Quaternary Environments and Humans最新文献

{"title":"Vegetation history during the last 28,000 years in Tamba Highland, Kyoto, Japan based on multi-analyses of sediment from the Jaga-ike mire","authors":"Hikaru Takahara ,&nbsp;Tomoko Manabe ,&nbsp;Naoko Sasaki ,&nbsp;Ayaka Watanabe","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100095","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100095","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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 <em>Abies, Tsuga, Picea</em>, and <em>Pinus</em> as well as <em>Betula</em> trees. The genus <em>Picea</em> included <em>Picea jezoensis</em> var. <em>hondoensis</em> based on macrofossil analysis. Pinaceous conifer forests were most developed between 26,000 and 20,000 cal BP. Between 20,000 and 15,000 cal BP, the population of deciduous broad-leaved trees gradually increased. During the Late Glacial period, from 15,000 to 12,000 cal BP, broad-leaved forests mainly comprising <em>Fagus crenata</em>, deciduous <em>Quercus,</em> and <em>Carpinus/Ostrya</em> species developed. Between 10,000 and 7000 cal BP, forests dominated by <em>Castanea crenata</em> expanded likely in response to frequent fire events. During this period, the forests included <em>Carpinus, Fagus japonica, Q.</em> subgen. <em>Lepidobalanus, and Cryptomeria japonica</em>. Immediately after 7000 cal BP, <em>Quercus dentata,</em> which is tolerant to fire, temporarily increased in deciduous forests in relation to severe fire events. Between 7000 and 6000 cal BP, <em>Cryptomeria japonica</em> mixed with deciduous broad-leaved trees such as <em>Carpinus/Ostrya</em> and <em>Q</em>. subgen. <em>Lepidobalanus</em>. After 6000 cal BP, <em>C. japonica</em> formed forests together with cool temperate deciduous broad-leaved forests such as <em>F. crenata</em> and warm temperate evergreen broad-leaved forests mainly composed of evergreen <em>Quercus</em> formed adjacent to them. The vegetation records at the Jaga-ike mire show intermediate characteristics between the development of <em>C. japonica</em> on the Sea of Japan side caused by the Tsushima Warm Current and the development of evergreen broad-leaved forests on the Pacific side influenced by the Kuroshio Warm Current.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"4 1","pages":"Article 100095"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145948040","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":"Initial Upper Palaeolithic of the Iranian Plateau; Sorheh Rockshelter: A techno-typological perspective","authors":"Elham Ghasidian","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100099","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100099","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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 Iran confirms its high potential in answering important questions regarding late Pleistocene hominins and the diversity of culture. One of these questions is the transition from Middle to Upper Palaeolithic and the generation of new lithic techno-complexes and cultural units. The newly discovered site of Sorheh Rockshelter, located on the southern piedmonts of the Alborz Mountains at the northern Iranian Plateau, revealed a novel behavioural trait known as the Initial Upper Palaeolithic techno-complex. Sorheh Rockshelter, located at a high elevation of 1903 m asl., is one in a complex of 6 caves and rockshelters in the region. During two seasons of excavation in 2019 and 2022, numerous lithics and fauna have been recovered, indicating a single cultural occupation in a long chronological frame of ∼50–35 ka cal. BP. Despite Sorheh Initial Upper Palaeolithic shares techno-typological features with known counterparts in the Levant, Eastern Europe and East Asia, it reveals strong local characteristics. These characteristics indicate diversity of hominin behaviours during the late Pleistocene. The temporal window exposed in Sorheh suggests that the Initial Upper Palaeolithic occupation in this site lasted a long time, hypothesising this part of the Iranian Plateau as a potential core area for this techno-complex. Meanwhile, regardless of this hypothesis, Sorheh fills the gap in the diffusion of the Initial Upper Palaeolithic towards Central and East Asia, uncovers the important role of this plateau in the cultural evolution of our lineage and its expansion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"4 1","pages":"Article 100099"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147398417","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":"Language contacts in the development of ancient Egyptian: An overview","authors":"Marwan Kilani ,&nbsp;Joanne Clarke ,&nbsp;Nicholas Brooks","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100097","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100097","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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 the unification of Egypt at the end of that period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"4 1","pages":"Article 100097"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147398371","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":"Modern human origins: Do we know what we're looking for?","authors":"John D. Speth","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100102","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100102","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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\" and \"modern\" is arbitrary. The symbolic approach is better suited to the task but problematic nonetheless, because archaeologists focus only on objects or practices that had no evident utilitarian function. That assumption flies in the face of ethnographic reality. Traditional Indigenous peoples see symbolic meanings in almost everything in their world, whether utilitarian or not, mundane or special, animate or inanimate, natural or supernatural. The hearth, smoke, cardinal directions, colors, plants, animals, water, wind, clouds, rain, thunder, lightning, minerals, even toolstone, all are viewed as sentient, volitional spirit-beings with human-like temperaments, needs, and expectations. Importantly, this worldview introduces spiritually motivated behaviors and constraints that have real world causal agency. Why should we assume that the first time a few peoples scattered across Eurasia or Africa decided to wear ornaments or paint cave walls conveniently coincided with the first time human beings possessed the cognitive capacity for symbolic behavior? A deeply spiritual worldview could have emerged millennia earlier, but saw its expression in other domains of material culture or phenomena, including those that archaeologists routinely dismiss as utterly mundane and utilitarian. I suggest that technological complexity cannot resolve the modernity issue, and that the current focus on symbolism expressed exclusively in non-utilitarian objects and practices is far too narrow and fails to recognize the pervasive nature of spiritualism in traditional societies. I offer what I believe is a more anthropologically sound research paradigm for exploring the origins of modern human behavior, and some admittedly very preliminary suggestions for a way forward.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"4 1","pages":"Article 100102"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147398370","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":"Language, ecology and climate change: First principles and worldwide perspectives","authors":"Martine Robbeets ,&nbsp;Paul Heggarty","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100096","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100096","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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 ecology, and in particular to climate <em>change</em>, over the last 10,000 years, drawing examples from various language families worldwide. We investigate how language distributions can pattern by ecology, how climate change can thus drive language mobility, and look into cases where languages have even been argued to show certain characteristics associated with the ecologies in which they are (or were) spoken. We summarize quantitative, qualitative and multi-disciplinary methodology that can help us explore this ecology-language interface, and introduce various overarching models that have been proposed for ecology-language relationships at the global scale. What emerges from these analyses and worldwide case-studies is that relationships between climate/ecology and language are essentially indirect, but nonetheless far-reaching, mediated as they are through crucial aspects of human culture and social structures, not least subsistence modes. And through time, over the human trajectory from Holocene into the emerging Anthropocene, the relationship largely inverts, shifting from environmental determinism upon humans and their languages towards increasing anthropogenic impacts on ecology and language dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"4 1","pages":"Article 100096"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147538410","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":"The linguistic (pre)history on the eastern Tibetan Plateau: A multidisciplinary approach of archaeology, palaeoclimate and linguistics","authors":"Bingcong Deng ,&nbsp;Jade d’Alpoim Guedes","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100100","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100100","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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 of different populations in prehistoric eastern Tibetan Plateau, combining data from archaeology and linguistics in the setting of climatic environment of the Holocene. We observe diversification in both archaeological and linguistic evidence following the 4.2 kya event, suggesting a potential human response to the climate change. Our results also illustrate acceptance and resistance of the populations on the Tibetan Plateau to different degrees in terms of agriculturalist economy and diversification of subsistence strategies in order to avoid risks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"4 1","pages":"Article 100100"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147398416","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":"Quaternary research in South Asia: Exploring human-environment interactions","authors":"Kalyan Sekhar Chakraborty,&nbsp;Sourav Mukhopadhyay,&nbsp;Deepak Kumar Jha,&nbsp;Patrick Roberts","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100098","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100098","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"4 1","pages":"Article 100098"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147538405","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":"The Khovaling Loess Plateau as a window into Early Paleolithic human–environment interactions in Central Asia","authors":"Aljasil Chirakkal ,&nbsp;Anton Anoikin ,&nbsp;Redzhep Kurbanov ,&nbsp;Petr Sosin ,&nbsp;David K. Wright","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100101","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2026.100101","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>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 carbon isotopes, and archaeological data from multiple localities of the Khovaling Loess Plateau on understanding ecological and anthropogenic signals spanning the Early Paleolithic. Our combined geochemical and archaeological data reveal repeated fire use, vegetation modification, and strategic occupation of ecotonal river valley environments by early humans dating back more than 500 ka. Notably, variations in lipid biomarkers and bulk carbon isotopic signatures across the studied loess sites in the vicinity of Obi-Mazar River underscore the spatial complexity of land-use strategies and highlight the ecological flexibility of Early Paleolithic populations. These findings position the Khovaling Loess Plateau as a key region for understanding long-term human adaptability and environmental shaping during early human dispersal through Central Asia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"4 1","pages":"Article 100101"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147449020","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":"Bioarchaeological and Palynological Studies of Graves from Samshvilde: Diachronic Case for Preliminary Reconstruction of Environment, Human Diet, Diseases and Remedies","authors":"David Berikashvili ,&nbsp;Nino Tavartkiladze ,&nbsp;Levan Kvakhadze ,&nbsp;Shota Tvaladze ,&nbsp;Eliso Kvavadze","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100090","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100090","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents the results of multidisciplinary research carried out at the Samshvilde Archaeological Complex (Georgia, South Caucasus) between 2016 and 2024 by a team from the University of Georgia, the Georgian National Museum, and Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. The project aimed to help reconstruction of the aspects of paleoecology, paleodiet, paleopathology, social hierarchy, and medical practices among Late Bronze–Iron Age, Hellenistic, and Medieval communities through the analysis of Samshvilde graves, despite the limited number of burials available. Eight graves spanning different periods were examined using a range of methodological approaches. Palynological analyses revealed widespread helminthic and gastrointestinal infections, which appear to have been treated with traditional remedies, including deer antler and volcanic ash residues identified in the graves. Archaeological evidence indicates a possible spatial shift in mortuary practices: graves from the Late Bronze–Iron Age and Hellenistic periods were concentrated near the Samshvilde citadel, whereas Medieval interments were mainly located in the eastern sector of the city. This transition may reflect demographic, economic fluctuations and broader sociopolitical changes. Bioarchaeological data further suggest that most individuals from the Medieval graves suffered violent deaths, consistent with the historical record of Seljuk, Mongol, and Iranian incursions in the region during the High and Late Middle Ages.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 4","pages":"Article 100090"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145418208","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":"High-precision dating of Abrigo de La Boja (Murcia, Spain): Implications for the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition and the culture-stratigraphy of Upper Pleistocene Iberia","authors":"João Zilhão ,&nbsp;Lucas Ageby ,&nbsp;Ernestina Badal ,&nbsp;Luís Gomes ,&nbsp;Ignacio Martín-Lerma ,&nbsp;Peter Steier ,&nbsp;Eva Maria Wild ,&nbsp;Diego E. Angelucci ,&nbsp;Valentin Villaverde ,&nbsp;Josefina Zapata","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100085","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100085","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>La Boja is a rock-shelter located in Murcia (Spain) whose <em>c.</em>7 m infilling spans the last 50,000 years of the Pleistocene. Though punctuated by a few episodes of stasis or erosion, sediment accumulation proceeded at a regular rate, while human occupation was intermittent and light. This pattern allowed for the preservation of 31 well-separated Occupation Horizons whose stratigraphic integrity is demonstrated by stone tool refitting, the pristine preservation of hearths and earth ovens, and the age-depth consistency of dating results. Verification of these criteria warranted Bayesian modelling of the sequence, which was carried out under OxCal and delivered a high-resolution chronostratigraphy based on 56 age measurements obtained by OSL and radiocarbon. Our main conclusions are as follows: substantial human use of south-east Spain’s arid interior during MIS 2 and MIS 3 was restricted to interstadials; during stadials, visits were fleeting and left behind an exceedingly scant record (except perhaps in the Solutrean, when harsh conditions prevailed globally but short-lived pulses of increased humidity occurred locally); the Mousterian’s basal metre, featuring Levallois reduction and Soyons points, formed through the 50–55 ka (thousands of years ago) interval; the region’s earliest Upper Palaeolithic is the Evolved Aurignacian, which replaced the Middle Palaeolithic during the 37.1–37.4 ka interval (thereby supporting that, in southern and western Iberia, Neandertals persisted for longer than elsewhere in Eurasia); the transition to the Gravettian occurred within the 34–35 ka interval and there is no evidence that it was demic rather than simply technological; the existence of a distinct Lower Solutrean phase spanning the 25.0–25.5 ka interval is confirmed; in the region, the 20–22 ka slot is occupied by the Solutreo-gravettian, which implies that claims for the French Badegoulian to have extended as far south as the Spanish Levant cannot be supported.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 4","pages":"Article 100085"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145519999","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}