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Summer air temperature, reconstructions from the last glacial stage based on rodents from the site Taillis-des-Coteaux (Vienne), Western France

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Aurélien Royer ,
Christophe Lécuyer ,
Sophie Montuire ,
Jérôme Primault ,
François Fourel  and
Marcel Jeannet
Aurélien Royer
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, UMR CNRS 5276, Université Lyon 1 and Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 69622 Villeurbanne, France Laboratoire EPHE PALEVO-Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, 21000 Dijon, France
Christophe Lécuyer*
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, UMR CNRS 5276, Université Lyon 1 and Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 69622 Villeurbanne, France Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
Sophie Montuire
Affiliation:
Biogéosciences, UMR CNRS 6282, Université de Bourgogne, 6 Boulevard Gabriel, 21000 Dijon, France Laboratoire EPHE PALEVO-Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, 21000 Dijon, France
Jérôme Primault
Affiliation:
DRAC/SRA Poitou-Charentes, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, 102 Grand'Rue BP 553, 86020 Poitiers Cedex, France
François Fourel
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Géologie de Lyon, UMR CNRS 5276, Université Lyon 1 and Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 69622 Villeurbanne, France
Marcel Jeannet
Affiliation:
LAMPEA, UMR 6636, MMSH, 5 rue du Château de l'Horloge, BP 647, 13094 Aix-en-Provence cedex 2, France
*
*Corresponding author.
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Abstract

The oxygen isotope composition of phosphate from tooth enamel of rodents (δ18Op) constitutes a valuable proxy to reconstruct past air temperatures in continental environments. This method has been applied to rodent dental remains from three genera, Arvicola sp., Microtus sp. and Dicrostonyx sp., coming from Taillis-des-Coteaux, Vienne, France. This archaeological site contains an exceptionally preserved sedimentary sequence spanning almost the whole Upper Palaeolithic, including seven stratigraphic layers dated from 35 to 17 cal ka BP. The abundant presence of rodent remains offers the opportunity to quantify the climatic fluctuations coeval of the various stages of human occupation of the site. Differences between δ18Op values of Arvicola sp. and Microtus sp. teeth are interpreted as the result of heterochrony in tooth formation as well as differences in ecology. Mean δ18Op values of Microtus sp. are preferentially used to reconstruct summer air temperatures, which range from 16.0 ± 3.7 to 19.1 ± 3.1°C throughout the sedimentary sequence; however, the highest variability is observed during the last glacial maximum.

Keywords

Oxygen isotopePhosphateRodentLate PleistoceneClimate
Type
Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 82 , Issue 2 , September 2014 , pp. 420 - 429
Copyright
University of Washington

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