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Environmental changes in SW France during the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition from the pollen analysis of an eastern North Atlantic deep-sea core

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 May 2022

Tiffanie Fourcade*
Affiliation:
Archéosciences Bordeaux, UMR 6034, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, CNRS, Maison de l'Archéologie, Esplanade des Antilles, 33600 Pessac, France Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux (EPOC), UMR CNRS 5805, Université de Bordeaux, 33600 Pessac, France
María Fernanda Sánchez Goñi
Affiliation:
Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux (EPOC), UMR CNRS 5805, Université de Bordeaux, 33600 Pessac, France École Pratique des Hautes Études, EPHE PSL University, Paris, France
Christelle Lahaye
Affiliation:
Archéosciences Bordeaux, UMR 6034, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, CNRS, Maison de l'Archéologie, Esplanade des Antilles, 33600 Pessac, France
Linda Rossignol
Affiliation:
Environnements et Paléoenvironnements Océaniques et Continentaux (EPOC), UMR CNRS 5805, Université de Bordeaux, 33600 Pessac, France
Anne Philippe
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Mathématiques Jean Leray, Nantes Université, 44322, Nantes, France
*
*Corresponding author email address: tiffanie.fourcade@u-bordeaux-montaigne.fr

Abstract

Evaluating synchronies between climate and cultural changes is a prerequisite for addressing the possible effect of environmental changes on human populations. Searching for synchronies during the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition (ca. 48–36 ka) is hampered by the limits of radiocarbon dating techniques and the large chronological uncertainties affecting the archaeological and paleoclimatic records, as well by their low temporal resolution. Here, we present a high-resolution, pollen-based vegetation record from the Bay of Biscay, sea surface temperature changes, additional 14C ages, and a new IRSL date on the fine-sediment fraction of Heinrich Stadial (HS) 6. The IRSL measurements give an age of ca. 54.0 ± 3.4 ka. The paleoclimatic results reveal a succession of rapid climatic changes during the Middle-Upper Paleolithic transition in SW France (i.e. D-O 12–8 and two distinct climatic phases during HS 4). Comparison of the new paleoclimatic record with chronologically well-constrained regional archaeological changes shows that no synchronies exist between cultural transitions and environmental changes. The disappearance of Neanderthals and the arrival of Homo sapiens in SW France encompassed a long-term forest opening, suggesting that Homo sapiens may have progressively replaced Neanderthals from D-O 10 to HS 4 through competition for the same ecological niches.

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Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © University of Washington. Published by Cambridge University Press, 2022

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