Expanding Paleoindian Diet Breadth: Paleoethnobotany of Connley Cave 5, Oregon, USA

Paleoethnobotanical perspectives are essential for understanding past lifeways yet continue to be underrepresented in Paleoindian research. We present new archaeobotanical and radiocarbon data from combustion features within stratified cultural components at Connley Caves, Oregon, that reaffirm the inclusion of plants in the diet of Paleoindian groups. Botanical remains from three features in Connley Cave 5 show that people foraged for diverse dryland taxa and a narrow range of wetland plants during the summer and fall months. These data add new taxa to the known Pleistocene food economy and support the idea that groups equipped with Western Stemmed Tradition toolkits had broad, flexible diets. When viewed continentally, this work contributes to a growing body of research indicating that regionally adapted subsistence strategies were in place by at least the Younger Dryas and that some foragers in the Far West may have incorporated a wider range of plants including small seeds, leafy greens, fruits, cacti, and geophytes into their diet earlier than did Paleoindian groups elsewhere in North America. The increasing appearance of diverse and seemingly low-ranked resources in the emerging Paleoindian plant-food economy suggests the need to explore a variety of nutritional variables to explain certain aspects of early foraging behavior.

Premature rejection in science: The case of the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis

The progress of science has sometimes been unjustifiably delayed by the premature rejection of a hypothesis for which substantial evidence existed and which later achieved consensus. Continental drift, meteorite impact cratering, and anthropogenic global warming are examples from the first half of the twentieth century. This article presents evidence that the Younger Dryas Impact Hypothesis (YDIH) is a twenty-first century case. The hypothesis proposes that the airburst or impact of a comet ∼12,850 years ago caused the ensuing ∼1200-year-long Younger Dryas (YD) cool period and contributed to the extinction of the Pleistocene megafauna in the Western Hemisphere and the disappearance of the Clovis Paleo-Indian culture. Soon after publication, a few scientists reported that they were unable to replicate the critical evidence and the scientific community at large came to reject the hypothesis. By today, however, many independent studies have reproduced that evidence at dozens of YD sites. This article examines why scientists so readily accepted the early false claims of irreproducibility and what lessons the premature rejection of the YDIH holds for science.

Nuevos registros fósiles de Onthophagus pilauco Tello, Verdú, Rossini y Zunino, 2021 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), revelan un patrón morfológico único entre los Onthophagus americanos

Se describen e ilustran nuevos hallazgos de restos fósiles de uno de los escarabajos estercoleros de Pilauco, Onthophagus pilauco Tello, Verdú, Rossini y Zunino, 2021 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), extinto en la base de la cronozona Younger Dryas, al fin del Pleistoceno (~12.800 años antes del presente) en la Patagonia norte de Chile. Análisis recientes de material procedente del sitio Pilauco permitieron registrar nuevos restos fósiles pertenecientes a O. pilauco, incluidos restos de clípeos con un cuerno central excepcional que asignamos a especímenes machos. Los nuevos descubrimientos nos permitieron revisar la descripción propuesta anteriormente por los descriptores y atribuir el sexo hembra al holotipo de O. pilauco. A la luz de los conocimientos actuales sobre el género, se discute la singularidad de este carácter fenotípico (i.e., cuerno del disco del clípeo) dentro de los Onthophagus americanos y la posible relación con grupos de la región asiática. A partir de esto, sugerimos que las novedades morfológicas observadas en O. pilauco, corresponden a rasgos únicos entre los Onthophagus americanos, que posiblemente se originaron a partir del aislamiento durante la última glaciación en la Patagonia norte de Chile.

A Newly Identified Younger Dryas Component in Eagle Cave, Texas

Recent excavations by the Ancient Southwest Texas Project of Texas State University sampled a previously undocumented Younger Dryas component from Eagle Cave in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Texas. This stratified assemblage consists of bison (Bison antiquus) bones in association with lithic artifacts and a hearth. Bayesian modeling yields an age of 12,660–12,480 cal BP, and analyses indicate behaviors associated with the processing of a juvenile bison and the manufacture and maintenance of lithic tools. This article presents spatial, faunal, macrobotanical, chronometric, geoarchaeological, and lithic analyses relating to the Younger Dryas component within Eagle Cave. The identification of the Younger Dryas occupation in Eagle Cave should encourage archaeologists to revisit previously excavated rockshelter sites in the Lower Pecos and beyond to evaluate deposits for unrecognized, older occupations.

The persistent place at Lubrza: a small paradise for hunter-gatherers? Multi-disciplinary studies of Late Palaeolithic environment and human activity in the Łagów lake district (western Poland)

This paper summarises the results of multidisciplinary research, including pollen, plant macroremains, diatoms, Cladocera, molluscs and geochemistry from a 14C dated core and geomorphological records, which reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental conditions faced by Late Palaeolithic hunter-gathers in western Poland. Particular attention was paid to evidence for both human activity and the degree to which Late Palaeolithic groups may have affected the local environment, as recorded by the biogenic sediments in lakes located close to their campsites. Vegetation first appears locally in the Oldest Dryas, and consisted of subarctic tundra vegetation. During the Bølling period the landscape was generally open, with dwarf shrubs and scattered patches of Juniperus and Hippophaë shrubs. Betula (tree birch) expanded locally in the area only in the later Allerød; during the second part of the Allerød period, Pinus and Populus joined birch as a sparse woodland developed. During the Younger Dryas, the landscape changed significantly in comparison to the preceding warm period, as result of cooling and drying of the climate. The presence of microscopic charcoal and charred herbaceous plant particles made it possible to detect human activity. These analyses allowed us to reconstruct fire events near the site during its occupation by Hamburg and Federmesser cultural groups. An increase in the proportion of biogenic elements such as Na, K and Mg in the sediments indicate soil erosion, reflecting the activity of Hamburg groups. A relative increase in the frequency of Cladocera which favour eutrophic and turbid water was recorded in the period linked to Federmesser group activities. The intense use of this area was also indicated during the Younger Dryas.