Cold and arid climates experienced by Central European hunter-gatherers at Stránská skála IV during the Last Glacial Maximum

Abstract

Several studies have argued that human presence in Central Europe during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) may have been restricted to brief periods of climate warming. In particular, Greenland Interstadial-2 (GI-2, c.23,300–22,800 BP), a brief warm event recorded in Greenland ice-core stratigraphy, has been associated with human activity at Central European sites such as Kastelhöhle-Nord and Y-Höhle (Switzerland), and Kammern-Grubgraben (Austria). The Epigravettian open air site of Stránská skála IV, a specialized horse hunting site located in Moravia (Czech Republic), purportedly provides further evidence in support of this hypothesis. However, published radiocarbon dates from Stránská skála IV have age ranges too broad for evaluating the relationship between the chronology of occupation and Greenland ice core stratigraphy events, and low pollen abundance at the site means pollen analysis is an uncertain indicator of climatic conditions. Through a new program of radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analysis of the hunted horse remains from Stránská skála IV, we refine the chronology of the site and provide new insights into environmental conditions during human occupation. Bayesian modelling of seven new ultra-filtered AMS dates moves the timing of site occupation back from 22.8 to 21.1 ka cal. BP to 24.1–23.0 ka cal. BP, indicating that site use occurred prior to GI-2. Stable carbon, nitrogen and sulfur bone collagen isotope results suggest that conditions were cool and arid with an open landscape. Tooth enamel oxygen isotope data indicate mean annual air temperatures of 1.2°C (±3.5°C), consistent with climate-modelled temperature estimates for the region during the LGM. Together these data point to human occupation of the site during pronounced cold conditions characterized by temperatures ∼8.5°C below the present-day average. Our results demonstrate that human presence in central Europe during the LGM was not confined to brief warm events, adding to a growing body of evidence that early humans could tolerate more extreme climate conditions than previously thought. Perhaps, at certain times in prehistory climate played a less deterministic role in human distribution than is often assumed.