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The Eemian Interglacial lake-landscape at Neumark-Nord (Germany) and its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies
Quaternary International xxx (2013) 1e8
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The Eemian Interglacial lake-landscape at Neumark-Nord (Germany) and its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser a, *, Lutz Kindler a, Eduard Pop b, Wil Roebroeks b, Geoff Smith a a b
MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, RGZM, Schloss Monrepos, Neuwied 56567, Germany Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Available online xxx
Geochronological and environmental studies show that two adjacent lake basins containing Middle Palaeolithic industries, Neumark-Nord 1 and Neumark-Nord 2 (Germany) both date to the early Corylus phase of the Eemian Interglacial, of ca. 125,000 years ago. Here hominins exploited a wide range of herbivores in a 26 ha lake landscape during a period that is often considered to be extremely challenging for Neandertals in terms of environmental conditions. We present the progressing faunal analysis of Neumark-Nord 2/2 and a new pilot study into the exploitation patterns of the Neumark-Nord 1 faunal assemblage, which clearly demonstrate the potential and importance of Neumark-Nord for the study of hominin subsistence strategies in Interglacial Landscapes. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
have been characterized by a high primary biomass and a high primary production. Most of this richness would have consisted of trees and vegetational resources that require extensive processing and are only available over short periods of the year. Animal products such as meat and fat must have been an important food source, especially in winter. In contrast to open mammoth steppe environments, herbivore mass in forested environments would have been significantly lower and medium and larger sized mammals more dispersed (Kelly, 1983; Roebroeks et al., 1992; Kahlke, 1994; Speleers, 2000; Gaudzinski, 2004). Interglacial forested environments pose such challenges to hunter-gatherers, that some workers have suggested that not even modern hunter-gatherers are well adapted to them (Binford, 2001). Against this background, the interpreted scarcity (or complete absence on the British Isles) of traces of Neandertal presence during the Last Interglacial led to some debate and subsequent studies of interglacial sites from the 1990s onward (e.g. Roebroeks et al., 1992). During the last decade, evidence from newly discovered sites dating back to the Cromerian complex have demonstrated that already from the early phases of their presence in temperate Europe, hominins were capable of surviving in interglacial forested environments (Parfitt et al., 2005; Roebroeks, 2005). The last interglacial, the Eemian (ca. 125,000 years ago), with a duration of between 11,000 and 12,000 years on the European Plain, is characterized by a typical succession of plant communities, making it possible to correlate archaeological sites with good pollen records to specific parts of the Eemian. Therefore, Eemian Interglacial deposits hold the potential to function as high-
During the last 900,000 years global climate fluctuated in roughly 100,000 year cycles from extreme cold stages to warmtemperate ones, the interglacials. These climate changes strongly affected the environmental conditions in Europe, especially in the northern part of the continent (Ehlers, 1994; Lang, 1994; Sirocko et al., 2007; Sirocko, 2009). During the glacial maxima, large parts of the European Plain were covered with glaciers or faced hostile permafrost conditions. In contrast, during the (relatively short) interglacial maxima, major parts of the European Plain were covered by primeval forests. The intermediate periods, representing the longest time segments, are characterized by tundra to steppe environments reflecting cold to cool-temperate climatic conditions. The study of human behaviour as reflected in the archaeology of Interglacials is especially promising, as these periods represent particularly narrow windows of time in the Pleistocene record as well as challenging environments for huntergatherers. As in modern-day temperate and tropical forests, Pleistocene interglacial deciduous forests within the Neanderthal range would
* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (S. GaudzinskiWindheuser), [email protected] (L. Kindler), [email protected] (E. Pop), [email protected] (W. Roebroeks), [email protected] (G. Smith). 1040-6182/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.023
Please cite this article in press as: Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., et al., The Eemian Interglacial lake-landscape at Neumark-Nord (Germany) and its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies, Quaternary International (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.023
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resolution archives for the study of Neanderthal behaviour. Neandertal presence in Eemian Interglacial environments is welldocumented by sites in northern Germany (Roebroeks et al., 1992), further confirmed by recent fieldwork at the site of Neumark-Nord (near Halle, Germany), discussed in this paper, and excavations at the Caours site in the Somme valley, France (Antoine et al., 2006). The site of Neumark-Nord 2 represents a very important addition to a dataset of exposures from the North German Plain and its southern margin (Gaudzinski-Windheuser and Roebroeks, 2011) that can be used to study human behaviour in Interglacial environments. 2. The North German Plain The eastern part of Germany, which forms a large part of the North German Plain, has played a key role in studies of the glaciations in Europe, with evidence for two major ice advances of Elsterian (MIS 10) and Saalian (MIS 6) age and additional minor oscillations. Quaternary deposits are still exposed in the large scale open cast lignite mines in the region and over the years these have revealed numerous archaeological sites, often preserved in the infill of sedimentary basins. Many of the sites uncovered in these deposits are well known in the literature, e.g. the Lehringen spear site (Thieme and Veil, 1985), Rabutz (Toepfer, 1958) and Neumark-Nord 1 (Mania et al., 2010, 1990; see also; Mania, 2000; see also: Gaudzinski-Windheuser and Roebroeks, 2011). The archaeological finds at most of these sites are embedded in a fine-grained sedimentary matrix and the excavated and investigated areas are often large in size. The preservation of the finds tends to be excellent; plant remains are often preserved and bone surfaces do not generally show signs of significant (post-) depositional alteration and still reveal the finest cut- and scrape-marks. Moreover, given the often high rates of sedimentation in these basins, the sedimentary matrix of the archaeological levels can usually be attributed to clearly defined and restricted time slices which can be correlated to certain phases within the Interglacial palynological succession. This works especially well for the Eemian interglacial, because the duration of the pollen zones within the characteristic succession (birch e pine e elm e oak e hazel e alder e yew e lime e hornbeam e spruce fir and finally pine or birch, Menke and Tynni, 1984) is very well-known through varve counting and other methods (Müller, 1974; Turner, 2002). Therefore, provided good pollen data are present, archaeological sites recovered from interglacial deposits can sometimes be attributed to very short periods of time, a unique situation in the European Lower and Middle Palaeolithic record (Tuffreau and Roebroeks, 2002). During the last environmental and climatic change from steppe to forested environments around the PleistoceneeHolocene boundary we can witness major changes in general patterns of land-use; these include different mobility patterns as reflected by transport of lithics and investments in on-site structures, faunal exploitation and lithic technology at late Upper Palaeolithic and early Mesolithic sites on the European Plain (Street et al., 2009). It is sometimes assumed that forested environments triggered technological changes in hunting equipment, such as the bow and arrow, as a more efficient substitute for the long-used spear-thrower. Mobility strategies of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers on the Pleistocene Eurasian steppe were probably determined by migrating ungulate herds, with hunter-gatherers exploiting large territories from seasonal base camps, which were provisioned by hunting camps along migratory routes of ungulates. The absence of large ungulate herds in the more forested environments emerging around the PleistoceneeHolocene transition required changes in hunter-gatherer subsistence strategies. To compensate for the
decrease of ungulate prey, the exploitation of nutritional resources became more diverse and intensified the use of plant and aquatic food sources. As a result, group size decreased and smaller territories were exploited (e.g. Street et al., 2002; Holst, 2007; Terberger et al., 2009). Among pre-modern humans on the North European Plain one could expect similar organizational responses to forested environments, archaeologically visible through a wider range of prey species and decreased mobility. The Eemian fauna of Taubach, with its evidence for hunting of solitary animals, may already point to this diversification (Bratlund, 2000; Gaudzinski, 2004; Gaudzinski-Windheuser and Roebroeks, 2011). The Last Interglacial site of Neumark-Nord represents the largest Eemian (sensu stricto) open air site known to date. This high resolution archive is characterised by an excellent preservation of organic remains and thus holds the potential to provide important information about hominin resource exploitation of the NeumarkNord landscape. In the following an introduction to the site of Neumark-Nord will be given as well as an outline of its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies. 3. Research at Neumark-Nord The site of Neumark-Nord is located approximately 35 km west of Leipzig in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany (51190 2800 N, 11530 5600 E). Neumark-Nord is located in the northeastern mining field of the former open cast mine Mücheln in the Geiseltal near Merseburg, an area now flooded by a recreational lake called the Geiseltalsee. In and around the mining field of Neumark-Nord isostatic movements induced by lignite diapirism formed numerous basins which became filled up with Pleistocene sediments (Fig. 1). For more than 20 years this vast area has been surveyed by Dietrich Mania and colleagues and until now two basins, Neumark-Nord 1 and Neumark-Nord 2, have been investigated systematically from an archaeological perspective, be it with different excavation strategies. Neumark-Nord 1 (NN1) was uncovered during mining activities in 1985. Geological and archaeological investigations lasted until 1996, undertaken by a working group led by D. Mania and M. Thomae (Mania et al., 2010). Basin NN1 (as well as basin NN2) formed within a Saalian till and was filled up with interglacial deposits, containing two archaeological horizons (Mania et al., 1990). The efforts of the NN1 working group resulted in numerous publications that provide a detailed insight into the palaeoecology and archaeology of the site (e.g. Mania et al., 2010). Since NN1 was investigated during mining activities, only small portions of the basin could be excavated systematically, and always under significant time pressure. During the fieldwork in the lignite quarry in 1996, Mania discovered a second basin, Neumark-Nord 2 (NN2), a few hundred meters to the northeast of NN1. In 2003 the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt started excavations at NN2 focusing on the early Weichselian find level (NN2/0) in the upper part of the basin’s infill. The interglacial find horizon discussed in this paper (NN2/2) was subsequently discovered during the construction of a geological trench. Between 2004 and 2008, the NN2/2 find levels were excavated, from 2006 onward in a joint project of the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, the Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, Monrepos, of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (Germany) and the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University (The Netherlands). NN2/2 was excavated all year round over a period of 37 months until the end of 2008, when the flooding of the former quarry, which is to be turned into a recreation resort, reached the NN2/2 find levels.
Please cite this article in press as: Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., et al., The Eemian Interglacial lake-landscape at Neumark-Nord (Germany) and its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies, Quaternary International (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.023
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Fig. 1. Location of the basins Neumark-Nord 1 (NN1) and Neumark-Nord 2 (NN2) in the former open cast lignite mine at Mücheln, the present Geiseltalsee. Picture: LDA LSA.
4. The basin Neumark-Nord 1 Eleven years of excavation by Mania, Thomae and colleagues at the well-known exposures of NN1 sampled a 24 ha large lake basin with impressive results (Mania et al., 1990; Mania, 2004; Mania and Thomae, 2008). The NN1 sedimentary infill contained very well preserved floral and faunal remains, representing an unparalleled Pleistocene interglacial faunal and floral thanatocoenosis. The excellent preservation of organic remains enabled a detailed palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the lake and its surroundings (Mania et al., 2010; Meller, 2010). On the shores of this former lake Mania and his team uncovered remarkable scatters of bones and partly articulated animal carcasses including elephant, rhinoceros, and bovid remains, which were occasionally associated with flint artefacts (Mania et al., 1990). An almost complete skeleton of a juvenile Bos primigenius was excavated from the lower shore find horizon. Most of the recovered vertebral processes show traces of carnivore modification. Some flakes and a simple scraper were found among the animal bones. Several additional lithics were found on the lake shore at a distance of only 2 m from the skeleton. The NN1 record is characterized by the presence of animal bones and artefacts in what looks like a primary context, whereas it has been argued that a non-hominin genesis for this co-occurrence cannot be ruled out (Mania et al., 1990, 2010). A detailed summary of the archaeological evidence from NN1 can be found in Mania et al. (2010).
Within the lake infill, more than 142 more or less complete cervid skeletons as well as the remains of almost 70 straight tusked elephants were uncovered, together with remains of rhinos, aurochs and carnivores (Mania et al., 2010). The cervid carcasses were virtually complete and showed the typical signs of desiccation, including dorsal distortion of the spine as well as a parallel position of the front and hind legs (Fig. 2). Males represent the majority of the individuals, most of which died in autumn (Pfeiffer, 1999). Unambiguous traces of hominin presence in the form of stone tools clearly associated with the carcasses are lacking. Various scenarios have been brought forward for the interpretation of this record. Mania et al. (1990) suggested that the animals died after having been driven into the lake basin by hominins, as part of a series of hunting activities. Later, Mania et al. (2010) suggested that the thanatocoenosis in the centre of the lake basin accumulated over several thousands of years and proposed that despite of the abundant indications for hominin activities also natural causes of death must be taken into consideration. For the largest animal group at NN1, the cervids, Pfeiffer suggests a different scenario. Most of the cervid remains are from fallow deer (Dama dama geiselana) and their low degree of morphological variability suggests the presence of a uniform population at the site (Pfeiffer, 1999, 2010). Moreover Pfeiffer (1999, 2010) suggests that the Dama individuals may have died as a result of exposure to poisonous water and gases, in an occasionally
Please cite this article in press as: Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., et al., The Eemian Interglacial lake-landscape at Neumark-Nord (Germany) and its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies, Quaternary International (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.023
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NN1 for traces of hominin exploitation and other taphonomic agents is essential. The results of a pilot study are presented below. 5. The basin Neumark-Nord 2
Fig. 2. Neumark-Nord 1. Complete Cervid carcass uncovered from the lake basin. Picture: LDA LSA.
poisonous lacustrine environment (Pfeiffer, 1999; Braun and Pfeifer, 2002; Pfeiffer, 2010). As these scenarios seem contradictory on some points a systematic analysis of the complete and disarticulated carcasses from
The NN2 basin was exposed in the northeastern escarpment of the open cast mine, over an area of about 2 ha. The North to South development of the basin was investigated by geological drillings and geoelectric measurements during the archaeological excavations. The eastern margins of the basin were already destroyed during lignite exploitation of the adjacent mining field NeumarkOst, decades before the discovery of NN2. Of the remaining NN2 deposits, the 2004e2008 excavations of the Eemian site uncovered an area of 491 m2. The NN2 basin infill is underlain by a Saalian (Drenthian) sandygravelly diamicton and overlain by ca. 6 m of last glacial (Weichselian) loess. The basin infill starts with sediments reworked from the diamicton, overlain by a series of mostly well drained, moist, calcareous silt loams which include the find-horizon NN2/2 (Sier et al., 2011). Palynological studies demonstrate an interglacial succession typical for the Eemian Interglacial in northern Europe (Bakels in Sier et al., 2011; Bakels, 2012) (Fig. 3). Sedimentological and soil-micromorphological studies of the NN2/2 sediments indicate a rapid infilling of the basin, in a near continuous process with very little evidence of soil formation
Fig. 3. Neumark-Nord 2. Pollen percentage curve (selected taxa) for the last interglacial sequence at NN2 (Bakels, 2011). Lithological units (on the left) following Sier et al. (2011). The first traces of Neandertal presence occur in unit 6 (Pollen Zone III), while the bulk of the lithic and faunal material is present in unit 8. Artefacts occur up to the middle part of pollen zone IVb3 (unit 14). Picture: Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden.
Please cite this article in press as: Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., et al., The Eemian Interglacial lake-landscape at Neumark-Nord (Germany) and its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies, Quaternary International (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.023
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during periods of non-deposition. Micromorphological studies and studies of the molluscs and plant remains suggests that the basin contained shallow water most of the time, with the characteristic laminations present in deeper parts of the sequence resulting from repetitive seasonal rainfall. The find-horizon NN2/2 corresponds to the Corylus (hazel) zone of the Eemian Interglacial (Sier et al., 2011). Developed only along the northern part of the basin, findhorizon NN2/2 was excavated from the margin towards the centre of the basin. In sum, 118,754 larger mammal bones, 19,615 flint artefacts, as well as 498 gravel-sized stones were uncovered. Of these, 21,217 larger mammal bones and 9195 lithics were documented three dimensionally in the field. The faunal analysis is work in progress, but preliminary results show a typical Interglacial fauna with many large sized mammals such as cervids, i.e. fallow deer (Dama dama) and red deer (Cervus elaphus), bovids (B. primigenius, Bison priscus) and horse (Equus sp.). Carnivores of various sizes, e.g. wolf (Canis lupus), lion (Panthera leo) and bear (Ursus spelaeus) have been documented as well. Remains of megaherbivores (such as rhino and straight-tusked elephant) appear in low frequency. Microfauna, birds, reptiles, fishes and molluscs were also documented (Kindler et al., 2013). The faunal material at NN2/2 shows excellent preservation, as a result of the high sedimentation rate, the calcareous character of the fine-grained matrix and the absence of soil formation throughout the sequence. The remarkably good preservation enabled Britton et al. (2012) to obtain good quality collagen from some of the faunal remains. The study of the collagen showed clear inter-species differences in d15N and d13C, especially between equids and bovids. These trends likely reflect niche partitioning of the shallow lake site, with its local diversity in vegetation (Bakels, 2011). The NN2/2 lithic assemblage is almost exclusively made from moraine-derived Baltic flint, mostly in mint condition. Flint knapping occurred at the site with evidence for all phases of the lithic reduction sequence present. The core reduction, characterized by
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disc and more amorphous cores, focused on the production of large quantities of flakes, which constitute the bulk of the assemblage. Notches and denticulates dominate the tool assemblage, while scrapers are less frequently occurring (Pop, 2013). The majority of the finds (ca. 70%) is concentrated in a spatially restricted area, approximately 5 m wide, along the margin of the basin before the slope towards the basins centre. Within this area the finds show an equal distribution with the exception of finds occurring near or on the bottom of the find horizon, where they cluster in round to rectangular-shaped spatial concentrations with diameters of 40e80 cm (Fig. 4). The concentrations are associated with shallow depressions in the lake shore area, and may result from a minimal reworking of find material into these depressions, which may have been shallow and limited erosional features at the margin of the basin. However, detailed study of the formation of these concentrations and the shallow features in which they are present is still ongoing (Pop, 2013). 6. Relationship between Neumark-Nord 1 and Neumark-Nord 2 There has been considerable debate on the age of the infill of NN1 as well as its relationship to the NN2 sequence, which was located approximately 200 m northeast of the northern boundary of NN1. Apart from an Eemian age for the two basins (Litt, 1994; Zagwijn, 1996; Eissmann, 2002; Kaspar et al., 2005) an IntraSaalian age for the archaeological horizons in basin NN1 and NN2/2 was proposed as well. According to Mania and colleagues the interglacial NN1 sequence was stratigraphically underlying the NN2 infill, which in their view contained evidence for two full interglacials separated by a cold stage, with the uppermost one being the Eemian. This interpretation of the NN1 and NN2 evidence implied the existence of two full interglacials between the Saalian diamicton and the Eemien Interglacial (Mania, 1998; Brühl and Laurat, 2004; Mania, 2004; Laurat and Brühl, 2006; Mania and Mania, 2008; Mania and Thomae, 2008; Mania et al., 2010).
Fig. 4. Spatial structure uncovered during excavation at Neumark-Nord 2 consisting of lithics and highly fragmented bones which are characterised by butchering traces. Picture: Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden.
Please cite this article in press as: Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., et al., The Eemian Interglacial lake-landscape at Neumark-Nord (Germany) and its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies, Quaternary International (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.023
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However, recent multi-disciplinary studies could demonstrate beyond any doubt that the NN2 interglacial infill is of last interglacial (Eemian) age, with no evidence for a second, older interglacial present. This age assignment is based on a variety of independent studies including palynology (Bakels in Sier et al., 2011), AAR (Penkman, 2010), Thermoluminescence dating of heated flints (Richter and Krbetschek, 2013) and palaeomagnetic evidence (Sier et al., 2011). Furthermore, despite clear morphological and dimensional differences between the large and deep NN1 lake and the shallow NN2 basin, there are striking similarities between their infills. A detailed discussion of palynological and malacological data by Strahl et al. (2010) demonstrated that the interglacial infill of the two basins occurred simultaneously, under warm sub-continental conditions in a mostly open, park-like forested environment. The vegetation sequences documented at both basins show an almost continuous development from the late Saalian to the final part of the Eemian Interglacial (see Strahl et al., 2010 for a comparison of the NN1 vegetation succession with the one from NN2, also described in detail by Bakels, in Sier et al., 2011). Furthermore, Bithynia opercula from NN1 show the same values of protein degradation as opercula retrieved from NN1, indicating synchronous sedimentation of the two basins (Penkman, 2010). Synchronous sedimentation is further supported by luminescence dating of the NN1 sequence (Krbetschek and Eissmann, 2008; Krbetschek et al., 2008), which yielded an age of c. 140 ka for sediments immediately underlying the NN1 interglacial fill and a date of 132 12 ka for a sample from the NN1 interglacial sequence (dates discussed in Strahl et al., 2010). Comparative studies of the archaeological material uncovered from NN1 and NN2/2 have not yet been undertaken systematically. However a recent pilot study by De Moor (2010) indicates that the flint artefacts of NN2/2 and NN1 are very comparable in technological and typological terms. In fact the only real difference lies in the somewhat larger average size of the NN1 flint artefacts, which is probably a result of the differences in excavation procedures between NN1 and NN2/2. 7. Faunal analysis at Neumark-Nord 1 and Neumark-Nord 2 Recent multi-disciplinary studies have demonstrated the contemporaneity of NN1 and NN2. Both basins together represent a more than 26 ha large part of an Eemian Interglacial lake-rich landscape, in which hominins were repeatedly present during an earlier phase (Corylus-phase) of the interglacial. The contemporaneity of these two basins raises questions on the activities carried out at the shores of these former lakes. One question concerns the exploitation of faunal resources and possible functional differences between the two lake basins and associated archaeological records, which requires a more in-depth analysis of the faunal remains. Thanks to the recent work of Kindler et al. (2013) and a pilot study of the bone surface modifications of the NN1 material (GaudzinskiWindheuser, 2010), we can now present the results for both lake basins side-by-side. At first glance, the faunal evidence uncovered from NN1 and NN2/2 differs in a number of aspects. While the majority of faunal remains uncovered from NN1 represents complete or almost complete animal carcasses found in the centre of the lake (Mania et al., 2010), the majority of the finds at NN2/2, concentrated on a narrow strip along the rim of the basin, mostly consists of fragmented faunal remains (Kindler et al., 2013). Analysis of bone surface modifications for NN2/2 reveals isolated cut-marks (Fig. 5) as well as different generations of cutmarks including longitudinally-aligned cut- and scrape-marks from the removal of the periosteum. The cut-marks bear witness to different stages of butchering and their analysis will enable a
Fig. 5. Neumark-Nord 2. Equus sp. Cut-marks documented on a pelvis. Picture: MONREPOS.
detailed reconstruction of nutritional decision-making by hominins. The bones were opened for marrow extraction, although preliminary assessment of the archaeological evidence suggests that the subsequent production of bone flakes might also explain the observed breakage patterns. The assemblage is complemented by bone tools in the form of percussors for stone tool production (Fig. 6) and simple scrapers. The high amount of hominin induced surface modifications (12%), the high amount of long bones showing fresh spiral fractures, the presence of bones charred by fire and the low amount of carnivore modification made Kindler et al. (2013) suggest that hominins had an exclusive role in the bone accumulation at NN2. The results of the NN1 pilot study show that a number of surface modifications can be observed on five of the cervid individuals analysed (total MNI ¼ 142), indicating that several biotic agents interacted with these carcasses. Traces of root etching and rodent gnawing can occasionally be observed. Of particular interest is the presence of anthropogenic cut-marks. So far, cut-marks have been documented on the Ramus mandibulae from a ten year old individual HK 87: 300, 800e957 (Fig. 7). These traces could result from the defleshing of the inner mastication apparatus, though the carcass shows no sign of carcass disarticulation. Even though the carcass survived completely, the hyoid was not documented during the rescue excavation, and therefore the question of whether the
Fig. 6. Neumark-Nord 2. Bone percussor. Picture: Liptak/LDA LSA.
Please cite this article in press as: Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., et al., The Eemian Interglacial lake-landscape at Neumark-Nord (Germany) and its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies, Quaternary International (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.023
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tongue was removed or not remains open. The defleshing of parts of the skull is also documented in other individuals, e.g., HK 2005:802, with the Corpus mandibulae of this individual also characterised by the presence of cut-marks. Not only the skull, but also parts of the rumps of the carcasses have been subjected to defleshing. On rare occasions, cut-marks were observed on rib fragments as documented for HK 2005:802 (Fig. 8). Hominin modification of the extremities of the carcasses has not been observed so far. Analysis is still in progress but it is clear that several biotic agents, including hominins, were responsible for the exploitation of resources located on or near the shore lines and within the NN1 palaeo-lake. For the main find horizon at NN1 (untere Uferzone i.e. “Lower shore horizon”) Mania et al. (1990, 2010) report that the archaeological context of the NN1 lake shore is primarily characterised by remains of large animal carcasses and by large, simple flint flakes. With increasing distance from the shore area (i.e. 50 to 100 m) the number of highly fragmented animal bones, thought to result from hominin marrow processing, as well as the number of core trimming elements, cores and charcoal particles increases. Against this background the NN2 lithic and faunal record analysed so far reads as an integral part of a larger NN1eNN2 lakeland that was intensively exploited by hominins. 8. Concluding remarks
Fig. 7. Cut-marks (indicated by the arrow) on the buccal face of the Ramus mandibulae of a Cervid (Individual HK 87:300, 800e957). Picture: MONREPOS.
The evidence uncovered at Neumark-Nord represents a 26 ha lake landscape that was used by hominins during the Corylus-phase of the Eemian Interglacial, which was more open compared to later stages of the Interglacial. No traces of hominin presence were recovered from sediments deposited during the Carpinus (hornbeam) phase of the interglacial when a closed canopy forest prevailed. The NN evidence provides a uniquely large and clear window into floral and faunal communities of this lakescape about 125,000 years ago, as well as the activities of Neandertals in an early Last Interglacial setting. The high-resolution palaeoenvironmental data, the rich and generally well-preserved fauna heavily exploited by hominins, the virtual absence of carnivore marks suggesting hominin “permanence” e or at least: “dominance” e at the NN2 locale, and the distinct possibility to document spatial variability in lithic technology and faunal exploitation over a large area: all this holds a lot of promise for the future of the NN project and the information it will yield on the Last Interglacial and on Neandertal adaptations to warm-temperate environments. Acknowledgements Excavations at NN2 and studies at Neumark-Nord were made possible through financial support of the Lausnitzer Mitteldeutsche Braunkohlegesellschaft mbH, the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz, the Leids Universiteis Fonds and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (N.W.O.), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Humboldt Foundation. References
Fig. 8. Cut-marks (indicated by the arrow) on a rib fragment of a Cervid (Individual HK 2005:802). Picture: MONREPOS.
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The Eemian Interglacial lake-landscape at Neumark-Nord (Germany) and its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser a, *, Lutz Kindler a, Eduard Pop b, Wil Roebroeks b, Geoff Smith a a b
MONREPOS Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, RGZM, Schloss Monrepos, Neuwied 56567, Germany Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
a r t i c l e i n f o
a b s t r a c t
Article history: Available online xxx
Geochronological and environmental studies show that two adjacent lake basins containing Middle Palaeolithic industries, Neumark-Nord 1 and Neumark-Nord 2 (Germany) both date to the early Corylus phase of the Eemian Interglacial, of ca. 125,000 years ago. Here hominins exploited a wide range of herbivores in a 26 ha lake landscape during a period that is often considered to be extremely challenging for Neandertals in terms of environmental conditions. We present the progressing faunal analysis of Neumark-Nord 2/2 and a new pilot study into the exploitation patterns of the Neumark-Nord 1 faunal assemblage, which clearly demonstrate the potential and importance of Neumark-Nord for the study of hominin subsistence strategies in Interglacial Landscapes. Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
have been characterized by a high primary biomass and a high primary production. Most of this richness would have consisted of trees and vegetational resources that require extensive processing and are only available over short periods of the year. Animal products such as meat and fat must have been an important food source, especially in winter. In contrast to open mammoth steppe environments, herbivore mass in forested environments would have been significantly lower and medium and larger sized mammals more dispersed (Kelly, 1983; Roebroeks et al., 1992; Kahlke, 1994; Speleers, 2000; Gaudzinski, 2004). Interglacial forested environments pose such challenges to hunter-gatherers, that some workers have suggested that not even modern hunter-gatherers are well adapted to them (Binford, 2001). Against this background, the interpreted scarcity (or complete absence on the British Isles) of traces of Neandertal presence during the Last Interglacial led to some debate and subsequent studies of interglacial sites from the 1990s onward (e.g. Roebroeks et al., 1992). During the last decade, evidence from newly discovered sites dating back to the Cromerian complex have demonstrated that already from the early phases of their presence in temperate Europe, hominins were capable of surviving in interglacial forested environments (Parfitt et al., 2005; Roebroeks, 2005). The last interglacial, the Eemian (ca. 125,000 years ago), with a duration of between 11,000 and 12,000 years on the European Plain, is characterized by a typical succession of plant communities, making it possible to correlate archaeological sites with good pollen records to specific parts of the Eemian. Therefore, Eemian Interglacial deposits hold the potential to function as high-
During the last 900,000 years global climate fluctuated in roughly 100,000 year cycles from extreme cold stages to warmtemperate ones, the interglacials. These climate changes strongly affected the environmental conditions in Europe, especially in the northern part of the continent (Ehlers, 1994; Lang, 1994; Sirocko et al., 2007; Sirocko, 2009). During the glacial maxima, large parts of the European Plain were covered with glaciers or faced hostile permafrost conditions. In contrast, during the (relatively short) interglacial maxima, major parts of the European Plain were covered by primeval forests. The intermediate periods, representing the longest time segments, are characterized by tundra to steppe environments reflecting cold to cool-temperate climatic conditions. The study of human behaviour as reflected in the archaeology of Interglacials is especially promising, as these periods represent particularly narrow windows of time in the Pleistocene record as well as challenging environments for huntergatherers. As in modern-day temperate and tropical forests, Pleistocene interglacial deciduous forests within the Neanderthal range would
* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (S. GaudzinskiWindheuser), [email protected] (L. Kindler), [email protected] (E. Pop), [email protected] (W. Roebroeks), [email protected] (G. Smith). 1040-6182/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.023
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resolution archives for the study of Neanderthal behaviour. Neandertal presence in Eemian Interglacial environments is welldocumented by sites in northern Germany (Roebroeks et al., 1992), further confirmed by recent fieldwork at the site of Neumark-Nord (near Halle, Germany), discussed in this paper, and excavations at the Caours site in the Somme valley, France (Antoine et al., 2006). The site of Neumark-Nord 2 represents a very important addition to a dataset of exposures from the North German Plain and its southern margin (Gaudzinski-Windheuser and Roebroeks, 2011) that can be used to study human behaviour in Interglacial environments. 2. The North German Plain The eastern part of Germany, which forms a large part of the North German Plain, has played a key role in studies of the glaciations in Europe, with evidence for two major ice advances of Elsterian (MIS 10) and Saalian (MIS 6) age and additional minor oscillations. Quaternary deposits are still exposed in the large scale open cast lignite mines in the region and over the years these have revealed numerous archaeological sites, often preserved in the infill of sedimentary basins. Many of the sites uncovered in these deposits are well known in the literature, e.g. the Lehringen spear site (Thieme and Veil, 1985), Rabutz (Toepfer, 1958) and Neumark-Nord 1 (Mania et al., 2010, 1990; see also; Mania, 2000; see also: Gaudzinski-Windheuser and Roebroeks, 2011). The archaeological finds at most of these sites are embedded in a fine-grained sedimentary matrix and the excavated and investigated areas are often large in size. The preservation of the finds tends to be excellent; plant remains are often preserved and bone surfaces do not generally show signs of significant (post-) depositional alteration and still reveal the finest cut- and scrape-marks. Moreover, given the often high rates of sedimentation in these basins, the sedimentary matrix of the archaeological levels can usually be attributed to clearly defined and restricted time slices which can be correlated to certain phases within the Interglacial palynological succession. This works especially well for the Eemian interglacial, because the duration of the pollen zones within the characteristic succession (birch e pine e elm e oak e hazel e alder e yew e lime e hornbeam e spruce fir and finally pine or birch, Menke and Tynni, 1984) is very well-known through varve counting and other methods (Müller, 1974; Turner, 2002). Therefore, provided good pollen data are present, archaeological sites recovered from interglacial deposits can sometimes be attributed to very short periods of time, a unique situation in the European Lower and Middle Palaeolithic record (Tuffreau and Roebroeks, 2002). During the last environmental and climatic change from steppe to forested environments around the PleistoceneeHolocene boundary we can witness major changes in general patterns of land-use; these include different mobility patterns as reflected by transport of lithics and investments in on-site structures, faunal exploitation and lithic technology at late Upper Palaeolithic and early Mesolithic sites on the European Plain (Street et al., 2009). It is sometimes assumed that forested environments triggered technological changes in hunting equipment, such as the bow and arrow, as a more efficient substitute for the long-used spear-thrower. Mobility strategies of Upper Palaeolithic hunter-gatherers on the Pleistocene Eurasian steppe were probably determined by migrating ungulate herds, with hunter-gatherers exploiting large territories from seasonal base camps, which were provisioned by hunting camps along migratory routes of ungulates. The absence of large ungulate herds in the more forested environments emerging around the PleistoceneeHolocene transition required changes in hunter-gatherer subsistence strategies. To compensate for the
decrease of ungulate prey, the exploitation of nutritional resources became more diverse and intensified the use of plant and aquatic food sources. As a result, group size decreased and smaller territories were exploited (e.g. Street et al., 2002; Holst, 2007; Terberger et al., 2009). Among pre-modern humans on the North European Plain one could expect similar organizational responses to forested environments, archaeologically visible through a wider range of prey species and decreased mobility. The Eemian fauna of Taubach, with its evidence for hunting of solitary animals, may already point to this diversification (Bratlund, 2000; Gaudzinski, 2004; Gaudzinski-Windheuser and Roebroeks, 2011). The Last Interglacial site of Neumark-Nord represents the largest Eemian (sensu stricto) open air site known to date. This high resolution archive is characterised by an excellent preservation of organic remains and thus holds the potential to provide important information about hominin resource exploitation of the NeumarkNord landscape. In the following an introduction to the site of Neumark-Nord will be given as well as an outline of its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies. 3. Research at Neumark-Nord The site of Neumark-Nord is located approximately 35 km west of Leipzig in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany (51190 2800 N, 11530 5600 E). Neumark-Nord is located in the northeastern mining field of the former open cast mine Mücheln in the Geiseltal near Merseburg, an area now flooded by a recreational lake called the Geiseltalsee. In and around the mining field of Neumark-Nord isostatic movements induced by lignite diapirism formed numerous basins which became filled up with Pleistocene sediments (Fig. 1). For more than 20 years this vast area has been surveyed by Dietrich Mania and colleagues and until now two basins, Neumark-Nord 1 and Neumark-Nord 2, have been investigated systematically from an archaeological perspective, be it with different excavation strategies. Neumark-Nord 1 (NN1) was uncovered during mining activities in 1985. Geological and archaeological investigations lasted until 1996, undertaken by a working group led by D. Mania and M. Thomae (Mania et al., 2010). Basin NN1 (as well as basin NN2) formed within a Saalian till and was filled up with interglacial deposits, containing two archaeological horizons (Mania et al., 1990). The efforts of the NN1 working group resulted in numerous publications that provide a detailed insight into the palaeoecology and archaeology of the site (e.g. Mania et al., 2010). Since NN1 was investigated during mining activities, only small portions of the basin could be excavated systematically, and always under significant time pressure. During the fieldwork in the lignite quarry in 1996, Mania discovered a second basin, Neumark-Nord 2 (NN2), a few hundred meters to the northeast of NN1. In 2003 the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt started excavations at NN2 focusing on the early Weichselian find level (NN2/0) in the upper part of the basin’s infill. The interglacial find horizon discussed in this paper (NN2/2) was subsequently discovered during the construction of a geological trench. Between 2004 and 2008, the NN2/2 find levels were excavated, from 2006 onward in a joint project of the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, the Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for Human Behavioural Evolution, Monrepos, of the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (Germany) and the Faculty of Archaeology of Leiden University (The Netherlands). NN2/2 was excavated all year round over a period of 37 months until the end of 2008, when the flooding of the former quarry, which is to be turned into a recreation resort, reached the NN2/2 find levels.
Please cite this article in press as: Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., et al., The Eemian Interglacial lake-landscape at Neumark-Nord (Germany) and its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies, Quaternary International (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.023
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Fig. 1. Location of the basins Neumark-Nord 1 (NN1) and Neumark-Nord 2 (NN2) in the former open cast lignite mine at Mücheln, the present Geiseltalsee. Picture: LDA LSA.
4. The basin Neumark-Nord 1 Eleven years of excavation by Mania, Thomae and colleagues at the well-known exposures of NN1 sampled a 24 ha large lake basin with impressive results (Mania et al., 1990; Mania, 2004; Mania and Thomae, 2008). The NN1 sedimentary infill contained very well preserved floral and faunal remains, representing an unparalleled Pleistocene interglacial faunal and floral thanatocoenosis. The excellent preservation of organic remains enabled a detailed palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the lake and its surroundings (Mania et al., 2010; Meller, 2010). On the shores of this former lake Mania and his team uncovered remarkable scatters of bones and partly articulated animal carcasses including elephant, rhinoceros, and bovid remains, which were occasionally associated with flint artefacts (Mania et al., 1990). An almost complete skeleton of a juvenile Bos primigenius was excavated from the lower shore find horizon. Most of the recovered vertebral processes show traces of carnivore modification. Some flakes and a simple scraper were found among the animal bones. Several additional lithics were found on the lake shore at a distance of only 2 m from the skeleton. The NN1 record is characterized by the presence of animal bones and artefacts in what looks like a primary context, whereas it has been argued that a non-hominin genesis for this co-occurrence cannot be ruled out (Mania et al., 1990, 2010). A detailed summary of the archaeological evidence from NN1 can be found in Mania et al. (2010).
Within the lake infill, more than 142 more or less complete cervid skeletons as well as the remains of almost 70 straight tusked elephants were uncovered, together with remains of rhinos, aurochs and carnivores (Mania et al., 2010). The cervid carcasses were virtually complete and showed the typical signs of desiccation, including dorsal distortion of the spine as well as a parallel position of the front and hind legs (Fig. 2). Males represent the majority of the individuals, most of which died in autumn (Pfeiffer, 1999). Unambiguous traces of hominin presence in the form of stone tools clearly associated with the carcasses are lacking. Various scenarios have been brought forward for the interpretation of this record. Mania et al. (1990) suggested that the animals died after having been driven into the lake basin by hominins, as part of a series of hunting activities. Later, Mania et al. (2010) suggested that the thanatocoenosis in the centre of the lake basin accumulated over several thousands of years and proposed that despite of the abundant indications for hominin activities also natural causes of death must be taken into consideration. For the largest animal group at NN1, the cervids, Pfeiffer suggests a different scenario. Most of the cervid remains are from fallow deer (Dama dama geiselana) and their low degree of morphological variability suggests the presence of a uniform population at the site (Pfeiffer, 1999, 2010). Moreover Pfeiffer (1999, 2010) suggests that the Dama individuals may have died as a result of exposure to poisonous water and gases, in an occasionally
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NN1 for traces of hominin exploitation and other taphonomic agents is essential. The results of a pilot study are presented below. 5. The basin Neumark-Nord 2
Fig. 2. Neumark-Nord 1. Complete Cervid carcass uncovered from the lake basin. Picture: LDA LSA.
poisonous lacustrine environment (Pfeiffer, 1999; Braun and Pfeifer, 2002; Pfeiffer, 2010). As these scenarios seem contradictory on some points a systematic analysis of the complete and disarticulated carcasses from
The NN2 basin was exposed in the northeastern escarpment of the open cast mine, over an area of about 2 ha. The North to South development of the basin was investigated by geological drillings and geoelectric measurements during the archaeological excavations. The eastern margins of the basin were already destroyed during lignite exploitation of the adjacent mining field NeumarkOst, decades before the discovery of NN2. Of the remaining NN2 deposits, the 2004e2008 excavations of the Eemian site uncovered an area of 491 m2. The NN2 basin infill is underlain by a Saalian (Drenthian) sandygravelly diamicton and overlain by ca. 6 m of last glacial (Weichselian) loess. The basin infill starts with sediments reworked from the diamicton, overlain by a series of mostly well drained, moist, calcareous silt loams which include the find-horizon NN2/2 (Sier et al., 2011). Palynological studies demonstrate an interglacial succession typical for the Eemian Interglacial in northern Europe (Bakels in Sier et al., 2011; Bakels, 2012) (Fig. 3). Sedimentological and soil-micromorphological studies of the NN2/2 sediments indicate a rapid infilling of the basin, in a near continuous process with very little evidence of soil formation
Fig. 3. Neumark-Nord 2. Pollen percentage curve (selected taxa) for the last interglacial sequence at NN2 (Bakels, 2011). Lithological units (on the left) following Sier et al. (2011). The first traces of Neandertal presence occur in unit 6 (Pollen Zone III), while the bulk of the lithic and faunal material is present in unit 8. Artefacts occur up to the middle part of pollen zone IVb3 (unit 14). Picture: Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden.
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during periods of non-deposition. Micromorphological studies and studies of the molluscs and plant remains suggests that the basin contained shallow water most of the time, with the characteristic laminations present in deeper parts of the sequence resulting from repetitive seasonal rainfall. The find-horizon NN2/2 corresponds to the Corylus (hazel) zone of the Eemian Interglacial (Sier et al., 2011). Developed only along the northern part of the basin, findhorizon NN2/2 was excavated from the margin towards the centre of the basin. In sum, 118,754 larger mammal bones, 19,615 flint artefacts, as well as 498 gravel-sized stones were uncovered. Of these, 21,217 larger mammal bones and 9195 lithics were documented three dimensionally in the field. The faunal analysis is work in progress, but preliminary results show a typical Interglacial fauna with many large sized mammals such as cervids, i.e. fallow deer (Dama dama) and red deer (Cervus elaphus), bovids (B. primigenius, Bison priscus) and horse (Equus sp.). Carnivores of various sizes, e.g. wolf (Canis lupus), lion (Panthera leo) and bear (Ursus spelaeus) have been documented as well. Remains of megaherbivores (such as rhino and straight-tusked elephant) appear in low frequency. Microfauna, birds, reptiles, fishes and molluscs were also documented (Kindler et al., 2013). The faunal material at NN2/2 shows excellent preservation, as a result of the high sedimentation rate, the calcareous character of the fine-grained matrix and the absence of soil formation throughout the sequence. The remarkably good preservation enabled Britton et al. (2012) to obtain good quality collagen from some of the faunal remains. The study of the collagen showed clear inter-species differences in d15N and d13C, especially between equids and bovids. These trends likely reflect niche partitioning of the shallow lake site, with its local diversity in vegetation (Bakels, 2011). The NN2/2 lithic assemblage is almost exclusively made from moraine-derived Baltic flint, mostly in mint condition. Flint knapping occurred at the site with evidence for all phases of the lithic reduction sequence present. The core reduction, characterized by
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disc and more amorphous cores, focused on the production of large quantities of flakes, which constitute the bulk of the assemblage. Notches and denticulates dominate the tool assemblage, while scrapers are less frequently occurring (Pop, 2013). The majority of the finds (ca. 70%) is concentrated in a spatially restricted area, approximately 5 m wide, along the margin of the basin before the slope towards the basins centre. Within this area the finds show an equal distribution with the exception of finds occurring near or on the bottom of the find horizon, where they cluster in round to rectangular-shaped spatial concentrations with diameters of 40e80 cm (Fig. 4). The concentrations are associated with shallow depressions in the lake shore area, and may result from a minimal reworking of find material into these depressions, which may have been shallow and limited erosional features at the margin of the basin. However, detailed study of the formation of these concentrations and the shallow features in which they are present is still ongoing (Pop, 2013). 6. Relationship between Neumark-Nord 1 and Neumark-Nord 2 There has been considerable debate on the age of the infill of NN1 as well as its relationship to the NN2 sequence, which was located approximately 200 m northeast of the northern boundary of NN1. Apart from an Eemian age for the two basins (Litt, 1994; Zagwijn, 1996; Eissmann, 2002; Kaspar et al., 2005) an IntraSaalian age for the archaeological horizons in basin NN1 and NN2/2 was proposed as well. According to Mania and colleagues the interglacial NN1 sequence was stratigraphically underlying the NN2 infill, which in their view contained evidence for two full interglacials separated by a cold stage, with the uppermost one being the Eemian. This interpretation of the NN1 and NN2 evidence implied the existence of two full interglacials between the Saalian diamicton and the Eemien Interglacial (Mania, 1998; Brühl and Laurat, 2004; Mania, 2004; Laurat and Brühl, 2006; Mania and Mania, 2008; Mania and Thomae, 2008; Mania et al., 2010).
Fig. 4. Spatial structure uncovered during excavation at Neumark-Nord 2 consisting of lithics and highly fragmented bones which are characterised by butchering traces. Picture: Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden.
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However, recent multi-disciplinary studies could demonstrate beyond any doubt that the NN2 interglacial infill is of last interglacial (Eemian) age, with no evidence for a second, older interglacial present. This age assignment is based on a variety of independent studies including palynology (Bakels in Sier et al., 2011), AAR (Penkman, 2010), Thermoluminescence dating of heated flints (Richter and Krbetschek, 2013) and palaeomagnetic evidence (Sier et al., 2011). Furthermore, despite clear morphological and dimensional differences between the large and deep NN1 lake and the shallow NN2 basin, there are striking similarities between their infills. A detailed discussion of palynological and malacological data by Strahl et al. (2010) demonstrated that the interglacial infill of the two basins occurred simultaneously, under warm sub-continental conditions in a mostly open, park-like forested environment. The vegetation sequences documented at both basins show an almost continuous development from the late Saalian to the final part of the Eemian Interglacial (see Strahl et al., 2010 for a comparison of the NN1 vegetation succession with the one from NN2, also described in detail by Bakels, in Sier et al., 2011). Furthermore, Bithynia opercula from NN1 show the same values of protein degradation as opercula retrieved from NN1, indicating synchronous sedimentation of the two basins (Penkman, 2010). Synchronous sedimentation is further supported by luminescence dating of the NN1 sequence (Krbetschek and Eissmann, 2008; Krbetschek et al., 2008), which yielded an age of c. 140 ka for sediments immediately underlying the NN1 interglacial fill and a date of 132 12 ka for a sample from the NN1 interglacial sequence (dates discussed in Strahl et al., 2010). Comparative studies of the archaeological material uncovered from NN1 and NN2/2 have not yet been undertaken systematically. However a recent pilot study by De Moor (2010) indicates that the flint artefacts of NN2/2 and NN1 are very comparable in technological and typological terms. In fact the only real difference lies in the somewhat larger average size of the NN1 flint artefacts, which is probably a result of the differences in excavation procedures between NN1 and NN2/2. 7. Faunal analysis at Neumark-Nord 1 and Neumark-Nord 2 Recent multi-disciplinary studies have demonstrated the contemporaneity of NN1 and NN2. Both basins together represent a more than 26 ha large part of an Eemian Interglacial lake-rich landscape, in which hominins were repeatedly present during an earlier phase (Corylus-phase) of the interglacial. The contemporaneity of these two basins raises questions on the activities carried out at the shores of these former lakes. One question concerns the exploitation of faunal resources and possible functional differences between the two lake basins and associated archaeological records, which requires a more in-depth analysis of the faunal remains. Thanks to the recent work of Kindler et al. (2013) and a pilot study of the bone surface modifications of the NN1 material (GaudzinskiWindheuser, 2010), we can now present the results for both lake basins side-by-side. At first glance, the faunal evidence uncovered from NN1 and NN2/2 differs in a number of aspects. While the majority of faunal remains uncovered from NN1 represents complete or almost complete animal carcasses found in the centre of the lake (Mania et al., 2010), the majority of the finds at NN2/2, concentrated on a narrow strip along the rim of the basin, mostly consists of fragmented faunal remains (Kindler et al., 2013). Analysis of bone surface modifications for NN2/2 reveals isolated cut-marks (Fig. 5) as well as different generations of cutmarks including longitudinally-aligned cut- and scrape-marks from the removal of the periosteum. The cut-marks bear witness to different stages of butchering and their analysis will enable a
Fig. 5. Neumark-Nord 2. Equus sp. Cut-marks documented on a pelvis. Picture: MONREPOS.
detailed reconstruction of nutritional decision-making by hominins. The bones were opened for marrow extraction, although preliminary assessment of the archaeological evidence suggests that the subsequent production of bone flakes might also explain the observed breakage patterns. The assemblage is complemented by bone tools in the form of percussors for stone tool production (Fig. 6) and simple scrapers. The high amount of hominin induced surface modifications (12%), the high amount of long bones showing fresh spiral fractures, the presence of bones charred by fire and the low amount of carnivore modification made Kindler et al. (2013) suggest that hominins had an exclusive role in the bone accumulation at NN2. The results of the NN1 pilot study show that a number of surface modifications can be observed on five of the cervid individuals analysed (total MNI ¼ 142), indicating that several biotic agents interacted with these carcasses. Traces of root etching and rodent gnawing can occasionally be observed. Of particular interest is the presence of anthropogenic cut-marks. So far, cut-marks have been documented on the Ramus mandibulae from a ten year old individual HK 87: 300, 800e957 (Fig. 7). These traces could result from the defleshing of the inner mastication apparatus, though the carcass shows no sign of carcass disarticulation. Even though the carcass survived completely, the hyoid was not documented during the rescue excavation, and therefore the question of whether the
Fig. 6. Neumark-Nord 2. Bone percussor. Picture: Liptak/LDA LSA.
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tongue was removed or not remains open. The defleshing of parts of the skull is also documented in other individuals, e.g., HK 2005:802, with the Corpus mandibulae of this individual also characterised by the presence of cut-marks. Not only the skull, but also parts of the rumps of the carcasses have been subjected to defleshing. On rare occasions, cut-marks were observed on rib fragments as documented for HK 2005:802 (Fig. 8). Hominin modification of the extremities of the carcasses has not been observed so far. Analysis is still in progress but it is clear that several biotic agents, including hominins, were responsible for the exploitation of resources located on or near the shore lines and within the NN1 palaeo-lake. For the main find horizon at NN1 (untere Uferzone i.e. “Lower shore horizon”) Mania et al. (1990, 2010) report that the archaeological context of the NN1 lake shore is primarily characterised by remains of large animal carcasses and by large, simple flint flakes. With increasing distance from the shore area (i.e. 50 to 100 m) the number of highly fragmented animal bones, thought to result from hominin marrow processing, as well as the number of core trimming elements, cores and charcoal particles increases. Against this background the NN2 lithic and faunal record analysed so far reads as an integral part of a larger NN1eNN2 lakeland that was intensively exploited by hominins. 8. Concluding remarks
Fig. 7. Cut-marks (indicated by the arrow) on the buccal face of the Ramus mandibulae of a Cervid (Individual HK 87:300, 800e957). Picture: MONREPOS.
The evidence uncovered at Neumark-Nord represents a 26 ha lake landscape that was used by hominins during the Corylus-phase of the Eemian Interglacial, which was more open compared to later stages of the Interglacial. No traces of hominin presence were recovered from sediments deposited during the Carpinus (hornbeam) phase of the interglacial when a closed canopy forest prevailed. The NN evidence provides a uniquely large and clear window into floral and faunal communities of this lakescape about 125,000 years ago, as well as the activities of Neandertals in an early Last Interglacial setting. The high-resolution palaeoenvironmental data, the rich and generally well-preserved fauna heavily exploited by hominins, the virtual absence of carnivore marks suggesting hominin “permanence” e or at least: “dominance” e at the NN2 locale, and the distinct possibility to document spatial variability in lithic technology and faunal exploitation over a large area: all this holds a lot of promise for the future of the NN project and the information it will yield on the Last Interglacial and on Neandertal adaptations to warm-temperate environments. Acknowledgements Excavations at NN2 and studies at Neumark-Nord were made possible through financial support of the Lausnitzer Mitteldeutsche Braunkohlegesellschaft mbH, the Landesamt für Denkmalpflege und Archäologie Sachsen-Anhalt, the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz, the Leids Universiteis Fonds and the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (N.W.O.), the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and the Humboldt Foundation. References
Fig. 8. Cut-marks (indicated by the arrow) on a rib fragment of a Cervid (Individual HK 2005:802). Picture: MONREPOS.
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Please cite this article in press as: Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., et al., The Eemian Interglacial lake-landscape at Neumark-Nord (Germany) and its potential for our knowledge of hominin subsistence strategies, Quaternary International (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2013.07.023