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Schmidt I, Gehlen B, Winkler K, Arrizabalaga A, Arts N, Bicho N, Crombé P, Eriksen BV, Grimm SB, Kapustka K, Langlais M, Mevel L, Naudinot N, Nerudová Z, Niekus M, Peresani M, Riede F, Sauer F, Schön W, Sobkowiak-Tabaka I, Vandendriessche H, Weber MJ, Zander A, Zimmermann A, Maier A. Large scale and regional demographic responses to climatic changes in Europe during the Final Palaeolithic. PLoS One 2025; 20:e0310942. [PMID: 40173400 PMCID: PMC11964466 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0310942] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2025] [Indexed: 04/04/2025] Open
Abstract
The European Final Palaeolithic witnessed marked changes in almost all societal domains. Despite a rich body of evidence, our knowledge of human palaeodemographic processes and regional population dynamics still needs to be improved. In this study, we present regionally differentiated population estimates for the Greenland Interstadial 1d-a (GI-1d-a; 14-12.7 ka cal BP) and the Greenland Stadial 1 (GS-1; 12.7-11.6 ka cal BP) for Southern, Western, Northern and Central Europe. The data were obtained by applying the Cologne Protocol, a geostatistical approach for estimating prehistoric population size and density, to a newly compiled dataset of Final Palaeolithic sites. On a large spatio-temporal scale and compared to preceding Upper Palaeolithic phases, areas north of the Alps become the dominant demographic growth area for the first time since the dispersal of anatomically modern humans into Europe. At smaller scales, we observe divergent regional trends, with a conspicuous lack of archaeological evidence appearing in previously occupied areas of central France and Germany. Our study also shows that during the Final Palaeolithic, the climatic cooling of GS-1 coincides with a pronounced population decline in most parts of the study area. An apparent increase in population density occurs only in north-eastern Central Europe and north-eastern Italy. Our estimates suggest that the total population was reduced by half. Similar results, with a relationship between decreasing temperatures and decreasing populations, have already been observed for the late phase of the Gravettian, when populations were reduced to only one third of those estimated for the early phase. Yet, in contrast to the collapse of local populations during the late Gravettian, the increase in population densities in Central Europe during GS-1 indicates population movements eastwards, possibly in response to deteriorating climatic conditions, particularly in western regions during the Younger Dryas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Isabell Schmidt
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Birgit Gehlen
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Katja Winkler
- Heinrich Schliemann-Institute of Ancient Studies, Seminar for Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
| | | | - Nico Arts
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Research bureau Old Land, Eindhoven, The Netherlands
| | - Nuno Bicho
- Interdisciplinary Center for Archaeology and the Evolution of Human Behaviour, Universidade do Algarve, Faro, Portugal
| | - Philippe Crombé
- Department of Archaeology, Prehistory Research Unit, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Berit Valentin Eriksen
- Museum for Archaeology, Schleswig-Holstein State Museums Foundation Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig, Germany
| | | | - Katarina Kapustka
- Institute of Archaeology of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Mathieu Langlais
- CNRS Laboratoire PACEA – UMR 5199, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | | | - Nicolas Naudinot
- Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle – CNRS HNHP UMR 7194, Paris, France
| | - Zdeňka Nerudová
- Centre for Cultural Anthropology, Moravian Museum, Brno, Czech Republic
| | - Marcel Niekus
- Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Stichting STONE/Foundation for Stone Age Research in the Netherlands, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Marco Peresani
- Department of Humanities, Prehistoric and Anthropological Sciences Unit, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy
- Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering, National Council of Research, Milano, Italy
| | - Felix Riede
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Florian Sauer
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Werner Schön
- Department of Old World and Asian Studies, University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | | | - Hans Vandendriessche
- Department of Archaeology, Prehistory Research Unit, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Mara-Julia Weber
- Museum for Archaeology, Schleswig-Holstein State Museums Foundation Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig, Germany
| | - Annabell Zander
- Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, United Kingdom
| | - Andreas Zimmermann
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
| | - Andreas Maier
- Institute of Prehistoric Archaeology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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Baumann C, Hussain ST, Roblíčková M, Riede F, Mannino MA, Bocherens H. Evidence for hunter-gatherer impacts on raven diet and ecology in the Gravettian of Southern Moravia. Nat Ecol Evol 2023; 7:1302-1314. [PMID: 37349568 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02107-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2023] [Indexed: 06/24/2023]
Abstract
The earlier Gravettian of Southern Moravia-the Pavlovian-is notable for the many raven bones (Corvus corax) documented in its faunal assemblages. On the basis of the rich zooarchaeological and settlement data from the Pavlovian, previous work suggested that common ravens were attracted by human domestic activities and subsequently captured by Pavlovian people, presumably for feathers and perhaps food. Here, we report independent δ15N, δ13C and δ34S stable isotope data obtained from 12 adult ravens from the Pavlovian key sites of Předmostí I, Pavlov I and Dolní Věstonice I to test this idea. We show that Pavlovian ravens regularly fed on larger herbivores and especially mammoths, aligning in feeding preferences with contemporaneous Gravettian foragers. We argue that opportunistic-generalist ravens were encouraged by human settlement and carcass provisioning. Our data may thus provide surprisingly early evidence for incipient synanthropism among Palaeolithic ravens. We suggest that anthropogenic manipulation of carrion supply dynamics furnished unique contexts for the emergence of human-oriented animal behaviours, in turn promoting novel human foraging opportunities-dynamics which are therefore important for understanding early hunter-gatherer ecosystem impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Baumann
- Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Biogeology Research Group, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
| | - Shumon T Hussain
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
- BIOCHANGE - Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
- Center for Environmental Humanities (CEH), School of Culture and Society, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
| | | | - Felix Riede
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
- BIOCHANGE - Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World, Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Marcello A Mannino
- Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Hervé Bocherens
- Biogeology Research Group, Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
- Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany
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Reade H, Tripp JA, Frémondeau D, Sayle KL, Higham TFG, Street M, Stevens RE. Nitrogen palaeo-isoscapes: Changing spatial gradients of faunal δ15N in late Pleistocene and early Holocene Europe. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0268607. [PMID: 36745587 PMCID: PMC9901814 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268607] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2022] [Accepted: 01/22/2023] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Nitrogen isotope ratio analysis (δ15N) of animal tissue is widely used in archaeology and palaeoecology to investigate diet and ecological niche. Data interpretations require an understanding of nitrogen isotope compositions at the base of the food web (baseline δ15N). Significant variation in animal δ15N has been recognised at various spatiotemporal scales and related to changes both in baseline δ15N, linked to environmental and climatic influence on the terrestrial nitrogen cycle, and animal ecology. Isoscapes (models of isotope spatial variation) have proved a useful tool for investigating spatial variability in biogeochemical cycles in present-day marine and terrestrial ecosystems, but so far, their application to palaeo-data has been more limited. Here, we present time-sliced nitrogen isoscapes for late Pleistocene and early Holocene Europe (c. 50,000 to 10,000 years BP) using herbivore collagen δ15N data. This period covers the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition, during which significant variation in the terrestrial nitrogen cycle occurred. We use generalized linear mixed modelling approaches for interpolation and test models which both include and exclude climate covariate data. Our results show clear changes in spatial gradients of δ15N through time. Prediction of the lowest faunal δ15N values in northern latitudes after, rather than during, the Last Glacial Maximum is consistent with the Late Glacial Nitrogen Excursion (LGNE). We find that including climatic covariate data does not significantly improve model performance. These findings have implications for investigating the drivers of the LGNE, which has been linked to increased landscape moisture and permafrost thaw, and for understanding changing isotopic baselines, which are fundamental for studies investigating diets, niche partitioning, and migration of higher trophic level animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hazel Reade
- UCL Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Jennifer A. Tripp
- UCL Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Delphine Frémondeau
- UCL Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
| | - Kerry L. Sayle
- Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Thomas F. G. Higham
- Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Martin Street
- Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Forschungsinstitut für Archäologie Kompetenzbereich Pleistozäne und Frühholozäne Archäologie, Neuwied, Germany
| | - Rhiannon E. Stevens
- UCL Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, United Kingdom
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Magyari EK, Gasparik M, Major I, Lengyel G, Pál I, Virág A, Korponai J, Haliuc A, Szabó Z, Pazonyi P. Mammal extinction facilitated biome shift and human population change during the last glacial termination in East-Central Europe. Sci Rep 2022; 12:6796. [PMID: 35474321 PMCID: PMC9043214 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-10714-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
The study of local extinction times, together with the associated environmental and human population changes in the last glacial termination, provides insights into the causes of mega- and microfauna extinctions. In East-Central (EC) Europe, groups of Palaeolithic humans were present throughout the last glacial maximum, but disappeared suddenly around 15,200 cal BP. In this study cave sediment profiles dated using radiocarbon techniques and a large set of mammal bones dated directly by AMS 14C were used to determine local extinction times. These were, in turn, compared to changes in the total megafauna population of EC Europe derived from coprophilous fungi, the Epigravettian population decline, quantitative climate models, pollen and plant macrofossil inferred climate, as well as to biome reconstructions. The results suggest that the population size of large herbivores decreased in the area after 17,700 cal BP, when temperate tree abundance and warm continental steppe cover both increased in the lowlands. Boreal forest expansion started around 16,200 cal BP. Cave sediments show the decline of narrow-headed vole and arctic lemming populations specifically associated with a tundra environment at the same time and the expansion of the common vole, an inhabitant of steppes. The last dated appearance of arctic lemming was at ~ 16,640 cal BP, while that of the narrow-headed vole at ~ 13,340, and the estimated extinction time of woolly mammoth was either at 13,830 (GRIWM) or 15,210 (PHASE), and reindeer at 11,860 (GRIWM) or 12,550 cal BP (PHASE). The population decline of the large herbivore fauna slightly preceded changes in terrestrial vegetation, and likely facilitated it via a reduction in the intensity of grazing and the concomitant accumulation of plant biomass. Furthermore, it is possible to conclude that the Late Epigravettian population had high degree of quarry-fidelity; they left the basin when these mammals vanished.
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Affiliation(s)
- Enikő Katalin Magyari
- MTA-MTM-ELTE Research Group for Palaeontology, Budapest, Ludovika tér 2, 1083, Hungary. .,Department of Environmental and Landscape Geography, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Pázmány Péter stny 1/c, 1117, Hungary. .,Isotope Climatology and Environmental Research Centre (ICER), Institute for Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Science, Debrecen, Bem tér 18/c, 4026, Hungary.
| | - Mihály Gasparik
- Department of Palaeontology and Geology, Hungarian Natural History Museum, Budapest, Ludovika tér 2, 1083, Hungary
| | - István Major
- Isotope Climatology and Environmental Research Centre (ICER), Institute for Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Science, Debrecen, Bem tér 18/c, 4026, Hungary
| | - György Lengyel
- Department of Prehistory and Archaeology, University of Miskolc, Miskolc-Egyetemváros, 3515, Hungary
| | - Ilona Pál
- Isotope Climatology and Environmental Research Centre (ICER), Institute for Nuclear Research, Hungarian Academy of Science, Debrecen, Bem tér 18/c, 4026, Hungary
| | - Attila Virág
- MTA-MTM-ELTE Research Group for Palaeontology, Budapest, Ludovika tér 2, 1083, Hungary.,Department of Mineralogy and Geology, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1, 4032, Hungary
| | - János Korponai
- Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, University of Public Service, Baja, Bajcsy-Zsilinszky utca 12-14, 6500, Hungary.,Department of Environmental Sciences, Sapientia Hungarian University of Transylvania, Calea Turzii str. 4, 400193, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.,Department of Danube's Diversity, Institute of Aquatic Ecology, Centre for Ecological Research, Budapest, Karolina út 29, 1113, Hungary
| | - Aritina Haliuc
- Institute of Speleology, Romanian Academy, 5 Clinicilor str, 400006, Cluj-Napoca, Romania.,EPOC, UMR 5805, Université de Bordeaux, Allée Geoffroy St Hilaire Bat B18N, CS 50023, 33615, Pessac Cedex, France
| | - Zoltán Szabó
- Department of Environmental and Landscape Geography, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Pázmány Péter stny 1/c, 1117, Hungary
| | - Piroska Pazonyi
- MTA-MTM-ELTE Research Group for Palaeontology, Budapest, Ludovika tér 2, 1083, Hungary
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