Investigating climate at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Kraków Spadzista Street (B), Poland, using oxygen isotopes
Investigating climate at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Kraków Spadzista Street (B), Poland, using oxygen isotopes
Between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago, Europe experienced a series of rapid climate change events known as the Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles, which may have made areas of northern Europe more attractive for occupation by early modern humans at certain times than at others. This paper investigates when humans were occupying northern Europe in relation to these climatic changes at the archaeological site of Kraków Spadzista Street (B), by applying oxygen isotope analysis of mammoth tooth enamel carbonates (d18O and d13C) found at the site. The new isotopic data suggest that mean annual temperatures at Kraków Spadzista were 4-9oC? colder than present and, based on comparisons with previously published isotopic data for mammoth in Europe, the Kraków assemblage most likely formed during a cold DansgaardeOeschger event. This suggests modern humans were able to occupy and survive in this area of northern Europe during the harsh cold phases that affected Europe at this time.
108-119
Pryor, Alexander
89319cf1-8e96-4cfe-80a4-daf21713a7f5
O'Connell, Tamsin C.
76de182b-933f-41fc-bd1a-252be47d2a49
Wojtal, Piotr
0e70caad-1f3f-47b6-889d-24628a29dbe9
Krzemińska, Alina
09ab41d0-69a5-48b8-8e50-74f81769e59b
Stevens, Rhiannon E.
61b13407-235a-45d9-8965-d89cae5d80be
April 2013
Pryor, Alexander
89319cf1-8e96-4cfe-80a4-daf21713a7f5
O'Connell, Tamsin C.
76de182b-933f-41fc-bd1a-252be47d2a49
Wojtal, Piotr
0e70caad-1f3f-47b6-889d-24628a29dbe9
Krzemińska, Alina
09ab41d0-69a5-48b8-8e50-74f81769e59b
Stevens, Rhiannon E.
61b13407-235a-45d9-8965-d89cae5d80be
Pryor, Alexander, O'Connell, Tamsin C., Wojtal, Piotr, Krzemińska, Alina and Stevens, Rhiannon E.
(2013)
Investigating climate at the Upper Palaeolithic site of Kraków Spadzista Street (B), Poland, using oxygen isotopes.
Quaternary International, 294, .
(doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2011.09.027).
Abstract
Between 50,000 and 20,000 years ago, Europe experienced a series of rapid climate change events known as the Dansgaard-Oeschger cycles, which may have made areas of northern Europe more attractive for occupation by early modern humans at certain times than at others. This paper investigates when humans were occupying northern Europe in relation to these climatic changes at the archaeological site of Kraków Spadzista Street (B), by applying oxygen isotope analysis of mammoth tooth enamel carbonates (d18O and d13C) found at the site. The new isotopic data suggest that mean annual temperatures at Kraków Spadzista were 4-9oC? colder than present and, based on comparisons with previously published isotopic data for mammoth in Europe, the Kraków assemblage most likely formed during a cold DansgaardeOeschger event. This suggests modern humans were able to occupy and survive in this area of northern Europe during the harsh cold phases that affected Europe at this time.
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KS (B) mammoth - QI published text.pdf
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Published date: April 2013
Organisations:
Archaeology
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Local EPrints ID: 368237
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/368237
ISSN: 1040-6182
PURE UUID: 7c39aa4c-9a22-4f1f-9fdb-4eb9dc0949fa
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Date deposited: 21 Aug 2014 17:03
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 17:44
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Author:
Alexander Pryor
Author:
Tamsin C. O'Connell
Author:
Piotr Wojtal
Author:
Alina Krzemińska
Author:
Rhiannon E. Stevens
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