The late persistence in Southern Iberia of a Neandertal-associated Middle Paleolithic is supported by the archeological stratigraphy and the radiocarbon and luminescence dating of three newly excavated localities in the Mula basin of Murcia (Spain). At Cueva Antón, Mousterian layer I-k can be no more than 37,100 years-old. At La Boja, the basal Aurignacian can be no less than 36,500 years-old. The regional Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition process is thereby bounded to the first half of the 37th millennium Before Present, in agreement with evidence from Andalusia, Gibraltar and Portugal. This chronology represents a lag of minimally 3000 years with the rest of Europe, where that transition and the associated process of Neandertal/modern human admixture took place between 40,000 and 42,000 years ago. The lag implies the presence of an effective barrier to migration and diffusion across the Ebro river depression, which, based on available paleoenvironmental indicators, would at that time have represented a major biogeographical divide. In addition, (a) the Phlegraean Fields caldera explosion, which occurred 39,850 years ago, would have stalled the Neandertal/modern human admixture front because of the population sink it generated in Central and Eastern Europe, and (b) the long period of ameliorated climate that came soon after (Greenland Interstadial 8, during which forests underwent a marked expansion in Iberian regions south of 40°N) would have enhanced the “Ebro Frontier” effect. These findings have two broader paleoanthropological implications: firstly, that, below the Ebro, the archeological record made prior to 37,000 years ago must be attributed, in all its aspects and components, to the Neandertals (or their ancestors); secondly, that modern human emergence is best seen as an uneven, punctuated process during which long-lasting barriers to gene flow and cultural diffusion could have existed across rather short distances, with attendant consequences for ancient genetics and models of human population history.

The mostly Mediterranean climate of Iran is governed by the pressure systems of the Siberian High, the Westerly depressions and the SW Monsoon. In the past, the locations and intensities of these systems changed probably causing climate change and affecting landscape evolution in this ecologically diverse country. Recently, new evidence for Quaternary climate change in Iran has been presented. This paper briefly reviews the present state of knowledge and identifies future perspectives of paleoclimatic research in Iran. Paleoclimatic deductions have mainly been based on geomorphic evidence and, more recently, also on stratigraphical investigations including the physical dating of sediments. In northern and western Iran climate changed between dry and cold climatic conditions during the stadials and moist and warm conditions during the interglacials. Lake sediments and loess deposits also suggest moisture increases during interstadials of the Last and Penultimate Glacials. In western Iran, the Younger Dryas and the Lower Holocene were most probably characterized by dry climatic conditions. Overall, the climatic cycles and events known from other parts of the globe are rarely documented in Iran and our picture of past climate change there is patchy and incomplete. More proxy-information and geochronological data are needed, in particular for central and southern Iran. The sedimentary records of lakes and playas as well as loess deposits hold a strong potential to identify climate signals and the paleoclimate information of speleothems or tree-rings has not yet been challenged. Zusammenfassung: Das im Wesentlichen mediterrane Klima des Iran wird durch die Drucksysteme des Sibirischen Hochs, der zyklonalen Depressionen und des SW Monsuns bestimmt. Die Intensitäten und Positionen dieser Drucksysteme variierten in der geologischen Vergangenheit, was zu Klimawechseln und Folgen für die Landschaftsgenese in diesem naturräumlich vielseitigem Land geführt haben wird. Unlängst wurden neue Belege für quartäre Klimawechsel in Iran präsentiert. Dieser Beitrag stellt den aktuellen Kenntnisstand zusammen und zeigt Perspektiven für künftige paläoklimatische Forschungen auf. Schlussfolgerungen über das Paläoklima Irans wurden bisher im Wesentlichen aus geomorphologischen Hinweisen gewonnen und in jüngerer Zeit auch aus stratigraphischen Untersuchungen und physikalischen Altersdatierungen von Sedimenten. Demnach wechselte das Klima in Nord-und Westiran von trocken-kalten Bedingungen während der Stadiale zu feuchtwarmen Verhältnissen während der Interglaziale. Seesedimente und Lössablagerungen deuten auch Phasen vergleichsweise feuchterer Bedingungen während des letzten und vorletzten Glazials an, die wahrscheinlich mit Interstadialen zu korrelieren sind. In Westiran waren die Jüngere Dryas und das untere Holozän sehr wahrscheinlich durch trockene Klimaverhältnisse gekennzeichnet. Insgesamt sind die aus anderen Regionen bekannten Klimazyklen und-ereignisse noch wenig dokumentiert und unser Bild des Klimawandels in der Region ist dahe...

No abstract

No abstract