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1.
《Quaternary Science Reviews》2007,26(22-24):2996-3016
River terraces are well established as an important source of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts in Europe, large collections having been assembled there during the years of manual gravel extraction. Now that many terrace sequences can be reliably dated and correlated with the oceanic record, potentially useful patterns can be recognized in the distribution of artefacts. The earliest appearance of artefacts in terrace staircases, marking the arrival of the first tool-making hominins in the region in question, is the first of several archaeological markers within fluvial sequences. The Lower to Middle Palaeolithic transition, with the appearance of Levallois, is another. Others may be more regional in significance: the occurrences of Clactonian (Mode 1) industry, twisted ovate handaxes and bout coupé handaxes, for example. IGCP Project no. 449 instigated the compilation of fluvial records from all over the ‘old world’. Comparison between British and Central European sequences confirms the established view that there is a demarcation between handaxe making in the west and flake/core industries in the east. Other centres of activity reported here have been in the Middle East (Syria), South Africa and India. Data from such areas will be key in deciphering the story of the earlier ‘out-of-Africa’ migration, that by pre-Homo sapiens people. There is clear evidence for diachroneity between the first appearances of different industries, in keeping with the well-established idea of northward migration.  相似文献   

2.
《Quaternary Science Reviews》2005,24(10-11):1243-1252
Kent's Cavern has long been known as potentially among the oldest Palaeolithic sites in the country, with the basal Breccia deposit containing a sparse Lower Palaeolithic industry. The sediment consists of a chaotic clayey conglomerate emplaced as a series of debris flows, which entered the cave via blocked entrances at its southwest end. The Breccia contains a fauna dominated by the bear Ursus deningeri, with lion Felis leo and the voles Arvicola cantiana and Microtus oeconomus, establishing a late Cromerian age for the deposit. The artefacts comprise an industry of crudely manufactured handaxes and flakes, and show damage suggesting that they were brought into the cave by the debris flows, and may thus predate the sediment and fauna. We demonstrate an age of >340 ka for the Breccia using two independant dating methods, consistent with existing models of the age of the British Middle Pleistocene sequence.  相似文献   

3.
The processes of surface clast dispersal are discussed and it is shown that on flat land the spatial integrity of larger gravel clasts (which include most diagnostic artefacts) is likely to be preserved over long periods. A structured approach is described for predicting land surfaces where Lower Palaeolithic artefact scatters may have survived through the British Quaternary. The topographic map of Britain is subjected to three tests to eliminate areas unlikely to preserve these surfaces. After progressively subtracting glaciated areas, areas covered by superficial deposits, and river basins/areas with slopes steeper than about 2°, the surfaces remaining have the potential for long-term stability. Eight criteria are described to help verify true palaeosurfaces. They comprise mostly high level plateau lands. On to this map are plotted fifteen sample localities known to have yielded Lower Palaeolithic artefacts from surface contexts. Ten lie within the predictive model, the remainder belong to surface fluvial deposits or other superficial deposits. Four sites have been mapped in enough detail to show the distribution of individual artefacts; in three, traces of clustering occurs, suggesting the original scatter patterns have not entirely dispersed in time. The two sites of Warren Hill and the Northern Drift where the author has worked are examined in more detail. Comparison is made with a ‘pristine’ Early/Middle Stone Age surface site from arid terrain in Namibia. It is argued that in certain circumstances even in the volatile British climate surface scatters may not have moved far from their original location. The predictive map can only be a general guide: each site is different, but clay-with-flints has ubiquitous potential. Surface studies include both flint and quartzite artefacts, with their contrasting typologies. It is concluded that surface studies are likely to lead to a more complete understanding of early human occupation patterns.  相似文献   

4.
The Early and early Middle Pleistocene archaeological record in Britain from c. 900 to 500 ka marks a critical shift in human occupation of northwest Europe, from occasional pioneer populations with simple core and flake technology to more widespread occupation associated with the appearance of Acheulean technology. Key to understanding this record are the fluvial deposits of the extinct Bytham River in central East Anglia, where a series of Lower Palaeolithic sites lie on a 15 km stretch of the former river. In this paper we present the results of new fieldwork and a reanalysis of historical artefact collections of handaxes and scrapers to: 1) establish the chronostratigraphic context of the Bytham archaeological record; 2) examine variability in lithic artefact typology and technology through time; and 3) explore the implications for understanding variation in lithic technology in the European record. Six phases of occupation of Britain are identified from at least marine isotope stage (MIS) 21 to MIS 13, with the last three phases characterised by distinctive lithic technology. We argue that this relates to the discontinuous occupation of Britain, where each phase represents the arrival of new groups derived from different European populations with distinctive material culture.  相似文献   

5.
The lithic record from the Solent River and its tributaries is re‐examined in the light of recent interpretations about the changing demography of Britain during the Lower and early Middle Palaeolithic. Existing models of the terrace stratigraphies in the Solent and its tributary areas are reviewed and the corresponding archaeological record (specifically handaxes) for each terrace is assessed to provide models for the relative changes in human occupation through time. The Bournemouth area is studied in detail to examine the effects of quarrying and urbanisation on collection history and on the biases it introduces to the record. In addition, the effects of reworking of artefacts from higher into lower terraces are assessed, and shown to be a significant problem. Although there is very little absolute dating available for the Solent area, a cautious interpretation of the results from these analyses would suggest a pre‐Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12 date for the first appearance of humans, a peak in population between MIS 12 and 10, and a decline in population during MIS 9 and 8. Owing to poor contextual data and small sample sizes, it is not clear when Levallois technology was introduced. This record is compared and contrasted to that from the Thames Valley. It is suggested that changes in the palaeogeography of Britain, in particular land connections to the continent, might have contributed to differences in the archaeological records from the Solent and Thames regions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

6.
With the adoption of an ‘expanded chronology’ for the Middle Pleistocene, based on the greater number of warm and cold episodes evident in the marine oxygen isotope record from deep ocean cores, has come the recognition of a meaningful progression of artefact types, something that could not be achieved with reference to the previous ‘compressed chronology’. In Britain, at least, it has been established that Levallois knapping techniques appeared in MIS 9–8, that bout coupé handaxes are indicative of MIS 3 and, rather more tentatively, that assemblages with twisted ovate handaxes in significant numbers represent MIS 11 occupation. Added to these key markers, it is now possible to suggest that further tool types occur preferentially in deposits of particular age: assemblages with significant proportions of cleavers and ‘ficron’ handaxes appear to be correlated with deposits formed at around the time of the MIS 9 interglacial. This newly recognized patterning within the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic record differs markedly from the previous use, in the mid‐20th century, of archaeological typology as a means of dating Pleistocene sequences, which was based on a relative refinement of tool making that is now recognized to be unrelated to age. Indeed, the authors would wish to emphasize that, even with reference to the new scheme presented here, the archaeological record should only be seen as dating evidence ‘of last resort’.  相似文献   

7.
This paper reports important findings relating to the chronology of Palaeolithic occupation, artefact typology and Quaternary fluvial deposits from a geoarchaeological watching brief undertaken over 17 years at Kimbridge Farm Quarry, Dunbridge, Hampshire. Sections were recorded and sampled and 198 artefacts, principally hand axes, were collected, with the primary aim of enhancing understanding of the geological context of the richest Lower Palaeolithic assemblage from Hampshire. Digital terrain modelling was used to characterize the three-dimensional form of the fluvial geology. Two gravel terraces have been confirmed: an upper Belbin Formation, which contained most of the archaeological artefacts, and a lower Mottisfont Formation. Results of specific note included recovery of artefacts demonstrating elements of ‘proto-Levallois’ technology from within the Belbin Gravel deposition. Fully developed Levallois technology was present across both the Belbin Gravel and the Mottisfont Formation at Dunbridge, the latter having an otherwise relatively sparse Palaeolithic content. Previously published OSL dating, supplemented by new data, has been combined with uplift modelling to suggest dates of MIS 9b and MIS 8, respectively, for these two gravels. This fits well with evidence from other sites in England and the near Continent for the timing of the earliest Levallois at around MIS 9. The results from the Dunbridge watching brief have demonstrated that this response provides a relatively cost effective method by which important scientific data can be salvaged from commercial quarrying.  相似文献   

8.
Discussions of dispersals of early hominins from Africa assume that Southwest Asia and the Arabian Peninsula were the primary passageways for migrations to Eurasia. The Mediterranean is usually viewed as a barrier to early hominin movements because pre‐sapiens hominins were thought to lack the technical means or the cognitive skills to construct boats. The discovery of early Palaeolithic artefacts in an archaeological survey on the Greek island of Crete challenges this view. Here we show that Palaeolithic artefacts in the Plakias region in southwestern Crete are associated with geological contexts that can be dated to the late Middle or early Late Pleistocene. Because Crete has been separated from the mainland throughout the Pleistocene, the presence of Pleistocene age artefacts there suggests that early hominins were able to cross open water. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

9.
Lower and Middle Paleolithic archaeological sites in England risk falling through the cracks between different types of heritage conservation, since they lack recognisable structures; these sites have often benefitted from protection under geoconservation, particularly through selection as Geological Conservation Review sites, and subsequent designation as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs). The geoconservation of key sites, particularly in the formative years of British geoconservation, has allowed combined geological and archaeological reinvestigation. This is of particular benefit to understanding Lower and Middle Paleolithic artefact assemblages, which were often collected in the later 19th–earlier 20th century and consequently lacked both detailed spatial or stratigraphic provenance and contextual geological information. As such, the ‘fine grained’ data which could be gleaned from such artefact collections was limited. Here we review the benefit of geoconservation in allowing the contextualisation of historical archaeological collections, focussing on six key English sites where geological and archaeological reinvestigation has led to important archaeological findings. In particular, the emerging evidence of chronological patterning in Lower and Middle Paleolithic artefacts makes the preservation of such deposits valuable to Quaternary science in general.  相似文献   

10.
《Quaternary Science Reviews》2007,26(22-24):2724-2737
This paper reviews the Pleistocene evolution and human occupation of the River Trent, the major fluvial artery draining Midland Britain, and places it within a modern Quaternary context. In contrast to the sedimentary records of the River Thames and the erstwhile Bytham system, which extend back to the early Pleistocene, present knowledge of the terrace sequence of the Trent, its tributary systems and associated ancestral courses extends back only to the Anglian glaciation (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12), although the regional pre-Anglian drainage configuration is demonstrably complex. The post-Anglian sequence is well developed, with major terrace sand and gravel aggradations associated with each subsequent cold stage. Temperate-climate sediments correlating with MIS 7 and 5e have been recorded, although deposits relating to earlier interglacials during MIS 11 and 9 have yet to be identified. Evidence for human occupation in the form of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts has been recorded from terrace sediments correlated with MIS 8 and MIS 4, but the majority of this material is heavily rolled and abraded, suggesting significant reworking from older deposits. This review demonstrates that there is a rich palaeo-environmental record from the Trent but the lack of a high-resolution chronostratgraphic framework raises issues about correlation with other systems.  相似文献   

11.
A brief history is presented here of the activities of the three most notable collectors of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic artefacts from Quaternary river terrace deposits in the Trent Valley, derived from archival material that has been largely ignored by previous research. Two, Mr. Fred W.G. Davey and Mr. George F. Turton, were local amateur collectors who did not publish the results of their work themselves and were reliant on collaboration with established archaeologists. The third, Mr. A. Leslie Armstrong, was an archaeologist best known for his work at Creswell Crags and Grimes Graves. Armstrong also made many Palaeolithic discoveries in the Trent Valley but published few details of his own material. Although such details of early Palaeolithic research in the Midlands and North of Britain are predominantly of historical interest only, they nonetheless provide a number of insights into the apparent lack of interest shown in areas north of the ‘Severn-Wash Line’ by collectors of Palaeolithic artefacts. Importantly, the dataset assembled by the Trent Valley Palaeolithic Project (TVPP) and summarized here is the only complete record of the known artefacts and archival material from the Trent, a proportion of which is now unavailable to the research community, having entered unknown private ownership since being studied. The second part of the paper relates this early research to current knowledge of the British Palaeolithic at its most northern fringes and to recent developments in reconstructing the Quaternary evolution of the River Trent.  相似文献   

12.
This paper records the findings from c. 80 prehistoric sites that have been discovered in the alluvial deposits of the rivers Creuse, Cher, and Loir, tributaries of the middle Loire River, over the period since 1981. These deposits comprise river terrace aggradations formed during successive glacial–interglacial cycles which have recorded climate and environment during Quaternary time. The systematic dating of these river deposits by Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) applied to optically bleached sedimentary quartz has resulted in the establishment of a chronological framework for the evolution of these rivers during Lower and Middle Pleistocene (between 1.7 Ma and 130 ka). Evidence for Early Palaeolithic (Mode 1) industries with an in situ context (workshops, soils) in the highest aggradations indicates that Hominins were present in the study area, near the geographical centre of France (47°N), around 1.1 Ma. Examination of the sites indicates that Human occupations were located along valley bottom sites during temperate episodes. Subsequently, after a gap of several hundred thousand years industries with handaxes appear in the Middle Loire Basin in the interval between 700 and 600 ka, and then continuously from 400 ka. These two phases of settlement produced industrial assemblages with clear differences in their responses to the supplies of raw materials and in the modes of making flakes.  相似文献   

13.
San Quirce is an open-air archaeological site situated on a fluvial terrace in the Duero basin (Palencia, northern Iberia). This paper presents new and consistent chronologies obtained for the sedimentary sequence using post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIR-IR) dating of K-feldspars and single-grain thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence (TT-OSL) dating of quartz. The new dating results indicate that the sequence is older than ~200 000 years and place San Quirce Level III within marine isotope stages (MIS) 8 and 7, between 274 ± 13 ka and 238 ± 13 ka. The main lithic assemblage at San Quirce comes from Level III. The predominant tool types found in this level are hammerstones, manuports and flakes, with a small proportion of cores and a significant presence of denticulates. Adaptation to local environmental conditions resulted in distinctive cultural habits, which were embedded in the cultural tradition of hominins occupying the site during the final third of the Middle Pleistocene. San Quirce preserves a simple cultural tradition that was employed by local hominins to engage in a diverse array of activities, and highlights the cultural diversity that appears to have been a characteristic feature of the Lower to Middle Palaeolithic transition 300–200 ka.  相似文献   

14.
The Cova Gran de Santa Linya (Lleida, Spain) is a recently discovered site, with a broad chrono‐cultural sequence that contains archaeological levels dating to the Middle Palaeolithic, Early Upper Palaeolithic, Late Upper Palaeolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. We present the chronometric and stratigraphic context of these occupations, which were dated using 14C accelerator mass spectrometry and thermoluminescence. The sequence provides important indicators that aid in the reconstruction of the history of human occupation on the southern slopes of the Spanish Pyrenees over the past 50,000 years. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

15.
The complex Geological Conservation Review (GCR) site at Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, was notified in 1986 as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. It is an internationally important geosite and Britain's only Lower Palaeolithic type locality, giving its name to the Clactonian stone-tool industry. Fossil- and artefact-bearing channel-fill deposits laid down by the River Thames ~ 420,000 years ago, during the Hoxnian Interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 11c), have been observed in foreshore and cliff exposures, and beneath developed and open ground in an inland arcuate footprint. These sediments provide a record of the lower reaches and estuary of the Thames during this lengthy and warm interglacial, an important partial analogue for the Holocene. Palaeoclimatic and palaeoecological evidence has been obtained from assemblages of fossil molluscs, ostracods and vertebrates, together with pollen and plant macrofossils; Clacton is also the type locality for several of the represented animal taxa, including the biostratigraphically significant ostracod Scottia browniana and a large subspecies of fallow deer, Dama dama clactoniana. This paper provides an overview of the continuing importance of the Clacton GCR site and Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), summarizing recently acquired data that have enhanced understanding of the Hoxnian and the palaeoenvironments that prevailed at the time of deposition. The wider geosite has benefitted from sustained Palaeolithic archaeological interest, with the local planning authority mandating investigation of the sediments as a condition for development projects. SSSI status ensures that the significant collections of palaeontological and archaeological material amassed from the Clacton deposits over almost two centuries can be related to their context, and studies of both these archived collections and new material from the protected in situ sediments continue to provide new data and contribute to the development of cutting-edge techniques.  相似文献   

16.
Results are presented from a multidisciplinary study of fossiliferous interglacial deposits on the northern side of the Thames estuary. These fill a channel cut into London Clay bedrock and overlain by the Barling Gravel, a Thames–Medway deposit equivalent to the Lynch Hill and Corbets Tey Gravels of the Middle and Lower Thames, respectively. The channel sediments yielded diverse molluscan and ostracod assemblages, both implying fully interglacial conditions and a slight brackish influence. Pollen analysis has shown that the deposits accumulated during the early part of an interglacial. Plant macrofossils, particularly the abundance of Trapa natans, reinforce the interglacial character of the palaeontological evidence. A beetle fauna, which includes four taxa unknown in Britain at present, has allowed quantification of palaeotemperature using the mutual climatic range method (Tmax 17 to 26 °C; Tmin ?11 to 13 °C). A few vertebrate remains have been recovered from the interglacial deposits, but a much larger fauna, as well as Palaeolithic artefacts, is known from the overlying Barling Gravel. The age of the interglacial deposits is inferential. The geological context suggests a late Middle Pleistocene interglacial, part of the post‐diversion Thames system and therefore clearly post‐Anglian. This conclusion is supported by amino acid ratios from the shells of freshwater molluscs. The correlation of the overlying Barling Gravel with the Lynch Hill/Corbets Tey aggradation of the Thames valley constrains the age of the Barling interglacial to marine oxygen isotope stages 11 or 9. The presence of Corbicula fluminalis and Pisidium clessini confirms a pre‐Ipswichian (marine oxygen isotope substage 5e) age and their occurrence in the early part of the interglacial cycle at Barling precludes correlation with marine oxygen isotope stage 11, as these taxa occur only later in that interglacial at sites such as Swanscombe and Clacton. Thus by process of elimination a marine oxygen isotope stage 9 age would appear probable. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.  相似文献   

17.
Although the Mehdiabad zinc-lead deposit is one of the most well-known deposits in the central Iran structural zone, the genesis of the deposit remains controversial. The host rock of the ore is a dolomitic limestone of the Lower Cretaceous Taft Formation. In the two main orebodies of the deposit, which includes the Black Hill and East Ridge ore zones, the oxide and sulfide ores are observed at the surface and at depth, respectively. The elements Zn, Fe, Mn and Mg are more abundant in the East Ridge ore zone (in both sulfide and oxide ores), with Ba, Pb, Ag and Cu being more abundant in the Black Hill oxide ore. Based on the distribution of elements and their correlation with each other in these ore zones, the elements are divided into three general groups, that of terrigenous elements, chemically-deposited elements and ore-forming (hydrothermally deposited) elements, a division that is supported by the results of factor analyses. The spatial distribution of elements is jointly affected by contact with host rocks, the boundary of oxide-sulfide ores and fault zones. The main factors governing the distribution of elements are the mechanical transfer of detrital sediments, chemical sedimentation, transfer by hydrothermal fluids, oxidation and surface dissolution, all of which affected the spatial distribution of elements. The ore-forming elements are mostly affected by hydrothermal fluids and oxidation. This study not only provides additional information about the genesis of the Mehdiabad deposit, but also could assist in the exploitation of ore and further exploration purposes. The results of this study can aid in the exploration and exploitation of the Mehdiabad deposit and similar deposits in the region.  相似文献   

18.
马志鑫  张万平  刘伟  李波 《沉积学报》2012,30(5):787-794
东镇远地区早寒武世（相当于2008国际地层年表中的寒武纪第二世）清虚洞组发现类型丰富、特征典型的风暴沉积标志。侵蚀底面、粗粒滞留沉积、粒序层、波状层理、韵律层理等沉积组构明显,而丘状层理不发育。通过对金盆剖面和溜沙关剖面详细的野外观察及室内分析,识别出三种类型的风暴沉积序列。研究区风暴沉积的背景沉积为灰色纹层状灰岩,见波状层理、鸟眼构造等,指示潮坪环境。综合分析得出,镇远地区的风暴沉积属于潮坪风暴沉积。这丰富了湘西黔东地区早寒武世清虚洞组风暴沉积的类型。风暴沉积的发现也为研究区早寒武世位于赤道附近的低纬度区域提供了间接的证据。  相似文献   

19.
Many Broken Hill (New South Wales) specimens labelled ‘zinco‐calcite’ in museum and private collections are snow‐white, globular forms with a sparkling appearance, on a coronadite or limonite matrix. X‐ray diffraction and microprobe analyses show the globules have a core of nearly pure calcite, overlain by colourless, drusy zincian dolomite with up to 4 mol % ZnCO3 and up to 7 mol % excess CaCO3. Although Zn is abundant in the Broken Hill orebody, it apparently entered carbonate, mainly as smithsonite, only during formation of the oxidised zone.  相似文献   

20.
The interdisciplinary North Sea Project aims at investigating the biotic history of the Pleistocene in the Southern Bight of the North Sea. Humans were part of these biotopes too as Palaeolithic flint artefacts prove. Based on a large fossil record and radiocarbon dating, it becomes clear that reindeer was part of the Late Pleistocene Mammoth-fauna.Upper Palaeolithic hunters often are described as reindeer-hunters. Despite a large fossil reindeer record and collection of Palaeolithic flint artefacts, no evidence was found for co-existence of humans and reindeer or for reindeer-hunting.  相似文献   

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