, 2000).…”

Section: Fig 8 Hereaboutsmentioning

confidence: 99%

River terrace development in the NE Mediterranean region (Syria and Turkey): Patterns in relation to crustal type

Bridgland

Demi̇r

Seyrek

et al. 2017

Quaternary Science Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

(2017) 'River terrace development in the NE Mediterranean region (Syria and Turkey) : patterns in relation to crustal type.', Quaternary science reviews., 166 . pp. 307-323. Further information on publisher's website: Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. JQSR-D-16-00142I am resubmitting our paper for the FLAG special issue od QSR: River terrace development in the NE Mediterranean region (Syria and Turkey): patterns in relation to crustal typePlease note tat the title has been changed to reflect the main thrust of the revision, which, based on advice from the reviewers and from the Guest Editor, gives emphasis to the patterns of archive preservation in relation to crustal type.The resubmission includes a 'response to reviews' document and a colour$coded annotated version of te new text, as well as a clean copy.I hope that this will prove acceptable. Many thanks Yours faithfullyDavid Bridgland It is widely recognized that the optimal development of river terraces globally has been in the temperate latitudes, with NW and Central Europe being areas of particular importance for the preservation of such archives of Quaternary environmental change. There is also a growing consensus that the principal drivers of terrace formation have been climatic fluctuation against a background of progressive (but variable) uplift. Nonetheless river terraces are widely preserved in the Mediterranean region, where they have often been attributed to the effects of neotectonic activity, with a continuing debate about the relative significance of fluctuating temperature (glacials-interglacials) and precipitation (pluvialsinterpluvials). Research in Syria and southern-central Turkey (specifically in the valleys of the Tigris and Ceyhan in Turkey, the Kebir in Syria and the trans-border rivers Orontes and Euphrates) has underlined the importance of uplift rates in dictating the preservation pattern of fluvial archives and has revealed different patterns that can be related to crustal type. The NE Mediterranean coastal region has experienced unusually rapid uplift in the Late Quaternary. The relation between the Kebir terraces and the staircase of interglacial raised beaches preserved along the Mediterranean coastline of NW Syria reinforces previous conclusions that the emplacement of the fluvial terrace deposits in the Mediterranean has occurred during colder climatic episodes. Department of Geography

show abstract

Section: Fig 8 Hereaboutsmentioning

confidence: 99%

River terrace development in the NE Mediterranean region (Syria and Turkey): Patterns in relation to crustal type

Bridgland

Demi̇r

Seyrek

et al. 2017

Quaternary Science Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…First described by Blankenhorn (1897) based on shells from the Orontes, A. apameae is best known from the Jordan valley, where it has been used as an index fossil to define the 'upper freshwater series' or 'Viviparus Beds' of the Benot Ya'aqov Formation at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (Picard, 1963;Tchernov, 1973;Goren-Inbar and Belitzky, 1989;Bar-Yosef and Belmaker, 2010), noted above as being somewhat more recent than the Latamneh deposits. As at Karkour, A. apameae is found in direct association with handaxes at Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (Goren-Inbar and Belitzky, 1989;Goren-Inbar et al, 1992).…”

Section: Palaeontology Of the Ghab Sedimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The River Orontes in Syria and Turkey: Downstream variation of fluvial archives in different crustal blocks

Bridgland

Westaway

Romieh³

et al. 2012

Geomorphology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The geomorphology and Quaternary history of the River Orontes in western Syria and south-central Turkey have been studied using a combination of methods: field survey, differential GPS, satellite imagery, analysis of sediments to determine provenance, flow direction and fluvial environment, incorporation of evidence from fossils for both palaeoenvironments and biostratigraphy, uranium-series dating of calcrete cement, reconciliation of Palaeolithic archaeological contents, and uplift modelling based on terrace height distribution. The results underline the contrasting nature of different reaches of the Orontes, in part reflecting different crustal blocks, with different histories of landscape evolution. Upstream from Homs the Orontes has a system of calcreted terraces that form a staircase extending to~200 m above the river. New U-series dating provides an age constraint within the lower part of the sequence that suggests underestimation of terrace ages in previous reviews. This upper valley is separated from another terraced reach, in the Middle Orontes, by a gorge cut through the Late Miocene-Early Pliocene Homs Basalt. The Middle Orontes terraces have long been recognized as a source of mammalian fossils and Palaeolithic artefacts, particularly from Latamneh, near the downstream end of the reach. This terraced section of the valley ends at a fault scarp, marking the edge of the subsiding Ghab Basin (a segment of the Dead Sea Fault Zone), which has been filled to a depth of 1 km by dominantly lacustrine sediments of Pliocene-Quaternary age. Review of the fauna from Latamneh suggests that its age is 1.2-0.9 Ma, significantly older than previously supposed, and commensurate with less uplift in this reach than both the Upper and Lower Orontes. Two localities near the downstream end of the Ghab have provided molluscan and ostracod assemblages that record somewhat saline environments, perhaps caused by desiccation within the former lacustrine basin, although they include fluvial elements. The Ghab is separated from another subsiding and formerly lacustrine depocentre, the Amik Basin of Hatay Province, Turkey, by a second gorge, implicit of uplift, this time cut through Palaeogene limestone. The NE-SW oriented lowermost reach of the Orontes is again terraced, with a third and most dramatic gorge through the northern edge of the Ziyaret Dağı mountains, which are known to have experienced rapid uplift, probably again enhanced by movement on an active fault. Indeed, a conclusion of the research, in which these various reaches are compared, is that the crust in the Hatay region is significantly more dynamic than that further upstream, where uplift has been less rapid and less continuous.

show abstract

“…A wider range of exploitation methods emerges. For example, the late Acheulean / Acheuleo / Yabrudian lowland sites of Adlun (Roe, 1983), the lowest level G at Hayonim (Stiner, 2005), Misliya (Weinstein-Evron et al, 2003), Tabun (Bate, 1937), and Qesem (Stiner et al, 2004(Stiner et al, , 2009Bar-Yosef and Belmaker, 2011) are based on a different resource mixture with bovids, fallow deer and gazelle assuming major components of the diet in notably different environments. At the same time, late Acheulean sites in the Samarian and Judaean hills, for example Sahl el-Koussin (Roche, 1936) and Emek Refaim (Stekelis, 1948;Arensburg and Bar-Yosef, 1967), suggest that exploitation of the medium and smaller herbivores expanded into upland limestone areas.…”

Section: After the Elephantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The area is tectonically active, which results in the creation and rejuvenation of complex landscape features that have been shown to be particularly favourable for hominin occupation. It is also relatively rich in Palaeolithic remains and has been extensively studied, so that there is a database of observations on which synthetic research can draw (Bar-Yosef, 1995;Tchernov, 1999;Turner, 1999;Goren-Inbar et al, 2000, OÕRegan et al, 2005King and Bailey, 2006;Shea, 2008;Belmaker, 2010;Fleagle et al, 2010;Issar, 2010;Bar-Yosef and Belmaker, 2011;Winder et al, 2012). All of this makes the region an interesting regional ÔlaboratoryÕ for the examination of the various factors that may have promoted or constrained hominin occupation and dispersal.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hominin reactions to herbivore distribution in the Lower Palaeolithic of the Southern Levant

Dévès

Sturdy²,

Godet³

et al. 2014

Quaternary Science Reviews

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We explore the relationship between the edaphic potential of soils and the mineral properties of the underlying geology as a means of mapping the differential productivity of different areas of the Pleistocene landscape for large herbivores. These factors strongly control the health of grazing animals irrespective of the particular types of vegetation growing on them, but they have generally been neglected in palaeoanthropological studies in favour of a more general emphasis on water and vegetation, which provide an incomplete picture. Taking the Carmel-Galilee-Golan region as an example, we show how an understanding of edaphic potential provides insight into how animals might have exploited the environment. In order to simplify the analysis, we concentrate on the Lower Palaeolithic period and the very large animals that dominate the archaeofaunal assemblages of this period. Topography and the ability of soils to retain water also contribute to the differential productivity and accessibility of different regions and to patterns of seasonal movements of the animals, which are essential to ensure a supply of healthy fodder throughout the year, especially for large animals such as elephants, which require substantial regions of good grazing and browsing. Other animals migrating in groups have similar needs. The complex topography of the Southern Levant with frequent sudden and severe changes in gradient, and a wide variety of landforms including rocky outcrops, cliffs, gorges, and ridges, places major limits on these patterns of seasonal movements. We develop methods of mapping these variables, based on the geology and our substantial field experience, in order to create a framework of landscape variation that can be compared with the locations and contents of archaeological sites to suggest ways in which early hominins used the variable features of the landscape to target animal prey, and extend the analysis to the consideration of smaller mammals that were exploited more intensively after the disappearance of the elephants. We consider some of the ways in which this regional-scale approach can be further tested and refined, and advocate the development of such studies as an essential contribution to understanding the wider pattern of hominin dispersal.

show abstract

Early and Middle Pleistocene Faunal and hominins dispersals through Southwestern Asia

Cited by 123 publications

References 109 publications

River terrace development in the NE Mediterranean region (Syria and Turkey): Patterns in relation to crustal type

River terrace development in the NE Mediterranean region (Syria and Turkey): Patterns in relation to crustal type

The River Orontes in Syria and Turkey: Downstream variation of fluvial archives in different crustal blocks

Hominin reactions to herbivore distribution in the Lower Palaeolithic of the Southern Levant

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About