Quaternary Environments and Humans最新文献

{"title":"The effect of the 8.2 ka cold event on Fennoscandian hunter-gatherer metapopulation inferred from climatic, environmental, and archaeological signals","authors":"Mikael A. Manninen ,&nbsp;Roope O. Kaaronen ,&nbsp;Jussi T. Eronen ,&nbsp;Miikka Tallavaara","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100065","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100065","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The effects of the 8.2 ka cold event in the Fennoscandian Peninsula have been discussed in palaeoclimatological and archaeological studies for more than two decades. Here we present the first overview of human responses to the abrupt 1–3 °C cooling in Fennoscandia. We summarize the results of 27 archaeological studies discussing the effects of the event on Fennoscandian foragers alongside with a survey of climatic and environmental proxy records that show changes during the event in the whole region. We argue that since forager populations, particularly in heterogenous environments like those found at the higher latitudes, were vulnerable to multi-decennial climatic downturns, they probably utilized a variety of strategies known from the archaeological and ethnographic record to mitigate unpredictable environmental variability. We further suggest that the archaeological cases indicate that such strategies were in use and that the use of these strategies, especially when put into effect simultaneously, affected foragers also in areas where the effects of the climate event were less severe. We therefore suggest that the effect of the cold event was felt throughout the forager network and that a model of metapopulation response to the 8.2 ka cold event in Fennoscandia can be presented. The model needs to be further developed and tested in future work.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 2","pages":"Article 100065"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143874053","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"No collapse in sight: enclosures, the mortuary arena and the Big Other in the Trypillia world","authors":"Bisserka Gaydarska ,&nbsp;John Chapman","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100063","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100063","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>It is well known that the Cucuteni-Trypillia (CT) group constitutes an exception to the late 5th – early 4th millennium cal BCE trend of settlement dispersion through its continuation of Neolithic lifeways (settlement nucleation and exuberant material culture) for far longer than most other Balkan and Carpathian groups. This alone makes it hard to fit CT into a grand narrative of 5th millennium cal BCE collapse or even transformation and impossible to link such persistence to palaeo-environmental changes. But, at the same time, no general story of changes can omit the CT group and their deviant trajectories. In this paper, we propose that the CT Big Other was a vital source of continuity and cultural heritage, helping CT to continue for almost two millennia and distributed over 250,000 km². The widespread acceptance of the CT Big Other minimized schismogenesis – the greatest danger to climax Copper Age communities. Our approach is to seek to integrate the internal development of significant planning practices, which reached their apogee in the Trypillia megasites (TMS), with the changing interactions between forest-steppe communities and those living further East and South in the steppe zone. The two advances in archaeological science that allowed the development of these ideas face opposite directions: while new techniques of geophysical investigation focussed on the local, the advances of aDNA forces archaeologists to consider regional and inter-regional aspects of mobility if not migration. The combination of a weakening of Trypillia cohesive community planning and the availability in the form of steppe barrow burial of an attractive alternative to the CT Big Other led to the eventual disappearance of Trypillia lifeways in the early centuries of the 3rd millennium cal BCE.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 2","pages":"Article 100063"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143873942","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sedimentary records from human-made talavs reveal climate risks in semi-arid watersheds of India","authors":"Atreyee Bhattacharya ,&nbsp;S. Sarkar ,&nbsp;J.S. Leonard-Pingel ,&nbsp;A.V. Michelson ,&nbsp;A Anoop ,&nbsp;P.K. Mishra ,&nbsp;S. Chakraborty ,&nbsp;K Bajaj ,&nbsp;U Singh ,&nbsp;V Petryshyn ,&nbsp;R. Ray ,&nbsp;P.D. Sabale ,&nbsp;A Bhattacharya ,&nbsp;M. Kirby ,&nbsp;A. Bazaz","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100061","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100061","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Assessing climate impacts in semi-arid watersheds, which are home to populous semi-arid regions of South Asia, is becoming increasingly critical as these regions emerge as climate hotspots. Century-scale records of climate impacts, preserved in terrestrial sedimentary archives, are some of the only kinds of investigations that can provide the necessary insights into how local climate variations impact these watersheds. Here, we investigate sedimentary records preserved in unique types of human-made water bodies, which are commonly present in arid and semi-arid regions of south Asia. Known as ‘<em>talavs</em>’, human-made water bodies are ubiquitous in south Asia and have been historically constructed by damming seasonal rain-fed distributaries in order to conserve rainwater for the purposes of sustenance and agriculture in water-stressed regions. Integrating a multidisciplinary approach comprising remote sensing, lake geophysics, lithostratigraphic (sedimentological, mineralogical &amp; geochemical measurements) and radiometric dating, we reconstruct century-scale records of landscape erosion &amp; resultant run-off and in water-stressed catchments in one of the most climatologically threatened watersheds of western India, namely the Bhima watershed. Our reconstructions show that land erosion and subsequent sediment deposition in <em>talavs</em> are tied to the regional expressions of the Indian summer monsoon (ISM). We also find that while run-off is sensitive to divisional expressions of hydroclimate variability (associated with the ISM), the intensity of run-off and resultant erosion is not a simple function of rainfall intensity; in fact, we find that land-surface erodibility is impacted by land-use patterns and incidence of prior climate events (e.g. flooding) and that these compunded effects are more prominent in drier catchments (which also experience more extreme climate events) than in the wetter parts of the watersheds. Based on our investigation, we conclude that drier catchments of watersheds in semi-arid regions are at an elevated risk of direct climate impacts compared to the wetter catchments in the same watershed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 2","pages":"Article 100061"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143864225","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mid- to northern latitude hunting economies: Unpredictable returns, nutritional constraints, \"meat\" caching, and archaeological conundrums","authors":"John D. Speth","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100062","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100062","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mid- to northern latitude hunting peoples could not consume more than ∼300 g of protein per day (∼1200 kcal). Exceeding that limit could lead within a week or two to a debilitating, even lethal condition known as \"rabbit starvation.\" The remaining energy deficit had to be filled using non-protein sources, mostly animal fat. To minimize the risk of rabbit starvation, hunting peoples typically consumed diets in which protein remained well below 300 g and fat contributed two-thirds to three-quarters of total calories. Wild ungulate muscle has almost no <em>intramuscular</em> fat, and <em>extramuscular</em> fat is limited and often depleted seasonally. Thus, whenever possible, hunters targeted the fattest animals, took primarily the fattiest body parts, discarded much of the lean muscle (especially thighs and shoulders), and often killed multiple animals each day just to get enough fat. North American communal bison drives, despite their obvious success at killing dozens to hundreds of animals, were often nutritional failures, with many, at times most, of the carcasses simply left to rot, largely or entirely untouched. If the day's yield of meat and especially fat exceeded needs, foragers stored the surplus by: (1) feasting and putting on body fat; (2) stashing reserves in or near camp; (3) transporting surpluses from camp to camp as \"mobile\" stores; and (4) creating off-site caches which were often not utilized until months after they were created. The paper concludes by exploring a wide range of counterintuitive archaeological implications drawn from these observations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 1","pages":"Article 100062"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143594079","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Lake of Olympia: Sedimentary evidence of a mid- to late Holocene lake environment in the vicinity of ancient Olympia (western Peloponnese, Greece)","authors":"Lena Slabon ,&nbsp;Lea Obrocki ,&nbsp;Sarah Bäumler ,&nbsp;Birgitta Eder ,&nbsp;Peter Fischer ,&nbsp;Hans-Joachim Gehrke ,&nbsp;Erophili-Iris Kolia ,&nbsp;Franziska Lang ,&nbsp;Georg Pantelidis ,&nbsp;Oliver Pilz ,&nbsp;Dennis Wilken ,&nbsp;Timo Willershäuser ,&nbsp;Andreas Vött","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100060","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100060","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Olympia (western Peloponnese, Greece) is known as venue for the Panhellenic Games in ancient times. The wider region is located within a complex tectonic setting and was affected by crustal uplift up to 30 m since the mid-Holocene.</div><div>Our study consists of a comprehensive investigation of the Basin of Makrisia and the adjacent Basin of Ladiko in the vicinity of ancient Olympia aiming to reconstruct the Holocene landscape development. In addition to Direct Push measurements, we present stratigraphic data of 15 sediment cores. Multi-proxy analyses of selected sediment cores, including sedimentological, geochemical and ostracod studies, allow to detect and interpret alterations in the depositional processes.</div><div>We found widespread fine-grained, low-energy sediments, implying distinct phases of limnic conditions. Radiocarbon dating indicate that this lake, the so-called Lake of Olympia, persisted from the 8th millennium BC at least until the 6th century AD, covering the main period of the cult site. Ancient Olympia was then located at the direct lake shore. The lake finally disappeared during the 13th/14th century, when the water level of the Alpheios River abruptly dropped by several meters to its present position, forming the Olympia Terrace.</div><div>We identified different ecological lake phases ranging from freshwater to eutrophic conditions. During ancient times, the water quality in front of Olympia was characterized by strong, possibly man-made eutrophication. We reconstructed lake level changes since the 1st millennium BC, noting a continuous rise until around 600 AD followed by abrupt drops in the 13th/14th century AD. In ancient times, the water depth around Olympia was deepest south of the Southern Hall.</div><div>The presence of a lake has significant consequences for the discharge regime and sediment transport of the Alpheios River and its tributaries. Also, the Lake of Olympia has relevant historical, archaeological, and geomorphological implications and raises several unsolved questions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 1","pages":"Article 100060"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143519976","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lithological and geochemical characterization of ‘adinole’ artefacts from cave deposits in southwest Wales: A material of choice during the late Middle to Upper Palaeolithic","authors":"Richard Bevins ,&nbsp;Elizabeth A. Walker ,&nbsp;Nick Pearce ,&nbsp;Duncan Pirrie ,&nbsp;Rob Ixer ,&nbsp;Ian Saunders ,&nbsp;Matthew Power","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100058","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100058","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Twenty-three artefacts previously identified as being manufactured from adinole, a fine-grained metasomatic rock, from late Middle to Upper Palaeolithic cave sites in southwest Wales have been re-examined in terms of their petrology and geochemistry. Standard petrography has been combined with automated SEM-EDS analysis for a single artefact to determine the mineralogy and textures of that artefact, while portable XRF and μXRF have been combined to establish the geochemical characteristics of all twenty-three artefacts analysed. These investigations have shown that the artefacts were manufactured from rhyolite rather than adinole, a misidentification that has been in the literature for over 100 years. Some artefacts appear to cluster on geochemical plots, such as a group of eight artefacts from Hoyle’s Mouth Cave which share petrological characteristics and appear to have come from a common source. In other cases, however, certain artefacts with similar chemistries have dissimilar petrological characteristics and are not from a common source. This highlights the need to consider both petrological and geochemical characteristics when classifying rhyolitic artefacts. The artefacts studied show that this spotted variety of rhyolite was a preferred source of raw material throughout the late Middle and Upper Palaeolithic, despite having no obvious physical or practical advantages. Identifying rhyolite rather than adinole as the raw material used in the manufacture of the studied artefacts negates the need to consider long distance transport of either raw materials or finished artefacts. It strongly suggests that people in southwest Wales, where raw materials were scarce, were using materials that were local to them. Further, there is evidence that people were effectively planning for future use or reuse of artefacts, involving curation of tools. The next phase of work will use the lithological characteristics identified here to explore potential sources for the raw material used in the manufacture of these artefacts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 1","pages":"Article 100058"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143348468","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Understanding the Microlithic technology in the Lower Ganga Basin, Eastern India: A chronological and ecological perspective","authors":"Sourav Mukhopadhyay ,&nbsp;Antara Gupta ,&nbsp;Pankaj Kumar ,&nbsp;Prabhin Sukumaran ,&nbsp;Panduranga D. Sabale","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100059","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100059","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The geographical and ecological factors influencing the spread of microlithic technologies are a pivotal focus of prehistoric research in South Asia. This study examines two microlithic sites, Barakar and Susunia, located in the Lower Ganga Basin (LGB) of Eastern India, and presents new radiocarbon dating results from Susunia, providing an absolute chronology for the site. Preliminary analyses reveal that these sites, characterized by microlithic assemblages, date back approximately 17,000–12,000 years BP, corresponding to the Late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2. The period of human occupation aligns with climatic shifts marked by the dominance of the Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) and humid conditions in the region. While the two sites share core-flake-based and blade production techniques, regional divergences in lithic raw material usage are evident. Notably, findings from Susunia, including a grinding/hammer stone, shell bead, and microlithic tools, provide insights into the community’s cultural practices, subsistence strategies, and interactions with their environment and neighboring groups. These results underscore the technological and social dynamics of microlithic adaptations in the LGB. Despite these contributions, further comprehensive fieldwork and excavation are essential to deepen our understanding of the evolutionary trajectory of microlithic technologies and societal transformations in the region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 1","pages":"Article 100059"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143394428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Application of lipid biomarkers in deciphering quaternary human evolution in the Indian subcontinent: An integrative review","authors":"Diptimayee Behera ,&nbsp;Charusmita Gadekar","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100057","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100057","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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 lipid analysis, with a specific emphasis on enhanced analytical tools and approaches to data acquisition and interpretation, have provided an intuitive paradigm for comprehending various archaeological investigations. Concise documentation is provided on the process of establishing protocols for extracting and isolating lipid biomarkers, as well as the instrumental developments that enable the detection, identification, and quantification of these biomarkers. The utilization of compound groups such as fatty acids, alcohols and triacylglycerides (TAGs) for dietary reconstruction and subsistence transition studies is explored. Molecular markers including <em>n-</em>alkanes, lignins, terpenoids, and the related parametric ratios have also been discussed, offering an elaborate understanding of vegetation shift, thereby suggesting environmental and climatic change. An overview of relevant studies conducted within the Indian subcontinent and worldwide underscores the application of suggested lipid markers and subsequent technological advancements in archaeological contexts. The work highlights the paucity of studies within the Indian subcontinent, underlining the imperative for more extensive research to provide profound insights and address lingering questions surrounding human history.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 1","pages":"Article 100057"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143140493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Revisiting the Lahchura pebble tool-complex in Uttar Pradesh, India: Technological insights and analysis","authors":"Jose Tom Rapheal ,&nbsp;Pratik Pandey ,&nbsp;Satyam Bharti ,&nbsp;Manish Kumar Rai","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2024.100056","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2024.100056","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The prehistoric site of Lahchura, located at the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, India has yielded a distinctive assemblage of pebble cores that offers valuable insights into post-Acheulean stone tool technology. This study analyses 134 pebble cores from a collection of 345 artefacts to understand the reduction sequences, flaking strategies, and technological trends. The remaining artefacts were examined to assess the composition and overall nature of the assemblage. In addition to metrical analysis, the study also focused on the qualitative features of the cores, revealing various strategies used to remove flakes. The pebble cores, predominantly made of quartzite and chert, exhibit unifacial flaking patterns, with most flakes removed from cortical platforms. Some cores show evidence of parallel end-flake removal, suggesting a technological shift toward end flake detachment, potentially serving as a precursor to microblade technology. The analysis reveals a lack of morphological shaping and symmetry in the cores, with flake scars indicating the removal of flakes primarily in the size range of 1–5 cm. Notably, differences in flaking techniques based on raw materials highlight both continuity in technological traits and possible innovations. The findings suggest that these cores reflect an adaptive strategy driven by the availability of local resources and the technological knowledge of hominin groups. Comparisons with similar artifacts from the Indian subcontinent and Southern China further underscore the regional and temporal significance of Lahchura's assemblage.This study proposes that the Lahchura pebble cores represent a possible episode in the stone tool technology, between Acheulean and microblade traditions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 1","pages":"Article 100056"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143140495","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The geoarchaeology, chronology and environment of Lusakert-1, a Late Middle Palaeolithic rockshelter (Kotayk Province, Armenia)","authors":"Keith N. Wilkinson ,&nbsp;Ethel Allué ,&nbsp;Simon J. Armitage ,&nbsp;Adam van Arsdale ,&nbsp;Guy Bar-Oz ,&nbsp;Alex Brittingham ,&nbsp;Boris Gasparyan ,&nbsp;Jayson Gill ,&nbsp;Philip Glauberman ,&nbsp;Thomas F.G. Higham ,&nbsp;Ellery Frahm ,&nbsp;Tanner Kovach ,&nbsp;Vasilija Lukich ,&nbsp;Carolina Mallol ,&nbsp;Yannick Raczynski-Henk ,&nbsp;Iván Rey Rodríguez ,&nbsp;Jennifer E. Sherriff ,&nbsp;Aayush Srivastava ,&nbsp;Lior Weissbrod ,&nbsp;Reuven Yeshurun ,&nbsp;Daniel S. Adler","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2024.100054","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2024.100054","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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 artefacts and human-modified bone. Deposits inside the rockshelter interdigitate with alluvial sediments deposited in a now-abandoned meander of the river Hrazdan demonstrating that occupation took place at the floodplain edge. Artefacts are typologically Middle Palaeolithic, and based on refits and inferences made from micromorphological and lithostratigraphical observation, are preserved in a near <em>in situ</em> state in the rockshelter interior. Artefacts recovered from alluvial strata on the rockshelter exterior are, however, in a secondary context. In addition to stone tool production and use, and the laying of fires, the butchery of wild goat and wild ass is also documented. These activities likely took place seasonally given that evidence of the use of the site by owls - raptors that avoid humans - is found through much of the rockshelter stratigraphy. Radiocarbon and luminescence dating indicate that the rockshelter sequence accumulated in the 65–34 ka interval, i.e. during Marine Isotope Stage 3. Indeed, micromorphological and stable isotopes of <em>n</em>-alkanes demonstrate changes between the warm-humid and cool-dry climates that characterise MIS 3 in the region. Nevertheless, stable isotope data, vertebrate remains, and wood charcoal suggest that grassland vegetation dominated throughout, albeit that arboreal vegetation is associated with deposits accumulating during humid phases. LKT-1 offers a unique and detailed perspective on hominin behaviour and palaeoenvironments in the Armenian Highlands prior to the Upper Palaeolithic and serves as a valuable comparison to the growing Middle Palaeolithic record of the broader region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 1","pages":"Article 100054"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-12-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143140497","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}