Quaternary Environments and Humans
Journal Data
| Type | JOURNAL |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Elsevier B.V (NL) |
| ISSN | 2950-2365 |
| Scopus | 21101369103 |
| OpenAlex | S4389158291 |
| Website | https://www.scopus.com/source/sourceInfo.url?sourceId=21101369103 |
| Total publications | 111 |
| Coverage period | 2023 - 2026 |
| Country | NL |
| Language | EN |
| Access | Open Access |
| Indexing | DOAJ indexed • Scopus indexed |
| Cited by | 30 |
| Impact factor | 0.977 |
| SJR | 0.657 (Q1) |
| SNIP | 0.527 |
| CiteScore | 1.4 |
| h-index | 3 |
| 2-year mean citedness | 0.1176 |
| Female authorship share | 33.2% |
Quaternary Environments and Humans focuses on the interplay between human societies and their environments during the Quaternary period. This directly aligns with environmental anthropology and human ecology, making it a closely cognate venue that frequently publishes work relevant to social anthropologists
Archeology · Archeology (arts and humanities) · Cultural Studies · Ancient and Medieval Archaeology Studies · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Archaeological Research and Protection · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archeology (arts and humanities
Extreme events and the spread of Uralic languages
In this paper we present novel aspects concerning the possible connection between the 4.2 ka climatic event and the early spread of Uralic languages from western Siberia to North-East Europe. We discuss different reasons for the divergence of Proto-Uralic and the spread of the Uralic languages, and propose a scenario where the 4.2 ka climatic event and the early spread of Uralic languages is connected via three themes: 1) habitat changes, 2) anim…
Expanding the perspective on the environment-human nexus in the Quaternary
The first primate (Macaca cf. sylvanus) from Schöningen (Germany)
Testing the limits of archaeological datasets
A century of dynamic changes in the lower Gállego River (NE Spain) in response to natural and human interactions
North Pacifica’s peoples tattoo’s complex as a cultural variations (technologies and tools-set)
North Pacific cultures are considered a product of their history. Tattooing, which is practiced today, provides insight into social behavior and rituals, as well as individual and group identity. Different elements of tattooing – tools, symbolism, social functions, cultural significance, aesthetic preferences, foreign influences – can be important indicators of the cultural complexity of a community. In this study, we analyze the history of tatto…
Beyond the Nile
In this paper, we present new research results from the Bayuda Desert (Sudan) based on 2021–2022 surveys and excavations at two localities (BP424 and BP1316), complemented by sedimentological and luminescence dating results. At BP 424, a small lithic assemblage comprising 28 artefacts was discovered within a ceiling unit of disorganised gravel and sand. Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) Dating results indicate that the layer is older than 5…
Depositional environments in a prehistoric lakeshore settlement – a multi-proxy study of a stratigraphic sequence of the Neolithic lakeside settlement Zug-Riedmatt (Switzerland)
This research project investigates the depositional and settlement dynamics of the Late Neolithic pile dwelling site of Zug-Riedmatt in Central Switzerland, dated between 3200 and 3050 BCE. Using an interdisciplinary, microarchaeological approach, 14 stratigraphic units at one reference profile (Ref1) covering e complete stratigraphic sequence of the excavation site, were analysed using six disciplines: micromorphology, pollen analysis, palynofac…
Seasonal Resource Availability and Dietary Selection in Baboons
Selective pressures related to resource availability, nutritional constraints, and foraging costs have played an important role in shaping primate and early hominin dietary strategies. To distinguish between ecological and technological drivers of dietary evolution, this study examines baboon ( Papio cynocephalus ) foraging as a comparative model for non-technological foraging systems. Literature based ecological, behavioral, and nutritional data…
The Lithoscape of Blombos Cave, South Africa
Archaeological research in the southern coastal region of South Africa continues to demonstrate the importance of this region for understanding the emergence of complex behaviours among Homo sapiens . Specifically, the excavation of the Middle Stone Age layers at Blombos Cave (c. 100-72 ka) has identified extensive evidence for symbolism, such as portable art (engraved ochre) and personal ornaments (perforated shells). However, some recurrent sub…
Impact of ecology, subsistence, and climate on language spread rates
Managing crops under hydroclimatic instability before the 5.9 ka event
This paper presents new stable isotope data from charred cereal grains and Chenopodium album seeds recovered from the Kodjadermen-Gumelniţa-Karanovo VI (KGK VI) (second half of the 5th millennium BC) settlement of Sultana in southeastern Romania, alongside comparative material from the nearby site of Gumelnița. This period coincides with mid-Holocene climatic instability in the lower Danube region (c. late 5th–early 4th millennium BC), frequently…
Younger Dryas reindeer in northwest Europe
Reindeer ( Rangifer tarandus ) played a central role in the subsistence strategies of Late and Final Palaeolithic populations across northern Europe, particularly during the Younger Dryas (c. 12,850–11,650 cal BP). However, while reindeer are known from securely dated Younger Dryas faunal contexts in Britain, they are not associated with archaeological assemblages, and there is currently no conclusive evidence for human presence in Britain at the…
Tracing the medieval expansion of the Amuric language family through linguistics and archaeology
Amuric (also known as Nivkh) is a language family found in the Lower Amur Basin and on Sakhalin Island. While geography suggests that the roots of Amuric lie in the Lower Amur region, the early history of the family is largely unknown. In the archaeological literature, the Nivkh are often associated with the Okhotsk culture, which spread from Sakhalin to occupy northern Hokkaido in the early medieval era (ca. AD 500–1000), implying that the Okhot…
Middle Pleistocene occupations at Chhajoli, Rajasthan, India
Western India marks a critical biogeographic threshold, making it an important region to explore patterns of hominin occupation and adaptation in the Pleistocene. Focus on exploring evidence for hominin expansions across this threshold have drawn interest to the Late Pleistocene, whereas despite a broad Lower Palaeolithic record, earlier occupations are sparse, notably the Late Acheulean occupation at Singi Talav, as well as sparse presence at 16…
Life and death in upper palaeolithic mongolia
The dispersal of Upper Palaeolithic groups after 45 ka bp into Mongolia and Inner Mongolia was remarkable because it was one of the most challenging environments of the Palaeolithic, principally because of its bitterly cold winters and unpredictable rainfall but also because of the difficulties of successful ambush hunting, of maintaining effective mating and information networks over large distances, and of obtaining sufficient animal fat. Here,…
Modern human origins
As proxies for the emergence of "modern human behavior," archaeologists typically rely on changes in technological complexity and/or the first appearance of symbolic items or practices. In this paper, I examine both approaches and conclude that neither, as currently envisioned, is likely to provide the answers archaeologists seek. Technological complexity is always a work in progress, and deciding where to place the boundary between "pre-modern" …
The Khovaling Loess Plateau as a window into Early Paleolithic human–environment interactions in Central Asia
Loess–paleosol sequences in southern Tajikistan offer a valuable yet underexplored archive for reconstructing early human–environment interactions across Central Asia. Building on our previous investigations of geochemical and sedimentary proxies, here we make an overview based on lipid biomarkers, bulk stable isotopes, and archaeological data from multiple localities of the Khovaling loess plateau on understanding ecological and anthropogenic si…
The linguistic (pre)history on the eastern Tibetan Plateau
The early dispersal of Sino-Tibetan language family has been proposed to be promoted by millet domestication and cultivation, and ultimately agricultural development in the Yellow River Valley. However, the spread of Sino-Tibetan onto the Tibetan Plateau was a more complex picture showing interactions between the agriculturalists from the Yellow River region and the local hunter-gatherers. This article investigates exchange and contact dynamics o…
Initial Upper Palaeolithic of the Iranian Plateau; Sorheh Rockshelter
The Iranian Plateau is a vast geological feature that connects western Asia (including the Caucasus) to the south (India) and east (including Central Asia). This Plateau consists of different biogeographical units, making it attractive to a high variety of fauna, flora and hominin taxa. This geographic location puts the Iranian Plateau at the centre of important evolutionary changes during the late Pleistocene. Sporadic Palaeolithic research in I…
Language contacts in the development of ancient Egyptian
This article explores the unique linguistic features of early Egyptian, arguing that these characteristics are best explained by a period of intense and unusual linguistic contact in the prehistory of the language. Drawing on both linguistic and archaeological data, the study examines the socio-historical context of these contacts, linking them to the spread of pastoralism and the desertification of the Sahara during the 4th millennium BCE, and t…
Language, ecology and climate change
The acceleration of climate change over recent decades threatens consequences so wide-ranging that they extend across the human sciences, and call for perspectives from all disciplines. Notwithstanding various attempts to integrate the humanities into climate research, linguistics has been slow to engage with the topic. This special issue aspires to remedy this, by setting out basic principles for exploring how language dynamics have related to e…
Quaternary research in South Asia
Vegetation history during the last 28,000 years in Tamba Highland, Kyoto, Japan based on multi-analyses of sediment from the Jaga-ike mire
Sediment cores obtained from the Jaga-ike mire, located in the inland mountainous area of the Kinki region in western Japan, date back to 28,000 cal BP. The vegetation history around the Jaga-ike mire since the Last Glacial period was reconstructed using multiproxy analyses (pollen, macrofossils, and charcoal). From 28,000 to 20,000 cal BP, forests were dominated by pinaceous conifers such as Abies, Tsuga, Picea , and Pinus as well as Betula tree…
Application of lipid biomarkers in deciphering quaternary human evolution in the Indian subcontinent
This comprehensive review article presents an integrated application of lipid biomarkers to unravel the intricate narrative of Quaternary human evolution in the Indian subcontinent. The study highlights the empirical and experimental foundations laid by numerous investigations, contributing to our current knowledge of sedimentary deposits, ecofacts, and artifacts that preserve organic residues containing lipid biomarkers. The advancements in lipi…
A Data‐Driven Paradigm Shift for the Middle‐to‐Upper Palaeolithic Transition and the Neandertal Debate
Based on morphologically undiagnostic human remains from the southern Balkans and central Europe, it has been argued that the Bachokirian and Ranisian industries stand for modern humans, have roots in the IUP (Initial Upper Palaeolithic) of the Near East, and emerge ~45,000 years ago. Coevally, Siberia and Central Asia would also have been reached by IUP moderns and, in the process, Western Europe’s Neandertals would have been acculturated, expla…
The geoarchaeology, chronology and environment of Lusakert-1, a Late Middle Palaeolithic rockshelter (Kotayk Province, Armenia)
Lusakert-1 (LKT-1) is a key site in any discussion of the Palaeolithic of the Armenian Highlands. This is in large part because of a long-running campaign of excavation in the 1970–1980s which recovered an obsidian artefact assemblage that was then interpreted as spanning the Lower–Upper Palaeolithic. Our reinvestigation in 2008–2012 revealed evidence of occupation in the interior of the LKT-1 rockshelter comprising spreads of ash, obsidian artef…
The late Middle Pleistocene Homo erectus of the Madura Strait, first hominin fossils from submerged Sundaland
Eastern Asia yielded a rich fossil record of Pleistocene hominins, ranging from Homo erectus and the diminutive island species Homo floresiensis and Homo luzonensis , to post- erectus grade late archaic Homo (including Denisovans), and finally to anatomically modern humans. The Sunda Shelf played an important role in the dispersal and evolution of hominin populations. The shelf has been widely exposed during most of the Pleistocene, forming a lan…
A late Middle Pleistocene lowstand valley of the Solo River on the Madura Strait seabed, geology and age of the first hominin locality of submerged Sundaland
The island of Java (Indonesia) is renowned for its Pleistocene hominin-bearing vertebrate fossil site s . Recently, a marine sand extraction work in the Madura Strait, off the coast of Surabaya, hit upon vertebrate-rich sandstones. More than 6000 vertebrate fossils have been retrieved from the dredged sand, amongst which are two skull fragments ascribed to Homo erectus . The fossils form the first vertebrate record from submerged Sundaland, the l…
An integrative study of new environmental and cultural data from the Hoabinhian of Laang Spean Cave (Cambodia) including modern human remains
Although the Hoabinhian culture is renowned for its unifacial pebble tools and its discovery dates back more than a century, only a handful of sites provide complete information on this period. The site of Laang Spean, in Cambodia, has recently been described as a burial cave for the Neolithic period, but it was previously known as an emblematic Hoabinhian site for Cambodia. More comprehensive studies indicate that it offers a wide window onto th…
First vertebrate faunal record from submerged Sundaland
The Sunda Shelf currently holds the world’s largest shelf sea. During Pleistocene sea-level lowstands the area emerged, forming a vast landmass called Sundaland. Intermittently exposed Sundaland played an important role in the regional vertebrate biogeography and evolution of species including Homo erectus and, in the Late Pleistocene, Homo sapiens . So far, our models of the Pleistocene biogeography of Sundaland were based on the distribution of…
Coasting into India? - Assessing lithostratigraphic context of Middle Palaeolithic occupation in Saurashtra Peninsula
The coastal rim of the Indian subcontinent is believed to have played a crucial role in the dispersal of early Modern Humans from Africa into the Indian subcontinent during the Late Pleistocene. However, the paucity of substantial evidence along the Indian coastal margins has made it difficult to assess this hypothesis directly. The peninsular region of Saurashtra in Gujarat (India) is one of the key regions that possesses a vast coastline of ∼16…
Ecology of large ungulates in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula during the Upper Palaeolithic through stable isotopes and tooth wear analysis
The northeastern Iberian Peninsula acted as a refuge zone during the Late Pleistocene where the persistence of terrestrial ecosystems could provide hunter-gatherers with large prey, mainly horse (Equus ferus) and red deer (Cervus elaphus). Isotopic (δ13C, δ18O, δ15N) and dental wear (mesowear and microwear) analyses have been applied on the remains of both species from the archaeological sites of Arbreda and Bora Gran at Serinyà (Girona), where e…
Does size matter? Morphological and content analysis of the coprolites from a Quaternary deposit in the Iberian Peninsula
Coprolites are very abundant in Quaternary deposits. However, they are often overlooked despite offering insights into both the surrounding environment and the species that produced them, particularly when skeletal remains are absent. We selected a Quaternary cave deposit from the Iberian Peninsula, Juan Labranz Cave, where an abundant and diverse coprolite collection was recovered, in order to develop a non-destructive study method that allows a…
Resource dependency and communication networks in Early Neolithic western Europe
During the European Neolithisation Process, a pivotal facet of Neolithic population dynamics lay in the capability of agro-pastoral communities to procure high-quality raw material for stone tools. Whether this material was sourced from local geological units or got transported via large-scale communication networks is, however, not yet fully understood. To trace the distribution patterns of Early Neolithic resource dispersal, we present a multic…
Interpreting the edge angle efficiency of middle palaeolithic lithic assemblage with Artifact-3D – A case study Barwaniya W1, North Karanpura Valley, Eastern India
The lithic technology is directly linked with knapping skills, cognition, and economic production of a particular culture. The central objective of lithic production was to obtain desirable edge angles and sharpness for cutting/ butchering work in an efficient manner to achieve the highest utility/ efficiency and low production ratio. The angle of an edge, whether unaltered or retouched and as part of the overall tool design, is undoubtedly a par…
The bird remains from La Crouzade Cave (Gruissan, Aude)
Avian remains are commonly found in Pleistocene cave sites. La Crouzade Cave (Gruissan, Aude, Southern France) is no exception, as it yielded thousands of bird bones recovered from the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic deposits. In Mousterian layers 8, 7 and 6 (MIS 3) the avifaunal spectrum is dominated by cliff-nesting taxa such as doves and corvids from the genus Pyrrhocorax. Some of these birds may have died naturally in situ but the presence of d…
No time to waste. Evidence for communal waste management among hunter-gatherer-fishers at Riņņukalns, Latvia (5400-3200 BC)
This study discusses waste management by mid-Holocene hunter-gatherer-fisher communities at Riņņukalns, on the Salaca river in Latvia. It combines microscopic analyses with geochemistry and radiocarbon dating. We observe natural landscape changes and human responses, with Mesolithic and earlier Middle Neolithic occupation on the backswamp. During the later Middle Neolithic, we see a pattern of selective deposition of waste categories (food waste,…
The latest steps of human evolution
The latest periods of human evolution are a heated topic of debate and have been at the center of paleoanthropological discussions since the beginning of the field. In the last twenty years, new excavations increased the geographic range of paleoanthropological data, new fossil hominins of the last third of the Pleistocene were found, and old key fossils were redated by modern and more accurate methods. The new picture emerging from this research…
Human membership in the large carnivore guild
Conventional wisdom holds that when humans began acquiring meat on a regular basis, whether by hunting or by scavenging, they became part of the large carnivore guild and, as a consequence, faced greatly increased levels of potentially life-threatening competition with other predators. This paper offers an alternative view based on fundamental nutritional and metabolic differences between humans, who are descended from primates of largely vegetar…
How and why is Homo sapiens so successful
By 30,000 years ago, Homo sapiens was the only type of hominin and had colonised most environments in the Old World. We argue that this success resulted from its ability to increase its population because more H. sapiens women than their contemporaries were able to have three or more children that survived into adulthood. This increased reproductive rate was accompanied by the development of a rounder brain and a longer childhood. A rounder brain…
Evolution and controlling factors of natural levees during the past 4500 years derived from lowland archaeological ruins in central Kanto Plain, Japan
Lowland archaeological ruins are frequently used in conjunction with sediment cores to reconstruct geomorphological evolution on alluvial plains. Lowland ruins are, as a rule, heterogeneously distributed across alluvial plains and retain short chronological records when compared to sediment cores. Along the historic banks of the Tone River, in the central Kanto Plain, thorough surveying prior to major construction projects in the Tokyo metropolit…
Fossil Bovidae (Mammalia
Bovids are usually the most common large mammal family encountered in archaeological accumulations from African sites. However, despite their dominant status in bone assemblages, there are proportionally very few taxonomic studies of the southern African material. Here, we provide the first updated overview of the Southern African Bovidae fossil record from the Miocene to the Holocene. We used the bovid faunal list from 95 deposits comprising 65 …
Searching for prehistoric campfires in the Patagonian Andes, Southern Chile, with implications for the global-scale debate on the use of forest resources in pre-industrial societies
Little is known about human occupation of the Aysén region of Patagonia beyond a relatively small number of cave and rock shelter sites. Recent magnetic survey and auguring over a broad area in the vicinity of known sites yielded no cultural material, drawing attention to ongoing debate about human use of forests in prehistory
Mining, farming, and diplomacy. Understanding the human landscape of Bronze Age Sardinia (Italy) through geospatial analysis
Human agency on landscape modification and land use is often seen in terms of socio-economic opportunities vs. natural constraints. In the study of prehistoric cultures this is both a strong source of information about sustenance strategies and community behaviours, and a subject potentially easy to analyse within a limited set of physical and social parameters. The recent advancements in the use of spatial analysis tools in landscape archaeology…
Holocene Palaeoenvironmental change at the mouth of Sabarmati River, Gulf of Khambhat, Western India
The fluvio-marine archives have been widely used to assess the imprints of land-sea interaction during the Holocene period, which has been enigmatic in terms of changes in environmental conditions. To comprehend the fluvial-marine interactions during the Holocene period in response to relative sea level changes, a sedimentary record has been studied from the mouth of the Sabarmati river at the Gulf of Khambhat (western India), which has also host…
Mangrove dynamics driven by Late Holocene drought at Laguna Bacalar, Mexico
Laguna Bacalar, one of Mexico's most significant near-coast lakes, remains underexplored in the context of its Late Holocene paleoecology. A 2,40 m long core was retrieved in northern Laguna Bacalar. Palynological and geochemical proxies were isolated and analyzed. Our findings reveal the intricate paleoecological dynamics and hydrodynamic shifts of this vital area in southeastern Mexico. Climate and ecological changes delineate three pivotal pha…
Early hominins
We can see an increasing consumption of meat together with the corresponding behavioral adaptations in early hominins, such as Homo erectus. This new development was driven by one or more behavioral adaptations, such as a shift to a higher-quality diet, increased social interactions and/or changes in the life history strategies. The methods by which these hominins obtained meat—through scavenging the carcasses of large herbivores or hunting thems…
Ecomorphological study of Caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) distal phalanx
Reindeer mobility patterns exhibit significant variability in modern ecosystems, especially between open and wooded environments. This variability makes it difficult to reconstruct past reindeer migration patterns, which is key to understand the role of reindeer herds in the sustenance and territorial organization of Prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies. By examining morphology associated with different habitats and movement patterns, insights i…
A MaxEnt predictive model for palaeontological sites in the Siwalik Hills
This study presents application of the MaxEnt predictive model to identify potential palaeontological sites in the Siwalik Hills, focusing on the Pinjor Formation near Chandigarh, northern India. The Siwalik region holds rich vertebrate palaeontological records, yet lacks comprehensive site prediction models. This research employs MaxEnt (3.4.0) software, to predict areas suitable for fossil occurrences. Georeferenced presence data was derived fr…
Understanding the presence of Cannabis across the Holocene in Central India
Pollen records from sediment cores do not allow understanding of past human use of Cannabis because Cannabis may also grow naturally or increase incidentally in the presence of human settlements. This is particularly true in Asia, where Cannabis was not used as hemp as often as it was in Europe; hemp retting makes it easy to identify Cannabis use as it causes characteristically high increases in Cannabis fossil pollen in strata where it was used.…
Stable isotope analysis of Late Pleistocene mammalian teeth from western, central, and north-central India and the associated Palaeolithic archaeology of the Indian Subcontinent
The oxygen (δ 18 O) and carbon (δ 13 C) ratios in bioapatite from dental tissues of fossil mammals are well-established proxies for climatic conditions and dietary patterns. In the present study, a total of 24 Late Pleistocene mammalian teeth belonging to Cervid, Bovid, Suid, Hippopotamid, Canid, Equid from Gopnath in Gujarat, ten separate localities from the Narmada Basin, and one in Son River Basin, India were analysed for δ 13 C and δ 18 O val…
Coasting into India? - Assessing lithostratigraphic context of Middle Palaeolithic occupation in Saurashtra Peninsula
The coastal rim of the Indian subcontinent is believed to have played a crucial role in the dispersal of early Modern Humans from Africa into the Indian subcontinent during the Late Pleistocene. However, the paucity of substantial evidence along the Indian coastal margins has made it difficult to assess this hypothesis directly. The peninsular region of Saurashtra in Gujarat (India) is one of the key regions that possesses a vast coastline of ∼16…
Early human foraging paleoecology in the highlands of Potosí, Bolivia
For centuries the Cerro Rico of Potosí in the South American Andes has been known as the richest silver mine in the world but also as a notoriously challenging place for human habitation due to its extreme elevation. Nevertheless, little is known about the temporal depth and socioecological dynamics associated with the initial occupation of this region. In this paper, we present an archaeological and paleoecological assessment of the earliest hum…
Human activities, early farming and natural environment in the north-western Kanto Plain (Central Japan) during the Final Jomon–Early Kofun period (990 cal BCE–330 cal CE) inferred from palynological …
The emergence, spread and intensification of agriculture, the impact of early agriculture on the natural environment and the possible role of climate on subsistence economies and population dynamics are important research questions in Japanese geoarchaeology. New directly dated archaeobotanical records of the Middle Yayoi (390–200 cal BCE, 1σ error) and Early Kofun (210–330 cal CE) periods from the Ikegami archaeological site and a 1300-year paly…
Caring for preservation - coring for prehistoric life. Revisiting 15 000 years of sedimentation at the Ageröd peatland, Southern Sweden
The Rönneholm-Ageröd peatland complex, situated in central Scania, contains numerous archaeological sites discovered since the 19th century. Two sediment sequences were obtained at the Ageröd peatland to compare the sediment stratigraphy with a previous sequence obtained in 1960 to detect any modern-day changes and to establish the Holocene environmental development in the area. To clarify the timing of ceased peat-cutting activities, dendrochron…
An open letter to evolutionary and human sciences; Statistics has moved on and so should we. A proposal for more transparent research, and some notes on p < 0.003
Statistical reasoning and inference have become integral to how we reach conclusions as scientists. Few papers in evolutionary, biological, and human sciences, are published at present without at least one report of a p -value, or the term “statistically significant”. As a product of this, discoveries and results often hinge on p -values below the infamous threshold of 0.05. This is due to how well ingrained these notions are in many of our highe…
Assessing the applicability of protein residues in combination with lipid residues to reconstruct Indus foodways from Gujarat
When extracted and analysed in tandem, proteomics and lipid residue analysis can provide high resolution identification of ancient foodstuff. Here, we apply lipid residue and shotgun proteomic analyses to 11 ceramic vessel sherds from the Gujarat, India-based Indus Valley Civilization site of Kotada Bhadli. Our results demonstrate variable success. Lipids were successfully recovered from each ceramic vessel and suggest the presence of dairy and m…
Sulfur isotope analysis of collagen
Sulfur isotopes ( δ 3 4 S values) have significant potential for addressing archaeological, paleontological, and paleoecological research questions. Studies of ancient materials rely on the assumption that δ 3 4 S values have been minimally altered by diagenesis , yet meaningful analyses of sulfur isotope preservation/alteration are rare. This paper has 3 objectives: (1) to review and revise previous approaches to evaluating sulfur isotope altera…
Reconsidering the Vaddas of Sri Lanka
This paper aims to re-examine key scholarly works pertaining to the Sri Lankan Vadda, an indigenous community of the island, in order to explore extant research of the said community. Despite considerable progress, lingering misunderstandings and uncertainties persist regarding their origins, connections to prehistoric populations, affiliations with contemporary ethnic groups, and the interrelationships among different Vadda communities across th…
Early Pleistocene freshwater fish from Dursunlu (Ilgın Basin, south-western Türkiye)
Dursunlu, located in the Ilgın Basin (south-western Türkiye), represents one of the most prolific sites to explore early human occupations in Anatolia. This paper describes the lacustrine fish assemblage from this site during the Early Pleistocene (Günz glaciation). The fish community comprised two families, namely Cyprinidae and Cobitidae. Within the cyprinids, the genera had a wide range of ecological diversity. The most frequently observed gen…
Geoarchaeological perspective on Mesolithic and Neolithic settlement pattern and transition in the Ganga Plain, India
The Ganga River Basin is one of the most densely populated regions in the world, supporting millions of people since the early Holocene, as evidenced by archaeological evidence of early agricultural practices. Over the past two decades, geological, archaeological and palaeobotanical research has provided important insights into human-environment interactions. However, this evidence is diverse and often fragmented, confined within individual disci…