The open-air Paleolithic site of Mirak,northern edge of the Iranian Central Desert (Semnan,Iran): Evidence of repeated human occupations during the late Pleistocene

The northern edge of the Iranian Central Desert has provided valuable evidence of terminal Pleistocene human settlements. Mirak constitutes one of the largest open-air lithic scatters in the region, consisting of eight natural mounds. Fieldwork was initiated in 2015 by the joint Iranian-French program at Mirak 8. Preliminary results have demonstrated at least three successive phases of human occupation during the MIS3: an upper layer with clear Upper Paleolithic affinities and a maximum age of 28 ky, a lower layer with clear Middle Paleolithic affinities that dates around 47 ky, and an intermediate layer with mixed characteristics that can be seen as an intermediate Paleolithic phase which dates between 28 ± 2 and 38 ± 2 ky. At the time when Upper Paleolithic cultures originated in the Zagros Mountains, cultures with clear Middle Paleolithic affinities persisted nearby along the northern edge of the Iranian Central Plateau.     

The influence of raw material qualities in the lithic technology of Gran Dolina (Units TD6 and TD10) and Galería (Sierra de Atapuerca,Burgos, Spain): A view from experimental archeology

This paper analyses the qualities of the raw materials used in two Palaeolithic sites (Gran Dolina and Galería) of the Sierra de Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain) during the Lower and Middle Pleistocene, and their influence in the development of knapping. These sites offer a chronological sequence that allows us to study the evolution of lithic technology at a local scale during 1.2 Ma. Combining technological analysis and experimental archaeology has proven to be an excellent tool for the understanding and the interpretation of the qualities of raw materials and their relation with the development of the gestures, methods and techniques.     

Exploring Neanderthal skills and lithic economy. The implication of a refitted Discoid reduction sequence reconstructed using 3D virtual analysis

Lithic refitting studies have consistently contributed to address two specific research aims: the intra-site mobility and identification of preferential areas or latent structures, and the in-depth analysis of the knapping technologies and core reduction strategies. Multiple refits, in particular, can produce highly detailed data on knapped stone technology. Elucidating human skills and lithic economy, a potential still rarely evaluated for Discoid technology: a stone knapping method largely spread across the Middle Paleolithic of Europe. The opportunity to explore Neanderthal knapping behavior is provided from the remarkable discovery of a primary lithic waste concentration in the Mousterian Discoid level of the Grotta di Fumane, Italy, dated to at least 47.6 ky cal BP. With a combined approach that included the 3D virtual interaction, we were able to reproduce a complete reduction sequence that supports the technological analysis conducted on the lithic assemblage. Results lead to a better comprehension of the knapper's technological and technical behavior, including the detection and quantification of economic objectives and productivity.     

Before the transition? The final middle Palaeolithic lithic industry from the Grotte du Renne (layer XI) at Arcy-sur-Cure (Burgundy,France)

The Grotte du Renne at Arcy-sur-Cure (Burgundy, France) has yielded remains from several occupation layers, extending from the end of the middle Palaeolithic to the upper Palaeolithic. The last Mousterian layer (XI), which precedes the Châtelperronian occupations (layers Xa, Xb, Xc, IX, VIII), was previously interpreted as a precursor of the transition complex. The new study of the lithic assemblage of layer XI, in the context of the other final Mousterian occupations in Arcy (Grotte du Bison, Galerie Schoepflin Rotonde, Grotte de l’Hyène) challenges this hypothesis. The Mousterian Arcy complex can be divided into three main techno-complexes: Levallois–Charentian, Discoid–Denticulate and Levallois Mousterian. We observed a rupture between the final Mousterian and Châtelperronian industries as regards all the aspects of the technical system; production methods, blank management, tool types, and some changes in raw material composition.     

The Lower Palaeolithic assemblages in Central Europe in stratigraphic and palaeogeographic background

The hominin presence during Lower Palaeolithic in Central Europe was sporadic and followed cold-warm climatic cycle connected with spreading of Scandinavian ice sheet. Up to now there had been discovered about 50 archaeological assemblages from 17 sites from 700 ka years, mostly from second part of it, during c. 300 ka between MIS 15 and 9. The Lower Paleolithic hominins visited Central Europe during warmer periods with deciduous or coniferous forests, even during open domination of open or partly open landscape. Incredible finds, like Bilzingsleben and Schöningen show how complex was life of early hunter-gatherers. In opposite to the previous concept, according to which Lower Palaeolithic hominins were mostly scavengers. The discovery of wooden tools, like spears in lakeshore in opencast mine Schöningen, denies this concept. Contrary to that, early hominins were smart hunters following animal herds and hunted distant way and experienced gatherers. Local lithic technology based on core-flake processing in opposite to Western and Southern Europe dominated by handaxes. Moreover, the preferred usage of “small tools”, which are difficult to use only by fingers may be explained by identification of wooden hafts on few lithic artifacts in Schöningen. However, very long duration of unchanged lithic technology is surprising. An intense accumulation of glacial, eolian and alluvial sediments covered large part of Central Europe and this way Lower Palaeolithic sites are very difficult to discover. All known sites were identified in deep travertine quarries or opencast mines. Future research must be focused on systematic prospection of such outcrops.     

Cricetodontini from the Calatayud–Daroca Basin (Spain): A taxonomical description and update of their stratigraphical distributions

The most updated stratigraphical distributions of the Cricetodontini from the Calatayud–Daroca Basin are presented. Cricetodon sansaniensis (local biozone F, MN6, middle Aragonian) and Cricetodon jotae (local biozone G1, G2 and G3, MN6-MN7/8, Middle–Upper Aragonian) from the middle Miocene are described and discussed. Generally, the genera of Cricetodontini were used to define large time intervals, whereas the species were neglected in the local biostratigraphical studies. The results presented herein show that, for the Calatayud–Daroca Basin, most of the stratigraphical distributions of the species of Cricetodontini are strongly linked with the local biozonation. That reveals that they could be used as good biostratigraphical indicators. Moreover, the unusually long local biozone G3 could be redefined and subdivided based on the distributions of the four species of Cricetodontini present in it. However, it is recommended to complete the study of the whole rodent fauna before proposing a new biozonation.     

Baume Flandin et Abri du Maras : deux exemples de débitage laminaire du début du Pléistocène supérieur dans la Vallée du Rhône (sud-est, France)

Assemblages with blades are rare in the south of Europe and most of them are dated from the isotopic stages 4 and 3. The blades are, otherwise, often produced on Levallois cores with unipolar and bipolar methods. According to the sites, the blades are more or less retouched as different kinds of tools. However, there are no specific links between this blank and the tools, and never between the artefacts and the fauna remains (activities). The hypothesis of traditions or needs among time and space are asked without answer, while the blades are present in the north of Europe and the Near East in far older periods. Several sites can be considered to describe the variability of the technical behaviour and the archaeological context of the blades in south-east France, extending to north Italy. The two sites, Abri du Maras and Baume Flandin, located in the middle Rhône valley, yield evidence of a laminar debitage linked to a Levallois method and a “direct” method. The technical choices used in the two sites are accorded to the specificity of the laminar assemblages in the southern Europe.     

A new method of three-dimensional morphometry for analyzing the functional potentialities of bifaces. Contribution to the study of artefacts from AU P3 from the “Caune de l’Arago” (France)

The analysis of the functional potential of bifaces, which are artefacts extending beyond our technical memory, is based on direct (micro-wear) or indirect approaches (experimentation, relationship between form/function, comparative ethnography). Indirect approaches are fundamental when artefacts are not well enough preserved for micro-wear analysis, which is frequent for the middle Pleistocene. This article proposes a new method based on the three-dimensional acquisition of artefact images, enabling us to measure cutting edge angles and depth of cut. This process allows us to distinguish, in particular, between cutting edges created for longitudinal or transverse cutting. The application of this analysis to bifaces from UA P3 of the “Caune de l’Arago” brings to light tools with a high functional potential for longitudinal cutting, some of which were used for incising, others for deep cutting. These results corroborate those obtained by most micro-wear analyses and present new ways of interpreting the functional potential of bifaces.     

Les kystes de dinoflagellés du Crétacé moyen de la marge atlantique brésilienne, le bassin de Santos

Organic dinoflagellate cysts are studied from the sedimentary sequence of hole 1-SPS-14A, drilled during oil exploration in the Santos Basin, Brazilian continental margin. The Ariri and Florianópolis Formations (Transitional sequence) do not contain any dinocysts. The oldest found dinocysts occur at the base of the Drift sequence in sediments, within platform carbonates of the Guarujá Formation. Continuous sea-level rise throughout the late Albian and Cenomanian submerged the carbonate platform with the terrigenous input of the Itanhaém Formation. The transgressive phase reached its peak during the Cenomanian/Turonian transition. Pelites were deposited during oceanic anoxic event (OAE-2), consisting the lower part of the Itajaí-Açu Formation. Normal oceanic conditions re-established in the late Turonian. The Brazilian dinocyst assemblage has tethyan affinities. Some species (i.e., Dinopterygium cladoides, Litosphaeridium arundum, Odontochitina rhakodes and Systematophora cretacea) suggest a middle Albian age for the carbonate platform of the Guarujá Formation. The lower part of the Guarujá Formation was not dated by other microfossils. An uppermost Albian or lower Cenomanian age is suggested for the base of the Itanhaém Formation on the basis of species Palaeohystrichophora infusorioides and Ovoidinium verrucosum. The Cenomanian-Turonian boundary cannot be characterized by dinocysts. Species Atopodinium iuvene, which is known from Turonian sediments in Europe, was found at the top of the Itajaí-Açu Formation. The observed dinocyst bioevents (i.e., last occurrence) are correlated with known foraminiferal, nannofossil and other palynological bioevents. The diversity of the assemblages remains constant throughout the various palaeoenvironments as these are reflected by the Guarujá and Itajaí-Açu Formations, but relative abundances of taxa are variable. Genera Coronifera, Florentinia, Ovoidinium, Spiniferites and Trichodinium are abundant in the carbonate platform assemblages (Guarujá Formation). Genera Cribroperidinium and Cyclonephelium are abundant in detrital sediments (Itajaí-Açu Formation). Only one species (Subtilisphaera guarujaensis n. sp.) is restricted to the carbonate platform environment.