Thomas Kolb

Climate deteriorations and Neanderthal demise in interior Iberia

Time and circumstances for the disappearance of Neanderthals and its relationship with the advent of Modern Humans are not yet sufficiently resolved, especially in case of the Iberian Peninsula. Reconstructing palaeoenvironmental conditions during the last glacial period is crucial to clarifying whether climate deteriorations or competition and contacts with Modern Humans played the pivotal role in driving Neanderthals to extinction. A high-resolution loess record from the Upper Tagus Basin in central Spain demonstrates that the Neanderthal abandonment of inner Iberian territories 42 kyr ago coincided with the evolvement of hostile environmental conditions, while archaeological evidence testifies that this desertion took place regardless of modern humans’ activities. According to stratigraphic findings and stable isotope analyses, this period corresponded to the driest environmental conditions of the last glacial apart from an even drier period linked to Heinrich Stadial 3. Our results show that during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 4 and 2 climate deteriorations in interior Iberia temporally coincided with northern hemisphere cold periods (Heinrich stadials). Solely during the middle MIS 3, in a period surrounding 42 kyr ago, this relation seems not straightforward, which may demonstrate the complexity of terrestrial climate conditions during glacial periods.

Is there a common alpha-efficiency in polymineral samples measured by various infrared stimulated luminescence protocols?

Abstract Dating of polymineral silt-sized samples by use of post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIRIR) protocols at elevated temperature has recently gained attraction due to assumed lower rates of anomalous fading. The α-efficiency (or a-value) associated with the pIRIR signals as an integral part of age calculation has, however, not yet been sufficiently constrained. Here we present a set of 65 a-values determined for 47 samples collected across Europe with two different IRSL protocols in two laboratories. By testing the basic preconditions for application of the single-aliquot regeneration (SAR) procedure to constrain a-values and by comparing SAR results to a-values obtained by multiple-aliquot protocols, we demonstrate that SAR-derived a-values are reliable for the majority of samples. While aliquot size and signal resetting mode prior to α-regeneration do not appear to affect the resulting a-value, we detected significant differences in mean a-values measured in the two laboratories. For the pIRIR290 signal, a-values average to 0.085 ± 0.010 (Bayreuth) and 0.101 ± 0.014 (Cologne), while a modified SAR protocol yields 0.081 ± 0.008 (Bayreuth). Whereas provenance-specific differences in a-values might be masked by overall scatter, systematic offsets between laboratories are attributed to technical issues such as heater and source calibration. Based on the present data set, use of the same routine dating equipment is strongly advised for both dose and a-value measurements.