The Middle Pleistocene fluvial sequence at Uichteritz, central Germany: Chronological framework, paleoenvironmental history and early human presence during MIS 11

Lauer, Tobias; Weiß, Marcel; Bernhardt, Wolfgang; Heinrich, Susann; Rappsilber, Ivo; Stahlschmidt, Mareike Cordula; Suchodoletz, Hans von; Wansa, Stefan

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.107016

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…The increasing prevalence of 3D modelling apps on mobile devices may make 3D modelling more accessible, though to date only one published paper has used a mobile device to create (relatively low-quality) 3D models of stone artefacts (Lauer et al 2020). More concretely, making more analytical tools, code, and datasets open access would allow for a wider range of researchers to contribute to the field, even if modelling technology remains inaccessible.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

After the Revolution: A Review of 3D Modelling as a Tool for Stone Artefact Analysis

Wyatt-Spratt

2022

Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology

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With over 200 peer-reviewed papers published over the last 20 years, 3D modelling is no longer a gimmick but an established and increasingly common analytical tool for stone artefact analysis. Laser and structured light scanning, photogrammetry, and CT scanning have all been used to model stone artefacts. These have been combined with a variety of different analytical approaches, from geometric morphometrics to custom reduction indices to digital elevation maps. 3D lithic analyses are increasingly global in scope and studies aim to address an ever-broadening breadth of research topics ranging from testing the functional efficiency of artefacts to assessing the cognitive capabilities of hominid populations. While the impact of the computational revolution on lithic analysis has been reviewed, the impact of 3D modelling on lithic analysis has yet to be comprehensively assessed. This paper presents a review of how 3D modelling in particular has impacted the field of stone artefact analysis. It combines a quantitative bibliometric analysis with a qualitative review to assess just how "revolutionary" 3D modelling has been for lithic analysis. It explores trends in the use of 3D modelling in stone artefact analysis, its impact on the wider lithic analysis field, and methodological, regional and theoretical gaps which future research projects could explore.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

After the Revolution: A Review of 3D Modelling as a Tool for Stone Artefact Analysis

Wyatt-Spratt

2022

Journal of Computer Applications in Archaeology

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“…Current carbonate contents of sediments and paleosols between 11 % and 42 % allowed for excellent preservation of gastropods throughout the sequence. So far, Holocene malacological studies from the region mainly focused on marine or coastal fauna (Lahijani et al, 2009;van de Velde et al, 2019), whereas most terrestrial paleoecological studies were carried out using pollen analyses in lakes or peat bogs (Connor and Kvavadze, 2008;Messager et al, 2013Messager et al, , 2017Joannin et al, 2014;Leroyer et al, 2016;Connor et al, 2018). The first goal of our study was to derive reliable independent information about possible long-lasting human activity in the floodplain since the late Neolithic-Chalcolithic as was formerly suggested by n-alkane biomarker vegetation reconstructions from the fluvial sediments (Bliedtner et al, 2018a(Bliedtner et al, , 2020.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…In the latter, pollen analyses showed a dominance of deciduous and coniferous forest vegetation from about 12.8 cal kyr BP, and Salix propor-tions between 10 % and 30 % demonstrate that the pollen signal should mostly originate from the floodplain and not from the surrounding landscape (Gogichaishvili, 1984). In a wider regional context, the vegetation history of the upper Alazani floodplain is also different compared to Lesser Caucasus and Anatolian plateau, where pollen from lake and peat sediments suggest that reforestation started during the Early Holocene, although relatively late compared with central Europe, at ∼ 9-8 cal kyr BP (Wick et al, 2003;Messager et al, 2013Messager et al, , 2017Joannin et al, 2014;Leroyer et al, 2016). However, while ecological and climatic conditions of the upper Alazani floodplain differ from the Lesser Caucasus and Anatolia, they are similar to the Iori floodplain.…”

Section: Vegetation History Of the Upper Alazani Floodplainmentioning

confidence: 99%

Snail assemblages in Holocene floodplain research – an example from the southern Caucasus

Suchodoletz

Richter

Walther

et al. 2020

E&G Quaternary Sci. J.

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Abstract. During the last decades, rivers and their deposits in different regions were intensively studied to better understand the late-Quaternary landscape evolution and former human activities. One proxy for paleoecological and paleoclimatic reconstructions is the analysis of gastropods (snails) from carbonatic river sediments. In the scope of this study, we investigated gastropod assemblages from a Holocene fluvial sediment–paleosol sequence at the upper Alazani River in the southeastern Caucasus. On the one hand, we aimed to derive reliable independent information about possible long-lasting human activity since the late Neolithic–Chalcolithic in the upper Alazani floodplain. This was formerly suggested by n-alkane biomarker vegetation reconstructions from the fluvial sediments. However, the reliability of that method is still debated. On the other hand, we aimed to obtain reliable information about a formerly suggested, possibly tectonic-driven, large-scale shift of the river course during the Late Holocene. In agreement with the n-alkane biomarkers, our results demonstrate that the studied site was free of the natural forests during the Early and Middle Holocene until ca. 4.5 cal kyr BP. Since this contrasts with a pollen-based vegetation reconstruction from a neighboring floodplain that was covered with forests during that time, the open vegetation in the upper Alazani valley was probably caused by continuous settlement activity as is also indicated by archeological finds in the sequence. Therefore, using our paleoecological proxies it is possible that we identified a settlement center in the upper Alazani floodplain that was populated from the late Neolithic–Chalcolithic. This center was not known thus far, since the settlement remains are covered by thick floodloam today that hindered their detection during archeological surface surveys. Therefore, our findings suggest that the area in the southern Caucasus region that was settled during the late-Neolithic–Chalcolithic period should have been larger than was known thus far. Furthermore, increasing contributions of wetland gastropods since ca. 4 cal kyr BP confirm a local shift of the river course towards the investigated site during the Late Holocene, possibly linked with ongoing tectonic activity. However, in contrast to former suggestions our gastropod assemblages indicate a slow rather than abrupt process. Our study demonstrates the high value of gastropod assemblages for geoarcheological and geomorphological research in floodplains with carbonatic river sediments at both a regional and local spatial scale.

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“…Depositional sequences can show discontinuous aggradation modes, limiting the applicability of classical CRN depth profiling. Examples exist of Pleistocene river deposits that consist of several sedimentary cycles (Mol et al, 2000;Vandenberghe, 2001;Lauer et al, 2010Lauer et al, , 2020Vandermaelen et al, 2022a). Between the aggradation of each sequence lies a potential phase of landscape stability or erosion, hereafter referred to as a hiatus.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constraining the aggradation mode of Pleistocene river deposits based on cosmogenic radionuclide depth profiling and numerical modelling

et al. 2022

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Abstract. Pleistocene braided-river deposits commonly represent long periods of non-deposition or erosion that are interrupted by rapid and short aggradation phases. When dating these sedimentary sequences with in situ-produced cosmic radionuclides (CRNs), simple concentration depth profiling approaches often fall short, as they assume that the alluvial sedimentary sequence has been deposited with a constant and rapid aggradation rate and been exposed to cosmic radiations afterwards. Numerical modelling of the evolution of CRNs in alluvial sequences permits one to account for aggradation, non-deposition and erosion phases and can simulate which scenarios of aggradation and preservation most likely represent the river dynamics. In this study, such a model was developed and applied to a Middle Pleistocene gravel sheet (Zutendaal gravels) exposed in NE Belgium. The model parameters were optimised to the observed 10Be and 26Al concentrations of 17 sediment samples taken over a depth interval of 7 m that constitutes the top of a gravel sheet up to 20 m thick. In the studied sedimentary sequence, (at least) three individual aggradation phases that were interrupted by non-deposition or erosion can be distinguished, each interruption lasting ∼ 40 kyr. The age for the onset of aggradation of the upper 7 m of the gravel sheet was further constrained to 654-62+218 ka. This age, within error limits, does not invalidate previous correlations of the gravel sheet with the Cromerian Glacial B and Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 16. The deposition of the entire gravel sheet likely represents more than one climatic cycle and demonstrates the importance of accounting for the depositional modes of braided rivers when applying in situ cosmogenic radionuclide techniques.

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The Middle Pleistocene fluvial sequence at Uichteritz, central Germany: Chronological framework, paleoenvironmental history and early human presence during MIS 11

Cited by 12 publications

References 66 publications

After the Revolution: A Review of 3D Modelling as a Tool for Stone Artefact Analysis

After the Revolution: A Review of 3D Modelling as a Tool for Stone Artefact Analysis

Snail assemblages in Holocene floodplain research – an example from the southern Caucasus

Constraining the aggradation mode of Pleistocene river deposits based on cosmogenic radionuclide depth profiling and numerical modelling

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