The migration of Late Pleistocene reindeer: isotopic evidence from northern Europe

Price, T. Douglas; Meiggs, David; Weber, Mara-Julia; Pike-Tay, Anne

doi:10.1007/s12520-015-0290-z

Cited by 39 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 109 publications

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“…However, it is not possible to evaluate whether reindeer, or indeed people, remained year-round in the vicinity of Kastelhöhle-Nord and Y-Höhle. Both sedentary and long-distance seasonal migratory behaviours are observed in modern reindeer herds [63][64][65] and a similar diversity of behaviours has been argued for European Pleistocene populations [66][67][68][69] . It is therefore possible that human presence in northern Switzerland represents only short-term, perhaps seasonally-restricted, exploitation of local reindeer herds during periods of favourable environmental conditions.…”

Section: Environmental Context Of Human Settlement In Switzerland Durmentioning

confidence: 85%

Radiocarbon chronology and environmental context of Last Glacial Maximum human occupation in Switzerland

Reade

Tripp

Charlton

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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Associated time intervals range from c. 25,000 to 18,000 BP, but broadly centre upon 21,000 BP 10,11. Within Switzerland, the last glacial advanced occurred sometime after 30,000 BP 1. Local geomorphological evidence and speleothem δ 18 O minima suggest maximum ice extent may have been reached between 26,500 and 22,000 BP, while the onset of rapid ice decay started by c. 19,000 BP 1,2,12,13. Climate models and proxy data indicate a cold dry climate existed north of the Alps during this time period, while the formation of Alpine speleothems suggests warm air masses from the south delivered precipitation to the northern Alpine slopes 2,7,8. North of the mountains, continuous periglacial permafrost conditions existed, with tundra and steppe landscapes dominated by graminoid and forb vegetation 14,15. Nonetheless, the Alpine LGM was punctuated by sub-millennial climate fluctuations related to changing temperature and precipitation regimes, which influenced local environmental conditions and ice extent 2,16-18. Within Switzerland a positive excursion in speleothem δ 18 O occurred between 23,230 ± 37 BP and 22,759 ± 47 BP 2 , linked to changing precipitation patterns, and this appears to have coincided with a phase of recession in the Alpine ice sheet 18. The timings of these local environmental changes matches with the Greenland warm period of GI-2 (23,290 ± 596 BP to 22,850 ± 573 BP 9), within dating uncertainties. This suggests that the warming in Switzerland may have been associated with continental-scale processes. The Greenland record of GI-2 is interrupted by a brief climatic cooling lasting around 200 years (Greenland Stadial 2.2) and centring on approximately 23,100 BP 9. The expression of this event in the Swiss record is less clear but may occur between 22,971 ± 46 BP and 22,888 ± 50 BP 2. The link between GI-2 and human activity in Switzerland has previously been postulated 6. However, chronological resolution is currently poor and archaeological evidence is sparse. The dated cut-marked reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) bones from Kastelhöhle-Nord (n = 3) and Y-Höhle (n = 1) represent the only directly dateable archaeological evidence from this time period in Switzerland 5,6. Both cave sites are located within 10 km of one another, on the northeastern edge of the Jura Mountains, less than 50 km from the maximum ice sheet extent. Lithics found in association with the reindeer bones at Kastelhöhle-Nord have been attributed to the Badegoulian/Early Magdalenian 4,6 , a Late Upper Palaeolithic culture found in western-central Europe. In contrast, the cut-marked reindeer bone from Y-Höhle was found in a secondary context with no association to other archaeological remains 5. Lithics of Badegoulian character are also found in Germany (Wiesbaden-Igstadt, Rhineland, and Gera-Zoitzberg, Thuringia) 6,19 , while broadly contemporaneous evidence of human activity is also present in southern Germany (Mittlere Klause), and further east in Austria (Kammern-Grubgraben and Langmannersdorf), the Czech Republic (Stranska Skala IV) ...

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Section: Environmental Context Of Human Settlement In Switzerland Durmentioning

confidence: 85%

Radiocarbon chronology and environmental context of Last Glacial Maximum human occupation in Switzerland

Reade

Tripp

Charlton

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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“…In the results, intra-and inter-tooth samples are presented using the "cumulative distance from neck" measurement following Price et al (2015). The cumulative distance from neck anchors the distance from neck measurements of all the teeth from one specimen to the neck of the latest forming tooth that was sampled at zero.…”

Section: Fossil Sampling Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nonetheless, intra-tooth and inter-tooth 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values have been used with success, for example, to trace the movements of modern caribou in Alaska (Britton et al, 2009), mastodons in late Pleistocene North America (Hoppe and Koch, 2007) , and reindeer, bison, horse, and red deer in prehistoric Europe (Britton et al, 2011;Julien et al, 2012;Pellegrini et al, 2008;Price et al, 2015). In one prior study in the Western Cape of South Africa, strontium isotopes from archaeological sheep suggested annual movement of the animals from the coastal to inland areas (Balasse et al, 2002).…”

Section: Serial-sampling Of Teeth For Isotopic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Strontium isotope investigation of ungulate movement patterns on the Pleistocene Paleo-Agulhas Plain of the Greater Cape Floristic Region, South Africa

Copeland

Cawthra

Fisher

et al. 2016

Quaternary Science Reviews

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Middle Stone Age sites located within the Greater Cape Floristic Region on the South African southern coast have material culture with early evidence for key modern human behaviors such as projectile weaponry, large animal hunting, and symbolic behavior. In order to interpret how and why these changes evolved, it is necessary to understand their ecological context as it has direct relevance to foraging behavior. During periods of lowered sea level, a largely flat and vast expanse of land existed south of the modern coastline, but it is now submerged by higher sea levels. This exposed area, the Paleo-Agulhas Plain, likely created an ecological context unlike anything in the region today, as evidenced by fossil assemblages dominated by migratory ungulates. One hypothesis is that the Paleo-Agulhas Plain supported a migration ecosystem of large grazers driven by summer rainfall, producing palatable forage during summer in the east, and winter rainfall, producing palatable forage during winter in the west. Alternatively, ungulates may have been moving from the coastal plain in the south to the interior north of the Cape Fold Mountains, as observed for elephants in historic times. In this study, we assess ungulate movement patterns with inter-and intra-tooth enamel samples for strontium isotopes in fossil fauna from Pinnacle Point sites PP13B and PP30. To accomplish our goals we created a bioavailable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isoscape for the region by collecting plants at 171 sampling sites and developing a geospatial model. The strontium isotope results indicate that ungulates spent most of their time on the Paleo-Agulhas Plain and avoided dissected plain, foothill, and mountain habitats located more than about 15 km north of the modern coastline. The results clearly exclude a north-south

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“…Principles of isotopic variation Strontium ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) isotope analyses is the most widely used isotopic method for archeological studies of human (e.g., Ericson 1985;Price et al 1994;Sealy et al 1995) and animal (e.g., Balasse et al 2002;Gakuhari et al 2013;Guiry et al 2015;Hartman et al 2015;Price et al 2015;Thornton 2011), mobility, migration, and provenance studies. The principle of this method is that the strontium isotope composition of skeletal tissues is in equilibrium with that of the local biogeochemical environment, as Sr passes from rocks, via soils, into and through local food webs (Ericson 1985;Price et al 2002).…”

Section: Isotope Provenance Studiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sourcing nonnative mammal remains from Dos Mosquises Island, Venezuela: new multiple isotope evidence

Laffoon

Sonnemann

Antczak

et al. 2016

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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Archeological excavations of Amerindian sites on Dos Mosquises Island, Los Roques Archipelago, Venezuela, uncovered a wide range of evidence reflecting seasonal exploitation of local resources and multiple ritual depositions of large quantities of ceramic figurines, lithics, and faunal remains. Zooarchaeological analysis revealed the presence of modified and unmodified bones and teeth from numerous imported mammal species. Local geographic and environmental conditions preclude permanent establishment of terrestrial mammal populations and as such, there are no native mammalian taxa on the island itself or the surrounding oceanic archipelago. The presence of these faunal remains on Dos Mosquises can be attributed to the intentional movement of animal resources from the mainland to Los Roques by indigenous groups in the Late Ceramic Age (~AD 1200-1500). Despite attributions to a mainland source region, little else is known about the origins of these unique specimens. Here, we apply strontium (87 Sr/ 86 Sr), oxygen (δ 18 O), and carbon (δ 13 C) isotope analyses of tooth enamel from various archeologically recovered taxa including deer, peccary, tapir, ocelot, margay, opossum, fox, and weasel to investigate their geographic origins via comparisons with macro-regional models of precipitation δ 18 O and bioavailable 87 Sr/ 86 Sr. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr results are highly variable both for the overall assemblage and between specimens within the same taxa, indicating origins from different geochemical environments of mainland South America. The combined archeological and isotopic evidence are consistent with origins within the late pre-colonial Valencioid Sphere of Interaction which encompassed the Lake Valencia Basin, surrounding regions, and several offshore island groups including Los Roques archipelago.

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The migration of Late Pleistocene reindeer: isotopic evidence from northern Europe

Cited by 39 publications

References 109 publications

Radiocarbon chronology and environmental context of Last Glacial Maximum human occupation in Switzerland

Radiocarbon chronology and environmental context of Last Glacial Maximum human occupation in Switzerland

Strontium isotope investigation of ungulate movement patterns on the Pleistocene Paleo-Agulhas Plain of the Greater Cape Floristic Region, South Africa

Sourcing nonnative mammal remains from Dos Mosquises Island, Venezuela: new multiple isotope evidence

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