Quaternary Science Reviews最新文献

{"title":"The role of lithic technology in shaping mobility and decision-making: The case of Ararat-1 Cave","authors":"David Nora ,&nbsp;Ellery Frahm ,&nbsp;Ioannis A.K. Oikonomou ,&nbsp;Theodoros Karampaglidis ,&nbsp;Boris Gasparyan ,&nbsp;Artur Petrosyan ,&nbsp;Ariel Malinsky Buller","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109524","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109524","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Studies of lithic technological organization have progressed from static typological classifications to analyses of dynamic processes of tool production, use, and discard. These analyses reveal the intricate interplay of human behavior and environmental adaptation. This paper investigates lithic technology, emphasizing the dichotomy of curated and expedient technologies by examining the differential strategies employed in raw material acquisition, tool production, and discard. It also explores how environmental, economic, and mobility factors interplay and shape lithic assemblages. Focusing on Ararat-1 cave, a late Middle Paleolithic site in the Armenian Highlands, we conducted an integrative techno-typological study of 1770 lithic artefacts spanning five stratigraphic units, identifying distinct raw material reduction strategies for obsidian and chert. Obsidian artefacts exhibited a focus on retouching and rejuvenation, indicative of curated technologies associated with high residential mobility, while the chert showed evidence of primary reduction and blank production, reflecting expedient strategies. By integrating module flake analysis and reviewing the Whole Assemblage Behavioral Indicators (WABI) framework, suggesting the addition of smaller debitage, we highlighted dual mobility patterns reflected in the site assemblage. This approach offers a refined understanding of lithic technological systems, providing insights into MIS 3 mobility and site function in the Armenian Highlands.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"366 ","pages":"Article 109524"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144614849","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Updated multi-method estimates of Lake Titicaca's radiocarbon reservoir offset","authors":"Eduardo Queiroz Alves ,&nbsp;Stéphane Guédron ,&nbsp;Christophe Delaere ,&nbsp;Mathieu Boudin ,&nbsp;Alexandre Chevalier ,&nbsp;Tess van den Brande ,&nbsp;Gaia Ligovich ,&nbsp;Rosa Souza ,&nbsp;Peter Eeckhout ,&nbsp;Kita Macario","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109463","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109463","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Inaccurate lake chronologies are often an outcome of unresolved radiocarbon (¹⁴C) reservoir effects. These phenomena may impose considerable challenges to the ¹⁴C dating of lacustrine samples, limiting the accuracy of environmental and archaeological research. In South America, the importance of such studies around the Lake Titicaca basin, which presents a vast biodiversity and a rich archaeological heritage, cannot be overstated. However, the lack of preserved terrestrial organic macrofossils in the region hinders the derivation of age offsets for the lake. Despite a previous attempt to quantify the ¹⁴C reservoir effect associated with Lake Titicaca, the phenomenon requires further investigation. Here, we used a combination of new and published ¹⁴C dates to recalculate the offset using Bayesian approaches, obtaining a value of R = 163 ± 83 ¹⁴C yr for the period between 4000 and 3000 cal BP. Moreover, in the present study we employed a novel approach using mercury peaks as a chrono-tracer across different cores to construct a Bayesian chronological model. This allowed us to derive an R value of 315 ± 33 ¹⁴C yr for the southern basin of the lake at 1590 CE, indicating temporal variation in the radiocarbon reservoir effect. The same approach allowed us to calculate offsets of 166 ± 53 ¹⁴C yr and 335 ± 29 ¹⁴C yr for the shallow and deep parts of the basin, respectively, showing evidence of depth-dependent variation. The methods are thoroughly described and the potential explanations for these values are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"366 ","pages":"Article 109463"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144614848","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Evaluating climatic and anthropogenic drivers of fire activity over four millennia at Eilandvlei, southern Cape coast, South Africa","authors":"Stella G. Mosher ,&nbsp;Mitchell J. Power ,&nbsp;Brian M. Chase ,&nbsp;Lynne J. Quick ,&nbsp;Torsten Haberzettl ,&nbsp;Thomas Kasper ,&nbsp;David R. Braun ,&nbsp;J. Tyler Faith","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109520","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109520","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Fire is a key ecological force in South Africa's highly biodiverse Cape Floristic Region (CFR), yet the extent to which past changes in climate and anthropogenic activities have influenced fire activity over millennial timescales remains poorly understood. Here, we employ a continuous high-resolution (median 2-year/sample) sedimentary charcoal record spanning the last 4200 years to explore linkages between climate, vegetation, fire, and people from a southern Cape coastal lake, Eilandvlei. This record spans notable shifts in climate as well as subsistence and behavioral shifts among human populations living in this ecosystem. Pastoralists are first documented in the CFR ∼2000 years ago and European colonization commences in the mid-1600s CE. Fire activity at Eilandvlei generally decreased over the past four millennia, consistent with records of climate change from the region. This is reflected in the vegetation assemblage at Eilandvlei, which transitions from fynbos towards Afrotemperate forest dominance, in parallel with increased moisture availability and decreased fire activity. Linear regression modeling of the fire record identifies moisture availability as the most significant driver of fire at Eilandvlei over millennial timescales – outweighing all other variables, including proxy evidence for human population densities. The lowest fire activity of the record occurs in the past ∼140 years (since ∼1810 CE) – likely reflecting fire suppression practices enacted by colonial populations. This record suggests that increased moisture availability facilitates a shift in vegetation type and decreases fire activity as fuel becomes too wet to sustain burning. The record also suggests potential links between local-scale fire and global climate modes, including El Niño Southern Oscillation and related changes in ocean-atmosphere dynamics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"366 ","pages":"Article 109520"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144605346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Revisiting the Early Aurignacian in Italy: New insights from Grotta della Cala","authors":"Armando Falcucci ,&nbsp;Keiko Kitagawa ,&nbsp;Luc Doyon ,&nbsp;Laura Tassoni ,&nbsp;Tom Higham ,&nbsp;Clarissa Dominici ,&nbsp;Diego Dreossi ,&nbsp;Jacopo Crezzini ,&nbsp;Matteo Rossini ,&nbsp;Stefano Benazzi ,&nbsp;Ivan Martini ,&nbsp;Francesco Boschin ,&nbsp;Vincenzo Spagnolo ,&nbsp;Adriana Moroni","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109471","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109471","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Grotta della Cala in southern Italy is a key archaeological site spanning from the Middle Paleolithic to the Bronze Age. In the stratigraphic sequence close to the cave entrance, numerous artifacts associated with Aurignacian occupations were uncovered, including both lithic and organic materials. However, earlier interpretations were limited by challenges in dating the Upper Paleolithic layers and a lack of modern analytical methods for characterizing the finds. Recent excavations have refined the site's chronology and further explored the Aurignacian deposit. This study builds on this updated framework, offering an interdisciplinary reassessment that includes technological analyses of lithic assemblages and bone tools, along with a taxonomic examination of the marine shells. Many of these shells were intentionally perforated, suggesting symbolic behaviors linked to coastal resource exploitation. Lithic technology at the site is characterized by the systematic production of miniaturized bladelets from carinated cores, while osseous technology centers on the manufacture of split-based antler points, marking the southernmost occurrence of this tool type in Europe. The integration of new radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating allows us to confidently assign all analyzed sub-layers to the Early Aurignacian, a significant finding, given that no other sites in the region securely postdate the Campanian Ignimbrite (∼40,000 years ago). As such, Grotta della Cala is a crucial site for understanding the lifeways of Aurignacian foraging groups in the aftermath of this super-eruption and during Heinrich Stadial 4. Our comparative analysis of Early Aurignacian sites across Italy provides a clearer understanding of regional variability and continuity between 40,000 and 37,000 years ago, contributing to the broader debate on the biocultural dynamics of the Upper Paleolithic in Europe.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"366 ","pages":"Article 109471"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144597031","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A 150,000-year lacustrine record of the Indo-Australian monsoon from northern Australia","authors":"Michael I. Bird ,&nbsp;Michael Brand ,&nbsp;Rainy Comley ,&nbsp;Xennephone Hadeen ,&nbsp;Zenobia Jacobs ,&nbsp;Cassandra Rowe ,&nbsp;Frédérik Saltré ,&nbsp;Christopher M. Wurster ,&nbsp;Costijn Zwart ,&nbsp;Corey J.A. Bradshaw","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109504","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109504","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Nearly two thirds of the world's population depend on monsoon rainfall, with monsoon failure and extreme precipitation affecting societies for millennia. Monsoon hydroclimate is predicted to change as the climate warms, albeit with uncertain regional trajectories. Multiple glacial-interglacial terrestrial records of east Asian monsoon variability exist, but there are no terrestrial records of equivalent length from the coupled Indo-Australian monsoon at its southern limit — Australia. We present a continuous 150,000-year lacustrine record of monsoon dynamics from the core monsoon region of northern Australia based on the proportion of dryland tree pollen in the total dryland pollen spectra and the hydrogen isotope composition of long chain <em>n</em>-alkanes. We show that rainfall at the site depends strongly on sea level, which changes proximity of the coast to the site by 320 km over the last glacial-interglacial cycle. Long-term trends in rainfall are broadly anti-phased with the east Asian monsoon modulated by coastal proximity. The record also contains multiple, short intervals (∼2 to &lt; 10,000 years) of large changes in tree cover (from 5 to 95 % tree pollen over 3000 years in one instance). Changes in tree cover are frequently but not always, accompanied by synchronous large changes in the other hydroclimate proxies. While these wetter periods cannot be easily ascribed to orbitally induced changes in insolation or coastal proximity, they are correlated with most Heinrich events. This relationship implies that strong asymmetry in inter-hemispheric monsoon rainfall might be one outcome of the current weakening in the strength of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, through a reduction in oceanic heat transfer from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"366 ","pages":"Article 109504"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144580759","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Late Quaternary inundation and desiccation of Megalake Chad traced in dust records from the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean","authors":"Anya J. Crocker ,&nbsp;Christopher W. Kinsley ,&nbsp;Amy M. Jewell ,&nbsp;Paul S. Breeze ,&nbsp;Nicholas A. Drake ,&nbsp;David McGee ,&nbsp;Charles S. Bristow ,&nbsp;Katie Manning ,&nbsp;Claudia Di Biagio ,&nbsp;Paola Formenti ,&nbsp;William R.C. Burton ,&nbsp;Annie L. Murray ,&nbsp;James Barlow ,&nbsp;Matthew J. Cooper ,&nbsp;Chuang Xuan ,&nbsp;Paul A. Wilson","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109503","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109503","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Modern Lake Chad has shrunk in area by around 90 % since the 1960s under the twin pressures of climate change and increasing water demand. During the early to mid Holocene, the Chad basin featured a megalake with an area approximately 100 times larger than its modern remnant. In the mid/late Holocene (approximately 5000 years ago), this megalake dried out leaving behind vast deposits of readily deflated fine-grained sediments that are suggested to contribute ∼25 % of the annual total global atmospheric mineral dust load. Erosion has obliterated much of the evidence of earlier North African humid periods within the Lake Chad basin, limiting our understanding of the relationship between global/regional climatology, local hydrology and dust export. Here, we present new records of thorium-normalized flux estimates of mineral dust and its radiogenic isotope composition deposited at Ocean Drilling Program Site 662, situated downwind of Megalake Chad underneath the North African winter dust plume, in the equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Our records show that sediments of the Megalake Chad basin have a distinct neodymium isotopic signature that can be traced thousands of kilometers downwind from their source when the megalake basin was dry and dust-active, whereas the fingerprint of its input was strongly suppressed at times of high lake levels. Our results show that marine sedimentary archives can preserve uninterrupted proxy records of climate-driven hydrological change on the continents, in this case, a bellwether region of Africa that features the world's most active dust source, the Bodélé Depression.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"366 ","pages":"Article 109503"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144572923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Climate and human forcing of montane vegetation dynamics during the past 15,600 years in the Simmental, Northern Swiss Alps","authors":"Sina C. Aregger ,&nbsp;Lieveke van Vugt ,&nbsp;Erika Gobet ,&nbsp;Petra Zahajská ,&nbsp;Ebbe H. Nielsen ,&nbsp;Adriano Boschetti ,&nbsp;Albert Hafner ,&nbsp;Christoph Schwörer ,&nbsp;Hendrik Vogel ,&nbsp;Matthias Erb ,&nbsp;Ulrich Erb ,&nbsp;Willy Tinner","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109470","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109470","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To assess future responses of mountain ecosystems to anthropogenic climate warming, a thorough understanding of long-term vegetation responses to past climatic and land-use changes is required. Currently, little is known about former vegetation and land-use dynamics at intermediate elevations in the Swiss Alps, which act as an important ecotone between lowland and subalpine ecosystems. Here, we present a palaeoecological reinvestigation from Chutti (941 m a.s.l.), a small mire located in the montane belt of the Simmental (Simmen valley) in the north-western Swiss Alps. Using pollen, spores, stomata, microscopic charcoal, and X-ray fluorescence (XRF), we reconstructed vegetation, fire, land-use, and environmental dynamics over the past <em>c.</em> 15,600 years. Our pollen record shows four major vegetation transitions: the first transition at <em>c.</em> 14,600 cal yr BP marked the expansion of boreal forests with <em>Juniperus</em>, <em>Betula</em>, and <em>Pinus</em>, the second at <em>c.</em> 11,500 cal yr BP the expansion of temperate continental forests composed of, e.g., <em>Ulmus</em>, <em>Tilia</em>, and <em>Acer</em>, the third at <em>c.</em> 7000 cal yr BP the prevalence of temperate oceanic forests dominated by <em>Abies alba</em>, and the fourth at <em>c.</em> 4800 cal yr BP the massive spread of boreal <em>Picea abies</em>. While the first three vegetational changes were likely controlled by climate, the latter was induced by land use. The strong landscape opening during the Bronze Age (4150-2750 cal yr BP; 2200-800 cal yr BCE) was linked to the existence of a hill-top settlement close to the site. The degree of vegetation openness during the Bronze Age, but also during subsequent epochs, is unique for a site in the Northern Swiss Alps and comparable to more central places on the Swiss Plateau. Based on our results, we argue that if sustainable farming practises are not reinforced, future climate change will result in massive vegetation reorganisations in the Northern Swiss Alps, including the re-expansion of temperate forests.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"366 ","pages":"Article 109470"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144571574","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comparing past and present. The Holocene and Marine Isotope Stage 3 microvertebrate assemblage of Ararat-1 Cave, Armenia","authors":"Dominik L. Rogall ,&nbsp;Hugues-Alexandre Blain ,&nbsp;Ioannis A.K. Oikonomou ,&nbsp;Theodoros Karampaglidis ,&nbsp;Artur Petrosyan ,&nbsp;Boris Gasparyan ,&nbsp;Ariel Malinsky-Buller","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109512","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109512","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Ararat-1 Cave site, situated within the dry mountain steppe zone of Armenia at an elevation of 1,034 m, preserves a stratigraphic sequence spanning Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 and the Holocene (MIS 1). The site has yielded a rich microvertebrate assemblage comprising 18 extant taxa, including rodents, insectivores, lagomorphs, amphibians, and reptiles. Middle Paleolithic deposits (52-35 kyrs, MIS 3) are characterized by taxa such as <em>Chionomys nivalis</em> (Snow Vole), <em>Ellobius</em> sp. (Mole Voles), <em>Microtus arvalis</em> (Common Vole), <em>Microtus socialis</em> (Social Vole), <em>Meriones</em> sp. (Jirds), <em>Mus</em> sp. (Mice), <em>Nothocricetulus migratorius</em> (Grey Dwarf Hamster), <em>Scarturus</em> sp. (Jerboas), <em>Crocidura</em> sp. (White-toothed Shrews), <em>Erinaceus concolor</em> (Southern White-breasted Hedgehog), <em>Ochotona</em> cf. <em>rufescens</em> (Afghan Pika), <em>Bufotes</em> gr. <em>viridis</em> (Green Toads), Agamidae indet. (Agamids), Erycinae indet. (Sand Boas), Colubridae indet. 1 and 2 (Colubrids), <em>Natrix tessellata</em> (Dice Snake), and <em>Vipera</em> gr. <em>berus</em> (Vipers). Holocene layers (SU0.1–SU1.3) exhibit a similar taxonomic composition, though lacking <em>C. nivalis</em>, <em>Ellobius</em> sp., <em>O.</em> cf. <em>rufescens</em>, as well as Erycinae indet., Colubridae indet. 1 and 2, and <em>Natrix tessellata</em>. A comprehensive taxonomic and taphonomic analysis of the small mammal and herpetofaunal assemblages was conducted, employing the Taxonomic Habitat Index Method to reconstruct local ecological conditions during MIS 3 and the Holocene. Small mammal taxa indicate the coexistence of both cold- and warm-adapted species, while herpetofaunal assemblages predominantly exhibit Eastern-Mediterranean and Turano-Mediterranean affinities, with the <em>V. berus</em> complex being a notable exception due to its European or Sibero-European distribution. Paleoenvironmental reconstruction reveals a mosaic landscape comprising open semi-arid shrublands and grasslands interspersed with forested patches, rocky terrain, and a perennial water source. This environment closely resembles the modern “mountain steppe” and “dry mountain steppe” biomes of southern Armenia. The findings from Ararat-1 Cave underscore the ecological diversity present in the Southern Caucasus during both the Pleistocene and Holocene and contribute to a deeper understanding of the region's paleoenvironments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"366 ","pages":"Article 109512"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144571573","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In situ (splash-form) tektites from the Middle Pleistocene laterite deposits in Bose Basin, south China","authors":"Xuening Song ,&nbsp;Tianjing Zhu ,&nbsp;Jinyou Mo ,&nbsp;Christopher J. Bae ,&nbsp;Wei Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109500","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109500","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Australasian tektite strewn field (ATSF) is the most recent and largest confirmed tektite strewn field to date, representing a major extraterrestrial impact event (Australasian Tektite Event, AATE) around 0.8 Ma. Despite the fact that a considerable number of tektite locations have been discovered in this region, the majority lack a clear stratigraphic origin. Whether these tektites can serve as event-stratigraphic markers near the Early-Middle Pleistocene boundary has long been a topic of debate. The Bose (or Baise) Basin in Guangxi, southern China, is located at the northernmost edge of the ATSF and has perhaps received the greatest attention due to its association with the Paleolithic artifacts. In Bose, splash-form tektites are commonly preserved in the reticular mottled red clay layers of the fourth terrace (T4) of the Youjiang River, alongside Acheulean-like Paleolithic stone tools. Based on the age of these tektites, researchers have suggested that the earliest handaxe-making in eastern Asia could date back to 0.8 Ma. Most of the tektites found in Southeast Asia, the area of the ATSF with the highest rate of tektite distribution, are found in association with Neolithic or even more recent artifact deposits. For this reason, scholars have vigorously debated whether the age of the Bose tektite is representative of the actual age of the Acheulean stone tools from there. Here, we report on 155 splash-form tektites, unearthed during archaeological excavations at the Nanbanshan locality of the Damei site in the Bose Basin. Incidentally, this is the first time that such a dense layer of <em>in situ</em> tektites have been discovered in Quaternary sediments. Our study indicates that this tektite layer occurs primarily below the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary in the flood-plain sediments, showing clear stratigraphic significance. The surface morphology of these tektites, the particle-size analysis and the soil micromorphological analysis of the associated sediments together indicate that these tektites from T4 of the Bose Basin are from clear <em>in situ</em> provenance. Our analyses reveal a range of morphological types of tektites in the northernmost margin of the ATSF. This study further strengthens the view that the production of the Acheulean-like stone artifacts, likely made by <em>Homo erectus</em> in Southeast Asia including southern China, occurred simultaneously with the most recent tektite falling event.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"366 ","pages":"Article 109500"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144562834","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A 1700-year peatland-based hydroclimate record from the Hengduan Mountains in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau reveals changing dynamics of the summer monsoon interface","authors":"Yingfan Xia ,&nbsp;Zhengyu Xia ,&nbsp;Zicheng Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109501","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109501","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Indian summer monsoon (ISM) and the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) affect precipitation patterns across the broad Asian continent. The southern Hengduan Mountains region in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau is located at the ISM–EASM interface, but how these two monsoon systems affect long-term regional precipitation variability remains unclear. Here, we develop a 1700-year record of centennial-scale hydroclimate variability from a rarely reported <em>Sphagnum</em>-dominated subalpine peatland in the southern Hengduan Mountains, using <em>Sphagnum</em>-specific cellulose δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O proxies that are supported by characterization of modern proxy–environment relationships.</div><div>Based on the modern variability of cellulose δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O in <em>Sphagnum</em> growth increments, we show that δ¹³C is a reliable proxy for moisture availability, following the “water film” mechanism. In contrast, δ¹⁸O is controlled by multiple mechanisms and can increase due to either higher precipitation δ¹⁸O and stronger evaporative enrichment under drier conditions or increased plant use of evaporated pool water caused by pool expansion under wetter conditions. Using the time-varying δ¹³C–δ¹⁸O correlation as a constraint, we infer from our coupled cellulose δ¹³C–δ¹⁸O records several centennial-scale moisture shifts, including wet shifts during 700–1200 CE, 1500–1800 CE, and after 1950 CE, and dry shifts during 300–700 CE, 1200–1500 CE, and 1800–1950 CE, with a generally wetter Medieval Warm Period than the Little Ice Age. The temporal pattern is consistent with previously published regional pollen-climate records but shows disparities from those lake-based terrestrial input records. Based on our novel single-stem isotope analysis, we hypothesize that the latter might be additionally affected by changes in extreme event characteristics.</div><div>We find that our new hydroclimate record shows an in-phase relationship with ISM records in the Indian subcontinent, except during 1500–1800 CE and in recent decades, during which our analysis presents evidence for an increased influence from EASM system. We attribute the transitions in large-scale hydroclimate patterns during these two periods to La Niña mean-state and anthropogenic radiative forcing, respectively, which weaken zonal wind flows over the Bay of Bengal—the key passage of the ISM. This study highlights the non-stationary relationship between hydroclimate and Asian summer monsoon dynamics at the ISM–EASM interface.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"366 ","pages":"Article 109501"},"PeriodicalIF":3.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144562835","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}