Missing Records and Depositional Breaks in French Late Pleistocene Cave Sediments

Campy, Michel; Chaline, Jean

doi:10.1006/qres.1993.1085

Cited by 38 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 12 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The effects of local factors on the climate-relevant signal can, in most cases, be controlled by systematic sampling both vertically and laterally. We have also attempted to show how chronological anomalies based on absolute dating (for example, unit 10.1 at El Miron), which are often considered as sedimentation gaps in cave sediments (Campy and Chaline, 1993), might represent a reversal in the sedimentary/pedogenic balance and are, therefore, significant indicators of climate shifts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The microstratigraphic record of abrupt climate changes in cave sediments of the Western Mediterranean

Courty

Vallverdú

2001

Geoarchaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate how calcareous sediments from Pleistocene and Holocene rockshelters and open caves of the Western Mediterranean can provide a stratigraphic record of abrupt climate change. The method proposed here is based on microstratigraphic examination of sedimentary sequences using microscopic techniques. The most important processes for characterizing the sensitivity of each cave to climate variables are: (1) the modes and rate of carbonate sediment production, (2) the nature and intensity of the pedogenic processes responsible for the synchronous alteration of carbonate materials (either those derived from the cave walls or those deposited on the ground surface), and (3) the supply of allogenic sediments, particularly by eolian activity. The cave sediment sequences presented record the marked coolings known as Dansgaard-Oeschger stadials and Heinrich events that occurred during the Pleistocene and the Holocene, as demonstrated by the high resolution records from ice and deep sea cores. At Abric Romanì in northeastern Spain, a series of sharp climatic deteriorations of increasing severity is shown to have occurred synchronously with the transition from the Middle to the Upper Paleolithic, with a period of seasonal frost and strong winds at ca. 37,000 yr B.P., tentatively correlated with Heinrich event 4. At Pigeon Cave, Taforalt (northern Morocco), the transition from the Aterian to IberoMaurusian/Epipalaeolithic cultures is dated to around 24,000-20,000 yr B.P. and is punctuated by a series of short cold pulses with evidence for seasonal freezing, soil erosion, and minimal evapotranspiration. In El Miron cave in north-central Spain, the exceptional nature of the Younger Dryas cooling produced a marked destabilization of the cave walls and roof. At El Miron, the stratigraphic evidence for sediment removal due to the rapid percolation of snow melt under a degraded soil cover allows us to reconstruct the nature of the negative excursion at ca. 8200 yr B.P. This example also illustrates how climate-controlled pedogenic processes can create a stratigraphic signature which has often been confused with a sedimentary hiatus. We conclude that cave sediments provide a valuable record of Pleistocene and Holocene climate changes. In appropriate contexts, these sequences allow us to examine the ecological stress generated by these unique global events at a local and regional level and improve our understanding of the complex anthropological processes that occurred at the same time.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The microstratigraphic record of abrupt climate changes in cave sediments of the Western Mediterranean

Courty

Vallverdú

2001

Geoarchaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The correlation (albeit tentative in some cases) of sedimentary features in rockshelter sediment records in various parts of the Mediterranean basin (including Greece) with Heinrich events and the Younger Dryas cooling, further highlights the potential sensitivity of some sites, for these signatures are not always clearly identifiable in regional pollen records (Woodward, 1997a;Turner and Sá nchez-Goñ i, 1997;Tzedakis et al, 1997;Courty and Vallverdu, 2001;Karkanas, this issue). It must be borne in mind, however, that establishing correlations among rockshelter sites is often problematic because the temporal continuity of the stratigraphic record is highly variable from site to site and, in many cases, large portions of time are not represented by deposits (Campy and Chaline, 1993). Farrand (1993) has estimated that approximately 50% of the nominal time span of the stratigraphic sequence at Franchthi Cave in southern Greece (Figure 1 and Table I) is completely missing from the excavated portion of the site.…”

Section: Discussion: Site Sensitivity Temporal Resolution and Off-simentioning

confidence: 99%

The sedimentary records in Mediterranean rockshelters and caves: Archives of environmental change

Woodward¹,

Goldberg²

2001

Geoarchaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Microenvironmental conditions are the result of numerous factors, including bedrock lithology, elevation, aspect, relation to local drainage, and human activity. 13,47,60,131 Thus, while study of the coarse fraction can perhaps reveal some information about climates, better indicators of environmental change can be gleaned from the finer fraction, using microscopic and chemical techniques. 136 Early micromorphological analysis of the fine fraction of deposits was able to point to past climatic variations.…”

Section: Box 1 Cave Sediments and Environmental Changementioning

confidence: 99%

“…131,132 Beyond these generalized regional associations, it is extremely difficult to distinguish between local factors (microclimate) and broader climatic factors (macroclimate) in the influence of sediment infilling, so they were ultimately deemed inappropriate for most environments. 47,60,131,133 These criteria focused on clast size and morphology as a result of variation in physical weathering or changes in local chemical weathering. Moisture content affecting the morphology and porosity of limestone clasts may not be the product of warm humid climates, as originally thought, but a result of the effects of large quantities of organic matter absorbing and retaining moisture.…”

Section: Box 1 Cave Sediments and Environmental Changementioning

confidence: 99%

Deciphering human prehistory through the geoarcheological study of cave sediments

Goldberg

Sherwood

2006

Evolutionary Anthropology

124

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Caves form within lithified (cemented) rocks, most characteristically a wide variety of carbonate rocks (dolomite and limestone in particular) or sandstones. Much less commonly, however, caves can be found in other rock types, such as extrusive igneous lava tubes, salt (for example, Mt. Sedom, Israel) or, as in the case of the Qumran Caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, within soft marls or other unconsolidated sediments. 1 Here we emphasize karst or carbonate environments, as they represent the majority of archeological cave environments. [2][3][4][5][6][7][8] Humans explored deep caves, engaged in mineral mining, performed rituals, and produced art; however, they did not use cave interiors as longterm habitation areas. Within deep cave systems, surfaces typically remain stable for long periods of time, up to millions of years, so these characteristically sparse archeological records are usually on the same surface and rarely involve stratigraphy. 9 Most cave-related archeological studies focus on cave entrances, specifically areas at and within the entrance where light is limited but still present, which often are called twilight zones. Here, sediments from multiple sources accumulate, resulting in complex stratigraphic sequences that provide some of the best windows available into human prehistory. In this review we concentrate on these cave entrances, which are characterized by subterranean passages and larger chambers than those of rockshelters and shallow rock recesses, which exist completely within the reaches of natural light, ambient temperature, and moisture conditions. 10,11 Rockshelters and their sediments are more susceptible to the atmosphere. As a result, the depositional and postdepositional processes acting in rockshelter settings are somewhat different from those in caves, more akin to open-air sites. Sediments in rockshelter environments have been the focus on sevThroughout human history, caves and rockshelters have been favored habitation places. These unique environments preserve sediments derived from an assortment of geological and human processes that are typically absent or masked at open-air sites. Cave sediments are parts of larger stratigraphic frameworks that can reflect environmental changes, shifting microenvironments, and the nature of human activity within these confined and sheltered spaces. Stone tools and faunal material compose the artifact assemblages from caves that are typically studied. Cave sediments, on the other hand, which encase the archeological finds and which have both geological and human origins, have been understudied relative to traditional artifacts, in spite of their ubiquity and importance. Thus, anthropogenic sediments, the most striking of which are organic-rich deposits, and combustion features merit the same attention as any other artifacts that result from human activities and behaviors.The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of the most salient aspects of prehistoric cave sediments and the processes revealed by recent studies of these ac...

show abstract

Missing Records and Depositional Breaks in French Late Pleistocene Cave Sediments

Cited by 38 publications

References 12 publications

The microstratigraphic record of abrupt climate changes in cave sediments of the Western Mediterranean

The microstratigraphic record of abrupt climate changes in cave sediments of the Western Mediterranean

The sedimentary records in Mediterranean rockshelters and caves: Archives of environmental change

Deciphering human prehistory through the geoarcheological study of cave sediments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About