Quaternary International最新文献

{"title":"A reanalysis of the ‘perforated’ scapula from the Boxgrove Horse Butchery Site","authors":"Annemieke Milks ,&nbsp;Debra Carr ,&nbsp;Krishna Godhania ,&nbsp;Pete Mahoney ,&nbsp;Simon Parfitt ,&nbsp;Gabriele Russo ,&nbsp;Matt Pope","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109995","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109995","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The archaeological site of Boxgrove (U.K.) represents one of the most detailed records of early Middle Pleistocene hominin activity in Europe. Dated to the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 13 (∼480,000 years BP), it preserves an extensive Acheulean landscape marked by high-resolution evidence of tool manufacture, animal butchery, and hominin remains. Among its key discoveries is the unique archaeological locale of GTP17, known as the Horse Butchery Site, where a single horse carcass was intensively processed by a group of hominins using handaxes and flakes, several of which were knapped adjacent to the carcass at the time of butchery. The archaeological signature also suggests that hammerstones and anvils may have been used to process the horse, probably to access grease and marrow. A fragment of the horse's right scapula features a distinctive curvilinear fracture previously interpreted as a potential hunting lesion caused by a wooden spear—an interpretation that, if confirmed, would push back direct evidence for use of hunting weaponry in Europe and link it with Acheulean bifacial technology. While later sites such as Clacton and Schöningen provide evidence of wooden hunting weapons, the Boxgrove scapula fracture has remained ambiguous, lacking rigorous experimental comparison. This study presents the first comprehensive reassessment of the Boxgrove scapula fragment using both microscopy and quantitative methods. By replicating damage patterns through experiments involving thrust and thrown wooden spear impacts, and hammerstone percussion on scapulae to access marrow and grease, we compare these dynamic impact scenarios with the archaeological evidence. The spear experiments demonstrate that wooden spears used as both thrusting and throwing weapons are capable of creating significant wounds to larger prey such as horses, and can occasionally leave traces in the form of hunting lesions. However, hammerstone percussion on scapulae can also cause curvilinear fractures, and such damage is metrically a better match to the Boxgrove scapula fragment. While the evidence that the butchered horse at Boxgrove was actively hunted by the hominins remains strong, our analysis suggests that the Boxgrove scapula fracture is not indicative of weapon impact, but rather is better aligned to percussion damage from hammerstone use to access within-bone nutrients including grease and marrow.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"749 ","pages":"Article 109995"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145417843","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Sondondo's ancient agriculture as reflected in microfossils from terraced soils. Procedures to understand socio-economical changes in Peru","authors":"Patricia Aparicio Martínez ,&nbsp;María Alejandra Korstanje","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109991","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109991","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In Peru, archaeological studies of Andean agriculture have generally focused on archaeobotanical remains, agrarian technologies, or the social and economic dimensions of agricultural practices. Most of these studies have relied on typological or structural approaches, leading to interpretations grounded in relative chronologies and broad generalizations, especially for periods of complex social development, such as those associated with the Huari and Inca Empires. However, new interdisciplinary methodologies in agroarchaeology offer new opportunities to investigate the cultivation sites directly, moving beyond an exclusive reliance on ethnographic or ethnohistorical analogies.</div><div>This paper presents the first <em>multiple microfossil analysis from soils</em> in agricultural terraces from the Sondondo Valley, Department of Ayacucho, Peru. We detail the application of this innovative methodological approach, which allowed us to reconstruct the chronology of terrace construction and use, and provided insight into the social implications of these agricultural practices. Furthermore, we challenge prevailing assumptions about the standardization of terraces and the demand for maize cultivation during the expansion of the Inca Empire in the Southern Andes. Our study effectively demonstrates how sociopolitical transformations can be assessed by studying past agricultural landscapes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"749 ","pages":"Article 109991"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145270371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chronology of glacial megafloods in the Baikal-Patom Upland (South Siberia): New geochronological constraints","authors":"A.V. Arzhannikova ,&nbsp;S.G. Arzhannikov ,&nbsp;A.V. Tetenkin ,&nbsp;A.A. Chebotarev ,&nbsp;I.V. Timofeeva ,&nbsp;U.S. Efremova ,&nbsp;E.A. Gladkochub ,&nbsp;N.V. Bryanskiy","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Baikal-Patom Upland (South Siberia) preserves evidence of catastrophic outburst floods from glacial lakes formed in the Muya Basin through the repeated damming of the Vitim River by Pleistocene glaciers. While previous studies identified three major Late Pleistocene megafloods, occurring at ∼56, ∼34 and 15–20 kyr BP (Margold, M., Jansen, J.D., Codilean, A.T., Preusser, F., Gurinov, A.L., Fujioka, T., Fink, D., 2018. Repeated megafloods from glacial Lake Vitim, Siberia, to the Arctic Ocean over the past 60,000 years. Quat. Sci. Rev. 187, 41–61), inconsistencies with archaeological data and limited geochronological constraints necessitated a revised chronology. In this study, we combine OSL dating of fluvial sediments, U-Pb detrital zircon provenance analysis, and a re-evaluation of published radiocarbon data associated with ice-dammed palaeolakes in the Muya Basin, to refine the timing of these megafloods. Our results reveal three major outburst events: (1) ∼52–53 kyr BP (Tukalaktin palaeolake, MIS 4), (2) ∼37–37.5 kyr BP (Kobylin palaeolake, MIS 3), and (3) ∼21–22.3 kyr BP (Ulan-Makit palaeolake, MIS 2). The largest flood (∼37–37.5 kyr BP) deposited sediments up to 260 m above the modern Vitim River, as confirmed by zircon signatures distinct from local tributary alluvium. Constraining the timing of the youngest megaflood to ∼21–22.3 kyr BP showed that it predates all archaeological sites in the lower Vitim Valley, thus resolving previous inconsistencies. The outburst floods correlate with Heinrich Stadials (H5, H4 and H2) and synchronous glacial retreats in Siberia and northern Mongolia, implicating climate-driven ice-dam failures. Our findings provide a robust framework for understanding Pleistocene glacial lake outburst floods in continental interiors, as well as their role in shaping fluvial landscapes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"749 ","pages":"Article 110004"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145321566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reconstructing past fire-regime metrics during the Holocene in the western Tianshan Mountains, Northwest China","authors":"Yaqi Liu,&nbsp;Jianyong Li,&nbsp;Ninglian Wang,&nbsp;Hao Xu,&nbsp;Xiaoxiao Han","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110007","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;div&gt;Hitherto quantitative long-term reconstructions of key fire-regime parameters (e.g., fire frequency, fire return interval, fire episodes, peak magnitude and fuel type) over the Holocene are still limited across the vast grassland systems of Northwest China. To fill this gap in knowledge, this study presents quantitative characteristics of fire-regime components during the Holocene based on sedimentary charcoal assemblages from a wetland core situated at the steppe zone in the western Tianshan Mountains of Northwest China. A wide range of charcoal particle-size categories (10–30 μm, 30–50 μm, 50–100 μm and &gt;100 μm) was extracted to detect the spatial patterns in past fire-regimes on local and regional scales. The results reveal a predominance of regional-scale fire-regimes in the grass-dominated landscape throughout the Holocene. Charcoal morphological records show that the dominant types of fuel source were herbaceous plants over the Holocene. Fire intensity and frequency exhibited an overall upward trend, when the amounts of herbaceous fuel loads gradually increased. The fire-regime reconstructions based on the integrated charcoal record with all particle-size categories indicate that the early-Holocene (10.0–7.2 cal kyr BP) was characterized by low charcoal accumulation rates (CHAR) averaging 1283 pieces cm&lt;sup&gt;−2&lt;/sup&gt; year&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;, 3 fire-episodes, moderate fire frequency (mean 2.13 fires 2000 year&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;), low peak magnitude (mean 95,099 pieces cm&lt;sup&gt;−2&lt;/sup&gt; peak&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;) and high fire return interval (FRI) averaging 553 years. The mid-Holocene (7.2–4.0 cal kyr BP) was marked by increased CHAR (mean 7892 pieces cm&lt;sup&gt;−2&lt;/sup&gt; year&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;), higher peak magnitude (mean 547,174 pieces cm&lt;sup&gt;−2&lt;/sup&gt; peak&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;), 3 fire-episodes, decreased fire frequency (mean 1.87 fires 2000 year&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;) and shorter FRI (mean 538 years). The late-Holocene (4.0–0.7 cal kyr BP) witnessed a further escalation of fire activities, thereby reaching the highest values of CHAR (mean 10,227 pieces cm&lt;sup&gt;−2&lt;/sup&gt; year&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;), fire-episodes (8), fire frequency (mean 4.30 fires 2000 year&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;) as well as peak magnitude (mean 610,610 pieces cm&lt;sup&gt;−2&lt;/sup&gt; peak&lt;sup&gt;−1&lt;/sup&gt;), and the shortest FRI (mean 403 years). The millennia-scale interactions between fire, climate, vegetation and human activities were assessed to explore the possible mechanisms affecting past fire-regime dynamics. The fire-regimes in the early-Holocene were likely fuel-limited due to the arid-warm climate and low biomass production. The fire-regimes in the mid- and late-Holocene were probably climate-limited because of increasing humidity, grass productivity, fuel loads and favorable weather conditions of fire season. Notably anthropogenic factors possibly affected the fire-regime changes in the late-Holocene. This study provides significant insights into long-term grassland fire management and fire-regime prediction under future climat","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"749 ","pages":"Article 110007"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145321565","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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 Pleistocene Marmota marmota from Grotta Mora Cavorso (central Italy): A morphological and osteometric contribution to the Western European fossil record","authors":"Leonardo Salari ,&nbsp;Angelica Fiorillo ,&nbsp;Mario F. Rolfo ,&nbsp;Maurizio Gatta","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110031","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110031","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Grotta Mora Cavorso (Latium, central Italy) is an archaeological and paleontological site characterised by a complex stratigraphy extending from the Late Pleistocene to the Contemporary age. This paper presents the analysis of a partially articulated skeleton of <em>Marmota marmota</em> discovered in Layer 7, which has yielded numerous exceptionally well-preserved faunal remains over the years. The specimen, estimated to have died at approximately 3 years of age, dates to the final stages of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (36-32 ka BP), during a cooler climate phase than present-day. Taphonomic evidence indicates that the carcass was most likely introduced into the cave through one of the sinkholes opening in the ceiling of the entrance room or died during the third hibernation, since no traces of human or predator activity are present. The state of preservation permitted a detailed morphological and osteometric study of the specimen, which now constitutes a valuable reference for future research, as it afforded the rare opportunity to refine knowledge of growth patterns, life history traits and population dynamics of past marmot communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"749 ","pages":"Article 110031"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145417844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Human occupation and abandonment of a fluvio-lacustrine environment: a multidisciplinary analysis of the archaeological site of Santa Gada (Pollino Geopark, southern Italy)","authors":"Luigi Bloise ,&nbsp;Marco Sfacteria ,&nbsp;Luigi Capozzoli ,&nbsp;Valentina Casella ,&nbsp;Giuseppe Corrado ,&nbsp;Gregory De Martino ,&nbsp;Dario Gioia ,&nbsp;Salvatore Laurita ,&nbsp;Antonio Minervino Amodio ,&nbsp;Francesco Muto ,&nbsp;Gerardo Romano ,&nbsp;Maria Sileo ,&nbsp;Fabrizio Mollo","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110021","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.110021","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A recent archaeological campaign discovered a large settlement (i.e.: the Santa Gada site) dated to 6th-3rd centuries BCE. in the Pollino Geopark, southern Italy. The study area is located in a Middle Pleistocene tectonic basin of the axial zone of the southern Apennines, Italy, filled by a thick fluvio-lacustrine succession. The landscape is featured by different orders of SSO-dipping low-angle surfaces that are separated by rectilinear scarps of variable height. Strict relationships among fluvial landforms, active faulting, and settlement evolution have been investigated by the integration of geological, geomorphological, and geophysical data. The morphogenesis of landform elements, the role of major faults as seismogenic sources, and the relationships between landscape and settlement location were discussed in the context of the long-term landscape evolution of the study area. The settlement was built on the top of a fluvial terrace and is bounded northward by a morphological scarp. Archaeological data revealed a sudden abandonment of a wide residential complex at the end of the 3rd century BCE. Radiocarbon dating of a human skull involved in the collapse of a building confirms the archaeological age attribution, thus providing the first archaeoseismological evidence of a strong historical earthquake in the Pollino area. Our investigations suggest a fluvial origin of the morphological scarp of the study area and a possible role of important seismogenic sources of the Pollino area for the sudden abandonment of the site.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"749 ","pages":"Article 110021"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145417957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"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 Middle Paleolithic and Early Upper Paleolithic of the Western Balkans: lithic assemblages from Šalitrena Pećina (Serbia)","authors":"Bojana Mihailović ,&nbsp;Dušan Mihailović ,&nbsp;Sofija Dragosavac ,&nbsp;Jelena Marković ,&nbsp;Danilo Pajović ,&nbsp;Larissa O. Silva ,&nbsp;Anne Skinner ,&nbsp;Mirjana Roksandic","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109990","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109990","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Šalitrena Pećina represents one of the key multi-occupational sites for studying the late Middle and early Upper Paleolithic in the Peripannonian region of the Northern Balkans. Here we present the findings from the cave entrance and the new (ESR) dates obtained for the Middle Paleolithic sequence of the site. The Middle Paleolithic layers (6e-6a), dated between the end of MIS 5 (c. 77 ka) to c. 40 ka, contained Mousterian assemblages with a moderately prominent Levallois component, in which the Quina aspect is completely absent. A rich Upper Paleolithic artifact assemblage attributed to the Middle Aurignacian was collected from Layer 5, which has been radiometrically dated to 36–33 ka cal BP. The assemblage contains narrow front burin-like cores, twisted and straight bladelets, and different tool types – including burins and retouched blades. The Mousterian and Aurignacian chronology of the Šalitrena Pećina and the data on other Paleolithic sites in the region support the notion that the expansion of modern humans towards the Central and Western Europe occurred along the Danube and Sava corridors and that Neanderthal groups survived longer in the western than in the eastern part of the Balkan peninsula.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"749 ","pages":"Article 109990"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145160424","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Varve series cross-correlation and palaeosecular variation from two clay varve basins in western Estonia","authors":"T. Hang ,&nbsp;A.E.K. Ojala ,&nbsp;M. Kohv ,&nbsp;T. Tuvikene","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109968","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109968","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Work on clastic varves has advanced to further our understanding of Pleistocene climate including processes of deglaciation. In this study we provide a correlation of two varve chronologies representing different basins (Pärnu and Vigala) in western Estonia of the eastern Baltic Sea. Via regional correlations of palaeomagnetic secular variation we date the deglaciation of coastal Estonia. The decay of Late Weichselian ice from Estonian territory between about 14.7 and 12.7 cal ka BP was followed by extensive proglacial bodies of water, which developed in accordance to the receding ice margin and opening of new drainage routes. This is reflected in a wide distribution of clastic varved clays. Using visual and numerical methods we correlate two varve sequences from the Pärnu basin representing previously established 584-varve-year chronology and a new 532-varve-year sequence from the Vigala basin. Our analysis indicates that varve formation in the ice-proximal Vigala basin commenced approximately 140 years later than in the more distal Pärnu basin, yielding a combined local chronology of about 670 varve years. Natural remanent magnetization relative declination measured from the studied three varve records reveal an initial continuous eastward shift of approximately 90° during the first 400 varve years, after which values stabilize. Regional correlation of these palaeo secular variation records dates the clay accumulation in western Estonia to between ca 14.0 and 13.3 cal ka BP. More precisely, our data estimates the ages for the Pandivere-Neva and the Palivere ice-marginal complexes in western Estonia to ca 13.9–13.8 cal ka BP and younger than 13.3 cal ka BP, respectively, both thus, immediately predating Younger Dryas Salpausselkä ice-marginal complex in southern Finland. These results provide an independent age estimate for deglaciation of coastal Estonia and are expected to contribute to regional deglaciation models.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"748 ","pages":"Article 109968"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145027463","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Small-mammalian fossils from the Paleolithic Dayin Cave site in Yunnan, Southwest China","authors":"Yinan Zhang ,&nbsp;Feng Gao ,&nbsp;Yang Wan ,&nbsp;Fan Yang ,&nbsp;Bin Gao ,&nbsp;Yueming Zeng ,&nbsp;Bo Liu ,&nbsp;Zetao Zhang ,&nbsp;Wenwei Huang ,&nbsp;Weiming Wang ,&nbsp;Qiang Li ,&nbsp;Xijun Ni","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109979","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109979","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Small mammals have short life spans, rapid reproductive cycles, wide distributions, and are sensitive to climate change. Composition of small mammal faunas is useful for reconstructing the paleoenvironment. Here we report the small mammals unearthed from the Dayin Cave, an archaeological site in Yunnan Province, Southwest China. Screen washing yielded two small mammal faunas. One has a radiocarbon date of approximately 32 ka BP. The other has a radiocarbon date around 18 ka BP, equivalent to the period of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). We performed taxonomic analyses, faunal comparisons, principal component analysis and cluster analyses on the small mammal fossils from the Dayin Cave. Our results show most of the species from the older fauna (∼32 ka) are forest-dwelling species, indicating the flourishing of forests and a relatively warm and humid climate. The younger fauna is dominated by <em>Eothenomys</em>, today an alpine-subalpine shrubland dweller, suggesting the flourishing of shrublands and perhaps a decrease in temperature. The stone tools discovered from the fossiliferous Layers 1 and 2 in. the Dayin Cave belong to the same type, suggesting that they were probably used by one hunter-gatherer group that lived in the Dayin Cave, and the populations were not affected by the cooling of the climate.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"748 ","pages":"Article 109979"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145050265","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Chronological sequencing, site selection, and environmental context of Neolithic island settlements in southeastern coastal China","authors":"Junjie Wei ,&nbsp;Jianhui Jin ,&nbsp;Zhiyong Ling ,&nbsp;Wenjie Zhang ,&nbsp;Changfu Wei ,&nbsp;Xinxin Zuo ,&nbsp;Zhizhong Li ,&nbsp;Chenyang Hou ,&nbsp;Daiyu Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109978","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109978","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Prehistoric island-type sites in coastal areas are highly influenced by marine hydrological changes due to their unique geographical settings. Haitan Island in South China is a key area for understanding the origins and dispersal of Austronesian civilization. Recent archaeological investigations have uncovered key Neolithic sites on the island, yielding a material record that offers a unique opportunity to address these questions. However, addressing the gaps in the absolute chronology of these sites and unraveling the dynamic processes of human-environmental evolution remain urgent research priorities. This study used Thermoluminescence (TL) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating techniques to analyze pottery from Neolithic sites on Haitan Island, southeastern China, to establish a reliable chronology. Dating results (radiocarbon and pottery OSL) indicate that the Xiying, Jianhu, and Citanghoushan sites on Haitan Island date to the mid-Holocene (7.5–6.5 ka). These findings extend the temporal range of the Keqiutou culture (6.5–5.5 ka) in the Minjiang River lower reaches, highlighting its significance in regional archaeology. Comparing the chronology of Haitan Island sites with Holocene sea-level changes at the Minjiang River mouth reveals that ancient human activity was primarily concentrated there during the high sea-level stage from 7 to 6 ka. The terrace where the Keqiutou site group is currently situated provided an optimal habitat for ancient humans, offering shelter and abundant food resources essential for survival.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":49644,"journal":{"name":"Quaternary International","volume":"748 ","pages":"Article 109978"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2025-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145050266","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}