scholarly journals Technological innovations at the onset of the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition in high-latitude East Asia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shi-Xia Yang ◽  
Fa-Gang Wang ◽  
Fei Xie ◽  
Jian-Ping Yue ◽  
Cheng-Long Deng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Latitude ◽  
Climatic Variability ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Nihewan Basin ◽  
Pleistocene Climate ◽  
Climate Transition

Abstract The interplay between Pleistocene climatic variability and hominin adaptations to diverse terrestrial ecosystems is a key topic in human evolutionary studies. Early and Middle Pleistocene environmental change and its relation to hominin behavioural responses has been a subject of great interest in Africa and Europe, though little information is available for other key regions of the Old World, particularly from Eastern Asia. Here we examine key Early Pleistocene sites of the Nihewan Basin, in high-latitude northern China, dating between ∼1.4 and 1.0 million years ago (Ma). We compare stone-tool assemblages from three Early Pleistocene sites in the Nihewan Basin, including detailed assessment of stone-tool refitting sequences at the ∼1.1-Ma-old site of Cenjiawan. Increased toolmaking skills and technological innovations are evident in the Nihewan Basin at the onset of the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition (MPT). Examination of the lithic technology of the Nihewan sites, together with an assessment of other key Palaeolithic sites of China, indicates that toolkits show increasing diversity at the outset of the MPT and in its aftermath. The overall evidence indicates the adaptive flexibility of early hominins to ecosystem changes since the MPT, though regional abandonments are also apparent in high latitudes, likely owing to cold and oscillating environmental conditions. The view presented here sharply contrasts with traditional arguments that stone-tool technologies of China are homogeneous and continuous over the course of the Early Pleistocene.

scholarly journals Elephant bones for the Middle Pleistocene toolmaker

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256090
Author(s):  
Paola Villa ◽  
Giovanni Boschian ◽  
Luca Pollarolo ◽  
Daniela Saccà ◽  
Fabrizio Marra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Paleolithic ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
General Idea ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Stone Tool ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Medium Size ◽  
Bone Tools ◽  
Lithic Industry ◽  
Taphonomic Analysis

The use of bone as raw material for implements is documented since the Early Pleistocene. Throughout the Early and Middle Pleistocene bone tool shaping was done by percussion flaking, the same technique used for knapping stone artifacts, although bone shaping was rare compared to stone tool flaking. Until recently the generally accepted idea was that early bone technology was essentially immediate and expedient, based on single-stage operations, using available bone fragments of large to medium size animals. Only Upper Paleolithic bone tools would involve several stages of manufacture with clear evidence of primary flaking or breaking of bone to produce the kind of fragments required for different kinds of tools. Our technological and taphonomic analysis of the bone assemblage of Castel di Guido, a Middle Pleistocene site in Italy, now dated by 40Ar/39Ar to about 400 ka, shows that this general idea is inexact. In spite of the fact that the number of bone bifaces at the site had been largely overestimated in previous publications, the number of verified, human-made bone tools is 98. This is the highest number of flaked bone tools made by pre-modern hominids published so far. Moreover the Castel di Guido bone assemblage is characterized by systematic production of standardized blanks (elephant diaphysis fragments) and clear diversity of tool types. Bone smoothers and intermediate pieces prove that some features of Aurignacian technology have roots that go beyond the late Mousterian, back to the Middle Pleistocene. Clearly the Castel di Guido hominids had done the first step in the process of increasing complexity of bone technology. We discuss the reasons why this innovation was not developed. The analysis of the lithic industry is done for comparison with the bone industry.

Magnetic parameter variations in the Chaona loess/paleosol sequences in the central Chinese Loess Plateau, and their significance for the middle Pleistocene climate transition

2014 ◽  
Vol 81 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-444 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yougui Song ◽  
Xiaomin Fang ◽  
John W. King ◽  
Jijun Li ◽  
Ishikawa Naoto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saturation Magnetization ◽  
Loess Plateau ◽  
Chinese Loess Plateau ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
High Coercivity ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Chinese Loess ◽  
Pleistocene Climate ◽  
History Of ◽  
Climate Transition

AbstractA high-resolution rock magnetic investigation was performed on the Chaona Quaternary loess/paleosol sequences in the Central Chinese Loess Plateau. Based on a newly developed independent unturned time scale and magnetic records, we reconstructed the history of the East Asia monsoons during the last 3 Ma and explored the middle Pleistocene climate transition (MPT). Rock magnetic results show that the loess layers are characterized by relatively high coercivity and remanent coercivity, lower magnetic susceptibility (MS), and that the paleosol layers are characterized by relatively high MS, saturation magnetization and remanent saturation magnetization. Spectrum analyses indicate that there are various periods in addition to orbital periodicities. According to the onset and stable appearance of 100 kyr period, we consider that the MPT recorded in this section began at ~ 1.26 Ma and was completed by ~ 0.53 Ma, which differs from previous investigations based on orbitally tuned time scales. The forcing mechanism for the MPT was more complicated than just the orbital forcing. We conclude that the rapid uplift of the Tibetan Plateau may have played an important role in the shift of periodicities during the middle Pleistocene.

scholarly journals Mediterranean Outflow Water variability during the Early Pleistocene climate transition

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Kaboth ◽  
Patrick Grunert ◽  
Lucas J. Lourens
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Intermediate Water ◽  
Mediterranean Outflow Water ◽  
The North ◽  
Pleistocene Climate ◽  
Mediterranean Outflow ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
Climate Transition

Abstract. Gaining insights into the evolution of Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) during the Early Pleistocene climate transition has been so far hampered by the lack of available paleoclimatic archives. Here we present the first benthic foraminifera stable oxygen and carbon isotope records and grain-size data from IODP Expedition 339 Site U1389 presently located within the upper core of the MOW in the Gulf of Cadiz for the time interval between 2.6 and 1.8 Ma. A comparison with an intermediate water mass record from the Mediterranean Sea strongly suggest an active MOW supplying Site U1389 on glacial-interglacial timescales during the Early Pleistocene. We also find indication that the increasing presence of MOW in the Gulf of Cadiz during the investigated time interval aligns with the progressive northward protrusion of Mediterranean sourced intermediate water masses into the North Atlantic, possibly modulating the intensification of the North Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation at the same time. Additionally, our results suggest that MOW flow strength was already governed by precession and semi-precession cyclicity during the Early Pleistocene against the background of glacial-interglacial variability dominated by the obliquity cycle of Earth`s inclination axis.

scholarly journals First dated human occupation of Italy at ~0.85Ma during the late Early Pleistocene climate transition

2011 ◽  
Vol 307 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 241-252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giovanni Muttoni ◽  
Giancarlo Scardia ◽  
Dennis V. Kent ◽  
Enrico Morsiani ◽  
Fabrizio Tremolada ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Pleistocene Climate ◽  
Climate Transition

Glacial Southern Ocean freshening at the onset of the Middle Pleistocene Climate Transition

2012 ◽  
Vol 345-348 ◽  
pp. 194-202 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Rodríguez-Sanz ◽  
P. Graham Mortyn ◽  
Alfredo Martínez-Garcia ◽  
Antoni Rosell-Melé ◽  
Ian R. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Pleistocene Climate ◽  
Climate Transition

scholarly journals Reconstructing vegetation and climate in the Nihewan Basin, North China, during the middle Pleistocene (~603-587 ka) to trace the evolution of human environments

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun Zhu ◽  
Yi-Feng Yao ◽  
Qi Wei ◽  
David K Ferguson ◽  
Yu-Fei Wang
Keyword(s):  
North China ◽  
Living Environment ◽  
Early Pleistocene ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Forest Steppe ◽  
Conifer Forest ◽  
Nihewan Basin ◽  
New Findings ◽  
Early Humans ◽  
Vegetation And Climate

Abstract Aims The Nihewan Basin of North China, considered the cradle of Eastern civilisation, contains a set of late Cenozoic strata and artefacts used by Homo erectus in the early Pleistocene (~1.66 Ma -780 ka) and the cranial bones and teeth of early H. sapiens from the late middle Pleistocene (~370-260 ka). Palynological studies provide an opportunity to explore the living environment of early humans. Methods Palynological samples from the Hutouliang Section (~603-587 ka) of the Xiaodukou Formation of the Nihewan Basin were treated by heavy liquid flotation. Based on the palynological assemblages from the section, vegetation and climate in the Nihewan Basin were reconstructed. Important Findings The dynamic vegetation changed from temperate needle- and broad-leaved mixed forest-steppe (mainly Picea, Abies, Betula, Juglans, Artemisia and Chenopodiaceae) to conifer forest (mainly Pinus, Picea and Abies), which saw the replacement of H. erectus by early H. sapiens. The comparison of the Nihewan Basin with other human sites around the world during the same period reveals that early humans preferred to live in caves, accompanied by relatively open steppe or forest-steppe environments, inhabited by numerous mammals. Therefore, it is inferred that the emergence of dense conifer forest and the disappearance of open steppe environments in the Nihewan Basin at approximately 603-587 ka provide new evidence that early humans followed most mammals to steppe or forest-steppe environments and thus left the Nihewan Basin. These new findings not only enrich our knowledge of early human behaviour, such as their diet, migration and settlement, but also fill in gaps in paleovegetation and paleoenvironmental research in the Nihewan Basin during the middle Pleistocene (780-400 ka).

Early humans in East Asia: Insights into climatic influence on human evolution

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rixiang Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Human Evolution ◽  
Terrestrial Ecosystems ◽  
Climatic Influence ◽  
Quaternary Climate ◽  
Nihewan Basin ◽  
Pleistocene Climate ◽  
Northern Latitudes ◽  
Early Humans

<p>East Asia is a key area for probing into the interplay between Quaternary climate change and human adaptations to diverse terrestrial ecosystems. Integrated chronology based mainly on high-resolution magnetostratigraphy in conjunction with detailed biostratigraphy and high-precision isotopic dating of early humans and Paleolithic stone tools in mainland East Asia, western and southeastern Asia has provided insights into our understanding of climatic influence on human evolution in a variety of environments in the eastern Old World. For example, there is a prominent geographic expansion for early humans from low southern latitudes (e.g., tropical SE Asia and subtropical Yuanmou Basin and Bose Basin), through middle latitudes, to high northern latitudes (e.g., the Nihewan Basin). Especially, increased toolmaking skills and technological innovations are evident in temperate Nihewan Basin at the onset of the Mid-Pleistocene Climate Transition. The improved ability to adjust to diverse environments for early humans in East Asia has contributed to better understanding how climate change has shaped early human evolution.</p>

Impacts of climatic changes on fluvial sediment fluxes in north western Europe: The Middle and Late Pleistocene Meuse river system

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewerton da Silva Guimarães ◽  
Ronald T. van Balen ◽  
Cornelis Kasse ◽  
Freek S. Busschers ◽  
Renaud Bouroullec
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Age Dating ◽  
Middle Pleistocene ◽  
Fluvial Terrace ◽  
River Catchment ◽  
Sediment Fluxes ◽  
Pleistocene Climate ◽  
Source To Sink ◽  
Climate Transition

<p>Climate change and tectonics can generate signals in a source-to-sink system in the form of changing sediment supply. The study of the propagation of this signal through the system might elucidate how different source-to-sink systems respond to a given perturbation, for instance, the Early to Middle-Pleistocene climate transition. Knowledge on the temporal and spatial responses to such perturbations in a catchment is still limited. Previous studies, with the support of landscape evolution models, demonstrate that several thousands of years might be needed for an extreme-climate-transition-induced signal to propagate through a river catchment (an example of source-to-sink system). The present work aims to contribute to the understanding of how such systems might react when submitted to rapid climate change events by studying the Meuse river catchment. The primary goals are to characterize and quantify the main controls on sediment flux of this fluvial system as a response to the Early to Middle Pleistocene climate transition as well as to assess how climate signals propagated through this source-to-sink system during the last four glacial-interglacial cycles, starting around 450.000 years ago.</p><p>To achieve our goals, three main tasks are proposed. In the first stage of this project, with the support of high-resolution DEM and high-resolution sedimentary cores, the different Meuse fluvial terrace maps are updated. For that, a new cross-border fluvial terrace map between the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany is produced. Characterization and mapping of sediment grain-size and provenance is also carried out. The new Meuse terrace map will guide the sampling campaign of Meuse terrace sediments. The samples will be used for cosmogenic-nuclide age-dating of the sampled terraces. Two dating methods will be used depending on how deeply buried and well-preserved the terraces are: burial isochrone (<sup>26</sup>Al/<sup>10</sup>Be) where sediment cover thickness is greater than 4,5 – 5 m, and depth profile (<sup>10</sup>Be) when the terrace surface is well preserved. These methods will be applied to specific terrace steps, in order to date those around the Mid-Pleistocene transition. Beryllium-10 age-dating will possibly also be applied to specific sedimentary levels (cores, outcrops), in order to infer averaged denudation rates and, consequently, the sediment fluxes, during the investigated climatic cycles. During the latter part of the project, all the data will be set in a temporal framework using the cosmogenic dating results and existing age controls.</p>

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