High-Resolution Direct Push Sensing in Wetland Geoarchaeology—First Traces of Off-Site Construction Activities at the Fossa Carolina

Wetland environments, with their excellent conservation conditions, provide geoarchaeological archives of past human activities. However, the subsurface soil is difficult to access due to high groundwater tables, unstable sediments, and the high cost of excavation. In this study, we present a ground-based non- and minimal-invasive prospection concept adapted to the conditions of wetlands. We investigated the Fossa Carolina in South Germany, a canal that was intended in 792/793 AD by Charlemagne to bridge the Central European Watershed. Although the resulting Carolingian banks and the fairway with wooden revetments are very imposing, archaeological traces of off-site construction activities have not been identified hitherto. Based on a geophysically surveyed intensive linear magnetic anomaly parallel to the Carolingian canal, we aimed to prove potential off-site traces of Carolingian construction activities. In this context, we built up a high-resolution cross-section using highly depth-accurate direct push sensing and ground-truthing. Our results showed the exact geometry of the canal and the former banks. Thus, the magnetic mass anomaly could be clearly located between the buried organic-rich topsoil and the Carolingian banks. The thermoluminescence dating showed that the position of the magnetic mass anomaly reflected Carolingian activities during the construction phases, specifically due to heat exposure. Moreover, we found hints of the groundwater supply to the 5-metre wide navigable fairway.

The Mousterian loess sequence La Combette (France) and its chronological framework: A re-investigation

The La Combette rock-shelter, located in the Luberon mountains (Southern France), is an essential local archaeological discovery. The site comprises several Palaeolithic layers suggesting multiple phases of Mousterian occupation. The sediment sequence of c. 7 m thickness indicates rapid changes in the environmental conditions, which led to an abandonment of the site. While the first chronological studies were carried out in the late 1990s, in 2014, new sediment samples were taken for state-of-the-art luminescence-dating analyses using fine grain (4-11 µm) quartz and polymineral separates. Samples were taken from the loess-dominated upper archaeological levels A to D (upper main unit) as well as from the anthropogenic layer E, embedded in a fluvial context, and from the bottom deposits of the layer F/G. Here we present the obtained chronological dataset in conjunction with 24 so far unpublished thermoluminescence dating results from burnt flint artefacts from layers E and F/G. We combine and discuss our results against previous chronological datasets, which seem to be broadly confirmed by our new findings framing the sedimentation history of La Combette at 78.3 ka to 39.4 ka. In summary, it appears that the local environmental conditions were deeply impacted by the climatic changes during MIS 4/3. This caused rapid sediment influx that finally rendered the rock shelter uninhabitable as a potential refuge, until its re-discovery in the second half of the 20th century.

Reconsideration of the Antiquity of the Middle Palaeolithic Footprints from Theopetra Cave (Thessaly, Greece)

During the 1996 field season, four footprints were found in undisturbed deposits at the borders of squares Θ10-I10 at a depth of 3.5 m at the Theopetra Cave excavation site. The footprints lie adjacent to an ash horizon that has been dated to ca ~135 ka. Two footprints in the trail are complete and measure 150.4 mm and 138.96 mm in length. Based on modern European standards, these lengths would be consistent with young children aged between 2 and 4 years old and 90–100 cm in stature. The two complete footprints, which follow each other in the trail, appear both to have been left feet. The partial print, which immediately precedes the two complete prints in the series, also appears to have been by a left foot. This suggests that what initially seems to be a single trail is actually a composite of two or more trails of prints. This hypothesis is supported by the different characteristics of the two complete prints. One is consistent with a bare foot and clearly shows the impressions of the toes, ball, arch and heel. The other is characterized by a simpler contour and is more sharply defined and indicates that the individual was wearing some kind of foot covering. An important question is what kind of hominid made the footprints? These footprints may have been made by Neanderthals or early Homo sapiens, based on thermoluminescence dating results.