Anthropogenic fire fingerprints in Late Pleistocene and Holocene sediments of Sodmein Cave, Egypt

Wöstehoff, Luisa; Kindermann, Karin; Amelung, Wulf; Kappenberg, Arne; Henselowsky, Felix; Lehndorff, Eva

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2022.103411

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Interestingly, our data do not support this assumption, and especially the ratios in MIS 3 and 2 were unusually low, more typical of domestic fires fueled with hardwood and abundant oxygen supply, resulting in high combustion temperatures (cf. Lehndorff et al., 2015; Wolf et al., 2013; Wöstehoff et al., 2022). However, the changes in the ratio from MIS 5 to 2 followed the offset between microcharcoal counts and BC from geochemical analyses (Figure 3).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2014); raw data is available through Wöstehoff et al. (2023). The age‐depth model and calculated sedimentation rates are available through Damaschke et al.…”

Section: Data Availability Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Black carbon data, microcharcoal data and pollen data (NAP concentrations, AP‐exclusive pines percentages and temperate trees pollen percentages) are available through Wöstehoff et al. (2023). AP concentration and percentages as well as Quercus pollen percentages are available through Panagiotopoulos et al.…”

Section: Data Availability Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

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An Upper Pleistocene and Holocene Black Carbon‐Related Fire Record From the SW Balkans

Wöstehoff,

Kappenberg,

Lehndorff

et al. 2023

Paleoceanog and Paleoclimatol

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Lake sediments are unique archives of human environment interactions. Lake Prespa is one of the oldest lakes in Europe, lying in the southwestern Balkans and thus on a possible dispersal route of anatomically modern humans from Africa. In this study, we investigated the effects of climate, vegetation and human activity on fire over the last 92,000 years in this region. Sediment samples were taken from Lake Prespa, and nearby Lake Ohrid for comparison of the regional relevance, and analyzed for benzene polycarboxylic acids as markers for burned organic carbon residues (black carbon, BC). Peaking contents of BC (up to 1 g BC kg−1 sediment) coincided with warm and humid phases, when forests expanded at marine isotope stages (MIS) 5 and 1. During the colder and more arid climates of MIS 4 and 2, BC contents were lowered by a factor of 10, with a distinct minimum during the Last Glacial Maximum (0.07 g BC kg−1). The ratio of pentacarboxylic acid to mellitic acid (B5CA/B6CA) declined from 1.2 at MIS 5 to values of 0.3 at MIS 2, confirming a change in fire regime. Overall, BC contents peaked at cycles of solar radiation, vegetation composition and fuel availability, and thus correspond to the BC signal of other environmental archives. However, in the Late Holocene and as a result of human sedentary settlement, BC production increased, independent of decreasing insolation forcing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(2014); raw data is available through Wöstehoff et al. (2023). The age‐depth model and calculated sedimentation rates are available through Damaschke et al.…”

Section: Data Availability Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%