Continuous vegetation record of the Greater Cape Floristic Region (South Africa) covering the past 300 000 years (IODP U1479)

The Greater Cape Floristic Region (GCFR) of South Africa is a biodiversity hotspot of global significance, and its archeological record has substantially contributed to the understanding of modern human origins. For both reasons, the climate and vegetation history of southwestern South Africa is of interest to numerous fields. Currently known paleoenvironmental records cover the Holocene, the last glacial–interglacial transition and parts of the last glaciation but do not encompass a full glacial–interglacial cycle. To obtain a continuous vegetation record of the last Pleistocene glacial–interglacial cycles, we studied pollen, spores and micro-charcoal of deep-sea sediments from IODP Site U1479 retrieved from SW of Cape Town. We compare our palynological results of the Pleistocene with previously published results of Pliocene material from the same site. We find that the vegetation of the GCFR, in particular fynbos and afrotemperate forest, responds to precessional forcing of climate. The micro-charcoal record confirms the importance of fires in the fynbos vegetation. Ericaceae-rich and Asteraceae-rich types of fynbos could extend on the western part of the Paleo-Agulhas Plain (PAP), which emerged during periods of low sea level of the Pleistocene.

Supplemental Material: Emergence of wet conditions in the Mono Basin of the Western USA coincident with inception of the Last Glaciation

Assessment of Ash 19 age data; Figure S1: Measured section at the Tufa Site of Lower Wilson Creek (38.02986°N, 119.12459°W; ~1987 m); Figure S2: Our measured section of IV D of Bridgeport Creek (38.08968°N, 119.04885°W; ~2006 m); Figure S3: Measured section at the Between Site of Bridgeport Creek (38.09056°N, 119.04985°W; ~2010 m).

Supplemental Material: Emergence of wet conditions in the Mono Basin of the Western USA coincident with inception of the Last Glaciation

Assessment of Ash 19 age data; Figure S1: Measured section at the Tufa Site of Lower Wilson Creek (38.02986°N, 119.12459°W; ~1987 m); Figure S2: Our measured section of IV D of Bridgeport Creek (38.08968°N, 119.04885°W; ~2006 m); Figure S3: Measured section at the Between Site of Bridgeport Creek (38.09056°N, 119.04985°W; ~2010 m).

Supplemental Material: Emergence of wet conditions in the Mono Basin of the Western USA coincident with inception of the Last Glaciation

Assessment of Ash 19 age data; Figure S1: Measured section at the Tufa Site of Lower Wilson Creek (38.02986°N, 119.12459°W; ~1987 m); Figure S2: Our measured section of IV D of Bridgeport Creek (38.08968°N, 119.04885°W; ~2006 m); Figure S3: Measured section at the Between Site of Bridgeport Creek (38.09056°N, 119.04985°W; ~2010 m).

Human Distribution in Caucasia in the Coldest and Driest Period of the Last Glacial

Since the period the modern human originated anatomically, genetic diversity was accumulated in the hereditarily transferred DNA (e.g., Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA), which makes it possible to estimate the ways of human origination and evolution. The research presented in the article uses the branches of Y-chromosome (or paternal branches) which originated in the period of the Last Glaciation. According to the hypothesis to be researched, the major phenomenon in the geological past which could have caused genetic differences by means of reproductive distancing of human populations (i.e., isolation) was the succession of minimal temperatures over the period of glaciation. The author’s hypothesis was motivated by the fact that the dates of temperature minimums almost coincided with the times of origination of paternal branches presumed by other scholars (Fig. 1). Consequently, it was the distribution of the biomes during these minimums that must have affected creation and dissemination of paternal branches.

Evidence of dispersal between the Yenisei and the Lena river basins during the late Pleistocene within the whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus pidschian) complex

The Coregonus lavaretus (Linnaeus, 1758) complex is a morphologically and genetically diverse group of whitefish. Its taxonomic structure has been controversial for almost a century. At least 25 forms of C. lavaretus have been described in Siberia, but there is still no consensus on their intraspecific structure and taxonomy. Coregonus lavaretus pidschian (Gmelin, 1789) was described as a subspecies of C. lavaretus. Recently, it was assumed that this subspecies is also a complex. The purpose of this study was to compare the distributions of pidschian-like whitefish haplotypes in two basins of large Siberian rivers, Yenisei and Lena, and to assess the gene flow between basins of these rivers, which were connected after the last glaciation. The sequence of the following mitochondrial DNA genes, 16S rRNA (partial), tRNA-Leu (full), NADH dehydrogenase subunit 1 (full), tRNA-Ile (full), and tRNA-Gln (partial), were used for the inference of intraspecific genetic structure of C. l. pidschian. Whitefish haplotypes were clustered into two groups according to their distribution between two large Siberian river basins; however, there were shared haplotypes indicating events of migration and hybridization, which could occur when Bolshoi Yenisei and Lena river systems were connected after the last glaciation (the Late Pleistocene).

THE UPPER PALAEOLITHIC OF CHURCHFIELDS, FISHERTON: 160 YEARS IN THE MAKING

Researchers of museum collections owe a great debt of gratitude to those responsible for curating the collections; however, staff may frequently remain innocently unaware of significant contents within the accessions. Such is a group of flint artefacts in Salisbury Museum, Wiltshire, which were found in 1860 on the outskirts of the city. The collection was rediscovered during unrelated archaeological research and comprises a series of blades, which include refitting components, demonstrating that the artefacts came from undisturbed prehistoric contexts. The blade blanks had been removed from opposed platform cores, using careful core preparation and soft hammer percussion. These characteristics can be most closely paralleled by Upper Palaeolithic Federmesser industries in Europe, which date from the end of the Last Glaciation. The existence of the Upper Palaeolithic was unrecognised at the time the artefacts were found, since when two other contemporary sites have been identified in the River Avon valley as well as others across the country. The newly recognised addition extends the distribution of Upper Palaeolithic activity further up the River Avon valley to Salisbury, where five rivers congregate, providing a convenient point for further dispersal. The finding also mirrors patterns of occupation on well-drained terrace bluffs overlooking the floodplain. Research results have yielded significant data, 160 years after the collection’s discovery, expanding current knowledge of the Upper Palaeolithic in the River Avon valley and demonstrating the continued value and potential of collections in our museums.