Impact of climate and humans on the range dynamics of the woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) in Europe during MIS 2

Abstract

The woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) was widespread in almost all of Europe during the late Pleistocene. However, its distribution changed because of population fluctuations and range expansions and reductions. During Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 2 (MIS 2), these processes were highly dynamic. Our analyses of 318 radiocarbon dates from 162 localities, obtained directly from mammoth material, confirmed important changes in mammoth range between ~28.6 and ~14.1 ka. The Greenland stadial 3 interval (27.5–23.3 ka) was the time of maximum expansion of the mammoth in Europe during MIS 2. The continuous range was soon fragmented and reduced, resulting in the disappearance of Mammuthus during the last glacial maximum from ~21.4 to ~19.2 ka in all parts of the North European Plain. It is not clear whether mammoths survived in the East European Plain. The mammoth returned to Europe soon after ~19.0 ka, and for the next 3–4 millennia played an important role in the lifeways of Epigravettian societies in eastern Europe. Mammoths became extinct in most of Europe by ~14.0 ka, except for core areas such as the far northeast of Europe, where they survived until the beginning of the Holocene. No significant correlation was found between the distribution of the mammoth in Europe and human activity.

The Volchia Griva mineral oasis as unique locus for research of the mammoth fauna and the late Pleistocene environment in Northern Eurasia

“…According to recent data, the conclusion that the woolly mammoth became extinct before 12 14 C ka BP in Western, Central, and Southern Europe is generally confirmed (Nadachowski et al, 2011(Nadachowski et al, , 2018Ukkonen et al, 2011;Braun and Palombo, 2012). Nevertheless, today the mosaic nature of the mammoth range during its final stage of extinction on the continent at ca.…”

Kammern-Grubgraben revisited - First results from renewed investigations at a well-known LGM site in east Austria

“…Terberger and Street, 2002;Verpoorte, 2004;Terberger, 2013;. Major environmental changes are also reflected by the faunal record, which documents decline of woolly mammoth in the second half of Greenland Stadial GS-3, followed by its disappearance and eventual reappearance (Nadachowski et al, 2018), and migration of saiga antelope from the east (Nadachowski et al, 2016). On the other hand, valleys in low mountain ranges in the southern part of Central Europe may have provided protection from extremely cold arctic winds, allowing for higher biotope diversity and increased biomass productivity in refuge areas in and adjacent to the Moravian-Bohemian highlands and the Carpathian forelands in Slovakia and Hungary (Nerudová and Neruda, 2015, and references therein).…”

New Radiocarbon Dates for the Late Gravettian in Eastern Central Europe

“…The human bone date is the youngest, 22.8 ka BP, while all the others, mainly charcoals associated with the lithic artifacts, are significantly older, 25.7 and 25.9 ka BP. There are three more dates on mammoth molars from the 1924-1925 excavation, 20.4, 24.1 and 25.5 ka BP, which are also somewhat younger than other 14 C dates from the site (Nadachowski et al 2018).…”