Quaternary Science Reviews最新文献

{"title":"Isotopic evidence for changing diet and agriculture in China from the Neolithic to the Early Han period (10-2 ka BP)","authors":"Meng Zhang,&nbsp;Dan Lawrence,&nbsp;Andrew R. Millard","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109725","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109725","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper examines changing subsistence practices from the Neolithic to the Early Han Dynasty across diverse cultural regions of China. Using a large corpus of stable isotopic data from the literature (N _human = 3492; N _animal = 2919), we trace spatial and temporal shifts in staple crop use and livestock management. Isotopic evidence reveals marked regional variation in crop-livestock integration from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age. During the Early and Middle Neolithic, isotopic evidence indicates pig husbandry based on the C₄-plant millet was primarily confined to the Middle Yellow River region, contrasting with an extensive pig management system in the West Liao River and Shandong regions predominantly based on C₃-plants. From ∼5.5 ka BP, millet agriculture and pig husbandry diffused into the eastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, the Hexi Corridor, and western Sichuan. Despite the rapid and widespread adoption of millet agriculture in these agriculturally marginal zones, the overall utilization of pigs and the exploitation of millet-based pig feeding practices remained restricted, especially during the Bronze Age. After 5 ka BP, the introduction of non-native domesticates—such as sheep, goats, cattle, wheat, and barley—gave rise to two distinct agropastoral trajectories between the core agricultural zones and peripheral regions of northern China. In the Middle Yellow River region, an intensive agricultural system based on millet cultivation and pig husbandry persisted, with cattle and sheep rapidly integrated into existing fodder regimes but remaining supplementary to the dominant economy. By contrast, the arid northwestern regions underwent a significant shift toward a mixed agropastoral economy centered on C₃ crops (e.g., wheat and barley) and ruminant livestock, particularly sheep/goat. These regional differences highlight how local ecologies and resource availability shaped flexible but regionally distinct trajectories of crop and livestock integration in prehistoric northern China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109725"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145748399","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":"Linkages between Caribbean hydroclimate, atmospheric CO2, and methane production on orbital to millennial timescales","authors":"Meilun Zhang ,&nbsp;Martín Medina-Elizalde ,&nbsp;Stephen Burns ,&nbsp;Josué Polanco-Martinez ,&nbsp;Ambarish Karmalkar ,&nbsp;David McGee ,&nbsp;Hsun-Ming Hu ,&nbsp;Chuan-Chou Shen","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109716","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109716","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We present the oldest speleothem isotope record from Central America and the Caribbean, a high-resolution stalagmite (“Katún”) spanning discontinuously ∼198–322 ka BP, that documents hydroclimate variability across glacial–interglacial and millennial timescales. Katún δ¹⁸O covaries significantly with atmospheric CO₂ and CH₄, and multivariate analyses show that CO₂ + CH₄ together explain more variance in δ¹⁸O than either gas alone. Consistent with a CO₂-mediated SST mechanism, Katún δ¹⁸O correlates with tropical Atlantic and eastern Pacific SST reconstructions, indicating that radiative forcing influenced Caribbean precipitation primarily through tropical surface warming. At millennial scales, Katún δ¹⁸O tracks North Atlantic variability: it aligns with CH₄ peaks associated with Greenland D–O cycles and with detrital proxies of Heinrich-type ice-rafting, implicating AMOC-paced ITCZ shifts and SST-driven convection as key controls. A weak Katún–Cariaco Mo relationship highlights proxy sensitivities and argues against ITCZ migration as the sole driver. In contrast to Asian monsoon archives, Katún shows little precessional insolation imprint, emphasizing the dominance of internal ocean–atmosphere dynamics (AMOC, SSTs) in regulating Caribbean hydroclimate and modulating tropical wetland methane emissions during MIS 7–9.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109716"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145692729","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 change and hominin behavioral adaptations during the Marine Isotope Stage 5 to 4 transition: a case study from Donggou site, Nihewan Basin, North China","authors":"Jingyue Xu ,&nbsp;Dongwei Niu ,&nbsp;Shengrui Zhang ,&nbsp;Yujie Guo ,&nbsp;Xiaoli Li ,&nbsp;Shuwen Pei","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109714","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109714","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The transition from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 to MIS 4 was a major climatic shift that affected hominin biological and cultural evolution in eastern Eurasia. Marked by abrupt climatic shifts, this stage is characterized by notable diversification in hominin behavior. Technological and behavioral changes co-occurred with fluctuating ecological regimes, coinciding with the transition of millennial-scale climate events at the terminus of MIS 5, forcing hominins to develop new strategies to exploit their environment. Temporal multi-proxy-based climate and environmental reconstructions from the Donggou site in the Nihewan Basin of North China offer a high-resolution archive of climatic variation for this period, providing insights into its impact on hominin adaptive strategies. Luminescence dating indicates that the Donggou site was formed between 126.1 and 70.1 ka, and hominins occupied the site from 76 to 74ka. Our results suggest that the regional climate was colder and drier than today and underwent frequent climatic fluctuations that drove environmental and landscape changes. The Donggou hominins persisted in the initial arid phase. They continued to occupy the river floodplain landscape during the mild and moist Dansgaard-Oeschger event of late MIS 5a, before the climate deterioration of the MIS 4 episode. The Donggou archaeological data revealed flexible adaptive strategies, including the effective use of high-quality lithic raw materials, an increase in retouched tools, systematic exploitation of ungulates, and the use of fire. Other sites in the region exhibited different adaptive strategies, collectively indicating hominin behavioral diversification during this period. We suggest that climate oscillation during the MIS 5–4 transition may have promoted hominins to adjust their strategies and develop solutions to challenging environments, leading to increased behavioral flexibility and capabilities when facing landscape turnover from lakeshore to river floodplain habitats after the Nihewan Old Lake dies out.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109714"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145692730","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":"Paleoenvironments of the late Middle Pleistocene Hualongdong, east-central China and their implications for the hominin evolution in eastern Asia","authors":"Jiao Ma ,&nbsp;Hervé Bocherens ,&nbsp;Haowen Tong ,&nbsp;Shuwen Pei ,&nbsp;Xiujie Wu ,&nbsp;Wu Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109746","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109746","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The late Middle Pleistocene (300–129 ka) was pivotal for understanding how paleoenvironmental and climatic changes shaped hominin adaptations. Hualongdong (331–275 ka) yields key human fossils, stone tools, and abundant mammalian remains, enabling detailed paleoecological analysis. Carbon isotopic data from mammalian tooth enamel indicate a C₃ vegetation-dominated forest environment at Hualongdong. The isotopic composition of a large bovid indicates, however, the co-existence of year-round C₄ grasses. Bulk and serial isotopic results reveal a mosaic of dense forests and woodlands shaped by the East Asian Summer Monsoon (EASM). Closed forests would have provided stable resources, while seasonally dynamic woodlands with localized C₄ vegetation would have supported favorable conditions for habitation and movement. Comparative analyses of Middle Pleistocene enamel stable isotopes across eastern Asia (including East and Southeast Asia) highlight distinct paleoenvironments in northern, east-central, southwestern China, as well as in Southeast Asia. Hualongdong in east-central China stands out as a mosaic of dense forests and open woodlands, distinct from the open woodlands of north China and the dense forests of southwestern China. The Hualongdong hominins exhibit a mosaic of derived and archaic traits, representing a significant morphological pattern in the late Middle Pleistocene of eastern Asia. Their successful occupation of this ecotonal landscape as revealed by our isotopic data, underscores the behavioral flexibility that characterized hominin evolution in this region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109746"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145748396","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":"Asymmetric sensitivity of lake catchments to climate and land use change on the Monaro Tablelands, southeastern Australia: A multiproxy, multisite synthesis of postglacial lacustrine records","authors":"James Bakis ,&nbsp;Dan Penny ,&nbsp;Rebecca Hamilton ,&nbsp;Quan Hua ,&nbsp;Linda Barry ,&nbsp;Patricia Gadd","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109729","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109729","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Paleoenvironmental research in vulnerable high-elevation environments is skewed towards paleoecological analysis, biasing our understanding of broader systemic (i.e., both abiotic and biotic) environmental sensitivity. Moreover, paleorecords from mountains are overrepresented relative to adjacent highlands, which is problematic given the latter's greater agricultural value and thus more acute degradation. Here, we present a multiproxy, multisite assessment of regional paleoenvironmental change since 13,900 cal yr BP for the Monaro Tablelands of southeastern Australia, a highland terrain in the rain shadow of the Snowy Mountains. We find that, while regional hydrological change is effectively contemporaneous with temperature and hydroclimate, local dynamics appear to be equally influential on catchment moisture availability, implying only mild hydrological sensitivity to climate. Principal among these intrinsic controls is poor substrate permeability, which is responsible for a) late Holocene wetting signals despite climatic deterioration, and b) hysteresis in basin hydrology, whereby lakes and their ecological communities become increasingly resilient to moisture availability as permanence increases. Asymmetric sensitivity extends to catchment-scale rates of change, which observe a positive, albeit weak, correlation with drying over wetting. European-era rates of change are unprecedented for the entire study period, suggesting higher systemic sensitivity to land use than any major climatic perturbation since deglaciation. Continued biophysical deterioration is anticipated for the Monaro as land use impacts are augmented by projected warming, drying and increased rainfall variability across southeastern Australia, while changes in lake permanence are expected to be geographically bifurcated. These projections implicate adverse outcomes for endemic threatened ecological communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109729"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145748397","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 change and transformations of ancient civilization in the Chengdu Plain, Southwest China, during the mid-to-late Holocene","authors":"Zhong-Lin Deng,&nbsp;Xin-Yan Li,&nbsp;Ting-Yong Li","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109743","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109743","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Chengdu Plain, located in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River, represents the core area of the ancient Shu civilization. However, the coupling mechanisms between cultural transformations and climatic-environmental changes remain insufficiently understood. Owing to the absence of high-precision and high-resolution paleoclimate records from the Chengdu Plain, this study integrates speleothem, lake, and peat archives from the Sichuan Basin and its surroundings. By applying principal component analysis and multi-record comparisons, we reconstruct the evolution of the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) and associated regional hydroclimatic variability since 5.0 ka BP, and further examine the impacts of climatic change on the rise and fall of the ancient Shu civilization. Results indicate that the ASM has exhibited a long-term weakening trend since 5.0 ka BP, primarily driven by decreasing solar insolation, a southward shift of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and intensified ENSO activity. A cold-dry climatic event around 5.0 ka BP may have forced prehistoric populations from the upper Minjiang River (Yingpanshan culture) to migrate into the Chengdu Plain, leading to the emergence of the Baodun culture. Subsequently, the ancient Shu people adapted to environmental changes by adjusting crop composition and settlement locations. The decline phases of the Baodun (4.5∼3.7 ka BP), Sanxingdui (3.7∼3.2 ka BP), and Jinsha–Shierqiao (3.2∼2.6 ka BP) cultures broadly coincide with periods of marked ASM weakening, increased climatic instability, and frequent flooding events, while seismic activities and warfare may have further accelerated the societal collapse. These findings suggest that the rise and fall of the ancient Shu civilization on the Chengdu Plain was jointly influenced by climatic variability, flood hazards, and sociopolitical conflicts. Future work should focus on developing high-resolution, multi-proxy paleoclimate records with robust chronological control in the Chengdu Plain and adjacent regions, to enhance our understanding of the coupling mechanisms between climate change and regional cultural transformations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109743"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145748401","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":"Shift of the upper ocean thermal structure across the Mid-Brunhes Event in the Eastern Tropical Indian Ocean","authors":"Junru Zhang ,&nbsp;Fengming Chang ,&nbsp;Ann Holbourn ,&nbsp;Fang Qian ,&nbsp;Luyao Tang ,&nbsp;Tiegang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109747","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109747","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Upper ocean temperature and stratification play essential roles in regulating hydrological processes from regional to basin scales and in shaping climate systems. The Eastern Tropical Indian Ocean (ETIO), as a major source of heat and moisture, is critical to regional and large-scale hydroclimatic variability. However, the long-term evolution of its upper water thermal structure remains poorly constrained. Here, we reconstruct sea surface temperature (SST) and thermocline water temperature (TWT) records spanning the past 620 ka using planktonic foraminiferal Mg/Ca ratios from Core 18548 and IODP Site U1482 off the northwest Australian margin. The results reveal that both SST and TWT exhibit pronounced glacial–interglacial cyclicity, primarily paced by orbital-scale forcing, including the 100-ka and precession (23/19-ka) periodicities. Notably, TWT displays a stronger precession signal than SST. These orbital-scale variations reflect the modulation of heat transfer to the ETIO through sea-level-controlled Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) dynamics and precession-driven atmospheric circulation. The amplified TWT response arises from the combined effects of ITF-mediated thermocline advection and insolation-induced vertical mixing, which together regulate upper ocean heat redistribution. A significant shift in the gradient between SST and TWT (ΔT) around 400 ka, coinciding with the MBE, indicates a major reorganization of upper ocean thermal structure, likely driven by glacioeustatic sea-level fluctuations and changes in precession-induced wind systems. Our findings highlight the coupled forcing of 100-ka cycle and precession on upper ocean thermal evolution in the ETIO and offer critical insights into orbital-scale heat redistribution and tropical ocean-climate interactions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109747"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145797950","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":"Orbital forcing of the eastern equatorial Pacific thermocline in the late Pleistocene","authors":"Celeste T. Pallone ,&nbsp;Karine Holmes ,&nbsp;Chandler A. Morris ,&nbsp;Jerry F. McManus","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109734","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109734","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Eastern equatorial Pacific thermocline depth is an important component of the tropical Pacific's coupled ocean-atmosphere system and varies across El Niño and La Niña events. To investigate the influence of orbital forcing, we present a paleo-record of thermocline depth throughout the last large Pleistocene climate cycle, derived from downcore measurements of the oxygen isotope composition of multiple species of planktic foraminifera that calcified at different depths throughout the upper water column. We find that the eastern equatorial Pacific thermocline varied between deeper and shallower mean states, deepening when insolation at the equator in boreal late summer/early fall decreased and shoaling when this seasonal insolation increased. Here, we show a close phase relationship between precession-paced increases in boreal late summer/early fall equatorial insolation and thermocline shoaling, which suggests that heating of the tropical Pacific during months of maximum zonal sea surface temperature and thermocline depth asymmetry was a key influence on its mean state.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109734"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145748398","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":"Niche partitioning and limited mobility characterise Middle Pleistocene kangaroos from eastern Australia","authors":"Christopher Laurikainen Gaete ,&nbsp;Scott Hocknull ,&nbsp;Clement P. Bataille ,&nbsp;Andrew M. Lorrey ,&nbsp;Katarina M. Mikac ,&nbsp;Rochelle Lawrence ,&nbsp;Anthony Dosseto","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109731","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109731","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Australia's Quaternary fossil record is characterised by a high diversity of macropodid taxa. Based on fossil faunal assemblages, it has been hypothesised many macropodids lived in sympatry during the Pleistocene, however, local geographic and dietary overlap is equivocal due to taphonomic uncertainty. Modern macropodid species rarely exhibit sympatry, suggesting anthropogenic or environmental changes may have disrupted these communities. Using Sr and C isotopes, we reconstruct foraging ranges and dietary preferences of several fossil macropodid lineages recovered in Middle Pleistocene cave deposits, at Mount Etna Caves, central eastern Queensland, Australia. Our results show that most macropodids, baring a single <em>Petrogale</em> potentially dispersing &gt;60 km, had limited foraging ranges and remained within 15 km of the fossil site. Moderate to large scale dispersal in individual <em>Petrogale</em> mirrors male-biased dispersal observed in some modern <em>Petrogale</em> populations indicating some individuals have the propensity to move between isolated colonies when corridors for dispersal are present. Smaller macropodids show dietary preferences similar to modern counterparts, while <em>Protemnodon</em> exhibit a division between C₃/C₄ intake, potentially indicating species-level differences. The analysis of geographic range and diet of this fossil assemblage reveals that macropodids partitioned on the landscape around the cave with a C₃-dominant community – comprised of <em>Protemnodon, Petrogale,</em> and <em>Thylogale –</em> to the northwest, and a C₄-dominant grassland community – comprised of <em>Notamacropus</em> and isolated members of <em>Protemnodon</em> and <em>Petrogale</em> – to the south. Therefore, we conclude, that although faunal assemblages alone suggest a larger number of macropodids living in sympatry, isotopic proxies uncover complex habitat partitioning between C₃ and C₄ environments around Mount Etna Caves.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109731"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145748403","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":"Multiple Middle Paleolithic lithic traditions in the southern Levant during MIS 6-5 and cultural variability in arid environments: insights from the site of Besor Dyka, Negev Desert","authors":"Maya Oron ,&nbsp;Masha Krakovsky ,&nbsp;Naomi Porat ,&nbsp;Yoav Avni ,&nbsp;Nimrod Wieler ,&nbsp;Avner Ayalon ,&nbsp;Tami Zilberman ,&nbsp;Eli Cohen Sasson ,&nbsp;Omry Barzilai","doi":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109745","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quascirev.2025.109745","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The middle phase of the Middle Paleolithic in the arid regions of the southern Levant is characterized by the presence of two distinct lithic traditions dominated by different reduction sequences: the centripetal Levallois and the Nubian Levallois. A new excavation at the site Besor Dyka uncovered well-preserved archaeological layers, dated by optically stimulated luminescence to late MIS 6–early MIS 5, making it the earliest known Middle Paleolithic occupation in the Negev Desert. Stable Isotope data from the site supports this chronology and suggests a correlation with one of the Negev Humid Periods. The lithic assemblage from the site is characterized by the dominance of the unidirectional convergent Levallois reduction strategy and the systematic production of triangular end-products. These traits, commonly associated with Late Middle Paleolithic sites in the southern Levant, differ from the contemporaneous MIS 6–5 centripetal Levallois and Nubian Levallois assemblages that are found in the Negev. The Besor Dyka lithics represents a third, previously unrecognized lithic tradition in the Negev during MIS 6–5. The results present new information on human adaptation to arid environments during the Middle Paleolithic and the possible influence of humid episodes on the movement of hunter gatherers between neighboring regions. The findings also emphasize that within the Middle Paleolithic of the southern Levant, the dominance of a specific Levallois strategy alone cannot reliably be used as a chronological marker.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20926,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary Science Reviews","volume":"373 ","pages":"Article 109745"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2026-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145692726","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}