A Middle Pleistocene steppe bison find within the Dürnstein Castle (Wachau, Lower Austria)

AbstractIn the course of foundation works in the Dürnstein Castle cervical and front leg bones of a large Bison priscus bull were discovered in fluvial sediments. The small city of Dürnstein with its medieval centre is part of the UNESCO Wachau Cultural Landscape and is built mainly on Palaeozoic basement rocks. The find location is completely overbuilt, but remnants of fluvial sediments on the bones together with the altitude of the site approximately 17 m above the Danube point to a Middle Pleistocene fluvial aggradation level not younger than ca. 240,000 years, and the maximum age is 400,000 years. The fossil bearing location is interpreted as a small sandy bay of the Pleistocene Danube, protected from later degradation and erosion. Morphometric comparisons and taphonomic analyses of the bones allow the reconstruction of a scenario in which the bison probably had drowned in a flood and its carcass was buried quickly before destruction by scavengers or erosion. The study includes a comparison with bison specimens of an unpublished small megafaunal assemblage from adjacent Krems-Kreuzbergstraße. Processing marks on parts of these bones point to an anthropogenic Middle Palaeolithic influence and translocation. In addition, a tentative chronological sketch of the regional Bison species succession (B. menneri, B. schoetensacki, B. priscus) from the Early to the Late Pleistocene is presented.

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Hunting the Extinct Steppe Bison (Bison priscus) Mitochondrial Genome in the Trois-Frères Paleolithic Painted Cave

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0128267 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. e0128267 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Marie-Claude Marsolier-Kergoat ◽

Pauline Palacio ◽

Véronique Berthonaud ◽

Frédéric Maksud ◽

Thomas Stafford ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Genome ◽

Bison Bison ◽

Steppe Bison ◽

Bison Priscus

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Corrected date of the first description of aurochs Bos primigenius (Bojanus, 1827) and steppe bison Bison priscus (Bojanus, 1827)

Mammal Research ◽

10.1007/s13364-018-0389-6 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 64 (2) ◽

pp. 299-300 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Piotr Daszkiewicz ◽

Tomasz Samojlik

Keyword(s):

Bison Bison ◽

Steppe Bison ◽

Bison Priscus

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Identification of a population of Ranunculus achenes extracted from Middle Pleistocene sediments exposed at Belhus Park, Essex, UK

Acta Palaeobotanica ◽

10.2478/acpa-2013-0011 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 53 (2) ◽

pp. 181-189

Author(s):

Michael H. Field

Keyword(s):

Morphological Characteristics ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Fluvial Sediments ◽

Flowing Water ◽

Dry Grassland ◽

River Catchment ◽

Plant Macrofossil ◽

Organic Sediments

ABSTRACT A plant macrofossil assemblage extracted from Middle Pleistocene fluvial organic sediments collected from Belhus Park, Aveley, Essex, UK contained a number of tuberculate (verrucose) achenes attributed to the genus Ranunculus, one of which had two short spines preserved on its surface. The identification of these achenes is discussed here. This is worthy of note because Ranunculus tuberculate or spinose fossil achenes can be difficult to determine to species as they can have similar features, some Ranunculus species produce achenes in several morphological forms, and during fossilization delicate structures maybe destroyed (e.g. spines). After careful morphological consideration it is concluded that the fossil achenes from Belhus Park are Ranunculus parviflorus L., indicating that dry grassland or disturbed ground existed in the river catchment. The plant macrofossil assemblages that included the Ranunculus parviflorus achenes were dominated by waterside, damp ground, and aquatic taxa. It is probable that flowing water transported the achenes from further afield before their incorporation into the fluvial sediments. The identification of these fossils illustrates the importance of considering the morphological characteristics of the achene only and not to make a determination on the nature of the predominant palaeoenvironmental signal from an assemblage.

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First Complete Skull of a Late Pleistocene Steppe Bison (Bison priscus) in the Iberian Peninsula

Ameghiniana ◽

10.5710/amgh.03.06.2016.2995 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 53 (5) ◽

pp. 543-551

Author(s):

Jone Castaños ◽

Pedro Castaños ◽

Xabier Murelaga

Keyword(s):

Iberian Peninsula ◽

Late Pleistocene ◽

Bison Bison ◽

Steppe Bison ◽

Bison Priscus

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Genomic variability in the extinct steppe bison (Bison priscus) compared to the European bison (Bison bonasus)

Mammal Research ◽

10.1007/s13364-018-0387-8 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 64 (1) ◽

pp. 127-131

Author(s):

Astrid Vik Stronen ◽

Laura Iacolina ◽

Cino Pertoldi ◽

Malgorzata Tokarska ◽

Brita Singers Sørensen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Bison Bison ◽

European Bison ◽

Bison Bonasus ◽

Genomic Variability ◽

Steppe Bison ◽

Bison Priscus

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IV.—On the Discovery of a Skeleton of the Hippopotamus in Post-pliocene Drift near Motcomb, Dorset

Geological Magazine ◽

10.1017/s0016756800159060 ◽

1869 ◽

Vol 6 (59) ◽

pp. 206-208

Author(s):

T. Thompson

Keyword(s):

Thin Section ◽

Geological Survey ◽

Green Sand ◽

Weak State ◽

Small Section ◽

Short Time ◽

Bison Priscus ◽

Horn Core ◽

Leg Bones

The existence of Post-pliocene deposits in this neighbourhood has until lately been quite unknown, nothing of the kind having been detected either by the Geological Survey or subsequent observers. However, in tlie winter of 1866, a small section was exposed in a brick-field situated on a low rising-ground at the first milestone out of Shaftesbtiry towards Gillingham, and known as Hawkers' Hill. The clay here dug for brickmaking is Kimmeridge, presenting fossilized bones of the Pliosaurus and Icthyosaurus, and very friable remains of an Ammonite, etc. The attention of the writer was first attracted to the Drift on observing, above part of the Kimmeridge clay, a thin section of soil of an ochreous tint due to oxide of iron, and somewhat resembling the loose stratum of chert and sand which caps the neighbouring Green-sand rock. He learnt on inquiring of the labourers that they had recently found some large bones in this deposit, but thinking them of no use they had wheeled them off with the rubbish, in which they then lay, efiectually re-buried. Much interested at this announcement, he induced the men again to remove the rubbish, and found that the bones were some vertebræ of a large mammalian animal, together with fragments of the ribs and leg-bones. They were, of course, not at all fossilized, and their original weak state had been sadly aggravated by a second burial and disinterment. Nothing more was turned out that winter, and it was not until the end of 1867, that digging was resumed. Further portions of the same skeleton were now found, including another instalment of vertebræ, and portions of the skull and jaws. With the latter were several teeth in a suffciently entire state to show that the creature weis undoubtedly a Hippopotamus; numerous fragments of the tusks affording further proof of this. The writer now frequently visited and watched “the diggings,” and after a short time two horn-cores, considerable portions of the skull, and some fragments of the leg-bones of Bison priscus of unusual size came to light. The more perfect horn-core is 18 inches long and 14: inches in diameter at the base.

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The Yukagir Bison: The exterior morphology of a complete frozen mummy of the extinct steppe bison, Bison priscus from the early Holocene of northern Yakutia, Russia

Quaternary International ◽

10.1016/j.quaint.2015.11.084 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 406 ◽

pp. 94-110 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Gennady G. Boeskorov ◽

Olga R. Potapova ◽

Albert V. Protopopov ◽

Valery V. Plotnikov ◽

Larry D. Agenbroad ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Early Holocene ◽

Bison Bison ◽

Steppe Bison ◽

Bison Priscus

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Human presence in the central Netherlands during early MIS 6 (~170-190 Ka): evidence from early Middle Palaeolithic artefacts in ice-pushed Rhine-Meuse sediments

Netherlands Journal of Geosciences – Geologie en Mijnbouw ◽

10.1017/s0016774600000834 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 89 (1) ◽

pp. 77-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

R.T. van Balen ◽

F.S. Busschers

Keyword(s):

Significant Part ◽

Original Position ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Published Data ◽

Middle Palaeolithic ◽

Faunal Remains ◽

Fluvial System ◽

Fluvial Transport ◽

Absolute Age ◽

Age Constraints

AbstractPart of the gravelly deposits of a combined Rhine-Meuse river of Middle Pleistocene age in the central Netherlands contains early Middle Palaeolithic artefacts. Although not in their original position, a significant part of these artefacts is hardly abraded, indicating limited fluvial transport. The artefacts have mainly been made from fluvial flint gravel boulders, originating from the Meuse catchment. Thus far, inferences for the age of the artefacts are based on the stratigraphic context and floral and faunal remains, which suggest a MIS 7 age. In this paper, OSL dating carried-out in the framework of a research aimed at the paleogeographical reconstruction of the Rhine-Meuse fluvial system in the central Netherlands and a review of published data are used to provide absolute age constraints for the artefact-bearing deposits. It is argued that the deposits were formed during the glacial phase directly preceding the Drenthe substage of the late Saalian (early MIS 6), and that at least a part of the artefacts has approximately the same age.

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A multidisciplinary approach to investigate the geomorphological evolution induced by landslides in the piedmont and coastal sectors of Abruzzo region (Central Italy)

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-13851 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Monia Calista ◽

Valeria Menna ◽

Enrico Miccadei ◽

Nicola Sciarra

Keyword(s):

Cultural Landscape ◽

Multidisciplinary Approach ◽

Central Italy ◽

Soft Rock ◽

Coastal Areas ◽

Alluvial Fan ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Abruzzo Region ◽

The Stability ◽

Geomorphological Evolution

According to their structural-geomorphological features, different types of landslides, with variable areal extension, largely affect the Abruzzo region (Central Italy) from the mountains to the coastal areas, contributing to the geomorphological evolution of the landscape.In this work, we present the results of integrated investigations carried out in recent years in the Abruzzo piedmont and the coastal areas. In detail, we investigated the role of the morphostructural setting, seismic and meteorological factors in the development of piedmont landslides, and the geomorphological evolution, erosion and retreat processes widespread along clastic soft rock coasts of the region.We investigated Ponzano landslide (Civitella del Tronto, Teramo), a large translational slide-complex landslide, affecting the Miocene&#8211;Pliocene pelitic-arenaceous bedrock, and the Castelnuovo landslide (Campli, Teramo) a complex (topple/fall-slide) landslide, which involved conglomerate rocks pertaining to terraced alluvial fan deposits of the Pleistocene superficial deposits. Both these landslides occurred in the NE Abruzzo hilly piedmont in February 2017, causing severe damage and evacuees. Regarding the coastal area, we analyzed rockfalls, topples and translational landslides which characterize the active cliffs of Torre Mucchia, Punta Lunga, Punta Ferruccio (Ortona, CH) and Punta Aderci (Vasto, CH), composed of clayey-sandy-arenaceous-conglomeratic marine sequence (Early-Middle Pleistocene) covered by continental deposits (Late Pleistocene-Holocene). These coastal areas are popular tourist destinations, included in natural reserve areas with high tourism, natural and cultural landscape value.Through this multidisciplinary approach, the lithological, geomorphological and structural-jointing features were estimated. Focusing on their role on the stability, processes and dynamics affecting Abruzzo piedmont and coastal sectors, it was possible to analyze the triggering factors, the landslide mechanisms and types, as well as the most critical and/or failure areas.The obtained results outline how field and remote investigations combined with FLAC3D numerical modeling provide an effective approach in the analysis of landslides, strongly improving the identification and prediction of landscape changes and supporting a new geomorphological hazards assessment.

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Infrared radiofluorescence (IR-RF) dating of middle pleistocene fluvial archives of the Heidelberg Basin (Southwest Germany)

Geochronometria ◽

10.2478/s13386-011-0006-9 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 38 (1) ◽

pp. 23-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Tobias Lauer ◽

Matthias Krbetschek ◽

Manfred Frechen ◽

Sumiko Tsukamoto ◽

Christian Hoselmann ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sediment Cores ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Upper Rhine Graben ◽

Fluvial Sediments ◽

Fluvial Deposits ◽

Core Depth ◽

Time Periods ◽

Fluvial Archives ◽

Upper Rhine ◽

Southwest Germany

AbstractThe infrared radiofluorescence (IR-RF) dating technique was applied to eight fluvial samples that were collected from two sediment cores at the Heidelberg Basin located near Viernheim and Ludwigshafen in southwest Germany. Based on the IR-RF derived ages of the samples it was possible to establish a chronological framework for the Mid-Pleistocene fluvial deposits of the Heidelberg Basin. The results allow us to distinguish between four main periods of aggradation. The lowermost sample taken from 100 m core depth lead to an IR-RF age of 643 ± 28 ka pointing to a Cromerian period of aggradation (OIS 17–16). For the Elsterian it is now possible to distinguish between two aggradation periods, one occurring during the Lower Elsterian period (OIS 15) and a second during the Upper Elsterian period (OIS 12–11). For the so called Upper interlayer (or “Oberer Zwischenhorizont” — a layer of organic-rich and finer-grained deposits), the IR-RF results point to a deposition age of around 300 ka, with samples taken directly on top and out of this layer yielding IR-RF ages of 288 ± 19 ka and 302 ± 19 ka, respectively. Hence, the measured IR-RF ages clearly point to a deposition during the Lower Saalian period (OIS 9–8) whereas earlier studies assumed a Cromerian age for the sediments of the Upper Interlayer based on pollen records and also mollusc fauna. The new IR-RF dataset indicates that significant hiatuses are present within the fluvial sediment successions. In particular the Eemian and Upper Saalian deposits are missing in this part of the northern Upper Rhine Graben, as the 300 ka deposits are directly overlain by Weichselian fluvial sediments. It is obvious that time periods of increased fluvial aggradation were interrupted by time periods of almost no aggradation or erosion which should have been mainly triggered by phases of increased and decreased subsidence of the Heidelberg Basin.

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