Pleistocene

El maar de la Crosa ha estat sempre al punt de mira de molts investigadors del quaternari. El perquè s’explica per
tractar-se d’un dipòsit lacustre a l’interior del cràter d’un volcà; i, sabent que d’altres referents sempre han aportat
bons resultats paleoecològics. A banda, sabem que aquestes zones eren freqüentades per la nostra espècie
prehistòrica, de manera que també s’hi solen trobar assentaments arqueològics a les seves riberes. Tot això, partint de la base de la cronologia de l’erupció que se li havia assignat (plio-plistocè), malgrat els pocs estudis realitzats,
doncs això ens donava la perspectiva d’un dipòsit continu al llarg de tot el quaternari.
Ara, després d’haver fet tres sondatges, una prospecció geofísica i quatre datacions (tres de 14C i una d’isòtops),
coneixem el tipus de rebliment que conté i ens hem acostat més a llur cronologia, malgrat que només podem dir
que és més antic de fa 43,5 ka (14C ) i una probable edat de 90 ka (isòtops). També, que no s’ha trobat cap mena de
sediments palustres, o anòxics de fons de llac, doncs com a màxim la part superficial d’argiles i llims, per sobre
dels piroclasts retreballats, podrien pertànyer a un estanyol d’aigües somes.
Per tant, les perspectives d’obtenir amplis i resolutius resultats paleoambientals, que ens haguessin permès
conèixer el medi en què es desenvoluparen les poblacions paleolítiques, i de més recents, de les comarques
gironines, resten de moment frustrades, doncs les anàlisis paleobotàniques han resultat estèrils. D’altra banda,
tampoc s’hi ha observat cap altra resta paleobiològica susceptible d’anàlisi.

The study guide on the settlement of the American continent covers a body of scientific knowledge about the ways in which the continent was originally settled, who were the first settlers, what made them move to America and when it happened. The course includes the history of scientific knowledge about the settlement of America, the geological history of Beringia, the history of the development of hypotheses about the settlement of the continent, and the current status of scientific research on this topic.

The shrinkage of the Lisan Lake (LL) to form the recent Dead Sea (DS) was mainly a result of the reduction of the catchment area from around 157,000 km2 during Late Pleistocene to 43,000 km2 presently. The reduction in the catchment area resulted from the eruption and spread of the basalt flows of Jabal Arab-Druz (JAD), which together with the resulting deposition of thick rock debris and gravels occupied the drainage system. The filling of the pre-basalt drainage system, which used to feed the Dead Sea, with basalts and alluvial sediments blocked the inflows from reaching the Dead Sea. Local base levels along the basalt flow boarders such as Azraq Oasis, Sirhan Basin and Damascus Oasis, and numerous pools and mud flats were created.

Book review. Michael Carter: Being Prepared: Aspects of Dress and Dressing. Sydney: Puncher & Wattmann, 2017, 210 pp., ISBN 978-1-9221-8694-2.

The meanings of dress, clothing and fashion are so intermingled nowadays that it is hard to speak about one without inferring the others. Dress is mainly about appearance, the visual, while fashion includes the social meanings and functions of dress. Clothing occupies a central place in contemporary dress and fashion, but clothing is also a technology with properties and functions unrelated to dress and fashion. For these reasons, the overlap between dress and clothing can create problems when considering questions of origins.

Archaic humans (early Homo) and carnivores inhabited the Early and Middle Pleistocene landscapes of Europe, and shared ecosystems for more than 1 million years. Indeed, many archaeo-palaeontological sites evidence the co-existence of humans and carnivores, and demonstrate a certain degree of human-carnivore competition for acquisition and exploitation of animal (meat/bone) resources. We investigate here the role of large carnivores in the evolution of hominin subsistence strategies during the Early and Middle Pleistocene of Europe, focusing on important renewals in the carnivore guilds, and their significance in terms of carrion availability for scavenging and human-carnivore competition for access to food resources. Based on a previous ecomorphological approach of carnivore guild analysis [1], a modified version was recently employed [2] and is presented herein, combining four ecomorphological/behavioral parameters of large carnivores (body mass-BM, diet, hunting strategy, sociality) that practice hunting and/or scavenging on large prey. 3D guild structure diagrams were constructed and analyzed aiming to: 1) examine the community structure and dynamics of the predatory guilds, 2) infer the possible role of carnivores in the changes of early Homo subsistence strategies (passive/active scavenging and hunting), and 3) assess the role of hominins within the guilds.
The late Villafranchian–Epivillafranchian (Early Pleistocene) carnivore guild was dominated by large-sized, hypercarnivorous and ambush-hunting felids (e.g., the saber-toothed cats Megantereon and Homotherium), and by the large-sized, bone-cracking and scavenging hyaenid Pachycrocuta. Τhe latter in particular was the most direct competitor of Homo for scavenging food resources (leftovers) left behind mainly by the saber-toothed cats [3]. As a member of the predatory guild (evident from the presence of cut and percussion marks on mammal bones), Homo would occupy the ecological space that was “available” for a predator with a 30–100 kg BM and a (mostly?) scavenging behavior, perhaps with a hypocarnivorous/carnivorous diet according to ecological circumstances and geographic setting. Τhe disappearance of most of the Early Pleistocene carnivore components (including Pachycrocuta and Megantereon) towards the end of this period, and their replacement by the Galerian (Middle Pleistocene) to modern hyenas and felids, resulted in the change of the structure and dynamics of the guild. Most notably, this reorganization included the
decrease of carrion providers (hunters), and the higher representation of species with scavenging, bone-cracking and pack-hunting behavior. In this Middle Pleistocene guild, Homo would occupy the niche that was previously held by Megantereon, in the group of predators with 30–100 kg BM. Similar to Megantereon, humans could have a carnivorous to hypercarnivorous diet, but unlike the solitary and “ambush-and-slash” felid, the biological, technological, cultural and social developments would have allowed humans to employ a modified hunting strategy: the cooperative “ambush-and-spear” strategy (in accordance with the use of hunting spears during this period). The incorporation of such hunting behavior made humans fairly independent of erratic food sources
from scavenging carnivore kills and allowed the provisioning of animal resources on a more regular basis. Moreover, even though the carnivore diversity slightly increased during this period, carnivore representation in the archaeo-palaeontological localities is rather low in both species and specimens number. This is possibly an anthropogenic effect on the ecosystem due to: 1) the firmer establishment of the hominin niche, including anti-predator strategies and expulsion of large carnivores from the region of human influence; and 2) the reduction of food quantity through human confrontational scavenging or decrease in prey availability through human hunting (see also [4] and [5]).

Interpretation of subglacial processes and environments can be usefully informed by the stratigraphy and structures of sediments preserved within drumlins, and the down-ice variability of these sediments. Drumlins in Clew Bay, western Ireland, were formed by westward late Pleistocene ice flow onto the Atlantic shelf, but the depositional processes and environments of these sediments remain uncertain. This study describes and interprets the drumlin stratigraphy and sediment properties and structures from two drumlins on the south side of Clew Bay. Drumlin sediments are dominated by massive to stratified diamicton deposited subglacially by deformation of flows of varying rheology. Folds, shears and clastic dikes within the sediments suggest active subglacial water flow related to variations in ice flow and ice-bed coupling. The distal ends of the drumlins are dominated by stratified diamicton and gravel units with sandy interbeds. These sediments reflect deposition in a leeside subglacial cavity formed coevally with bedform development. A model is proposed that can account for sediment stratigraphic patterns and drumlin formation.

The stratigraphy of the Quaternary sedimentary deposits. A first compilation of the Quaternary lithostratigraphic units
of the province, defined by different authors and appearing in national and international scientific literature, is presented
here. The order followed is based on a description of geological formations that typify the main geomorphological environments,
organized according to a known or inferred age for each formation. This resulted in five lithostratigraphical
units representative of the Inter-mountain Valleys of the Pampean Ranges of Córdoba (Brochero, Las Rabonas, Mina
Clavero and Charbonier Formations), four informal sedimentary units in the named high pampas, twelve units recognized
in the Central Eastern Piedmont and of the Sierra de Comechingones (Alpa Corral, Estación Belgrano, Río Primero,
General Paz, Río La Granja, Pampeano, Chocancharava, La Invernada, Río Cuarto, Arroyo Las Lajas, Laguna Oscura
and Reducción Formations), eight representative units of the Western Flank of Sierra Norte, the Inter-mountain Basin
of the Salinas Grandes and Ambargasta and the Northeastern Piedmont (Río Cruz del Eje, Toro Muerto, Charbonier,
Chuña, La Batea, Las Ollas, Guanaco Muerto and Zanjas Hondas Formation), four units of the Fluvio-Aeolian Central
Plain (Carcarañá, Tezanos Pinto, Lucio V. López and San Guillermo Formations), four units of the Tectonic Depression
of Mar Chiquita Lake (Lagunilla del Plata, Tezanos Pinto, Lomita del Indio Formations, and Las Saladas Sands), three
units recognized in the Elevated Block of San Guillermo (Palo Negro, Tezanos Pinto and San Guillermo Formations),
and three representative units of the Southern Aeolian Sandy Plain (Teodelina and San Gregorio Formations, and Aeolian
Sands of the Little Ice Age). Data related to the analysis of the outcropping pedosedimentary sequences investigated by
several authors in the province are also integrated. A reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental evolution of the Upper
Quaternary based primarily on the stratigraphic record and geomorphological information supplements the analysis.
Keywords: Stratigraphy, Quaternary, Pleistocene, Holocene, Province of Córdoba.