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The Nihewan Basin in North China contains the densest concentration of early Pleistocene Paleolithic sites outside Africa. This paper introduces a new archaeological site complex at Madigou (MDG) that was systematically excavated from 2011 to 2014 in the northeastern part of the Nihewan Basin. The site contains fossils and well-preserved stone artefacts in fluvio-lacustrine sediments. Our magnetostratigraphic results situate the MDG sedimentary sequence in the early Brunhes normal chron and the late Matuyama reverse chron, including the Jaramillo normal subchron. The MDG artifact layers are positioned within the pre-Jaramillo Matuyama chron, with an estimated age of ca. 1.2 Ma, close to the onset of Mid-Pleistocene climate transition. The MDG core and flake technology includes bipolar flaking of siliceous dolomite cobbles, and freehand flaking of chert and brecciated chert block fragments. Mammalian fauna and pollen compositions indicate that the MDG hominins lived in an open habitat varying from lightly-wooded grassland to an ecosystem dominated by sparse steppe near the shore of the Nihewan paleolake. Our combined results in the fields of archaeology, paleontology, palynology and magnetochronology suggest that innovations in technological behavior may correlate with adaptations to high environmental variability during the start of Mid-Pleistocene climate transition.

Archaeologists and palaeoecologists are increasingly turning to stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ18O) of fossil bioapatite to examine interactions of human and animal populations. However, relatively few investigations have focussed on the identification of natural variation in comparable modern populations, particularly within the Australian context. In this paper, we present the first modern isotopic reference dataset for Tasmanian bare-nosed wombat teeth (Vombatus ursinus tasmaniensis). Samples for δ13Cbioapatite and δ18Obioapatite measurements were recovered sequentially at sub-monthly resolution from all tooth types. δ13Cbioapatite showed little variation within a seasonal sinusoidal pattern within the sample set (n = 24 wombats; 35 teeth) due to the homogeneous C3 distribution of plants in Tasmania. In contrast, δ18Obioapatite profiles varied seasonally, representing time periods of between 0.9 and 2.1 years in 95% of the sample. Significant differences between tooth types were found from intra-individual to inter-regional scales for both dental growth rates and isotopic values. The accuracy of season-of-death assessments differed across the island; those in eastern Tasmania were accurate in all instances whereas those in the west showed substantial inaccuracies. We suggest that this may be due to the elodont form of wombat dentition and the ecologically influenced seasonally varied diet in western Tasmania. As the rate of dental growth is positively correlated with the proportion of coarse vegetation within the diet, this seasonal variation is therefore likely to change how annual isotopic signals are incorporated into the enamel. These results highlight the need to understand the degree of species-specific isotopic variation at a range of scales before applying this technique to archaeological or palaeontological assemblages.

Bosken et al. (2017) aimed at contributing to the environmental variability of the Gravettian population in ‘southeastern’ Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) with an interdisciplinary study at the Upper Palaeolithic site Sagvar Lyukas Hill (Hungary). However, the classification of the site as Gravettian is erroneous because the LGM archaeological record of eastern central Europe is composed of findings of another culture, the Epigravettian. This short comment on the paper of Bosken et al. (2017) presents the archaeological chronology between 34 and 16 kyr BP with a focus on the Gravettian–Epigravettian dichotomy.

In this paper, we use δ 13 C and δ 15 N of serial samples of dentine collagen from archaeological springbok teeth as a novel high-resolution but short-term palaeoenvironmental proxy. Two adult and seven juvenile springbok ( Antidorcas marsupialis ) teeth from the archaeological site SK400 were analyzed. This site, located in the Namaqualand desert on the west coast of South Africa has yielded a large number of small-medium bovids, likely all springbok. These springbok were killed in a single episode between 1438 and 1641 CE, during the Little Ice Age (LIA). The juvenile springbok were significantly more depleted in 13 C and enriched in 15 N compared with the adults. During the four to six months over which their teeth developed, the juveniles consumed a higher proportion of C 3 plants and were exposed to greater aridity than the adults at equivalent ages. Based on dental wear, the adults are estimated to be between 3.5 and 7.5 years old at death, so the isotope values in their teeth record diet and environmental conditions several years earlier. In addition, the juveniles (but not the adults) show a trend towards more negative δ 13 C values and very high δ 15 N (up to + 18.9‰) during the period of tooth formation, truncated by the animals' death. We infer that the animals were killed during an extreme drought. Informed by the archaeological evidence, we surmise that this was probably a herd of springbok on ‘trek’ in search of food and water, as this species is known to do during droughts. Although palaeoenvironmental proxies for the region as a whole suggest that Namaqualand was cool and wet during the Little Ice Age, this study indicates at least one period of drought, contributing to the developing picture of highly variable climates in southern Africa during the Holocene.

Fish bones are common in Pleistocene cave deposits in Europe. In this paper, we report on fish remains from the Gran Dolina cave (Trinchera del Ferrocarril) in the Sierra de Atapuerca in Spain, to increase what is known of the freshwater ecosystems close to the cave. The 19-m-thick section, divided into 11 stratigraphic levels, represents an Early to Middle Pleistocene time span as dated by biostratigraphy, ESR, U-series, and magnetostratigraphy. We focus on the Sondeo South site, excavated from 1993 to 1999, which has yielded 1087 fish bones comprising the following taxa: brown trout (Salmo trutta), the common European eel (Anguilla anguilla) and chub (Squalius sp.). Taphonomic studies suggest that the European eagle owl (Bubo bubo) was the most likely predator responsible for the accumulation. Changes observed in the body size of brown trout through the sequence cannot be attributed to climate change (contravening Bergmann's rule). Our study documents the presence of a pre-mountain river system characterized by permanent, oxygen-rich, relatively cold flowing waters around the Sierra de Atapuerca during Early-Middle Pleistocene times.

Coprolites are commonly identified in the Pleistocene archaeo-palaeontological record. They have often been described as indirect evidence for the presence of carnivores (usually hyenids) during the formation of a depositional sequence. However, coprolites are a much larger source of information that can provide data relating to factors affecting an archaeological assemblage, including its taphonomic history and palaeoecology. In this paper, two fossil coprolite accumulations dating to the late Early Pleistocene are described: Level TD6.1 of Gran Dolina (Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos) and Unit II of la Mina (Barranc de la Boella, Tarragona). The results highlight the morphological homogeneity of these hyena coprolites, despite a considerable variation in size. The presence of microspherulites is clearly identified in all of the analysed hyena coprolites. Their composition is rich in elements characteristic of bone-origin, such as calcium (Ca) and phosphorus (P). A major difference, however, differentiating the remains from these sites was a higher frequency of bone fragments in the la Mina coprolites, regarding to TD6.1. Pollen, spores, and palynomorphs are scarce in the samples from both sites, which in fact share similar ecological characteristics such as the presence of pine, wild grasses, and coprophilous fungi. Hyena coprolites are relatively easy to differentiate from those of other taxa; however, they show intra-specific similarities in their micro- and macro-morphology and composition, despite their wide size range. The species of hyenids responsible for the coprolites is not possible to identify based exclusively on the size range, and the importance of a multidisciplinary study of the latrines and the coprolites is discussed as a source of palaeoecological and taphonomic information. In this study, coprolites are analysed, compared, and attributed to a hyenid, identified as Crocuta crocuta in the case of TD6.1, but without specific attribution in the case of la Mina., The research at Barranc de la Boella has been carried out with the financial support of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad projects: CGL2012-38358; CGL2012-38434-C03-03; CGL2012-36682, and HAR2012-32548. The Generalitat de Catalunya, AGAUR agency, provided projects 2014SGR-901, 2014PBR-899 and the framework of CERCA Programme/Generalitat de Catalunya. Financial support for Barranc de la Boella fieldwork and archaeological excavations has been provided by the Ajuntament de La Canonja the Diputació de Tarragona and the Departament de Cultura (Servei d'Arqueologia i Paleontologia) (2014/100574) of the Generalitat de Catalunya. The research at Sierra de Atapuerca has been carried out with the financial support of the Spanish Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad and the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER): CGL2015-65387-C3-1-P (MINECO/FEDER).

This paper presents pollen analyses and radiocarbon dating on Crocuta coprolites from Las Ventanas (LV) and Carihuela (Car) Caves in southern Spain (Granada), with the aim of reconstructing the environmental conditions of these hominin sites. The LV coprolites are radiocarbon dated from c. 37,890 to 6980 cal yr BP, and the Car coprolites from c. 31,063 to 7861 cal yr BP. Overall, the palaeoecological scenario inferred from both coprolite series display similar patterns, with Pinus, Poaceae, and Artemisia as dominant during the full Pleistocene, and an important contribution of Quercus in the most recently dated coprolite samples. While the palynology is consistent with results of former investigations on the past environments in the region as obtained from other deposits (peat bogs, cave infills), the Late Glacial and Holocene chronology of several coprolites in both sites is in conflict with the generally accepted timing of extinction of Crocuta in western Europe. A discussion on the taphonomical processes and potential sources of carbon contamination of the radiocarbon samples is provided. The correlation between pollen from coprolites and from sedimentary records, and the paucity of the fossil bone record suggests nevertheless, that a late survival of Crocuta in southern Spain should not be categorically discarded.

A comprehensive account is given of the discovery and study of the fossil footprints of vertebrates in the British Isles. Brief summaries are given of work published in journals that are generally available to the geologist at large; however, since many papers were published in obscure books and journals, the illustrations in these are reproduced and the papers themselves directly quoted wherever appropriate. A number of specimens important in the history of British vertebrate ichnology are illustrated for the first time; in particular, the holotype of Chelichnus ingens Binney (1856), the “Kegworth footprint” from Leicestershire, the supposed “monotreme footprint” of Seeley (1899), and the first Iguanodon footprint to be described from Sussex (Tagart, 1846). Illustrations are given for the first time of footprints from the Forest Marble of Wiltshire thought to be those collected by Scrope (1831), of a footprint from the Permian of Warwickshire, mentioned by Vernon (1912), and of a footprint from Caithness. The account is extensively supplemented by text-figures of principal footprint types and, so far as possible, the present whereabouts of figured or described specimens is indicated. (Many, unfortunately, are lost.) An exhaustive bibliography of fossil vertebrate footprints from the British Isles is presented. Particular attention is paid to the important discoveries in the Cheshire Basin by the amateur geologists of the Liverpool region. An account of the work of Henry C. Beasley (1836–1919), the most eminent British worker in this field, is given for the first time; his portrait, and photographs relating to his work in the Storeton quarries, are published for the first time. The stratigraphical and palaeoecological significance of the footprints is assessed wherever possible and reasons are presented why a more extensive resumption of work in this field is desirable.

In the present paper we report the most complete fossil avifauna from the southern cone of South America. The specimens here described were collected in the Paso Otero locality, at the middle stream of the Quequen Grande River, Pampean Region (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). The fossiliferous levels belong to the La Chumbiada Member of Lujan Formation (37,800 ± 2300 yr BP, late Pleistocene). The assemblage is represented by 60 specimens belonging to at least 22 taxa. The radiocarbon age indicates that Paso Otero birds represent the oldest late Pleistocene avifauna known from the South American continent and the first coming from a clear interstadial event (MIS3). Available evidence indicates similar environmental conditions during the MIS3 interstadial in the Pampean Region of Argentina and the post-Last Glacial Maximum stadials in southeastern Brazil. The absence of significant extinction events in the latest Pleistocene–early Holocene avifaunas of Brazil and Argentina suggests that the main avifaunal composition along southeastern continental lowlands may not be affected by the cyclic retraction and extension of open environments. On the contrary, the fossil record of Peru and Ecuador demonstrates that a large number of taxa, including aquatic and predatory-scavenger birds, have gone extinct along Andean environments at the Pacific coast, and late Pleistocene climatic oscillations may have played a more dramatic impact in these avian communities.

Studies on the macrofloral record of the Pennsylvanian palaeotropical peat-forming wetlands (‘coal swamps’) depend heavily on historical collections in museums. This paper examines the robustness of such collections for macrofloral studies. 110,000 individually recorded specimens from South Wales, field collected by David Davies during the early 20th century, were compared with the 6500 museum voucher specimens derived from them, eventually intended for a representative teaching collection. This showed that the voucher collections accurately reflect the order of abundances of the plant groups as documented in the field records, but not their actual numerical abundances. These Welsh data were then compared with the available museum collections for similar-aged macrofloras in the nearby Bristol–Somerset Coalfield. Cluster analyses and Detrended Correspondence Analyses were performed (1) on the raw data recorded on the museum labels, (2) on standardised data that were updated to reflect the currently accepted taxonomy for these fossils, and (3) on standardised data in which single occurrences of taxa have been removed. The results suggest that unstandardised museum collection data can reveal meaningful biostratigraphical and biogeographical patterns, but that these become clearer with the standardised data. The effect of removing the singleton taxa was less clear, although it did provide a slightly enhanced resolution with cluster analysis. Whilst previous studies have considered these to be separate basins, with the Bristol–Somerset coalfield being proximal to South Wales on the mid-Pennsylvanian Variscan Front, results show an overall consistency between the two basins and suggest a common gene pool and vegetational physiognomy as well as a general stasis through time based on relatively stable environmental and growth conditions. The study confirms that even unrevised historical collections can provide some data to help understand the dynamics of these systems. However, it also underlines the importance of taxonomy in such studies as it helps improve both the biostratigraphical and biogeographical resolution.

A discussion on the representativeness of charcoal from archaeological contexts and their potential for palaeoecological reconstruction is presented. The charcoal deposits studied are the result of human activities and natural processes, difficult to separate on the basis of their effects only. This is why “taphonomy” should not be limited to the study of charcoal, after the extinction of fire. As a result our questioning has been widened to include the entire succession of processes, from past vegetation to the anthracological diagram. We propose a review of the taphonomic processes affecting anthracological assemblages in archaeological contexts, from wood gathering to the analysis of charcoal results. Human practices appear clearly as the first filter determining or conditioning the assemblage. The combustion process can induce a double filter by limiting the taxonomic information and by falsifying the initial quantity of burned wood. Post-depositional agents represent a third level of filters between the vegetation and the anthracological assemblage. Finally, sampling and quantification methods can also induce a distortion of the assemblage. The aim of this paper is to present the state of the discipline today, the problems already solved, and the questions that remain to be studied.

Stone tools discovered within uplifted marine terraces along the Red Sea coast of Eritrea at the Abdur Archaeological Site, dated to 125±7 ka (the last interglacial, marine isotope stage 5e), show that early humans occupied coastal areas by this time [Walter et al. (2000) Nature 405, 65–69]. In the present paper the stratigraphy, facies types and faunal composition from 25 measured sections of the tool-bearing Abdur Reef Limestone (ARL) are documented in detail and interpreted to provide a palaeoenvironmental context for the stone artefacts and a model for the deposition of the ARL. The ARL represents a complex marine terrace sequence. Erosional surfaces indicative of interrupted sedimentation are locally observed at two levels within the ARL. They subdivide the complex into three subunits, named 5e1, 5e2, and 5e3, representing different stages of the marine isotope stage 5e sea level highstand, comprising six depositional phases (I–VI) of the ARL. Subunit 5e1 begins with the initial transgression of the 5e sea level highstand leading to the deposition of widespread lag gravels on which rich oyster beds developed in shallow water (phase I). It further records rapid deepening accompanied by the deposition of low-energy carbonates with scarce corals (phase II), and later shoaling characterised by local development of a fringing reef tract in a sedimented environment (phase III). Subunit 5e1 is capped locally by a burrowed hardground that is laterally equivalent to depositional discontinuities, interpreted as caused by a globally recognised mid-5e sea level low stand (phase IV). Extensive reef build-up in response to sea level rise and improved conditions for coral growth characterises subunit 5e2 (phase V). A possible second sea level drop during the 5e highstand is inferred from the oyster-encrusted upper surface of subunit 5e2. Subunit 5e3 encompasses restricted coral patches that developed on the upper surface of the underlying subunit during the last stage of the 5e marine high stand (phase VI). Two different toolkits are found in the ARL. One consists of bifacial hand axes and cores of the Acheulian industry, typically associated with the oyster beds encrusted on the transgressive lag deposits. The other consists of Middle Stone Age (MSA)-type obsidian flakes and blades, mainly found in the nearshore and beach environments alongside debris from marine invertebrates and large land mammals. The distribution of these tools suggests that foraging activities of early humans varied with environmental setting. The Abdur Archaeological Site represents a late example of the Acheulian/MSA transition, seen as a benchmark for early modern human behaviour, and is, to date, the earliest well-dated example of early human adaptation to marine food resources.

Kerry Kelts loved everything about lake sediments, from muddy hands during coring operations to the smell of ink from freshly published scienti¢c papers about lakes. His contributions to the science are well known and documented. Impressed with the treatment that marine sediment cores received both on board drilling ships (he was aboard the Glomar Challenger in 1978 at DSDP site 480 when the hydraulic piston core was ¢rst deployed) and in marine laboratories, Kerry determined to create an facility on land for equivalent treatment of lake cores. He established, equipped, manned, and promoted the core laboratory at the Limnological Research Center at the University of Minnesota, where he served as director. He placed great value on basic ‘initial core descriptions’ (ICDs), including logging, photography, physical description, smear slide analyses, and more. He advocated careful, project-wide sampling protocols and the ‘sampling parties’ that ensued. He promoted detailed geochemical and mineralogical analyses and, although he left the biological components of lake sediments to others, he never underestimated their value. But Kerry was perhaps happiest when tinkering with coring gear: rafts, A-frames, winches, piston mechanisms, core-catchers. He was constantly redesigning existing corers, including the venerable Kullenberg and Livingstone corers, and designing new ones, such as the Multi-Use Coring Kit (MUCK). ‘Lighter, simpler, better’ were his bywords. Although his declining health prevented him from active involvement in the international efforts toward a lake-drilling initiative, he kept a close eye on proceedings. These included many meetings and workshops among groups such as IGBP-PAGES (International Geosphere^Biosphere Programme) and ICDP (International Continental Drilling Program) for the development of a lake-sediment drilling system. Our initial attempts to design a lake-drilling system suffered from the attempt to serve all drilling needs in all lakes; it quickly ran into a predictable ¢nancial stone wall. Many of us, including Kerry, began to rethink the options. We guessed that in the majority of lakes, the upper 200 m of sediment, in contrast with the easily accessible upper 20 m, would serve to address most of the important paleoclimate questions articulated by groups such as PAGES. This concept was a perfect place for Kerry’s ‘lighter, simpler, better’ philosophy. With his penchant for puns and acronyms, Kerry began to call the proposed system GLAD 20^200 (Global LAke Drilling, 20^200 m). In September 1998, Kerry hosted a critical meeting at the University of Minnesota, at which the 20^200 concept was presented to engineers from DOSECC (Drilling Observation, and Sampling of the Earth’s Continental Crust). The meet

Two intervals of coastal sandrock development are proved by the occurrence of sandrock boulders in a fossil beach that is itself preserved in sandrock. The fossil beach also contains driftwood, and carbon dates obtained by previous workers indicate that its age is greater than 40,000 years. The ancient beach rises 3 m above the present ocean beach and is the highest Pleistocene shoreline recognized on Queensland's southern coast. It is therefore likely to represent the warmest interval of the last two million years. Several lines of evidence indicate that the fossil beach is hundreds of thousands of years old. This is in agreement with tentative correlations with other Pleistocene events described in a previous paper where an age of 400,000 years was attributed to it. Large amounts of aluminium can be extracted with alkaline ammonium citrate from the two sandrocks, which are composed of quartz sands cemented with organic matter. Gibbsite is present in the older sandrock and in the boulders of older sandrock in the fossil beach. There is much less C relative to Al than in the younger sandrock. This is possibly due to decomposition of Al-humate by loss of organic matter, leaving Al in situ. If the rate of decomposition could be calibrated, by for example radiocarbon dating of the younger sandrock, it might be possible to use the C/Al ratios to date the older sandrock.

This paper describes a Pleistocene section of terrace V of the Dniester River, near the town of Tiraspol; it is assigned by the authors to be of Mindel age in the broad meaning of the term. The Tiraspol section is correlated with other sections of central and western Europe.

Twenty-one species of mammals were excavated from the Hell Gap archeological site in southeastern Wyoming (altitud 1,525 m), containing strata from the Late Glacial (Hell Gap to Folsom occupation levels) and Postglacial periods (cultures above the Hell Gap occupation level). Three rodent species ( Marmota flaviventris, Citellus richardsonii , and Microtus montanus ) from the Late Glacial deposits do not presently exist in the Hell Gap region, but are found in the montane areas of Wyoming above 1,800 m ( Long , 1965). Their presence at the site during the Late Glacial is evidence supporting pollen-analytical studies which suggest that montane life zones may have existed 600 m below the present levels and that mean annual air temperatures averaged more than 3.5°C cooler than today. Suggestions are made in this paper for future mammalian ecological and paleoclimatic studies, in order that the short-term and small-scale climatic functuations which characterized the Postglacial Period can be distinguished, and that further corroboration of pollen studies can be made.