Stone points are central to defining the African Middle Stone Age (MSA), yet their morphological variability has rarely been quantitatively examined at a continental scale. Longstanding distinctions between ‘specific’ industries (e.g., Aterian, Still Bay, Howiesons Poort) and more geographically widespread ‘generic’ MSA assemblages remain unresolved, in part because typological definitions of these cultural entities were historically based on qualitative assessments of limited samples. Here, we present the first continental-wide geometric morphometric analysis of Middle–Late Pleistocene stone points, focused on almost 1000 artefacts from 44 assemblages across eastern, northern, and southern Africa. Using outline-based elliptic Fourier analysis and multivariate statistics, we identify the main axes of shape variability and evaluate their relationships with size, region, cultural industries, raw materials, chronology, and modelled palaeoenvironmental conditions. We find that point shape is dominated by two main dimensions: an axis of elongation versus breadth (PC1), and the presence of basal tanging (PC2). Palaeoenvironment (primarily total annual precipitation and temperature seasonality) and region are the strongest predictors of shape in our sample. We find northern African Aterian points form the only consistently distinct cultural group compared to the general MSA point morpho-space, driven primarily by the prevalence oftanged bases (PC2). In contrast, our (smaller) sample of southern African Howiesons Poort and Still Bay retouched points fall mostly within the broader range of “generic” MSA variability. Raw material properties also exert significant constraints on point shape. This quantitative framework helps refine interpretations of cultural characterisations within the MSA and contributes to broader models of behavioural evolution during the African Middle–Late Pleistocene.
Understanding of past vegetation dynamics provides valuable information to better assess future ecosystem impacts under global change. In this context, the European Alps offer the opportunity to study diverse environments. Here, we present a multi-proxy palaeoecological study from the Pennine Alps combining pollen, spores, stomata, charcoal and plant macrofossil analysis. We reconstructed the vegetation dynamics over the past ca. 14,000 years based on sediment cores from Lago di Andromia (1926 m a.s.l.), a small lake located in the subalpine belt of the Ossola valley (Italy). During the Allerød the site was just above the treeline, before Larix decidua trees reached it ca. 11,500 years ago, in response to Holocene warming. Pinus cembra established locally ca. 500 years later, whereas Abies alba reached the site at the latest ca. 10,500 years ago and became co-dominant after 10,000 cal yr BP. Our new evidence confirms that the Ossola valley was an important corridor for the spread of Abies alba across the Alps, highlighting the crucial role of mid-to high elevations for its Holocene range expansion. Vegetation structure and composition remained rather stable during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (ca. 10,000–5000 cal yr BP). Earliest evidence for local pastoralism dates to 5500 years ago and was linked to anthropogenic fires to clear forests. During the Early Bronze Age (ca. 4200 years ago), both pastoral and arable farming increased in the valley, leading to a marked opening in the vegetation. Although sparse, evidence of Juglans regia cultivation during the Late-Neolithic coincides with similar results in Northern Italy, suggesting a striking centrality of the Andromia area, likely tied to its position at the confluence of five Alpine valleys close to the present-day city of Domodossola.
The extent of the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets during Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3, 57-29 ka) is generally poorly constrained due to limited stratigraphic control, a lack of geological deposits, and inconclusive dates. For the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS), it is typically assumed that the ice extended beyond the present-day coast during MIS 3, although some data suggest a more limited ice extent. In this study, we constrain the timing and extent of the west and northwest GrIS by modelling the inherited in situ 14C and 10Be signal in bedrock samples using a novel modelling framework called CEDIS (Cosmogenic Exposure Dating with Inherited Signals). Our results show that the coastal areas of West and Northwest Greenland were ice-covered during MIS 4 (71-57 ka). This was followed by a ∼20 ka long period that preceded the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) during which the ice margin most likely was located near the current margin. We find that the pre-LGM exposure must have occurred towards the end of MIS 3 to be captured by the in situ 14C signal. Our model results further indicate that the LGM advance likely began late and only exceeded the present coastline after 20 ka, which is later than the widely accepted global LGM period (26-19 ka). Moreover, the amount of subglacial erosion must have been negligible, as any subglacial erosion would render the local LGM estimates even younger. Overall, our results indicate an unusually late local LGM at the western and northwestern coast of Greenland, and that these sectors of the GrIS were more dynamic than hitherto believed. They also show that modelling the inherited in situ 14C and 10Be signals in bedrock provides a viable approach to constrain MIS 4–2 ice fluctuations of glaciers and ice sheets.
