Changing patterns of eastern Mediterranean shellfish exploitation in the Late Glacial and Early Holocene: Oxygen isotope evidence from gastropod in Epipaleolithic to Neolithic human occupation layers at the Haua Fteah cave, Libya

Abstract. During the last glacial phase the Black Sea basin was isolated from the world's oceans due to the lowering of global sea-levels. As sea-levels rose during the latest glacial and early Holocene period, the Black Sea was once again connected to the eastern Mediterranean via the Dardanelles–Marmara–Bosporus seaway. In recent years, trace element and stable isotope analyses of ostracod assemblages have yielded important details regarding the hydrological evolution of the Black Sea during these events. Despite this focus on the geochemical signatures of the ostracods, little if any attention has been paid to the taxonomic composition of the ostracod assemblages themselves and there are notably few publications on the sub-littoral fauna of this important water body. We present a summary of the most abundant ostracod taxa of the Black Sea during the late glacial to early Holocene phase (dominated by the Candonidae, Leptocytheridae and Loxoconchidae) and chart their response to the subsequent environmental changes in the early Holocene with the pre-connection, low salinity ‘lacustrine’ fauna being replaced by one with a more Mediterranean aspect. Many of these taxa are illustrated using SEM for the first time, providing an important initial step in establishing taxonomic stability within Black Sea ostracod studies and noting faunal similarities with neighbouring areas, such as the Caspian Sea.

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Radiocarbon Reservoir Effect and the Timing of the Late-Glacial/Early Holocene Humid Phase in the Atacama Desert (Northern Chile)

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1006/qres.1999.2060 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 52 (2) ◽

pp. 143-153 ◽

Cited By ~ 107

Author(s):

Mebus A. Geyh ◽

Martin Grosjean ◽

Lautaro Núñez ◽

Ulrich Schotterer

Keyword(s):

Lake Level ◽

Atacama Desert ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Early Holocene ◽

Vegetation Changes ◽

Northern Chile ◽

Lake Levels ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

History Of

We revise substantially the regional chronology of lake-level fluctuations from the late-glacial/early Holocene humid phase along a high altitude transect (3500 to 4500 m) between 18°S and 28°S in the Southwestern Altiplano of Northern Chile. Radiocarbon dates and 210Pb profiles for limnic and terrestrial materials allow us to estimate and justify reservoir correction values for conventional 14C dates. Our chronology suggests that the latest Pleistocene/early Holocene humid phase started between 13,000 and 12,000 14C yr B.P., and that maximum lake levels were reached between 10,800 and 9200 14C yr B.P. This is significantly younger than what has been established so far for the Titicaca–Uyuni Basin in Bolivia. The paleolakes disappeared sometime between 8400 and 8000 14C yr B.P. Our revised chronology agrees with the regional history of human occupation, and is broadly synchronous with vegetation changes in subtropical continental South America, and with the onset of wetland expansion in the northern hemisphere tropics.

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Deciphering late Quaternary land snail shell δ18O and δ13C from Franchthi Cave (Argolid, Greece)

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1016/j.yqres.2013.03.006 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 80 (1) ◽

pp. 66-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

André C. Colonese ◽

Giovanni Zanchetta ◽

Catherine Perlès ◽

Russell N. Drysdale ◽

Giuseppe Manganelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Carbon Isotope ◽

Isotope Composition ◽

Late Quaternary ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Land Snail ◽

Early Holocene ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Isotopic Signatures ◽

Stable Isotopic ◽

Oxygen Isotopic

This paper investigates the stable isotopic composition from late Pleistocene–Holocene (~ 13 to ~ 10.5 cal ka BP) shells of the land snail Helix figulina, from Franchthi Cave (Greece). It explores the palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental implications of the isotope palaeoecology of archaeological shells at the time of human occupation of the cave. Modern shells from around the cave were also analysed and their isotopic signatures compared with those of the archaeological shells. The carbon isotope composition of modern shells depicts the consumption of C3 vegetation. Shell oxygen isotopic values are consistent with other Mediterranean snail shells from coastal areas. Combining empirical linear regression and an evaporative model, the δ18Os suggest that modern snails in the study area are active during periods of higher relative humidity and lower rainfall δ18O, probably at night. Late glacial and early Holocene δ18Os show lower values compared to modern ones. Early Holocene δ18Os values likely track enhanced moisture and isotopic changes in the precipitation source. By contrast, lower late glacial δ18O could reflect lower temperatures and δ18Op, compared to the present day. Shell carbon isotope values indicate the presence of C3 vegetation as main source of carbon to late glacial and early Holocene snails.

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