Abstract

Organic molecules preserved in archaeological sediments are an important, though sometimes overlooked, resource for understanding both hominin behavior and climate change in the past. Molecular remains of epicuticular plant waxes, n-alkanes, preserved in archaeological sites provide records of hydrological and vegetation changes through analysis of the analysis of their hydrogen (δD) and carbon (δ¹³C) isotope composition. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which are produced during the combustion of biomass, also preserve in archaeological sediments and can provide a record of hominin fire use in the past. This talk will discuss the application of these proxies to two cave sites in Armenia, Lusakert-1 and Aghitu-3, to understand hominin behavioral response to variable environments during the Late Pleistocene.

Upright walking (bipedalism) is a unique human locomotion with deep evolutionary roots. Unsurprisingly then, our foot is modified to efficiently navigate the world on our legs. However the path and pace by which the human foot evolved has been unclear. In the last two decades, paleoanthropologists have quadrupled the foot fossil record, providing fresh new insight into foot evolution and revealing bipedal diversity in early hominins.

An updated review of sites bearing hominin remains and/or tools from Europe, including recent findings from the Balkans, still indicates that the only compelling evidence of main hominin presence in these regions was only since ∼0.9 million years ago (Ma), bracketed by the end of the Jaramillo geomagnetic polarity subchron (0.99 Ma) and the Brunhes-Matuyama polarity chron boundary (0.78 Ma). This time window straddled the late Early Pleistocene climate transition (EPT) at the onset of enhanced glacial/interglacial activity that reverberated worldwide. Europe may have become initially populated during the EPT when, possibly for the first time in the Pleistocene, vast and exploitable ecosystems were generated along the eustatically emergent Po-Danube terrestrial conduit. These newly formed settings, characterized by stable terrestrial lowlands with open grasslands and reduced woody cover especially during glacial/interglacial transitions, are regarded as optimal ecosystems for several large Galerian immigrant mammals such as African and Asian megaherbivores, possibly linked with hominins in a common food web, to expand into en route to Europe. The question of when hominins first arrived in Europe thus places the issue in the context of changes in climate, paleogeography and faunal associations as potential environmental drivers and controlling agents in a specific time frame, a key feature of the Galerian migration hypothesis.

Josep Pares: New views on an old site: Atapuerca (N Spain).

A number of key findings at the Lower Palaeolithic cave sites of Atapuerca, northern Spain, have led to major advancements in our knowledge of human evolution and occupation of Eurasia. Since the nineties, when the first hominin remains were reported, the sites have produced thousands of fossils and artifacts and have become a landmark in studies on Pleistocene human evolution. A variety of chronological methods including paleomagnetism, electron spin resonance, luminescence among other, have been key to place the Atapuerca sites in the context of the first migrations and settlement outside the African continent.

The Western sector of the Lessini Mountains in North-Eastern Italy is an ideal location for
studying ochre sourcing and processing due to the presence of the important archaeological sites Fumane cave and Tagliente rockshelter, and an abundance of natural resources potentially used in the Aurignacian (Fumane cave) and Epigravettian (Tagliente rockshelter) periods. These two sites are of great importance; ochre is known to have been used for the decoration of Fumane cave whilst at Tagliente rockshelter a significant number of ochre fragments were unearthed without an evidence of their use. In order to approach the study of these materials, a specific analytical program was designed, taking into account the particularities of the geological and archaeological contexts. Based on mineralogical, textural, microstructural and geochemical characteristics of the geological and archaeological materials, two potential principal districts were identified for the procurement of Fe-based resources. Most of the archaeological ochre samples were found to be hematite-based whilst the natural occurrences were goethite based; this suggested the possibility that goethite was transformed into hematite through heat treatment at both the sites. This was initially supported by the results of the XRPD analyses due to the presence of selective broadening of some reflections and later proven on selected samples through TEM analysis based on the presence of characteristic pores formed during the process of goethite dehydration.
According to the scientific and archaeological evidence, ochre was transported to the sites, fragmented, powdered and then used as painting material at Fumane cave. Due to the lack of wear marks on the archaeological ochre from Tagliente rockshelter, it is very difficult to understand the use of ochre in this site. A change in the procurement strategy was identified as quartz-rich materials were exploited during the oldest occupation phases of the site whilst dolomite-based and calcite-based raw materials were selected during the late phases of occupation. No strategy was identified for Fumane cave where dolomite-based raw materials where selected during the different phases of the occupation of the site.

Loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) form in the complex interplay of dust sedimentation, pedogenesis, and in many cases slope processes. They provide essential information on the paleoenvironmental context of archeological sites preserved therein. A detailed stratigraphic description of an LPS is fundamental to link site formation processes to paleoenvironments.
Descriptions of loess profiles and their interpretations largely rely on individual sensitivity and experience. Color variation in LPS are the most obvious features and mainly result from pedogenic pigmentation during phases of landscape stability. Color data obtained by spectrophotometers quantitatively complement field observations, leading to robust stratigraphic units labelled with pedological designations. Grain size variations (preferably laser-granulometry) unravel aeolian dynamics and help identify slope processes. Micromorphology provides insight into the complex forming processes of distinct horizons.
Color-based stratigraphies coupled with granulometry and micromorphology provide robust semi-quantitative information on the paleoenvironments of Paleolithic hunter-gatherer communities. This framework is essential before further proxy data are analyzed. Examples are from Lower Austria (Krems-Schießstätte and –Wachtberg) and Kazakhstan (Remizovka and Maibulak).

The cultural and physical remains of Neanderthals were recovered in the site of Amud Cave, Eastern Galilee, Israel. This is the southernmost frontier for European Neanderthal expansion. The site was occupied between early (B4, ~69kya) and late (B2/B1, ~56kya) phases that were separated by a sterile phase (B3).  The reason for the occupation gap is puzzling, also the nature of the two chronologically separated occupations that otherwise show great similarities in lithic industries and faunal remains.  In a pervious publication we showed marked differences between occupation phases in gazelle hunting locations relative to Amud Cave and attributed those to climate-derived environmental changes. In the current study we expend our analysis and include fallow deer as a closed-habitat species and plant waxes as paleoclimate proxy.   We hope the new proxies will help determine whether differences in hunting ranges indicate varying environmental conditions or alternatively reflect social and territorial constrains.  

Over the last century, the study of human skeletal remains from archaeological contexts has shifted from a largely racial typological framework to one that holistically and contextually investigates the biocultural processes and ecological circumstances that shape human anatomy across time and space. In this talk, I review how bioarchaeology has benefitted from advances in the evolutionary study of genomes and phenotypes, supported by technical revolutions in high-throughput genomic sequencing and the quantitative analysis of shape. In particular, I discuss how the joint analysis of human genomes and phenomes allows for inferences on the evolutionary mechanisms affecting cranial and dental phenotypes. In addition, I outline how two on-going, field-based projects in the high-altitude regions of the Philippine Cordilleras and the Peruvian Andes shed light on the natural history of human populations since the Pleistocene.

Tiryns is one of the major sites in the Argolid, a region which is well known for its large scale
production and export of fine decorated pottery during Mycenaean times and its distinctive
but regionally coherent style of decorated pottery in the Geometric Period. For both periods,
excavations at Tiryns have yielded well documented pottery kilns and production debris. The
production can be further attested by its characteristic chemical pattern in Neutron Activation
Analysis (NAA).
This presentation gives an overview of the identified workshops comprising their architectural
features, associated pottery finds and archaeometric analysis data. The focus lies on a
comparison and correlation of typological, macroscopic and chemical (NAA) pottery groups
supplemented by a small set of petrographic samples. The data will be discussed with
reference to other known production sites in the Argolid such as Mycenae/Berbati, Asine and
Argos and questions will be raised about the relationships between these sites or workshops.

In January 2019, the publishing company Wiley and Projekt DEAL in Germany signed an agreement in which researchers at German institutions can publish Open Access at no cost to themselves, as well as read any of the 1700 journals in the Wiley collection.  In this workshop, you will be shown how you and your colleagues can access these benefits.  In particular, Wiley is one of the premier publishers in the fields of Archaeology and Anthropology.  Dr. Belkin, herself an archaeologist and now an Editor at Wiley, will highlight the portfolio in these subject areas that are covered by this transformative agreement and discuss new initiatives that may be of particular interest to the archaeological community.

This lecture will not be mandatory for masters students to attend. However, this lecture can be used as a "make-up" for those of you who have missed more than two lectures.  Wiley will also provide some light snacks, e.g., muffins, pretzel, coffee. Following the talk, we will have the INA Vollversammlung.