Data

Stratified Upper Pleistocene sediment sequences have been geochemically investigated in the arid environment of the Wadi Sabra (Southern Jordan). The wadi fills are associated to archaeological finds of Upper Palaeolithic to Epipalaeolithic age and intended for a reconstruction of palaeoenvironmental conditions during and after the time of the initial human occupation. As the mineralogical and sedimentological composition of the sediments is highly influenced by the nature of the local source rock, the...

In the arid regions of the Levant, ancient wadi fills act as a terrestrial sedimentary archive with a high potential for preserving archaeological findings. This current study combines remote sensing with laboratory VIS-spectroscopy to investigate the spatial distribution of alluvial wadi fills in a small catchment in Southern Jordan. Due to its homogeneous sandstone geology, the composition of the alluvial sediments is highly influenced by the local bedrock whilst fluvial relocation and surface weathering...

The north Morocco neolithic and protohistoncal archaeological levels yielded a dozen species of Carnivora. The Canidae are represented by Lycaon sp , Vulpes vulpes, Cams famiharis, Cams aureus and perhaps an other species of Cams For the Fehdae, besides Panthera leo, Panthera pardus and Fehs silvestns we note the presence of medium size felines like Fehs serval and Fehs caracal. The measurements indicate in fact that the bear (Ursus arctos) was small and thickset a high intraspecific variability of dog and...

The Paleolithic sites Romanesti and Cosava, situated at the foothills of the Banat Mountains in Romania, provide an important testament of life of the first European modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) during the Middle Pleniglacial. Even though these sites have been extensively excavated, little is known about the site formation of related loess-like sediments and soils. First luminescence data at the two investigated sections confirm sediments from the penultimate glacial period to the Holocene. ...

The Belontinac loess section is one of the southernmost loess-paleosol environmental archives for the Late Quaternary in Serbia. The climate at this site is intermediate between the continental and the Mediterranean realms, which makes this loess archive potentially highly sensitive to past climatic changes. This paper presents new insights into the paleoenvironmental history during the last glacial period in southern Serbia using grain size and isotope proxy data. The grain size parameters from the...

The transboundary Lake Prespa and its watershed enclose a remarkable biodiversity that is protected by several national and international treaties. Situated at 849 m a.s.l., the area is characterized by a transitional climate and the closed nature of the basin controls Lake Prespa’s modern hydrology. An 18 m-long sediment sequence was retrieved from a distal location, away from stream inflow, where preliminary hydroacoustic investigations suggested undisturbed sedimentation. Consequently, the sediments were...

The juncture between the west–east and north–south contrasting Holocene climatic domains across the Mediterranean is complex and poorly understood. Diatom analysis of Lake Dojran (Republic of Macedonia/Greece) provides a new insight into lake levels and trophic status during the Lateglacial and Holocene periods in the northeastern Mediterranean. Following a very shallow or even desiccated state at the core base at ca. 12,500 cal yr BP, indicated by sedimentological and hydro-acoustic data, diatoms indicate...

A Late Glacial to Holocene sediment sequence (Co1260, 717 cm) from Lake Dojran, located at the boarder of the F.Y.R. of Macedonia and Greece, has been investigated to provide information on climate variability in the Balkan region. A robust age-model was established from 13 radiocarbon ages, and indicates that the base of the sequence was deposited at ca. 12 500 cal yr BP, when the lake-level was low. Variations in sedimentological (TOC, CaCO3, TC, N, S, grain-size, XRF, δ18Ocarb, δ13Ccarb, δ13Corg) data...

A detailed tephrostratigraphic record, which dates back to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5b (ca. 91 kyr), has been established from a 17.76 m long core (Co1215) from Lake Prespa (Macedonia, Albania and Greece). A total of eleven tephra and cryptotephra layers (PT0915-1 to PT0915-11) were identified, using XRF scanning, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and macro- and microscopic inspection of the sediments. The major element composition of glass shards and/or micro-pumice fragments indicates that the...

On the basis of a multi-proxy approach and a strategy combining lacustrine and marine records along a north–south transect, data collected in the central Mediterranean within the framework of a collaborative project have led to reconstruction of high-resolution and well-dated palaeohydrological records and to assessment of their spatial and temporal coherency. Contrasting patterns of palaeohydrological changes have been evidenced in the central Mediterranean south (north) of around 40° N of latitude, the...

Lake Prespa is one of the three largest lakes on the Balkan Peninsula and is, with a supposed age of more than three million years, one of the oldest lakes in Europe. The sediments of Lake Prespa constitute an invaluable climate archive for the Balkan region, which was sparsely inves-tigated. The focus of this study in the CRC 806 –Our way to Europe– is to reconstruct the cli-matic and environmental history of the Balkan region during the Late Glacial and Holocene on a high resolution. For this purpose, a...

The Marmara region is a key area to investigate the interconnection and environmental changes between the Black Sea and the Eastern Mediterranean related to climate patterns. Lake Iznik is an oligohaline lake located in the southeast of the Marmara Sea. To decipher the long-term signals recorded in the sediment column requires better understanding of the processes in the modern lake environs. Seasonal limnological investigations were paired with geochemical and sedimentological analyses. Lake Iznik is an...