Dealul Guran: evidence for Lower Palaeolithic (MIS 11) occupation of the Lower Danube loess steppe

Ioviţă, Radu; Fitzsimmons, Kathryn E.; Doboş, Adrian; Hambach, Ulricht; Hilgers, Alexandra; Zander, Anja

doi:10.1017/s0003598x00048195

Cited by 25 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Based on our observations, the most common surface material that enters karst and pseudokarst features in Kazakhstan is aeolian loess. Topographic attributes including location, aspect, position, and slope morphology, as well as atmospheric circulation patterns like dust dynamics and wind direction greatly impact the deposition of this wind-blown sediment (Goldberg and Sherwood, 2006;Iovita et al, 2012). Therefore, we expect that local variations in loess cover (currently known on a very coarse scale, Figure 6) would determine the presence or absence of loess in natural cavities.…”

Section: Discussion: Possible Biases In the Archaeological Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

In search of a Paleolithic Silk Road in Kazakhstan

Ioviţă

Varis

Namen

et al. 2020

Quaternary International

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Paleoanthropological data suggest that the Late Pleistocene was a time of population contact and possibly dispersal in Central Asia. Geographic and paleoclimatic data suggest that a natural corridor through Kazakhstan linked areas to the north and east (Siberia, China) to those further to the west and south (Uzbekistan), much akin to a Paleolithic Silk Road. We review the known Pleistocene archaeology and paleoclimatic setting of this region and provide a geoarchaeological framework for contextualizing preliminary survey results of the PALAEOSILKROAD project's first three seasons of fieldwork. We discuss some systematic biases in three geomorphic and sedimentary archives: karst, loess, and spring deposits, specifying ways in which these biases might determine the kinds of data that are extractable by systematic survey. In particular, we caution about the possibility of future systematic biases in chronology that could come about as a result of the type of geomorphic context in which the sites are recovered. We conclude with recommendations for future work in the area.

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Section: Discussion: Possible Biases In the Archaeological Recordmentioning

confidence: 99%

In search of a Paleolithic Silk Road in Kazakhstan

Ioviţă

Varis

Namen

et al. 2020

Quaternary International

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“…So far, only a cluster of recently re-excavated archaeological sites in the Romanian Banat (Româneşti-Dumbrăviţa/Coşava/Tincova; [93]) and the Petrovaradin Fortress site in Vojvodina (northern Serbia; [94]) appear to contain the relevant time intervals, but have not yet yielded information regarding tephra deposits, nor is the dating sufficiently precise to be sure that they were occupied at the precise time of the CI super-eruption. Recent systematic survey in Dobrogea has so far documented and dated a number of Palaeolithic sites, constrained to the later Middle Palaeolithic (Cuza Vodă; [95]) and last glacial period [96], but so far no sites have been identified that date to the CI super-eruption or HE4. Given existing data, it remains difficult to evaluate the impact of, and response to, the eruption in Eastern Europe.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption: New Data on Volcanic Ash Dispersal and Its Potential Impact on Human Evolution

et al. 2013

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The Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) volcanic eruption was the most explosive in Europe in the last 200,000 years. The event coincided with the onset of an extremely cold climatic phase known as Heinrich Event 4 (HE4) approximately 40,000 years ago. Their combined effect may have exacerbated the severity of the climate through positive feedbacks across Europe and possibly globally. The CI event is of particular interest not only to investigate the role of volcanism on climate forcing and palaeoenvironments, but also because its timing coincides with the arrival into Europe of anatomically modern humans, the demise of Neanderthals, and an associated major shift in lithic technology. At this stage, however, the degree of interaction between these factors is poorly known, based on fragmentary and widely dispersed data points. In this study we provide important new data from Eastern Europe which indicate that the magnitude of the CI eruption and impact of associated distal ash (tephra) deposits may have been substantially greater than existing models suggest. The scale of the eruption is modelled by tephra distribution and thickness, supported by local data points. CI ashfall extends as far as the Russian Plain, Eastern Mediterranean and northern Africa. However, modelling input is limited by very few data points in Eastern Europe. Here we investigate an unexpectedly thick CI tephra deposit in the southeast Romanian loess steppe, positively identified using geochemical and geochronological analyses. We establish the tephra as a widespread primary deposit, which blanketed the topography both thickly and rapidly, with potentially catastrophic impacts on local ecosystems. Our discovery not only highlights the need to reassess models for the magnitude of the eruption and its role in climatic transition, but also suggests that it may have substantially influenced hominin population and subsistence dynamics in a region strategic for human migration into Europe.

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“…Elaborating on this theme, Nikolai Sirakov (Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) and Jean‐Luc Guadelli (Bordeaux) gave a detailed synthesis of the findings from Kozarnika Cave, Bulgaria, which shows human occupation possibly dating back to before one million years ago. Similar issues were addressed by Adrian Dobos (Bucharest), Radu Iovita (Monrepos), and their colleagues, who communicated results from Dealul Guran, the first Lower Paleolithic site to be described in Romania . Valéry Sitlivy (Cologne) discussed in great detail the Balkan typo‐technological variability in lithic assemblages associated with the Middle‐Upper Paleolithic transition, commenting on the Initial/Early Upper Paleolithic technological fusion and the lack of a clear pattern in the geographic and chronological clustering of these “transitional” industries.…”

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confidence: 72%

“…Similar issues were addressed by Adrian Dobos (Bucharest), Radu Iovita (Monrepos), and their colleagues, who communicated results from Dealul Guran, the first Lower Paleolithic site to be described in Romania. 3 Drawing on his decades-long direction of excavations at renowned sites such as Hohle Fels, Vogelherd, and Geißenkl€ ostere, Conard furnished an excellent outline of the beginnings of the Upper Paleolithic as it is manifested in the Aurignacian findings from the Swabian Jura. He placed the Swabian data in a broader European/Eurasian context and commented on the three known models that have been put forth to interpret social-cultural innovation and the fostering of symbolic capabilities: the Danube corridor hypothesis, the population vacuum hypothesis, and the Kulturpumpe hypothesis.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%