Seafaring in the Pleistocene

2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert G. Bednarik
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Cultural Evolution ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Middle Palaeolithic ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
General Region ◽  
History Of ◽  
Human Capability ◽  
Early Late

Archaeological data from Wallacea (Indonesia) and elsewhere are summarized to show that the history of seafaring begins in the Early Pleistocene, and that this human capability eventually led to Middle Palaeolithic ocean crossings in the general region of Australia. To understand better the technological magnitude of these many maritime accomplishments, a series of replicative experiments are described, and the theoretical conditions of these experiments are examined. The proposition is advanced that hominid cognitive and cultural evolution during the Middle and early Late Pleistocene have been severely misjudged. The navigational feats of Pleistocene seafarers confirm the cultural evidence of sophistication available from the study of palaeoart.With comments from Mike Morwood, Michael Rowland, Matthew Spriggs, Iain Davidson, Ursula Mania, and G.A. Clark and followed by a reply from the author.

scholarly journals Stratigraphy, palaeoenyironmental interpretation and uplift history of Barbados based on foraminiferal and other palaeontological evidence

2009 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. W. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Early Miocene ◽  
Uplift Rate ◽  
Rock Formation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Coral Rock ◽  
Uplift History ◽  
Early Late

Abstract. The ages and environments of deposition of the principal mapped units of Barbados, based on foraminiferal and other palaeontological evidence, are discussed, together with the uplift history of the island. The age of the Scotland Formation is demonstrated to be Paleocene to ?early Middle Eocene; that of the Oceanic Formation late Middle Eocene to early Early Miocene; that of the Bissex Hill Formation and Conset Marl late Early to early Late Miocene; and that of the Coral Rock Formation Middle–Late Pleistocene. The environment of deposition of the Scotland Formation is interpreted to be abyssal; that of the Oceanic Formation abyssal to be lower bathyal; that of the Bissex Hill Formation and Conset Marl middle to lower bathyal; and that of the Coral Rock Formation inner neritic. Observed elevation/age relationships imply a mean uplift rate of between 120 m Ma−1 and 220 m Ma−1.

scholarly journals Late Pleistocene and Holocene distribution history of the Eurasian beaver in Italy

Mammalia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 84 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-277
Author(s):  
Leonardo Salari ◽  
Marco Masseti ◽  
Letizia Silvestri
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Population Pressure ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Medieval Italy ◽  
Po Valley ◽  
Eurasian Beaver ◽  
Late Middle Ages ◽  
History Of ◽  
Western Palaearctic

AbstractThe genus Castor first appeared in the Palaearctic region during the Late Miocene, while the current species, Castor fiber, is widely accepted to have emerged in the Early Pleistocene. In the Last Glacial Maximum (Late Pleistocene), the beaver disappeared from most of the Western Palaearctic, only surviving in a few relic areas including the south-eastern Alpine Chain as shown by new data. After the subsequent extended repopulation in the warmer phases of the Lateglacial and in the early Holocene, the species once again disappeared locally from several countries, including Italy, between the 17th and the 20th centuries. Direct or indirect persecution by humans seems to be the main cause of beaver extinction in Europe. In Low Medieval Italy, it is more likely that the disappearance of the beaver between the 16th and 17th centuries was due to habitat alteration and human population pressure. Numerous reclamations have been carried out since the late Middle Ages, mostly in the easternmost area of the Po Valley, the last beaver refuge in Italy. Eurasian beaver was common in the northern and widespread in the central part of Italy, but always absent in southern Italy, probably due to unfavourable hydrological conditions of watercourses in the latter.

Systematics and paleobiogeography of Sardolagus obscurus n. gen. n. sp. (Leporidae, Lagomorpha) from the early Pleistocene of Sardinia

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 506-522 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiara Angelone ◽  
Stanislav Čermák ◽  
Blanca Moncunill-Solé ◽  
Josep Quintana ◽  
Caterinella Tuveri ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Phylogenetic Relationship ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Late Miocene ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Late Pliocene ◽  
Phylogenetic Origin ◽  
Middle And Late Pleistocene ◽  
Insular Endemic ◽  
Early Late

AbstractThe extreme rareness of Sardinian fossil sites older than Middle and Late Pleistocene makes the Monte Tuttavista karst complex (E Sardinia, Italy) very important. Remarkable lagomorph material, recovered from several fissure infillings of Monte Tuttavista referable to the Capo Figari/Orosei 1 and Orosei 2 faunal sub-complexes (early Pleistocene, ~2.1/1.9–1.1 Ma), allowed us to describe a new endemic insular leporid, Sardolagus obscurus n. gen. n. sp. The new taxon is characterized by a peculiar combination of an advanced p3 (Lepus-type) and a primitive P2 lacking deep flexa. The origin of such discrepancy, unprecedented among continental and insular endemic European leporids, is unclear. It could be the result of: (1) an independent evolution of p3 from an ancestor bearing the primitive P2/p3 (e.g., Alilepus, Hypolagus), or (2) a selective reversal morphocline from an Oryctolagus/Lepus-like leporine. The lack of data about the phylogenetic origin of the new taxon makes any inference about its possible arrival to Sardinia problematic. Crossing the European leporid records and evidence of migrations to Sardinia, we hypothesize three possible ages in which the ancestor of Sardolagus obscurus could have arrived in Sardinia, restricted to the late Miocene–early/late Pliocene (~8–3.6 Ma). The phylogenetic relationship between Sardolagus obscurus n. gen. n. sp. and the oldest Sardinian leporid, recorded from Capo Mannu D1 and dated at the early/late Pliocene boundary (~3.6 Ma), is unclear at present, however it is quite likely that they pertain to the same lineage.UUID: http://zoobank.org/ca8e0023-7c9d-4b00-a294-d166c37c5c71

scholarly journals Rediscovering Lutra lutra from Grotta Romanelli (southern Italy) in the framework of the puzzling evolutionary history of Eurasian otter

PalZ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beniamino Mecozzi ◽  
Alessio Iannucci ◽  
Fabio Bona ◽  
Ilaria Mazzini ◽  
Pierluigi Pieruccini ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Evolutionary History ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Lutra Lutra ◽  
Multidisciplinary Research ◽  
Historical Collections ◽  
Eurasian Otter ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Late ◽  
Late Middle Pleistocene

AbstractA river otter hemimandible has been rediscovered during the revision of the historical collections of G.A. Blanc from Grotta Romanelli, complementing the ongoing multidisciplinary research fieldwork on the site. The specimen, recovered from the level G (“terre rosse”; early Late Pleistocene or late Middle Pleistocene), is here assigned to Lutra lutra. Indeed, morphological and morphometric comparisons with other Quaternary Lutrinae fossils from Europe allow to exclude an attribution to the relatively widespread and older Lutra simplicidens, characterized by distinctive carnassial proportions. Differences with Cyrnaonyx antiqua, which possessed a more robust, shellfish-feeding dentition, support the view of a successful niche repartition between the two species during the late Middle to Late Pleistocene of Europe. The occurrence of Lutra lutra from the “terre rosse” of Grotta Romanelli suggests deep modifications of the landscapes due to the ecological adaptation of the taxon, and indicates that the Eurasian otter spread into Europe at the Middle–Late Pleistocene transition.

Cosmogenic-nuclide burial ages for Quaternary drilling core sediments in the Yangtze River De, China

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Qi
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Yangtze River ◽  
Luminescence Dating ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
The Yangtze River ◽  
Quaternary Sediments ◽  
Cosmogenic Nuclide ◽  
Drilling Core ◽  
Early Late

<p>The establishment of Quaternary drilling core time rulers is an important basis for analyzing the evolution of the Quaternary environment in the plain areas．After analyzing the lithology, color, material composition, sedimentary structure and interface of the Quaternary sediments with a total thickness of 95.5m in YBK1 core in the east side of Yunhe Bridge in Shiqiao Town, Yangzhou City，dividing the stratum in detail，and using dating methods like AMS<sup>14</sup>C，OSL，cosmogenic nuclide and paleomagnetism. Based on four AMS<sup>14</sup>C, ten OSL and two <sup>26</sup>Al and <sup>10</sup>Be burial ages from Quaternary drilling core sediments in the Yangtze River De, the Quaternary stratigraphic-time ruler of YBK1 core was established．The Quaternary sediments is overlying the Pukou group red siltstone，and it is composed of four sets of strata，which from old to new respectively are: the upper part of the early Late-Pleistocene Qidong Group，with age of 0. 1 0. 3Ma，thickness of 30. 20m; the lower part of the early Late-Pleistocene Kunshan Group，with age of 0. 1 0. 045Ma，thickness of 1. 80m; the middle part of the later Late-Pleistocene Gehu Group，with age of 0. 045 ～ 0. 01Ma，thickness of only 3. 40m; the Holocene Rudong Group，with large thickness of 55. 10m. According to the lithological characteristics of YBK1 core，Early-Pleistocene and Early-Middle-Pleistocene sediments are non-existent</p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>Quaternary Strata; Burial dating; luminescence dating, the Yangtze River De</p>

Late Pleistocene–Holocene environmental and climatic history of a freshwater paramo ecosystem in the northern Andes

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 1046-1056
Author(s):  
Luisa Patiño ◽  
Maria Isabel Velez ◽  
Marion Weber ◽  
César A. Velásquez‐r ◽  
Santiago David ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Northern Andes ◽  
History Of ◽  
Climatic History

scholarly journals A Giant Ostrich from the Lower Pleistocene Nihewan Formation of North China, with a Review of the Fossil Ostriches of China

Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Eric Buffetaut ◽  
Delphine Angst
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Distribution ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
North China ◽  
Hebei Province ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Wide Geographical Distribution ◽  
Lower Pleistocene ◽  
The Crimea

A large incomplete ostrich femur from the Lower Pleistocene of North China, kept at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), is described. It was found by Father Emile Licent in 1925 in the Nihewan Formation (dated at about 1.8 Ma) of Hebei Province. On the basis of the minimum circumference of the shaft, a mass of 300 kg, twice that of a modern ostrich, was obtained. The bone is remarkably robust, more so than the femur of the more recent, Late Pleistocene, Struthio anderssoni from China, and resembles in that regard Pachystruthio Kretzoi, 1954, a genus known from the Lower Pleistocene of Hungary, Georgia and the Crimea, to which the Nihewan specimen is referred, as Pachystruthio indet. This find testifies to the wide geographical distribution of very massive ostriches in the Early Pleistocene of Eurasia. The giant ostrich from Nihewan was contemporaneous with the early hominins who inhabited that region in the Early Pleistocene.

scholarly journals Multitemporal–Multispectral UAS Surveys for Archaeological Research: The Case Study of San Vincenzo Al Volturno (Molise, Italy)

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 2719
Author(s):  
Nicodemo Abate ◽  
Alessia Frisetti ◽  
Federico Marazzi ◽  
Nicola Masini ◽  
Rosa Lasaponara
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Medieval Art ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
History Of ◽  
Close Range ◽  
Low Altitude

Unmanned aerial vehicles are currently the most used solution for cultural heritage in the field of close range and low altitude acquisitions. This work shows data acquired by multitemporal and multispectral aerial surveys in the archaeological site of San Vincenzo al Volturno (Molise, Italy). The site is one of the most important medieval archaeological sites in the world. It is a monastic settlement that was particularly rich during the early Middle Ages, and is famous for its two full-frescoed crypts which represent a milestone in the history of medieval art. Thanks to the use of multispectral aerial photography at different times of the year, an area not accessible to archaeological excavation has been investigated. To avoid redundancy of information and reduce the number of data to be analysed, a method based on spectral and radiometric enhancement techniques combined with a selective principal component analysis was used for the identification of useful information. The combination of already published archaeological data and new remote sensing discoveries, has allowed to better define the situation of the abbey during the building phases of the 8th/9th century and 11th century, confirming and adding new data to the assumptions made by archaeologists.

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