Description: Publication date: Available online 30 December 2015 Source: Quaternary International Author(s): Simona Arrighi, Marta Bazzanella, Francesco Boschin, Ursula Wierer This paper focuses on the techno-functional study of a tool with a smooth end, typologically classifiable as spatula, made from a red deer metatarsal recovered at the early Mesolithic rock-shelter Galgenbühel/Dos de la Forca. The site is located in the middle Adige Valley at Salurn/Salorno (South Tyrol – Northern Italy) and was dwelled by Sauveterrian hunter-gatherer-fisher-communities from the mid-9th to the mid-8th millennium cal. BC. Subsistence was based on the exploitation of wetland and valley bottom resources including an intense and at times specialized fishing activity. The identification of a probable harpoon fragment among the few but well preserved bone and antler artefacts detected at the site could in fact be part of fishing equipment. The main goal of this study was to recognize the specific use of the tool with a smooth end by means of use-wear analysis. It is quite difficult, indeed, to establish a specific function for this kind of tools as their morphological characters make them suitable for various tasks. A dedicated experimental program was developed to this scope, which involved manufacture and use of spatula replicas for different activities: fish scaling, beading fish heads, working tanned skin, net making, sewing reeds and working birch bark. The implementation of the experimental activity was also aimed at testing tool functionality in the course of the various tasks. The comparison between archaeological and experimental use-wear seems to indicate that the bone tool from Galgenbühel was used as a needle for working vegetal material. On the other hand our experiments revealed a high functionality of this kind of tool also in beading fish heads, working tanned hide and bending birch bark.

Description: Publication date: Available online 30 December 2015 Source: Quaternary International Author(s): Valentina Borgia, Francesco Boschin, Annamaria Ronchitelli In this article we present evidence of the hard animal tissue exploitation at Paglicci Cave (Rignano Garganico, Foggia, southern Italy). The analysis of the 104 bone and antler tools found in the Upper Palaeolithic sequence of the cave, as well as recent studies on faunal remains, have allowed us to reconstruct the choices made by the prehistoric hunters both in terms of hunting and exploitation of hard animal materials for tool fabrication. Most of the archeozoological sequence is characterized by the abundance of remains of species related to open or steppe environments, such as caprines (especially ibex), horses and aurochs. Starting from Final Epigravettian (about 17.000 BP cal.) these taxa decrease in favor of deer, wild boar and hidruntinus, reflecting an important climatic change leading to more humid and temperate conditions. Only some hunted animals bones were chosen for making the tools: deer, horse, aurochs and wild boar. A noteworthy observation concerns the lack of an interconnection between the kinds of species represented in the faunal assemblages and those used for the production of bone (and antler) tools. Even though the small number of pieces in each individual layer did not allow for statistical inferences, we could draw some interesting conclusions on the morpho-technological features of the artifacts, finding that some tool types appear to be linked to particular periods.

Description: Publication date: Available online 29 December 2015 Source: Quaternary International Author(s): Sébastien Plutniak, Astolfo Araujo, Simon Puaud, Jean-Georges Ferrié, Adhi Agus Oktaviana, Bambang Sugiyanto, Jean-Michel Chazine, François-Xavier Ricaut This study is the first in-depth archaeological examination of a pottery assemblage found in the Indonesian part of Borneo Island. It aims to balance the regional knowledge of this large island, since the majority of information comes from sites located in the Malaysian northern part. Excavations in the Liang Abu rock shelter (East Kalimantan) led to the discovery and analysis of 1104 potsherds. The discussion on the upper part of the stratigraphy is based on the refitting relations between sherds. We propose some methodological improvements on the refitting analysis, based on the use of graph theory. The main ceramic layer is radiocarbon dated to 1672 ± 21 BP and 1524 ± 22 BP. Results from the petrographic analyses carried out on six sherds are presented and give a reference for future comparative investigations. Vessel morphology and stylistic features are presented, including those of red-slipped, cord-marked and incised pottery sherds. These results are discussed within the context of the settlement history in the Eastern part of Borneo and issues specific to archaeological investigations in tropical regions.

Description: Publication date: Available online 30 December 2015 Source: Quaternary International Author(s): Mircea Voculescu, Alexandru Onaca, Patrick Chiroiu Snow avalanches are a major hazard in the Southern Carpathians (Romanian Carpathians) and cause damage to transportation routes or infrastructure and losses of human lives. In these mountains, the scientific understanding of avalanches is still poor. The main objectives of this study were to reconstruct spatio-temporal patterns of avalanche events, to complement written records in the Bâlea glacial valley (located in the central part of northern slope of the Făgăraş massif) and to identify the winter weather conditions responsible for avalanche occurrence, using a dendrogeomorphologic approach. The analysis was based on tree-ring series from 293 affected Picea abies trees in four avalanche tracks. Our results from tree-ring records yielded 24 and 17 snow avalanches in the 1867–2012 chronology in first and second track, 24 and 12 snow avalanches in the 1870–2012 chronology in third and in fourth track. The tree-ring based analysis of the 586 extracted increment cores allowed the identification of 853 growth disturbances related to past avalanche activity. The most frequent response is found as reaction wood (64.1%), followed by abrupt growth changes (20.6%), traumatic resin ducts (13%) and callus tissue (2.3%). A total of 77 event-years with AAI > 10% were reconstructed. The reconstruction revealed five high-magnitude avalanches (AAI > 30%), 25 medium-magnitude avalanches (20% ≤ AAI ≥ 30%) and 47 small-magnitude avalanches (10% ≤ AAI ≥ 20%). The return period values vary between 16.7 and 23.6 years. Based on the reconstructed chronologies, our analyses identified 13 cases of synchronicity of events with AAI > 10%. This synchronicity indicates the decisive role of local weather conditions, which are responsible for the occurrence of extreme snow avalanches. The weather conditions triggering extreme avalanche correspond with high amounts of snowfall and consequently thick snowpack, even if the largest snowfalls are not necessarily associated with extreme avalanches.

Description: Publication date: Available online 30 December 2015 Source: Quaternary International Author(s): Karen Borrazzo This paper focuses on the contributions of taphonomic approaches to the study of lithic assemblages. Based on actualistic and archaeological case studies from Fuego-Patagonia (South America), here I summarize some of the main taphonomic issues identified for the regional lithic record which are of relevance for the archaeological research in other desert environments. Specifically, distributional patterns in lithic assemblages produced by wind are highlighted and main guidelines for pseudoartifact study are presented and discussed. Actualistic data show lithic artifacts up to 50 mm in size – or weighting ∼13 g – can be moved by winds blowing at 90 km/h. Finally, a methodological exercise (Banyai's zoom) is proposed for lithic mimic recognition.

Description: Publication date: Available online 30 December 2015 Source: Quaternary International Author(s): Elena Santos, Asier Gómez-Olivencia, Mikel Arlegi, Juan Luis Arsuaga Two complete skulls of Ursus deningeri , one recovered from the Middle Pleistocene site of the Sima de los Huesos in the Sierra de Atapuerca (Spain), and the other one from Petralona (Chalkidiki, Greece), were reconstructed through computed tomography. The cranial morphology of U. deningeri was analysed using dual “traditional” and geometric morphometric and compared to extinct and extant Ursidae ( Ursus spelaeus , Ursus arctos , and Ursus americanus ). The goal of this work was to explore the variation in skull morphology between these different taxa. The analysis presented here indicates that combined traditional and geometric morphometric methods could be useful for a taxonomic approach. In this preliminary study, in which only 2D information is used, it is possible to distinguish the three bear lineages presented here. U. deningeri occupies an intermediate position between the U. spelaeus and U. arctos , which supports an early evolutionary stage of U. deningeri within the cave bear phylogenetic lineage. This study establishes that genera of the Ursus can be differentiated based on cranial shape. Combined studies with computed tomography, traditional and geometric morphometrics of endocraneal remains will provide important new evidence about diet, taxonomical and biochronological studies.

Description: Publication date: Available online 30 December 2015 Source: Quaternary International Author(s): Elodie De Faucamberge The research lead by the French Archaeological Mission in Libya and the Cyrenaican Prehistory Project (CPP) in the beginning of the 21st century, added to those realized by McBurney in the middle of the 20th century, gathered important information on the Neolithic and the Neolithisation of Cyrenaica, the region of northeast Libya. Despite numerous unknown which will have to be resolved by future investigations, it already appears that pottery production and animal domestication of ovicaprines started very early in that area. These data were obtained for the first time at the site of Haua Fteah, a huge cave excavated in the 1950s and nearly fifty years later by the University of Cambridge. The discoveries made on the new site of Abu Tamsa confirm that the Neolithic began in north Cyrenaica as early as the beginning of the 8th millennium cal BP. The elements we possess indicate that this Libyan region had many traits in common with the eastern regions from where people obtained domesticated animals and shared technological lithic practices. Nonetheless, although the influence of Egypt is present, the local character of the industries dominates. The study of the Neolithic assemblage of Abu Tamsa indicates that there are no visible contacts with the Maghreb Capsian in the west, a hypothesis first supported by McBurney for Haua Fteah's Holocene industries.

Description: Publication date: Available online 29 December 2015 Source: Quaternary International Author(s): Charalampos Kevrekidis, Dick Mol Elephas ( Palaeoloxodon ) antiquus is a well-known elephant species of the Middle and Late Pleistocene of Europe, but few skeletons so far have been described in detail. Here we present a detailed account of a partial skeleton in good condition from the alluvial sands of the Amyntaio coal mines, Macedonia, Greece. It represents a large male aged in its forties. Based on extant and extinct elephant specimens, the Amyntaio's elephant estimated height at the shoulder is 3.5 m and its weight close to 9 tonnes. A CT scan was performed on the deformed fifth metacarpal which was diagnosed with osteomyelitis, probably rendering the animal lame. No signs of further biologically induced ante- or post-mortem modifications were detected. From that skeleton the first known basihyoid bone of E. antiquus is recovered; comparisons with homologous bones of other elephantid taxa show it has a very distinct morphology and can be used in phylogenetic studies of the Elephantidae family.

Description: Publication date: Available online 28 December 2015 Source: Quaternary International Author(s): Adam Nadachowski, Grzegorz Lipecki, Urszula Ratajczak, Krzysztof Stefaniak, Piotr Wojtal The saiga antelope ( Saiga tatarica ), which today is a specialist steppe herbivore adapted to long-distance migrations in massive herds, appeared at irregular intervals in the Late Pleistocene Europe. Its special ecological requirements limited the number and timing of dispersal events. In the Eemian the saiga was absent on the continent. During MIS 5d-a, MIS 4 and MIS 3 its range was restricted to steppe areas north of the Black Sea. In MIS 2 and the Late Glacial (MIS 1) this species was able to colonize Central Europe at least three or four times and Western Europe at least twice. The most successful second migration dates to part of GS-2c, GS-2b and part of GS-2a, from ca. 19.5 to 15.3 cal ka BP when the saiga reached southern France. During GI-1d (Older Dryas), ca. 14.0 cal ka BP, the saiga reached England. The first migration during the GI-2 warm phase (ca. 23.7–23.3 cal ka BP) and the last one (ca. 13.5 cal ka BP) in the GI–1c 2 cool phase were probably restricted to Central Europe.

Description: Publication date: Available online 29 December 2015 Source: Quaternary International Author(s): Yameng Zhang, Xiujie Wu, Lynne A. Schepartz Cranial capacity is one of the most important features used in hominin taxonomic and morphological analyses. For complete or nearly complete modern human crania, the traditional methods of estimating cranial capacity include filling the vault with seeds, the water displacement method, and the use of regression formulae based on craniometrics. For incomplete human fossils, cranial capacities are estimated by reconstructing endocasts manually or virtually or by using existing modern human skull regression formulae; however, the accuracies of these methods are usually dubious. To find a more accurate way of estimating cranial capacity of partial skulls, seven different estimation methods are compared, including the manual reconstruction of the endocast, models built on skulls and models built on endocasts. We then estimated the cranial capacity of a fragmentary Late Pleistocene cranium, Jingchuan 1. The models are tested on 30 modern human skulls, three Homo erectus fossils and one Late Pleistocene Homo sapiens fossil. In terms of estimating the cranial capacity of the fossil humans, our results indicate that the cranial capacity estimates based on endocasts are more precise than those from exterior skull dimensions, that multivariate models are better than univariate ones, and that the new models using PCR and PLSR have the smallest errors (〈50 ml). From the seven methods, the cranial capacity of Jingchuan 1 is estimated to be 1630 ml, 1505 ml, 1533 ml, 1468 ml, 1512 ml, 1470 ml, and 1457 ml, respectively. The most reliable results for the Jingchuan 1 cranial capacity are between 1470 and 1457 ml, and the average is 1464 ml. This study has direct applications to future studies of cranial capacity variation and brain evolution in fossil and modern humans.