scholarly journals A tanged point and two blade technologies from Rubha Port an t-Seilich, Isle of Islay, western Scotland

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inger Marie Berg-Hansen ◽  
Karen Wicks ◽  
Steven Mithen
Keyword(s):  
Sample Size ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Technological Analysis ◽  
North Western

We describe a tanged point and a blade technology from Rubha Port an t-Seilich, Isle of Islay, Scotland that provides further support to a Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene presence in Scotland prior to the establishment of the narrow blade Mesolithic industry. The existing evidence for a Late Pleistocene or early Holocene presence comes from isolated finds of tanged points (Tiree, Shieldig, Brodgar), undated assemblages from disturbed contexts that are most likely Late Pleistocene in date (Howburn, Kilmefort Cave), and undated assemblages containing broad blade microliths (e.g., Glenbatrick, Morton). This article provides a summary of recent excavations and the stratigraphy at Rubha Port an t-Seilich, and a detailed analysis the lithic blade blank production at the site, which is, we believe, the first application of a chaîne opératoire based approach to a Scottish assemblage. The study includes comparisons with contemporary assemblages from north-western Europe. The significance of the Rubha Port an t-Seilich finds is threefold: (1) the relative large size of the assemblage that allows a technological analysis; (2) the finds partially derive from a stratified context below a narrow blade assemblage, associated with radiocarbon dates 9301-7750 cal. BP; and (3) further excavation can increase the sample size and potentially expose an in situ Late Pleistocene or early Holocene cultural horizon.

Satellite based county- to provincial-level ammonia emissions estimates

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Dammers ◽  
Mark Shephard ◽  
Evan White ◽  
Debora Griffin ◽  
Evan Chow ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Ammonia Emission ◽  
Ammonia Emissions ◽  
Wind Fields ◽  
Spatially Resolved ◽  
Satellite Sensors ◽  
Cross Track ◽  
North Western

<p>While ammonia (NH3) at its current levels is known to be a hazard to environmental and human health, the atmospheric budget is still quite uncertain. This can largely be attributed to the short lifetime of ammonia in combination with an overall lack of (dense) in-situ measurement networks. The capability to observe ammonia distributions with satellites has opened new ways to study the atmospheric ammonia budget. Previous studies have demonstrated the capability of current ammonia satellite sensors to resolve emissions from point like sources, biomass burning, and constraining emission sources at a regional level with methods involving the use of air quality models.</p><p>In this study, we present the first spatially resolved ammonia emission estimates across the globe using a consistent methodology based solely on ammonia satellite observations from the Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) instrument and ECMWF ERA5 wind fields. The concept was evaluated for North Western Europe and demonstrated the ability to constrain annual emissions at county- to provincial-levels with most deviations within the bounds found in the error analysis. Furthermore, we show that for some regions the spatial patterns found in the satellite observations are consistent while others do not match the current inventories. Finally, the results indicate that the absolute emission levels tend to be underestimated for parts of the globe.</p>

New excavations at the late Pleistocene site of Chinchihuapi I, Chile

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom D. Dillehay ◽  
Carlos Ocampo ◽  
Jose Saavedra ◽  
Mario Pino ◽  
Linda Scott-Cummings ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Occupied Site ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Central Chile ◽  
South Central ◽  
Cool Temperate ◽  
Human Use ◽  
Monte Verde ◽  
Point Type

AbstractThis paper presents new excavation data on the Chinchihuapi I (CH-I) locality within the Monte Verde site complex, located along Chinchihuapi Creek in the cool, temperate Valdivian rain forest of south-central Chile. The 2017 and 2018 archaeological excavations carried out in this open-air locality reveal further that CH-I is an intermittently occupied site dating from the Early Holocene (~10,000 cal yr BP) to the late Pleistocene (at least ~14,500 cal yr BP) and probably earlier. A new series of radiocarbon dates refines the chronology of human use of the site during this period. In this paper, we describe the archaeological and stratigraphic contexts of the recent excavations and analyze the recovered artifact assemblages. A fragmented Monte Verde II point type on an exotic quartz newly recovered from excavations at CH-I indicates that this biface design existed in at least two areas of the wider site complex ~14,500 cal yr BP. In addition, associated with the early Holocene component at CH-I are later Paijan-like points recovered with lithic tools and debris and other materials. We discuss the geographic distribution of diagnostic artifacts from the site and their probable relationship to other early sites in South America.

Pressure Knapping and the Timing of Innovation: New Chrono-Cultural Data on Prehistoric Groups of the Early Holocene in the Maghreb, Northwest Africa

Radiocarbon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. e1-e51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Perrin ◽  
Tiphaine Dachy ◽  
Colas Guéret ◽  
David Lubell ◽  
Yasmina Chaïd-Saoudi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Africa ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Northwest Africa ◽  
Lithic Industry ◽  
Eastern Algeria ◽  
Cultural Entities ◽  
Cultural Data

ABSTRACTThe early Holocene in North Africa remains a poorly known period, documented unequally by region. Eastern Algeria and Tunisia have the greatest number of deposits, but most were excavated decades ago without the controls and recording required for modern interpretation. The chronological framework is based on radiocarbon (14C) dates that are also old, for the most part. Recent work on Mesolithic lithic industries of Western Europe has enabled us to revive the hypothesis of the existence of contacts between the northern and southern shores of the western Mediterranean at least by the 6th millennium cal BC. A collective research program was conducted in 2016–2017 to test this hypothesis with a particular focus on documenting the technological traditions in the lithic industry and situating them precisely in time. We have 46 new radiocarbon dates that were recently carried out on previously excavated Algerian sites, some of which contain several levels, allowing the construction of Bayesian models. These new measures reinforce the hypothesis of contacts between Europe and Africa by demonstrating the contemporaneity of similar technological processes. Above all, they make it possible to accurately refine the chronology of the main cultural entities of the Maghreb at the beginning of the Holocene.

Late Pleistocene northward-dispersing Bison antiquus from the Bighill Creek Formation, Gallelli Gravel Pit, Alberta, Canada, and the fate of Bison occidentalis

2008 ◽  
Vol 45 (7) ◽  
pp. 827-859 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Wilson ◽  
Leonard V. Hills ◽  
Beth Shapiro
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Type Specimen ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Dna Evidence ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Gravel Pit ◽  
Ice Retreat ◽  
America South ◽  
Bison Antiquus ◽  
Clade 1

Late Pleistocene bison skeletal remains from the Gallelli Gravel Pit in the Bighill Creek Formation at Calgary, Alberta, document at least two individuals, including the largest postglacial bison reported from North America south of Beringia. Two partial crania, dated to 11 290 and 10 100 14C years BP, are referred to the southern species Bison antiquus Leidy, indicating northward movement from the midcontinent as ice retreat opened a corridor between Laurentide and Cordilleran ice. Their large size suggests a dispersal phenotype exploiting newly available territory. DNA evidence links the 11 290-year-old bison to Clade 1, which includes modern B. bison . This supports in situ evolution of B. bison from B. antiquus through the intermediate usually called B.“occidentalis” . Bison of B. “occidentalis” character appeared in Alberta about 10 ka BP, and the DNA evidence counters the suggestion of a migratory wave from Beringia. The B. occidentalis type specimen is from Alaska, so this name may be inappropriate for southern populations. Radiocarbon dates suggest that the Bighill Creek Formation paleofauna comprises two faunules separated in time by the Younger Dryas climatic episode.

The Neolithic in The Cambridgeshire Fens

Antiquity ◽  
1962 ◽  
Vol 36 (141) ◽  
pp. 10-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. D. Clark ◽  
H. Godwin
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Age Determination ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Cambridge University ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
Neolithic Culture ◽  
University Department ◽  
The University ◽  
North Western

By common consent the spread of Neolithic culture has been one of the first objectives of radiocarbon dating in north-western Europe. This is due primarily to the intrinsic historical importance of this process, but the fact that the inception of husbandry has left clear indicators in the palaeobotanical record means that decisive samples are readily available. In the present paper an account will first be given of the reinvestigation of the site on Peacock’s Farm, Shippea Hill, Cambridgeshire, a locality where in 1934 Neolithic pottery had been found stratified in a vertical sequence between Mesolithic and Early Bronze Age remains, each in deposits with fossil pollen. In view of the stratigraphical importance of the site it may be appropriate in this same context to review the radiocarbon dates for the inception of Neolithic culture in the British Isles as a whole. The excavations were undertaken during June, 1960, by the Cambridge University Department of Archaeology and Anthropology with the support of the Crowther-Beynon Fund. Samples were collected for pollen analysis and radiocarbon age determination and the laboratory work was carried out in the University Sub-department of Quaternary Research at Cambridge.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon, Soil, and Artifact Chronologies for An Early Southern Oregon Coastal Site

Radiocarbon ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 383-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberta Hall ◽  
Loren G Davis ◽  
Samuel Willis ◽  
Matthew Fillmore
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Texture Classification ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Particle Size Analysis ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Size Analysis ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
History Of

Radiocarbon dates together with geoarchaeological, soil, and lithic analyses are presented to describe archaeological site 35-CS-9 in Bandon Ocean Wayside State Park, Oregon, northwestern USA. One of the few Oregon middle-Holocene coastal sites that includes sediments and artifacts dating to the early Holocene and possibly to the late Pleistocene, it was recorded in 1951 and surface surveyed by archaeologists in 1975, 1986, and 1991, but its depth and antiquity were not tested. In February 2002, we studied the site's stratigraphy and sediments and described 8 strata from the aeolian surface to bedrock at 350 cm depth. Soil samples taken from a cut bank for texture classification, particle size analysis, pH, carbon content, and chemical analysis suggested that the site represented a complete history of Holocene deposits. Excavation of 2 test units in August 2002 uncovered substantial lithic and charcoal remains that confirm a protracted middle-Holocene occupation and suggest that human occupation began in the early Holocene. Charcoal recovered at 235–245 cm dated to 11,000 14C BP, and the deepest lithic artifact was recovered in a level at 215–225 cm. Whether the human occupation was continuous throughout the Holocene, and whether it began in the early Holocene or in the late Pleistocene, can only be determined with further excavations.

scholarly journals Response of atmospheric composition to COVID-19 lockdown in Paris (France)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-Eudes Petit ◽  
Jean-Charles Dupont ◽  
Olivier Favez ◽  
Valérie Gros ◽  
Robert Vautard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Areas ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Threshold Effect ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Low Carbon ◽  
Background Site ◽  
Secondary Pollutants ◽  
North Western ◽  
Mitigation Policies

Abstract The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has led to lockdowns at national scales in the Spring of 2020. Large cuts in emissions occurred, but the quantitative assessment of their role from observations is hindered by weather variability. In order to circumvent this difficulty, we developed here an innovative analog methodology and applied it to a comprehensive in-situ dataset of primary and secondary pollutants obtained at the SIRTA observatory, a suburban background site of the Paris megacity (France). We find that concentrations of primary traffic dropped by 69-76% during the lockdown period. Further, the decrease of NOx triggered a decrease of particulate nitrate (-41%), one of the main springtime aerosol components in North-Western Europe. We reveal a threshold effect highlighting the need of substantial NOx decrease to affect particulate nitrate. At the same time, the expected ozone increase (+21%) underlines the negative feedback of NO titration. Finally, an increase of residential wood burning sporadically compensated primary traffic, and influenced the oxidation state of secondary organic aerosols. Our results provide a quasi-comprehensive observation-based insight on mitigation policies regarding air quality in future low-carbon urban areas.

The Late Glacial human reoccupation of north-western Europe: new approaches to space-time modelling

Antiquity ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (296) ◽  
pp. 232-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul G. Blackwell ◽  
Caitlin E. Buck
Keyword(s):  
Bayesian Methods ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Late Glacial ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Northern Europe ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
New Approaches ◽  
Last Ice Age ◽  
Upper Rhine ◽  
North Western

How and when was northern Europe reoccupied at the end of the last Ice Age? Radiocarbon dates from the earliest post-glacial contexts provide one answer: they offer a sequence in which the regions of Europe, from the Upper Rhine to Britain, saw the return of humans. The authors use Bayesian methods to model a chronology and thus arrive at a sequence with clear assessments of uncertainty.

scholarly journals The Impact of Accelerator Dating at the Early Village of Abu Hureyra on the Euphrates

Radiocarbon ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 850-858 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. T. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Cultural Change ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Southwest Asia ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Hunting And Gathering ◽  
New Information ◽  
Wild Progenitors ◽  
The Impact

The early village of Abu Hureyra is significant because of its great size (ca. 11.5 ha) and long sequence of occupation (ca. 11,500–7000 bp) that spans the transition from late Pleistocene hunting and gathering to early Holocene farming, and the cultural change from Epipaleolithic to Neolithic. The 40 accelerator dates obtained for Abu Hureyra provide new information on the development of agriculture in Southwest Asia. The dates have demonstrated that the site was inhabited for much longer than the few conventional radiocarbon dates for the site had suggested. The gap between the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic villages seems to have been brief. A change in climate and vegetation, dated at ca. 10,600 BP, during the span of occupation of the Epipaleolithic village, precipitated an adjustment in the foraging way of life of its inhabitants just before the inception of agriculture. Dating of individual bones and seeds has shown that the wild progenitors of sheep and several cereals were present near Abu Hureyra in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene, well outside their present areas of distribution. This has implications for where those species may have been domesticated. A rapid switch from exploitation of the gazelle to herding of sheep and goats during the Neolithic occupation occurred ca. 8300 bp.

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