Terra incognita: The Palaeolithic record of northwest Europe and the information potential of the southern North Sea

Geologie en Mijnbouw/Netherlands Journal of Geosciences

Volumn 93, Issue 1-2, 2014, Pages 43-53

  Roebroeks, W ^a  

^a LEIDEN UNIVERSITY   (Netherlands)

Author keywords

Biogeography; Neanderthals; Palaeolithic; Range limits; Seabed prehistory

Indexed keywords

ARTIFACT; BIOGEOGRAPHY; FOSSIL RECORD; HERBIVORE; HUNTER-GATHERER; MAMMAL; NEANDERTHAL; PALEOLITHIC; PLEISTOCENE;

ATLANTIC OCEAN; EUROPE; NORTH SEA;

ANIMALIA;

EID: 84906070207     PISSN: 00167746     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/njg.2014.1     Document Type: Review

References (84)

1. Aldhouse-Green, S. & Pettitt, P., 1998. Paviland Cave: Contextualizing the 'Red Lady'. Antiquity 72: 756-772.
2. Aldhouse-Green, S., Peterson, R. & Walker, E.A., 2012. Neanderthals in Wales: Pontnewydd and the Elwy Valley Caves. National Museum of Wales (Cardiff): 360 pp.
3. Antoine, P., Frechen, M., Locht, J.-L., DePaepe, P., Munaut, A.-V., Rousseau, D.D. & Sommé, J., 2002. Eemian and Weichselian early glacial pedosedimentary records in northern France: the background of Middle Palaeolithic occupations during OIS 5 and early OIS 4. In: Tuffreau, A. & Roebroeks, W. (eds): Le dernier interglaciaire et les occupations humaines de Paléolithique Moyen. CERP, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille (Lille): 75-88.
4. Antoine, P., Auguste, P., Bahain, J.-J., Coudret, P., DePaepe, P., Fagnart, J.-P., Falguères, C., Fontugne, M., Frechen, M., Hatté, C., Lamotte, A., Laurent, M., Limondin-Lozouet, N., Locht, J.-L., Mercier, N., Moigne, A.-M., Munaut, A.-V., Ponel, P. & Rousseau, D.-D., 2003a. Paléoenvironments pléistocènes et peuplements paléolithiques dans le bassin de la Somme (Nord de la France). Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 100: 5-28.
5. Antoine, P., Catt, J., Lautridou, J.-P. & Sommé, J., 2003b. The loess and coversands of northern France and southern England. Journal of Quaternary Science 18: 309-318.
6. Antoine, P., Limondin-Lozouet, N., Auguste, P., Locht, J.-L., Galheb, B., Reyss, J.-L., Escudé, E., Carbonel, P., Mercier, N., Bahain, J.-J., Falguères, C. & Voinchet, P., 2006. Le tuf de Caours (Somme, France): mise en évidence d'une séquence eemienne et d'un site paléolithique associé. Quaternaire 17: 281-320.
7. Antoine, P., Limondin Lozouet, N., Chaussé, C., Lautridou, J.-P., Pastre, J.-F., Auguste, P., Bahain, J.-J., Falguères, C. & Galehb, B., 2007. Pleistocene fluvial terraces from northern France (Seine, Yonne, Somme): synthesis, and new results from interglacial deposits. Quaternary Science Reviews 26: 2701-2723.
8. Antoine, P., Bahain, J.J., Auguste, P., Fagnart, J.P., Limondin-Lozouet, N., Locht, J.L., 2011. Quaternaire et préhistoire dans la vallée de la Somme: 150 ans d'histoire commune. In: Hurel, A. & Coye, N. (eds): Dans l'épaisseur du temps. Archéologues et géologues inventent la préhistoire. Publications scientifiques du Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle (Paris): 341-381.
9. Arsuaga, J.L., Martinez, I., Gracia, A. & Lorenzo, C., 1997. The Sima de los Huesos crania (Sierra de Atapuerca, Spain): A comparative study. Journal of Human Evolution 33: 219-281.
10. Ashton, N.M. & Lewis, S.G., 2002. Deserted Britain: declining populations in the British late Middle Pleistocene. Antiquity 76: 388-396.
11. Ashton, N. & Lewis, S.G., 2012. The environmental contexts of early human occupation of northwest Europe: The British Lower Palaeolithic record. Quaternary International 271: 50-64.
12. Ashton, N., Lewis, S.G., Parfitt, S.A., Penkman, K.E.H. & Coope, G.R., 2008. New evidence for complex climate change in MIS 11 from Hoxne, Suffolk, UK. Quaternary Science Reviews 27: 652-668.
13. Benazzi, S., Douka, K., Fornai, C., Bauer, C., Kullmer, O., Svoboda, J., Pap, I., Mallegni, F., Bayle, P., Coquerelle, M., Condemi, S., Ronchitelli, A., Harvati, K. & Weber, G.W., 2011. Early dispersal of modern humans in Europe and implications for Neanderthal behavior. Nature 479: 525-528.
14. Bischoff, J.L., Williams, R.W., Rosenbauer, R.J., Aramburu, A., Arsuaga, J.L., García, N. & Cuenca-Bescós, G., 2007. High-resolution U-series dates from the Sima de los Huesos hominids yields 600 6 66 kyrs: implications for the evolution of the early Neanderthal lineage. Journal of Archaeological Science 34: 763-770.
15. Bosinski, G., 2008. Urgeschichte am Rhein. Kerns Verlag (Tübingen): 534 pp.
16. Carbonell, E., García-Antón, M., Mallol, C., Mosquera, M., Ollé, A., Rodríguez, X.P., Sahnouni, M., Sala, R., Vergès, J.M., 1999. The TD6 level lithic industry from Gran Dolina, Atapuerca (Burgos, Spain): production and use. Journal of Human Evolution 37: 653-693.
17. Carbonell, E., Bermúdez de Castro, J.M., Parés, J.M., Pérez-González, A., Cuenca-Bescós, G., Ollé, A., Mosquera, M., Huguet, R., van der Made, J., Rosas, A., Sala, R., Vallverdú, J., Garcia, N., Granger, D.E., Martinón-Torres, M., Rodríguez, X.P., Stock, G.M., Vergès, J.M., Allué, E., Burjachs, F., Cáceres, I., Canals, A., Benito, A., Díez, C., Lozano, M., Mateos, A., Navazo, M., Rodríguez, J., Rosell, J. & Arsuaga, J.L., 2008. The first hominin of Europe. Nature 452: 465-470.
18. Cohen, K.M., MacDonald, K., Joordens, J.C.A., Roebroeks, W. & Gibbard, P.L., 2012. The earliest occupation of north-west Europe: a coastal perspective. Quaternary International 271: 70-83.
19. Cohen, K., Gibbard, Ph. and Weerts, H., 2014. North Sea palaeogeographical reconstructions of the last 1 Ma. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. (In press)
20. Crevecoeur, I., Bayle, P., Rougier, H., Maureille, B., Higham, T., van der Plicht, J., de Clerck, N. & Semal, P., 2010. The Spy VI child: A newly discovered Neandertal infant. Journal of Human Evolution 59: 641-656.
21. Currant, A. & Jacobi, R., 2002. Human presence and absence in Britain during the early part of the Late Pleistocene. In: Tuffreau, A. & Roebroeks, W. (eds): Le dernier interglaciaire et les occupations humaines du Paléolithique Moyen. CERP, Universite des Sciences et Technologies de Lille (Lille): 105-113.
22. Fagnart, J.-P., 1988. Le Paléolithique Supérieur Ancien. Revue archéologique de Picardie 7: 19-31.
23. Ferring, R., Oms, O., Agustí, J., Berna, F., Nioradze, M., Shelia, T., Tappen, M., Vekua, A., Zhvania, D. & Lordkipanidze, D., 2011. Earliest human occupations at Dmanisi (Georgian Caucasus) dated to 1.85-1.78 Ma. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108: 10432-10436.
24. Gamble, C., 1986. The Palaeolithic Settlement of Europe. Cambridge University Press (Cambridge): 471 pp.
25. Gamble, C. & Kruszynski, R., 2009. John Evans, Joseph Prestwich and the stone that shattered the time barrier. Antiquity 83: 461-475.
26. Gaston, K.J., 2003. The Structure and Dynamics of Geographic Ranges. Oxford University Press (Oxford): 280 pp.
27. Geneste, J.-M., 1985. Analyse d'industries moustériennes du Périgord: une approche technologique du comportement des groupes humains au Paléolithique moyen. PhD Dissertation, Bordeaux University (Bordeaux): 572 pp.
28. Gibbard, P.L., 1988. The history of the great northwest European rivers during the past three million years. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London Series 318: 559-602.
29. Gibbard, P.L., 2007. Europe cut adrift. Nature 448: 259-260.
30. Glimmerveen, J., Mol, D., Post, K., Reumer, J.W.F., van der Plicht, H., de Vos, J., van Geel, B., van Reenen, G. & Pals, J.P., 2004. The North Sea project: the first palaeontological, palynological, and archaeological results. In: Flemming, N. (ed.): Submarine prehistoric archaeology of the North Sea. CBA research report 141, English Heritage/Council for British Archaeology (York): 43-52.
31. Glimmerveen, J., Mol, D. & van der Plicht, H., 2006. The Pleistocene reindeer of the North Sea - initial palaeontological data and archaeological remarks. Quaternary International 142-143: 242-246.
32. Gorodkov, K.B., 1986. Three-dimensional climatic model of potential range and some of its characteristics. Entomological Review 65: 1-18.
33. Goval, E., 2008. Définitions, analyses et caractérisations des territoires des Néandertaliens au Weichselien ancien en France septentrionale (Approches technologiques et spatiales des industries lithiques, élargissement au Nord-Ouest de l'Europe). Thèse de doctorat, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille (Lille): 540 pp.
34. Green, H.S., 1984. Pontnewydd Cave, a Lower Palaeolithic hominid site in Wales: 1st report. Sutton Publishing (Cardiff): 244 pp.
35. Guipert, G., de Lumley, M.-A., Tuffreau, A. &Mafart, B., 2011. A late Middle Pleistocene hominid: Biache-Saint-Vaast 2, North France. Comptes Rendus Palevol 10: 21-33.
36. Gupta, S., Collier, J.S., Palmer-Felgate, A. & Potter, G., 2007. Catastrophic flooding origin of shelf valley systems in the English Channel. Nature 448: 342-346.
37. Higham, T., 2011. European Middle and Upper Palaeolithic radiocarbon dates are often older than they look: problems with previous dates and some remedies. Antiquity 85: 235-249.
38. Hijma, M.P., Cohen, K.M., Roebroeks, W., Westerhoff, W.E. & Busschers, F.S., 2012. Pleistocene Rhine-Thames landscapes: geological background for hominin occupation of the southern North Sea region. Journal of Quaternary Science 27: 17-39.
39. Hosfield, R., 2007. Terrestrial implications for the maritime geoarchaeological resource: A view from the Lower Palaeolithic. Journal of Maritime Archaeology 2: 4-23.
40. Housley, R.A., Gamble, C.S., Street, M. & Pettitt, P., 1997. Radiocarbon evidence for the late glacial human recolonisation of northern Europe. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 63: 25-54.
41. Hublin, J.-J., 2007. Origine et évolution des Né andertaliens. In: Vandermeersch, B. & Maureille, B. (eds): Les Néandertaliens. Biologie et cultures. Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques (Paris): 95-107.
42. Hublin, J.-J., 2009. The origin of Neandertals. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106: 16022-16027.
43. Hublin, J.-J. & Roebroeks, W., 2009. Ebb and flow or regional extinctions? On the character of Neandertal occupation of northern environments. Palevol 8: 503-509.
44. Hublin, J.J., Weston, D.A., Gunz, P., Richards, M.P., Roebroeks, W., Glimmerveen, J. & Anthonis, L., 2009. Out of the North Sea: the Zeeland ridges Neandertal. Journal of Human Evolution 57: 777-785.
45. Jacobi, R.M. & Higham, T.F.G., 2008. The 'Red Lady' ages gracefully: new ultrafiltration AMS determinations from Paviland. Journal of Human Evolution 55: 898-907.
46. Jöris, O. & Street, M., 2008. At the end of the 14C time scale - the Middle to Upper Paleolithic record of western Eurasia. Journal of Human Evolution 55: 782-802.
47. Lang, A.T.O. & Keen, D.H., 2005. 'At the edge of the world ...' Hominid colonisation and the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic of the West Midlands. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 71: 63-83.
48. Lhomme, V., 2007. Tools, space and behaviour in the Lower Palaeolithic: discoveries at Soucy in the Paris Basin. Antiquity 81: 536-554.
49. Li, H., Yang, X.,Heller, F. & Li, H., 2008. High resolution magnetostratigraphy and deposition cycles in the Nihewan Basin (North China) and their significance for stone artifact dating. Quaternary Research 69: 250-262.
50. Meijer, T., 2008. Kanttekeningen bij 14C dateringen uit de periode van ca. 15-50 Ka. Palaeomal, WMC Kwartair Consultants: 1-15.
51. Meijer, T. & Cleveringa, P., 2009. Aminostratigraphy of Middle and Late Pleistocene deposits in The Netherlands and the southern part of the North Sea Basin. Global and Planetary Change 68: 326-345.
52. Mol, D., van Logchem, W., van Hooijdonk, K. & Bakker, R., 2008. The Saber-Toothed Cat of the North Sea. DrukWare (Norg): 160 pp.
53. Otte, M., 1979. Le Paléolithique supérieur ancien en Belgique. Musées Royaux d'Art et d'Histoire (Bruxelles): 684 pp.
54. Parfitt, S.A., Barendregt, R.W., Breda, M., Candy, I., Collins, M.J., Coope, G.R., Durbidge, P., Field, M.H., Lee, J.R., Lister, A.M., Mutch, R., Penkman, K.E. H., Preece, R.C., Rose, J., Stringer, C.B., Symmons, R., Whittaker, J.E., Wymer, J.J. & Stuart, A.J., 2005. The earliest record of human activity in northern Europe. Nature 438: 1008-1012.
55. Parfitt, S.A., Ashton, N., Lewis, S.G., Abel, R.L., Coope, G.R., Field, M.H., Gale, R., Hoare, P.G., N.R., L., Lewis, M.D., Karloukovski, V., Maher, B.A., Peglar, S.M., Preece, R.C., Whittaker, J.E. & Stringer, C.B., 2010. Early Pleistocene human occupation at the edge of the boreal zone in northwest Europe. Nature 466: 229-233.
56. Peeters, H. and Momber, G., 2014. The southern North Sea and the human occupation of northwest Europe after the Last Glacial Maximum. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. (In press)
57. Preece, R.C., Parfitt, S.A., Bridgland, D.R., Lewis, S.G., Rowe, P.J., Atkinson, T.C., Candy, I., Debenham, N.C., Penkman, K.E.H., Rhodes, E.J., Schwenninger, J.-L., Griffiths, H.I., Whittaker, J.E. & Gleed-Owen, C., 2007. Terrestrial environments during MIS 11: evidence from the Palaeolithic site at West Stow, Suffolk, UK. Quaternary Science Reviews 26: 1236-1300.
58. Roberts, M.B. & Parfitt, S.A., 1999. Boxgrove: A Middle Pleistocene Hominid Site at Eartham Quarry, Boxgrove, West Sussex. English Heritage (London): 456 pp.
59. Roebroeks, W., 1988. From Find Scatters to Early Hominid Behaviour. A Study of Middle Paleolithic Riverside Settlements at Maastricht- Belvédère (The Netherlands). Leiden University Press (Leiden): 196 pp.
60. Roebroeks, W., 2000. A marginal matter: the human occupation of northwestern Europe - 30,000 to 20,000 years bp. In: Roebroeks, W., Mussi, M., Svoboda, J. & Fennema, K. (eds): Hunters of the Golden Age. TheMid Upper Palaeolithic of Eurasia 30,000-20,000 BP. University of Leiden (Leiden): 299-312.
61. Roebroeks, W., 2005. Life on the Costa del Cromer. Nature 438: 921-922.
62. Roebroeks, W. & Villa, P., 2011. On the earliest evidence for habitual use of fire in Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 108: 5209-5214.
63. Roebroeks, W., Kolen, J. & Rensink, E., 1988. Planning depth, anticipation and the organization of Middle Palaeolithic technology: the 'archaic natives' meet Eve's descendants. Helinium 28: 17-34.
64. Roebroeks, W., Conard, N.J. & van Kolfschoten, T., 1992. Dense forests, cold steppes, and the Palaeolithic settlement of northern Europe. Current Anthropology 33: 551-586.
65. Roebroeks, W., Hublin, J.-J. & MacDonald, K., 2011. Continuities and discontinuities in Neandertal presence: A closer look at northwestern Europe. In: Ashton, N.M., Lewis, S.G. & Stringer, C.B. (eds): The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain. Elsevier (Amsterdam): 113-123.
66. Russell, J. & Tizzard, L., 2011. Seabed Prehistory: Site Evaluation Techniques (Area 240) Synthesis. Wessex Archaeology (Salisbury): 60 pp.
67. Schmitz, R.W.E. (ed.), 2006. Neanderthal 1856-2006. Philipp von Zabern (Mainz): 380 pp.
68. Semal, P., Rougier, H., Crevecoeur, I., Jungels, C., Flas, D., Hauzeur, A., Maureille, B., Germonpré, M., Bocherens, H., Pirson, S., Cammaert, L., de Clerck, N., Hambucken, A., Higham, T., Toussaint, M. & van der Plicht, J., 2009. New data on the Late Neandertals: Direct dating of the Belgian Spy fossils. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 138: 421-428.
69. Smith, A.J., 1985. A catastrophic origin for the palaeovalley system of the eastern English Channel. Geology 64: 65-75.
70. Stringer, C., 2006. Homo Britannicus. The Incredible Story of Human Life in Britain. Allen Lane (London): 242 pp.
71. Stringer, C.B., 2012. The status of Homo heidelbergensis (Schoetensack 1908). Evolutionary Anthropology 21: 101-107.
72. Toro-Moyano, I., de Lumley, H., Fajardo, B., Barsky, D., Cauche, D., Celiberti, V., Grégoire, S., Martínez-Navarro, B., Espigares, M.P. & Ros-Montoya, S., 2009. L'industrie lithique des gisements du Pléistocène inférieur de Barranco León et Fuente Nueva 3 à Orce, Grenade, Espagne. L'Anthropologie 113: 111-124.
73. Toucanne, S., Zaragosi, S., Bourillet, J.F., Cremer, M., Eynaud, F., van Vliet-Lanoë, B., Penaud, A., Fontanier, C., Turon, J.L., Cortijo, E. & Gibbard, P. L., 2009. Timing of massive 'Fleuve Manche' discharges over the last 350 kyr: insights into the European ice-sheet oscillations and the European drainage network from MIS 10 to 2. Quaternary Science Reviews 28: 1238-1256.
74. Trinkaus, E., Moldovan, O., Milota, S., Bîlgâr, A., Sarcina, L., Athreya, S., Bailey, S.E., Rodrigo, R., Mircea, G., Higham, T., Bronk Ramsey, C. & van der Plicht, J., 2003. An early modern human from the Pestera cu Oase, Romania. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 100: 11231-11236.
75. Tuffreau, A., 1993. Riencourt-les-Bapaume (Pas-de-Calais). Un gisement du Paleolithique moyen. Documents d'Archeologie Francaise (Paris): 126 pp.
76. Tuffreau, A., Révillion, S., Sommé, J. & van Vliet-Lanöe, B., 1994. Le gisement paléolithique moyen de Seclin (Nord). Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française 91: 23-46.
77. Turner, C., 2000. The Eemian interglacial in the North European plain and adjacent areas. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences/Geologie en Mijnbouw 79: 217-231.
78. Vandenberghe, J., Roebroeks, W. & van Kolfschoten, T., 1993. Maastricht-Belvédère: stratigraphy, palaeoenvironment and archaeology of the Middle and Late Pleistocene deposits: Part II. Mededelingen Rijks Geologische Dienst 47: 1-91.
79. Verpoorte, A., 2008. Limiting factors on early modern human dispersals: The human biogeography of late Pleniglacial Europe. Quaternary International 201: 77-85.
80. Wenban-Smith, F., Bates, M.R. & Schwenninger, J.-L., 2010. Early Devensian (MIS 5d-5b) occupation at Dartford, southeast England. Journal of Quaternary Science 25: 1193-1199.
81. Westley, K., Dix, J. & Quinn, R., 2004. A re-assessment of the archaeological potential of continental shelves. English Heritage (London): 207 pp.
82. White, M.J. & Jacobi, R.M., 2002. Two sides to every story: bout coupé handaxes revisited. Oxford Journal of Archaeology 21: 109-133.
83. White, M. & Pettitt, P., 2012. Ancient digs and modern myths: the age and context of the Kent's Cavern 4 maxilla and the earliest Homo sapiens specimens in Europe. European Journal of Archaeology 15: 1-30.
84. White, M., Ashton, N. & Scott, B., 2011. The emergence, diversity and significance of mode 3 (prepared core) technologies. In: Ashton, N.M., Lewis, S.G. & Stringer, C.B. (eds): The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain. Elsevier (Amsterdam): 53-65.