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Based on the species‐rich avifaunas from Early Neolithic sites across Upper Mesopotamia (southeast Türkiye, northern Syria, northern Iraq), we compared seven species' Early Holocene distribution patterns with that of their modern species ranges. The avifaunal remains from four sites were analysed by the authors and bird identifications from 10 additional sites were extracted from published reports. In the case of the Common Crane Grus grus, Grey Partridge Perdix perdix and Black Francolin Francolinus francolinus, shifts in distributions relate to significant changes in climate marking the transition from the Pleistocene to the Holocene. In contrast, the massive decline of the Griffon Vulture Gyps fulvus represents a more recent phenomenon related to anthropogenic impact on their habitats and food sources. For the Black‐bellied Sandgrouse Pterocles orientalis and the Pin‐tailed Sandgrouse P. alchata, changes in distributional range from the Early Holocene to the present could not be detected. Finally, a single bone of Macqueen's Bustard Chlamydotis macqueenii at Göbekli Tepe is unexpected and conceivably we are dealing with the remains of a rare vagrant, more likely to be found in dry steppe and desert habitats, which were located south of the study area at that time. This study highlights the value of archaeozoological finds in helping to understand how species distributional ranges have changed over time. Similarly, our work suggests that authors studying archaeozoological data should not assume that present‐day distributional ranges of taxa of interest represent the ranges of these species in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a meta‐analysis of radiocarbon ages for the environs of Göbekli Tepe – one of the oldest monumental structures worldwide – using cumulative probability functions to diachronically assess phases of geomorphodynamic activity as controlled by natural or anthropogenic drivers. We employ sediment cascades as a heuristic framework to study the complex responses of the geomorphological system to various triggers at local to supra‐regional scales. Possible triggers include climatic variability as documented by supra‐regional hydroclimatic proxy data, regional demographic trends, and local to regional socioeconomic developments such as the emergence of sedentism or the introduction and dispersal of livestock herding. Our results show that phases of intensified geomorphodynamic activity occurred between ca. 7.4–7.0 and 5.8–3.3 ka BP. These phases roughly coincide with phases of population growth in southern Turkey and climatic variations in Turkey and the Levant. The phase between ca. 5.8–3.3 ka BP also corresponds to the time when organized agriculture and the seeder plough were introduced. Also, the identified phases are in agreement with the general trend of varying geomorphodynamic activity in the Eastern Mediterranean as driven by human impact and climatic change. However, neither the Younger Dryas–Holocene transition nor the development of herding during the Pre‐Pottery Neolithic left a clear signature. We demonstrate how the different depositional environments in the studied landscape compartments vary with respect to their spatiotemporal coverage and discuss challenges when trying to understand processes that once shaped landscapes of past societies. © 2020 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A carpometacarpus recovered during archaeological excavations in the town of Quaregnon is the westernmost find ever reported in Europe of a Ural Owl (Strix uralensis), and the first occurrence for Belgium. Both the morphology of the skeletal element and its measurements rule out an identification as any of the other Strigiformes from the Western Palearctic. The provenance of this specimen, that dates to the medieval period (10th-12th centuries AD), is discussed. It is hypothesized that the bird was a wild animal, but the available evidence does not unequivocally determine whether it belonged to a local, breeding population that went extinct or if it came from a more distant population. However, a survey of other zooarchaeological finds of Ural Owl in Europe shows that the species occurred farther west in the past, outside the present natural breeding range. This suggests that Ural Owl may have found suitable nesting biotopes in Belgium and northern France during the medieval period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]