Radiocarbon evidence for the Lateglacial Human Recolonisation of Northern Europe

Abstract

This paper examines, through the use of Accelerator Mass Spectrometry dating, the database of Lateglacial cultures involved in the recolonisation of northern Europe. The aim is not only to determine the timing of that recolonisation, but also to propose a general model of hunter-gatherer colonisation at a sub-continental scale. The question is addressed of how long the period of abandonment of northern Europe during the Wiirm/Weichsel glaciation may have lasted, and when it both started and came to an end. A series of questions is asked concerning the processes and mechanics of recolonisation and the sequences for specific areas are examined. AMS radiocarbon dating shows that a two stage process was involved, which has important implications for our analysis of regional settlement patterns and the changing scale of Lateglacial hunting systems. Recolonisation was a dynamic process, integral to, and internally driven by, the social life of Lateglacial hunters. It may have been constrained by environmental and resource factors, which we have emphasised here, but ultimately it was an historical, social process and should be similarily regarded to that of the farmers. By measuring rates of expansion data are provided for use in other studies of hunter-gatherer colonisation.

The Epigravettian and the Magdalenian in Poland: New chronological data and an old problem

“…In the case of areas situated west from the Elbe River, it is assumed, of course, that the recolonization took place thanks to the Magdalenian culture including its ancestors. The model (today criticized) of pioneering and residential phases was accepted previously (Housley et al, 1997vs. Blockley et al, 2000.…”

The chronology of abrupt climate change and Late Upper Palaeolithic human adaptation in Europe

“…Blockley et al, 2000a,b;Terberger and Street, 2002;Blackwell and Buck, 2003), while others have argued instead for the greater importance of social and cultural influences, which need not have been driven by climate (e.g. Housley et al, 1997). Here we examine the potential for resolving these opposing views.…”

“…On the other hand, if the two were synchronous, or if human population growth postdated climatic warming by only a short period, then, although this does not prove a causal relationship, it would certainly strengthen the case for climate as a forcing factor on human mobility and adaptation. Housley (1991;Housley et al, 1997) collated the best available evidence for the timing of human expansion in Europe from ca. 14.0 k 14 C yr BP onwards, based predominantly on uncalibrated AMS radiocarbon dates obtained from human and humanly modified material using strict quality assurance protocols.…”

“…The possible causal relationships between millennial-scale climate change and long-term hominid evolution has long been debated (e.g. Ruff, 1994;Holliday and Falsetti, 1995;Holliday, 1997Holliday, , 1999Sherratt, 1997;Housley et al,1997;Blockley et al, 2000a,b), but the idea that extremely abrupt climate shifts, decadal in scale, could be implicated as initiators of human dispersal and development has only recently emerged. It was not until the publication of the Greenland ice-core records in the early 1990s that the sheer rapidity with which the global climate system was capable of change became better appreciated (e.g.…”

The human colonisation of Europe: where are we?

“…In his discussion of Gorodkov's scheme, Gaston (2003) points out that it is but one of many ways to structure discussion on range limits, all with their own advantages and disadvantages, but neatly illustrating the fact that the range limit does not exist. Archaeologists only rarely mention what kind of range limit is under discussion (see Housley et al (1997) on the recolonisation of northern Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum for a noteworthy exception), which is understandable given the coarse palimpsest character of the distributions that we are working with. The issue addressed by Gorodkov's scheme is an important one though, as it suggests even greater complexity than that already shown by Dennell's (2003) perspective of Visitors and Residents.…”