Few sites with evidence for fire use are known from the Last Interglacial in Europe. Hearth features are rarely preserved, probably as a result of post-depositional processes. The small postglacial... Show moreFew sites with evidence for fire use are known from the Last Interglacial in Europe. Hearth features are rarely preserved, probably as a result of post-depositional processes. The small postglacial basins (<300 m in diameter) that dominate the sedimentary context of the Eemian record in Europe are high-resolution environmental archives often containing charcoal particles. This case study presents the macroscopic charcoal record of the Neumark-Nord 2 basin, Germany, and the correlation of this record with the distinct find levels of the basin margin that also contain thermally altered archaeological material. Increased charcoal quantities are shown to correspond to phases of hominin presence—a pattern that fits best with recurrent anthropogenic fires within the watershed. This research shows the potential of small basin localities in the reconstruction of local fire histories, where clear archaeological features like hearths are missing. Show less
Pop, E.; Bakels, C.; Kuijper, W.; Mücher, H.; Dijk, M. van 2015
Due to favorable conditions of preservation, sedimentary basins provide rich records of human behavior and its environmental context. The conditions for the preservation of archaeological material... Show moreDue to favorable conditions of preservation, sedimentary basins provide rich records of human behavior and its environmental context. The conditions for the preservation of archaeological material however vary between basin types (large, river-fed or small, closed basins), while conditions also differ within a particular basin environment. The goal of this paper is to understand how the dynamics of a small postglacial basin such as Neumark-Nord 2, a context that dominates the Eemian archaeological record, affected the archaeology situated at its basin margin. The approach used here is to correlate the archaeological record with reconstructions of patterns of deposition and the water conditions within the basin, using lithology, micromorphology, pollen, and macroremains from a transect running from the basin center to the margin. The results show that (1) find levels were exposed to overland flow-induced winnowing, which vertically concentrated finds but did not cause significant transport, (2) find levels correspond to phases of increased water presence in the basin, and (3) lateral shifts in hominin activity areas may reflect adjustments in the water level. The research shows the importance of large-scale archaeological excavations and a multidisciplinary sampling strategy that covers both the basin center and the margins, when studying postglacial basin localities like Neumark-Nord 2. Show less
Pop, E.; Bakels, C.; Kuijper, W.; Mücher, H.; Dijk, M. van 2015
