Darko Stojanovski , Gabriele L.F. Berruti , Marta Arzarello , Sarah A. Lacy , Trajche Nacev , Aleksandar Danev
{"title":"Technology and taphonomy of the Middle Paleolithic assemblage from the Uzun Mera site in Macedonia","authors":"Darko Stojanovski , Gabriele L.F. Berruti , Marta Arzarello , Sarah A. Lacy , Trajche Nacev , Aleksandar Danev","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100069","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100069","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The open-air site of Uzun Mera in eastern North Macedonia provides new insights into Middle Paleolithic Neanderthal behaviour and site formation processes in the understudied Balkan Peninsula. Discovered in 2017, the site spans over 1.5 km² and contains lithic artefacts affected by both cultural and post-depositional processes. Technological analysis of 33 selected artefacts reveals a Middle Paleolithic industry featuring opportunistic, Levallois, and Discoid knapping methods, primarily using locally available jasper and flint. Taphonomic investigation identified two distinct alteration phases: mechanical modifications (edge crumbling, polishing, rounding) from trampling and fluvial transport, followed by chemical patination during burial in alluvial sediments. The post-depositional alteration sequence on the artefacts tells a story of a complex and dynamic past, during which geological processes impacted the primary location of the site and displaced the lithic artefacts to their current location in the alluvial plain. This study enhances understanding of Central Balkan Paleolithic human-environment interactions while highlighting the challenges of interpreting open-air sites with complex formation histories.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 2","pages":"Article 100069"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143928640","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}
Mark Hudson , Junzo Uchiyama , Claudia Zancan , Katarina Šukelj , Renata Cabral Bernabé , Rasmus G. Bjørn , Ilona R. Bausch , Irene M. Muñoz Fernández
{"title":"Maritime networks as a vector for early farming/language dispersals: A comparative review","authors":"Mark Hudson , Junzo Uchiyama , Claudia Zancan , Katarina Šukelj , Renata Cabral Bernabé , Rasmus G. Bjørn , Ilona R. Bausch , Irene M. Muñoz Fernández","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100066","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100066","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Maritime networks have been proposed as a mechanism for early agricultural and, by extension, language dispersals in several coastal and island regions. In Island Southeast Asia, such networks have sometimes been discussed as an alternative to the farming/language dispersal hypothesis. However, the relationships between Neolithic maritime networks and maritime economies are poorly known. Here, we summarise published information for three regions where Neolithic maritime networks are thought to have been associated with language dispersals (whether hypothetical or directly attested): the Mediterranean, Island Southeast Asia and Japan. We conclude that while maritime networks played an important role in the Neolithic dispersals considered here, maritime trade and resources did not necessarily represent alternative or opposing economic strategies to agriculture. It was only from the Bronze Age that long-distance trade integrated maritime exchange and resources into a broader economic system. Our review illustrates the complex relations between subsistence, technology and mobility in prehistoric maritime networks and the paper concludes with suggestions for future research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 2","pages":"Article 100066"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143907589","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}
Rick J. Schulting , Pavel E. Tarasov , Andrzej W. Weber
{"title":"The great divide? Differences in environmental and hunter-gatherer responses to the 8.2 ka BP event between northwestern and northeastern Eurasia","authors":"Rick J. Schulting , Pavel E. Tarasov , Andrzej W. Weber","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100067","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100067","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this contribution we provide an overview of the potential impacts of the 8.2 ka BP cooling event on hunter-gatherer societies in northwestern Europe and northern/eastern Eurasia. There seems to be a division between the two parts of the continent, with Atlantic Europe generally seeing a stronger climatic and environmental impact compared to continental Eurasia. This plausibly relates to the greater effects on oceanic weather patterns, particularly those of the North Atlantic. The palaeoenvironmental record is more limited for the Pacific coast of northeast Asia, but the evidence to date does not suggest as strong an impact there. We then focus on a case study of the hunter-gatherers of Cis-Baikal in southern Siberia. While the archaeological record for the period pre-8200 cal BP is patchy, we find no clear evidence for any impact on the region’s hunter-gatherer communities. Major visible changes occur only with the appearance of the Kitoi culture from ca. 7600 cal BP, which sees the introduction of pottery, the bow and arrow, and large cemeteries. This appears to be an internal sociotechnological development unrelated to any abrupt changes in the regional climate and environment at this time.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 2","pages":"Article 100067"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143917470","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}
Mikael A. Manninen , Roope O. Kaaronen , Jussi T. Eronen , Miikka Tallavaara
{"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 , Roope O. Kaaronen , Jussi T. Eronen , 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}
Lieveke van Vugt , Erika Gobet , Jacqueline F.N. van Leeuwen , Kathrin Ganz , Tryfon Giagkoulis , Sönke Szidat , Hendrik Vogel , César Morales-Molino , Amy Bogaard , Kostas Kotsakis , Albert Hafner , Willy Tinner
{"title":"A forest on the edge: Causes of synchronous Early Holocene forest declines in northern Greece and the implications for the introduction of farming to Europe","authors":"Lieveke van Vugt , Erika Gobet , Jacqueline F.N. van Leeuwen , Kathrin Ganz , Tryfon Giagkoulis , Sönke Szidat , Hendrik Vogel , César Morales-Molino , Amy Bogaard , Kostas Kotsakis , Albert Hafner , Willy Tinner","doi":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100064","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qeh.2025.100064","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We present a high-resolution continuous palaeoecological study covering the transition from foraging to farming at Limni Vegoritis, a large lake in western Macedonia, Greece. We show how the pristine mixed deciduous oak woodlands from the Early Holocene were severely affected by a climate anomaly in the Eastern Mediterranean between 8600 and 7800 cal yr BP (6650–5850 cal BCE). A strong reduction in moisture availability pushed the deciduous oak woodlands across a tipping point, significantly reducing their abundance. As the woodlands declined, the vegetation became more open, and drought-adapted steppe vegetation and juniper brushlands expanded around the lake. The marked forest disruption at ca. 8600 cal yr BP (6650 cal BCE) provided favourable conditions for the introduction of Neolithic farming to mainland Greece and Europe, as suggested by pollen and spores indicative of arable and pastoral farming. We hypothesise that the temporary climate-driven development of steppe-like grasslands and shrublands advantaged the introduction of drought-adapted crops (e.g. cereals) and domesticated animals from regions in southwest Asia with similar vegetation and climate conditions. After 7800 cal yr BP (5850 cal BCE) when the climate impact on the vegetation declined, pine forests spread, followed by increases of trees like <em>Ostrya</em> and <em>Fagus</em> from ca. 7000 cal yr BP (5050 cal BCE). The combination of climate change with Neolithic land use likely continued to affect vegetation and facilitated such changes in forest composition, promoting more oceanic and/or disturbance-adapted species.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":101053,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Environments and Humans","volume":"3 2","pages":"Article 100064"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143886063","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 , 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 km<sup>2</sup>. 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}
Atreyee Bhattacharya , S. Sarkar , J.S. Leonard-Pingel , A.V. Michelson , A Anoop , P.K. Mishra , S. Chakraborty , K Bajaj , U Singh , V Petryshyn , R. Ray , P.D. Sabale , A Bhattacharya , M. Kirby , A. Bazaz
{"title":"Sedimentary records from human-made talavs reveal climate risks in semi-arid watersheds of India","authors":"Atreyee Bhattacharya , S. Sarkar , J.S. Leonard-Pingel , A.V. Michelson , A Anoop , P.K. Mishra , S. Chakraborty , K Bajaj , U Singh , V Petryshyn , R. Ray , P.D. Sabale , A Bhattacharya , M. Kirby , 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 & geochemical measurements) and radiometric dating, we reconstruct century-scale records of landscape erosion & 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}
Lena Slabon , Lea Obrocki , Sarah Bäumler , Birgitta Eder , Peter Fischer , Hans-Joachim Gehrke , Erophili-Iris Kolia , Franziska Lang , Georg Pantelidis , Oliver Pilz , Dennis Wilken , Timo Willershäuser , Andreas Vött
{"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 , Lea Obrocki , Sarah Bäumler , Birgitta Eder , Peter Fischer , Hans-Joachim Gehrke , Erophili-Iris Kolia , Franziska Lang , Georg Pantelidis , Oliver Pilz , Dennis Wilken , Timo Willershäuser , 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}
Richard Bevins , Elizabeth A. Walker , Nick Pearce , Duncan Pirrie , Rob Ixer , Ian Saunders , Matthew Power
{"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 , Elizabeth A. Walker , Nick Pearce , Duncan Pirrie , Rob Ixer , Ian Saunders , 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}