Buried assumptions: Some problems in the interpretation of the “Younger Fill” raised by recent data from Greece

A distinctive “Younger Fill” has been identified in the Mediterranean and adjacent regions. The dominant explanation for it is that of climatic change, first advanced by Vita-Finzi in 1960. Recent work on Greece by Bintliff appears to support the hypothesis. However, there are weaknesses. The present paper isolates the assumptions upon which the climatic hypothesis rests, particularly the notion of synchroneity and the apparent need for a universal mechanism. It sets out the grounds for scepticism, which include the ambiguity of the data, and attempts to evaluate the recent evidence from Greece. The paper then proceeds to argue that an anthropogenic origin cannot be ruled out and that it merits serious consideration. Criteria are suggested which the reinstated explanation would need to meet.     

Dating the Trollesgave site and the Bromme culture – chronological fix-points for the Lateglacial settlement of Southern Scandinavia

The Bromme culture belongs to the Lateglacial, the period when people settled in the recently deglaciated Southern Scandinavia. Until now there have been only a few imprecise fix-points relating to the chronological position of this archaeological culture. This situation can now be improved with the aid of research results from a Bromme culture settlement at Trollesgave in SE Denmark. Using pollen and plant macrofossil data, Lateglacial lacustrine deposits containing waste material from the settlement can be assigned to the end of the climatically mild Allerød period. A series of ¹⁴C dates establishes the age of the settlement as c. 10 826 ± 49 ¹⁴C years BP (12 871–12 590 cal yr BP). By correlation with climate data from the Greenland ice cores, the occupation can be assigned to the early part of the cold climatic zone GS-1, thus demonstrating that the global ice-core climate zones are not absolutely synchronous with the regional division into biozones.     

Microblade technology and the rise of serial specialists in north-central China

Though present before the Last Glacial Maximum, microblade technology is uncommon in the lithic assemblages of north-central China until the onset of the Younger Dryas (12,900–11,600 calBP). While it is clear that microblades here and elsewhere were connected with mobile adaptations organized around hunting, the attendant assumption that they served primarily in hunting weaponry is not. The archaeological record of north-central China, including excavations at Pigeon Mountain (QG3) and Shuidonggou Locality 12 (SDG 12) in Ningxia Autonomous Region, and Dadiwan in Gansu Providence, and a handful of bone/antler tools slotted for microblade inserts, indicate a more direct linkage to mobility. These data suggest the rise of microblade technology in Younger Dryas north-central China was mainly the result of microblades used as insets in composite knives needed for production of sophisticated cold weather clothing needed for a winter mobile hunting adaptation akin to the residentially mobile pattern Binford termed “serial specialist.” Limited time and opportunities compressed this production into a very narrow seasonal window, putting a premium on highly streamlined routines to which microblade technology was especially well-suited.     

A Palaeolithic fishhook made of ivory and the earliest fishhook tradition in Europe

Prehistoric fishhooks have previously been described in northern Europe as being common since the Mesolithic. Here we present a Final Palaeolithic ivory fishhook from the site Wustermark 22 (north-eastern Germany), the raw material of which is about 19,000 years old. Five further fishhooks were discovered in situ at the same site one of which has a calibrated radiocarbon age of about 12,300 years. The tool industries of flint artefacts and bone/antler tools are associated with descendants of the Federmesser-culture and the palynological context indicates a Younger Dryas environment. Wustermark 22 represents the largest collection of Palaeolithic fishhooks so far found at a single European site. A comparison with other sites in Europe, containing Palaeolithic fishhooks suggests that the appearance and development of fishhooks may be associated with a general change in resource availability during the Greenland Interstadial 1 (Bølling/Allerød warming), which is also connected with a change from late Upper Palaeolithic to Final Palaeolithic industries in Northern Central Europe. We conclude that Mesolithic fishhook tradition has its roots in the Final Palaeolithic.     

Pittite Triumph and Whig Failure in the Cambridge University Constituency, 1780–96*

Cambridge University has been featured in a wide range of studies of the long 18th century, but few have focused exclusively on the dynamics behind its politics. This is surprising since many of the Cambridge University electors were close to leading parliamentarians. The Cambridge University constituency was contested at each of the three successive general elections from 1780 onwards until 1796. Parliamentary contests often brought Cambridge University's political tensions into focus, which is why a detailed analysis of the poll books can demonstrate how different networks within the university behaved and could define the performance of candidates for the constituency. The relationships between the chancellors, vice-chancellors, high stewards, university officers, college heads, fellows, senate members and members of parliament who collectively made up the leadership are fundamental to understanding the electorate of Cambridge University. These relationships, in terms of friendships, alliances and rivalries, also influenced political and patronage networks within the university. William Pitt the Younger's success in changing the political complexion of Cambridge University is part of the broader realignment in British politics during the final two decades of the 18th century. Under the pressure of these events, Whig unity would come to an end as new divisions between ministerialists and reformers emerged. The experience of Cambridge University can shed light on the national shifts as well as how electioneering was carried out in the university parliamentary constituencies.     

Radiocarbon calibration curves,summed probability distributions,and early Paleoindian population trends in North America

Archaeologists increasingly examine summed probability distributions of radiocarbon dates to search for temporal trends in ancient human populations, including early North American population trends across the onset of the Younger Dryas climatic period (10,900 BC). We use both IntCal04 and IntCal09 to simulate and calibrate sequences of radiocarbon dates that represent evenly spaced calendar ages from 12,000 to 9000 BC and use IntCal09 to simulate two different demographic processes across this interval. The shapes of the calibrated summed probability distribution from our first set of simulations mirror many trends that have been interpreted in demographic terms and this shape shows clear links to the shape of the radiocarbon calibration curve. This is true for both IntCal04 and IntCal09, although these different curves produce different probability distributions. The shapes of the calibrated summed probability distribution from our second set of simulations differ somewhat but show virtually identical trends at points where the actual frequencies of calendar dates are very different. We conclude that changing frequencies of radiocarbon dates over time probably do contain demographic information, but that extracting this information is more difficult than archaeologists have acknowledged.     

Radiocarbon dates as data: quantitative strategies for estimating colonization front speeds and event densities

Archaeological analysis of large-scale prehistoric population history requires us to estimate rates of spatial spread during dispersals, and rates and magnitudes of temporal contraction during crashes. Using OxCal’s MCMC sampling routine, I introduce and demonstrate a simple and easily implemented method of estimating front speeds that takes due account of the uncertainty in the archaeological data (in both dates and distances), and argue that this method is more appropriate than those most often used in front speed estimation at present. I also propose a simple and easily implemented method of estimating event densities as a demographic proxy, as an alternative to summed calibrated probability distributions. I argue that this alternative is a significantly better technique, and show that its use also enables us to identify individual archaeological dates that are exerting particularly strong influence on the results, so that we can efficiently allocate our attention when assessing the possible effects of exogenous sampling uncertainty. To illustrate these methods I re-analyse two published datasets relating to the early Paleoindian colonization of North America. My results with the new technique indicate that even with a very noisy dataset, there was clear evidence in the framework of the INTCAL04 calibration curve for a drastic reduction in archaeological event densities following the Younger Dryas onset, followed by a prolonged period of reduced human activity, and a possible renewed phase of rapid growth after the Younger Dryas termination and onset of the Holocene. However, the revised estimate of the Younger Dryas marine reservoir offset in the INTCAL09 calibration curve for ∼12,550–12,900 cal BP changes the picture significantly, by flattening the peak in Clovis-age events and pushing it forward in time into the early Younger Dryas itself.     

“The Good,the Bad,and the Ugly”: evaluating the radiocarbon chronology of the middle and late Upper Paleolithic in the Enisei River valley,south-central Siberia

The ¹⁴C record for the Upper Paleolithic in Siberia has remained largely unevaluated and includes good, bad, and ugly dates. Too often researchers accept either all published dates or only those dates that tend to support proposed chronological hypotheses, regardless of sample quality and association. This article systematically evaluates all published ¹⁴C dates (including several newly obtained AMS dates) from middle and late Upper Paleolithic sites in the Enisei River valley of south-central Siberia to establish a reliable chronology for the region and address the tempo of modern human dispersals in Siberia during late Pleistocene times. The revised chronology indicates humans were present before and after the Last Glacial Maximum, but absent during this climatic event. Results also suggest that human population in the region may have increased during the Oldest Dryas.     

Boulder edge‐roundness as an indicator of relative age: A lochnagar case study

A method is presented for quantifying the degree of edge roundness of large crystalline boulders using a simple instrument. The method utilises the transition due to granular disintegration from sharp to rounded boulder edges, so that the degree of edge roundness is a function of time and can be used as a relative dating tool. Edge roundness can be precisely measured in the field if strict morphological criteria are adhered to when selecting boulders to measure. Roundness can be expressed as a length measurement between fixed points on adjacent facets, as a normalised index, or as a radius of curvature. Boulder edge‐roundness was employed to resolve uncertainty over the extent of the ‘Loch Lomond Stadial’ (LLS) glacier in the North‐east Corrie of Lochnagar. Small but significant differences in edge roundness between two sets of moraine ridges indicate that the LLS glacier was smaller than that mapped by Sissons & Grant (1972). The moraine they ascribed to the LLS relates to an earlier advance within Late Devensian time.