The control of fire offered early hominins significant advantages, yet its identification in early archaeological sites is challenging. A new anthracological study at the early Middle Pleistocene site of Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (GBY) offers valuable insights from an exceptionally large assemblage of charcoal. Taxonomic analysis reveals a diverse range of habitats, including species such as Fraxinus, Salix, Vitis, Nerium, Olea, Quercus, Pistacia, and Punica granatum. The charcoal exhibits greater taxonomic diversity than other plant remains from the site (wood, seeds, fruits), and this high diversity is notably spatially concentrated within a specific charcoal cluster. The charcoal from GBY reveals habitual firewood gathering, likely driven by the availability of lakeshore driftwood. The demanding task of maintaining fires likely shaped hominin base camp selection. The GBY hominins repeatedly occupied the lakeshore, choosing this specific point in the landscape not only due to the availability of raw materials, fauna, flora, and fresh water, but also to the availability of firewood.

Open-cast lignite mining east of the town of Scho & uml;ningen revealed in the North Pit and the South Pit a unique sequence of late Middle Pleistocene deposits. In the North Pit, we recognised a series of alluvial fan deposits, overlying Elsterian glacial sediments, and originating from the Muschelkalk massif of the Elm during the Elsterian late-glacial. Channels and basins eroded into the alluvial fans filled with Holsteinian Interglacial sediments. At the end of later cold stages, periglacial meltwater from these channels temporarily avulsed, eroding two deep, major north-south-oriented channels: the Reinsdorf Interglacial Channel (Channel II) and the Scho & uml;ningen Interglacial Channel (Channel III), which developed into lakes along the valley floor. The Reinsdorf Channel consists of a sequence of narrow, superimposed subchannels, again eroded by floodwaters, primarily containing beds of silt, detrital mud, and peat deposits, which represent five, sometimes six, sedimentary cycles that can be traced along the entire length of Channel II. The combined stratigraphical data from the North and South Pits reveal three successive interglacials, each with a distinct vegetation succession. These are located between the Elsterian glacial deposits at the base of the Scho & uml;ningen sequence and the Saalian till found higher up; the Holsteinian Interglacial, the Reinsdorf Interglacial, and the Scho & uml;ningen Interglacial, which correspond with Marine Isotope Stage/Substage (MIS) 11c, MIS 9e, and MIS 7e, respectively. The mammalian biostratigraphical data support the MIS 9 age of the Reinsdorf Interglacial deposits and indicate an age of ca. 300 ka for the Scho & uml;ningen wooden spears.

Palynological records are central to the biostratigraphic subdivision of the Late Pleistocene in central Europe. Yet many interglacial and interstadial phases-such as the Eemian, Br & ouml;rup and Odderade-remain only poorly constrained in time due to limited numerical dating. This lack of robust chronologies hampers efforts to assess the synchronicity of climatic and ecological transitions across regions and to contextualise human occupations during this period. Here, we present a 21-m-long, high-resolution lacustrine sediment succession from northern Germany that spans the Saalian late glacial (late Marine Isotope Stage-MIS 6) to the Weichselian pleniglacial (MIS 4 to MIS 2). Using a multi-proxy approach combining palynology (partially automated), sedimentology, geochemistry, magnetic susceptibility and microfossil-based reconstructions, we develop a detailed palaeoenvironmental reconstruction for this period. This is supported by 25 luminescence samples incorporated into a previously published Bayesian age-depth model, thus offering one of the most continuous and well-resolved chronologies for this interval in the region. According to our findings, the Saalian late glacial pollen zones B and C occurred between similar to 133-132 ka and similar to 132-129 ka, respectively. The Eemian interglacial lasted similar to 21 500 years (similar to 128.8-107.3 ka), significantly longer than previously estimated at the key reference site of Bispingen (similar to 15 000 years). The Br & ouml;rup and Odderade interstadials are constrained to similar to 100-88.2 and similar to 77-72 ka, while three newly identified, short-lived interstadials (WP Li Os I-III) occurred during MIS 4 and MIS 2 (similar to 69, 61 and 25 ka). These findings reveal hydrological and ecological responses that were partly asynchronous with both North Atlantic climate signals and biostratigraphic zonation, suggesting regional lags in vegetation change and/or uncertainties in the age-depth model. By providing a high-resolution, and independently dated palaeoenvironmental framework, this study improves the chronological constraints of central European pollen zones and thus offers a new basis for archaeological interpretations of Neanderthal activity. Our results call for re-evaluation of assumed synchrony in climate-ecosystem transitions across Europe during the last interglacial/glacial cycle and underscore the need for further high-resolution, numerically anchored records across the region.

The eastern North European Plain is an important area for studying Quaternary climate change and archaeology; however, providing chronological constraints for sedimentary deposits can be challenging. Amino acid geochronology (AAG) is a relative dating technique that has been useful in correlating isolated Quaternary sequences. The intra-crystalline protein decomposition (IcPD) approach to AAG using the opercula of Bithynia snails has previously been used to provide relative dating frameworks across northern and central Europe in areas where the integrated diagenetic temperature can be assumed to be similar. Here, the first aminostratigraphies for the eastern North European Plain are presented, incorporating deposits from at least the last ~1 Ma, which are used to assess the current age attributions to Middle and Late Pleistocene interglacials. These aminostratigraphies are then used to explore expected differences in the extent of IcPD due to differing temperature histories across the study area. Correlations of opercula to regional pollen assemblages representative of the Holsteinian, Eemian and Holocene are used to evaluate the temporal resolution achievable by IcPD within a given interglacial. This work has produced four new aminostratigraphies that can now be used as reference datasets for relative age estimation for the late Middle Pleistocene to the Holocene in the eastern North European Plain.

Understanding the temperature variability of past interglacial cycles is essential to predict future climates. We present a new summer temperature reconstruction, based on the subfossil chironomid record from a small palaeolake adjacent to the Middle Palaeolithic site of Lichtenberg, northern Germany. The record spans from the Saalian late glacial over the Eemian (Marine Isotope Stage 5e) to the Early Weichselian. The Eemian interglacial is dominated by warm-preferring chironomid taxa such as Cladopelma sp. and Glyptotendipes pallens/severini-type, suggesting a productive, littoral environment with July air temperatures between 17 and 20 degrees C. In the beginning of the Early Weichselian cold-stenothermal, oligo-mesotrophic taxa, such as Tanytarsus lugens-type, Sergentia coracina-type and Micropsectra radialis-type occur, which represent a colder regime characterized by summer temperatures between 12 and 17 degrees C. We tentatively assign this period to the Herning Stadial. A subsequent warmer period within the Early Weichselian, probably reflecting the Br & ouml;rup interstadial, is characterized by Eemian-like chironomid assemblages, reconstructing warmer temperatures (16-20 degrees C). Our palaeotemperature reconstruction from Lichtenberg agrees with other temperature reconstructions from mid-Europe covering the same time period, testifying that the inferences drawn from the chironomid response complement the information inferred from other proxy indicators.

The eastern North European Plain is an important area for studying Quaternary climate change and archaeology; however, providing chronological constraints for deposits can be challenging. Amino acid geochronology (AAG) is a relative dating technique that has been useful in correlating isolated Quaternary deposits. The intra-crystalline protein decomposition (IcPD) approach to AAG using the opercula of Bithynia snails has previously been used to provide relative dating frameworks across northern and central Europe in areas where the integrated diagenetic temperature can be assumed to be similar. Here, the first aminostratigraphies for the eastern North European Plain are presented, incorporating deposits from at least the last ~1 Ma, which are used to assess the current age attributions to Middle and Late Pleistocene interglacials. These aminostratigraphies are then used to explore expected differences in the extent of IcPD due to differing temperature histories across the study area. Correlations of opercula to regional pollen assemblages representative of the Holsteinian, Eemian and Holocene are used to evaluate the temporal resolution achievable by IcPD within a given interglacial. This work has produced four new aminostratigraphies that can now be used as reference datasets for relative age estimation for the late Middle Pleistocene to the Holocene in the eastern North European Plain.

Northern Germany is famous for its numerous Neanderthal (Middle Palaeolithic) archaeological sites and well-preserved palaeoclimate records. Nevertheless, our understanding of how hominins responded to climate fluctuations and adapted to changing environments in this region remains limited because there are only a few reliable, highly-resolved chronological frameworks of long stratigraphic successions. Most of the Middle Palaeolithic sites in this region lack a reliable chronostratigraphy beyond the radiocarbon dating range. In this study, we present a high-resolution optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) chronology derived from a similar to 21 m long sediment core (Li-BPa) that was drilled in close proximity to the known Neanderthal site of Lichtenberg. Quartz OSL dating was applied to the upper 6.5 m of the core. Subsequently, the obtained quartz OSL ages were compared with feldspar post-infrared (IR) IRSL (pIRIR) measured at 290 degrees C (pIRIR(290)), pulsed IR50 (pre-pIRIR(225)), and pulsed pIRIR(225) ages to select a suitable feldspar signal to date older samples. A comparison of the quartz and feldspar ages indicates that only fading-corrected pulsed IR50 (pre-pIRIR(225)) and pIRIR(225) ages agree well with quartz OSL ages. Finally, the age framework of the sediment sequence was established based on the 11 quartz OSL ages and 23 fading-corrected pulsed IR50 (pre-pIRIR(225)) and pulsed pIRIR(225) ages. The resulting Bacon age-depth model agrees with litho- and biostratigraphic designations, indicating that the whole sequence was deposited between ca. 275 ka and ca. 24 ka, corresponding to the Saalian to Weichselian periods.

We present the first climatic and environmental reconstruction based on subfossil chironomid head capsules from the Middle Pleistocene Reinsdorf sequence, Schöningen, northern Germany, corresponding to Marine Isotope Stage 9e‐a. The sequence is characterized by interglacial forest successions followed by alternating woodland and steppe phases. Higher levels of runoff formed lacustrine habitats during post‐interglacial, cool steppe (woodland) phases. These were characterized by diverse chironomid assemblages with up to 27 chironomid morphotypes occurring simultaneously. Warmer forest phases were mostly void of chironomids when the site Schöningen 13 II fell dry owing to higher vegetational coverage and therefore lower runoff. Transitional periods between woodland and steppe phases show higher abundances of profundal, bottom‐dwelling chironomid taxa, suggesting oligo‐mesotrophic aquatic conditions, while steppe phases are dominated by shallow‐lake taxa with higher tolerance to increasing productivity. We applied temperature inference models to the chironomid assemblages based on a Swiss–Norwegian and a Swiss–Norwegian–Polish chironomid–temperature calibration data set to reconstruct mean July air temperatures for the Reinsdorf sequence. The Swiss–Norwegian–Polish training set (TS) seems better suited owing to a longer temperature gradient and the presence of the dominant taxon, Propsilocerus lacustris‐type, which is missing from the Swiss–Norwegian TS. In sections of the record with low taxon richness (Shannon index <2) and a dominance of P. lacustris‐type, indicating increased nutrient impact, summer temperatures may have been overestimated by the Swiss–Norwegian–Polish TS. In the other sections, the chironomid‐based reconstructions based on the Swiss–Norwegian–Polish TS were in line with ostracod and plant remains‐based temperature reconstructions, suggesting summer temperatures of the post‐interglacial Reinsdorf oscillations between 16.5 and 22 °C. Our results show that summer air temperatures were lower during warmer, wetter transitional zones (−0.5–0.2 °C colder/warmer than today) and increasing during cooler, dry steppe phases (1 °C warmer than today), most likely caused by higher continentality.

The Middle Pleistocene Reinsdorf sequence at the Lower Palaeolithic sites of Schöningen offers the opportunity to reconstruct a rarely well‐preserved post‐Holsteinian environmental transition from an interglacial into a glacial phase along with its highly dynamic interjacent climatic oscillations. Combining biological proxies, element composition and stable isotope ratios of two lakeshore sequences at excavation site 13 II, we demonstrate repeated variations in climate, hydrology and catchment vegetation cover. New ostracod‐based quantitative mean summer and winter air temperature reconstructions with the Mutual Ostracod Temperature Range (MOTR) method provide the first detailed information about the temperature evolution. The interglacial temperature maximum, probably corresponding to Marine Isotope Stage 9e, is followed by a first dry phase and, during the younger part of the Reinsdorf sequence, by a second dry period. Both were marked by lower precipitation/evaporation ratios, reduced vegetation cover in the catchment and increased surface inflows from springs. Temperature reconstructions of these two steppe (open woodland) phases yield very narrow ranges for mean January (−4–0 °C) and July (+17–19 or +17–21 °C) air temperatures, demonstrating that, while summers were similar to those of today, winters were at least 1 °C colder, hinting at a more pronounced continental climate. Precise temperature estimates for the interjacent woodland and steppe (woodland) phase are hindered by generally wider ranges produced by the MOTR method (January mean −4–3 °C, July mean +15–21 °C). The development of a more extensive vegetation cover, reducing surface runoff and erosion in favour of increased river and groundwater discharge, as indicated by a shift in microfossil and stable isotope records, suggests generally more humid climates with higher precipitation/evaporation ratios as well as reduced seasonal temperature variations.

During past glacial periods, the land cover of Northern Eurasia and North America repeatedly shifted between open steppe tundra and boreal/temperate forest. Tracking these changes and estimating the coverage of open versus forested vegetation in past glacial and interglacial landscapes is notoriously difficult because the characteristic dwarf birches of the tundra and the tree birches of the boreal and temperate forests produce similar pollen grains that are difficult to distinguish in the pollen record. One objective approach to separating dwarf birch pollen from tree birch pollen is to use grain size statistics. However, the required grain size measurements are time-consuming and, therefore, rarely produced. Here, we present an approach to automatic size measurement based on image recognition with convolutional neural networks and machine learning. It includes three main steps. First, the TOFSI algorithm is applied to detect and classify pollen, including birch pollen, in lake sediment samples. Second, a Resnet-18 neural network is applied to select the birch pollen suitable for measurement. Third, semantic segmentation is applied to detect the outline and the area and mean width of each detected birch pollen grain. Test applications with two pollen records from Northern Germany, one covering the Lateglacial-Early Holocene transition and the other covering the Mid to Late Pleistocene transition, show that the new technical approach is well suited to measure the area and mean width of birch pollen rapidly (>1000 per hour) and with high accuracy. Our new network-based tool facilitates more regular size measurements of birch pollen. Expanded analysis of modern birch pollen will help to better understand size variations in birch pollen between birch species and in response to environmental factors as well as differential sample preparation. Analysis of fossil samples will allow better quantification of dwarf birch versus tree birch in past environments.

AbstractDetailed sedimentological, geochemical, palynological, and aquatic-microfossil analyses on a new composite profile (Para-Reference Profile Schöningen 13 II and Zeugenblock 13 II [2018]) exposed at the archaeological excavation site of Schöningen 13 II reflect several phases of newly recorded lake level fluctuations and vegetation changes. A pronounced deforestation and the expansion of grasses and herbal plant communities characterize the first steppe (open woodland) phase, which follows the interglacial forest communities. A succeeding tripartite woodland phase predominantly marked by Betula and Pinus is followed by another rather dry steppe phase and a second woodland period, which includes the famous archaeological “spear horizon” 13 II-4ab. Transition into a cold period is indicated by progressive desiccation of the lake and a shift to a steppe/tundra vegetation. Novel 3D images of the 10 most characteristic phases of the Reinsdorf sequence have been constructed based on the botanical data (macro remains as well as palynomorphs), terrestrial vertebrate faunal, geochemical, sedimentological, and previously established data from aquatic microfossils. In addition, a tentative correlation between the post-interglacial phases of the Reinsdorf sequence and Marine Isotope Substages 9d–9a, based on biostratigraphical as well as sedimentological data, is proposed.

The ca. 300 ka Paleolithic sites of Schöningen in northern Germany yielded a number of localities with archeological and paleontological remains representing a rich paleoenvironmental record of the late Middle Pleistocene in northern Europe. An important line of research focused on the ichnology of two localities: Schöningen 13 I-Fs2 and Schöningen 13 II-2 Untere Berme. Here we present the first detailed study of these fossil footprints, which provides insights on Schöningen's paleoenvironment and a snapshot of the mammals once living in the area. Herds of elephants and other species of herbivores congregated along the muddy shores of a paleolake during birch, pine and grass-rich woodland phases. In addition, three potential hominin footprints, probably belonging to a late Homo heidelbergensis, are recorded at Schöningen 13 II-2 Untere Berme. This confirms the complementary potential of ichnology in reconstructing a reliable picture of prehistoric sites.

The age of the push moraine complex Wallsbüll-Böxlund, Schleswig-Holstein, is unclear despite investigations in this area for decades. To address the timing of formation of both the push moraine complex and the peat and soils found in its depressions, an outcrop in Osterbylund (OBL) was investigated. Optically stimulated luminescence and 230Th/U dating, as well as pollen analyses, were undertaken with the aim to correlate the soils OBL 1 to OBL 4 to interglacials and interstadials. The chronological studies were accompanied by detailed sedimentological investigations. The results of the pollen analyses put the peat unambiguously to the Eemian; the peat is equivalent to OBL 1. The overlying sands and the other intercalated soils are to be placed into the early Weichselian. While for OBL 2 the assignment to the Brörup interstadial is clear, it is more difficult to clearly correlate OBL 3 and OBL 4 to an interstadial due to poor luminescence signal resetting of the sands, especially above OBL 4. Considering all data available, it is most likely that OBL 3 formed during the Odderade interstadial and OBL 4 during the Keller interstadial. From the Eemian to early Weichselian ages of the peat and soils it is evident that the push moraine complex is of Saalian age; a Weichselian ice margin further in the west, as assumed in other studies, can therefore be excluded.

The extent of vegetation openness in past European landscapes is widely debated. In particular, the temperate forest biome has traditionally been defined as dense, closed-canopy forest; however, some argue that large herbivores maintained greater openness or even wood-pasture conditions. Here, we address this question for the Last Interglacial period (129,000-116,000 years ago), before Homo sapiens-linked megafauna declines and anthropogenic landscape transformation. We applied the vegetation reconstruction method REVEALS to 96 Last Interglacial pollen records. We found that light woodland and open vegetation represented, on average, more than 50% cover during this period. The degree of openness was highly variable and only partially linked to climatic factors, indicating the importance of natural disturbance regimes. Our results show that the temperate forest biome was historically heterogeneous rather than uniformly dense, which is consistent with the dependency of much of contemporary European biodiversity on open vegetation and light woodland.

To spatially characterize the palaeolakeshore environment at the archaeological kill site Schöningen 13 II‐4 of the Middle Pleistocene Reinsdorf sequence, in‐depth palynological, geochemical, aquatic microfossil and archaeological analyses were undertaken on sediment sections with an average thickness of about 15 cm, concordantly overlain by faunal remains, dominated by horse, from the unique ‘Spear Horizon’ layers of the 1995 excavation campaign. The data reveal a distinctive lake level drop, documented by the change from a carbonate‐rich lake marl to a carbonate‐free organic mud with increased carbon content and decreasing C/N, Si/Al, Si/K and Fe/Al ratios, indicating a higher pedogenic supply of organic matter and drier conditions at the site. Compared with older, similar transitional phases of lake level changes occurring within the Reinsdorf sequence, it is important that these youngest sediments are undisturbed, indicating continuous development. Ostracod and diatom analyses indicate a lowering water level with higher salinities and rich aquatic vegetation. Mesorheophilic ostracod species along with tychoplanktic diatom taxa point to flowing waters and turbulence at the lakeshore, presumably related to spring‐fed streams originating from nearby highlands. Palynological results reveal a very diverse zonal vegetation pattern around the palaeolakeshore considering an area of investigation of approximately 50 × 75 m and a tessellated type of regional vegetation during the formation of the archaeological horizons. On topographically lower elevated areas, birch groves and taxa favouring wet, marshy conditions such as Cyperaceae, indicative of terrestrialization, were predominating, while other stands of this transitional phase reveal a very dry, grass‐dominated steppe woodland favouring a rich wildlife with a striking number of megaherbivores. Our results suggest that the lithological differences of the ‘Spear Horizon’ layers containing the archaeological finds were due to their respective topographical situation and that the layers were deposited almost simultaneously during the beginning of the lake level drop. Human activities seem to have concentrated in sparsely vegetated areas along the palaeolakeshore, rather than in areas of adjacent denser birch swamp forest stands.

The resilience of Neanderthals towards changing climatic and environmental conditions, and especially towards severely cold climates in northern regions of central Europe, is still under debate. One way to address this is to investigate multi-layered occupation in different climatic intervals, using independently-compiled paleoenvironmental and chronological data. Unfortunately, most open-air sites on the northern European Plain lack a robust chronostratigraphy beyond the radiocarbon dating range, thereby often hampering direct links between human occupation and climate. Here we present the results of integrative research at the Middle Paleolithic open-air site of Lichtenberg, Northern Germany, comprising archaeology, luminescence dating, sedimentology, micromorphology, as well as pollen and phytolith analyses. Our findings clearly show Neanderthal presence in temperate, forested environments during the Mid-Eemian Interglacial, MIS 5e and the latest Bro euro rup Interstadial, MIS 5c/GI 22 (Lichtenberg II). For the previously known occupation Lichtenberg I, we revise the chronology from the former early MIS 3 (57 +/- 6 ka) to early MIS 4/GS 19 (71.3 +/- 7.3 ka), with dominant cold steppe/tundra vegetation. The early MIS 4 occupation suggests that Neanderthals could adjust well to severely cold environments and implies recurring population in the region between MIS 5 and MIS 3. The artefact assemblages differ between the temperate and cold environment occupations regarding size, blank production, typology and tool use. We argue that this distinctness can partially be explained by different site functions and occupation duration, as well as the availability of large and high-quality flint raw material. Raw material availability is in turn governed by changing vegetation cover that hindered or fostered sediment redeposition as a provider of flint from the primary source of the glacial sediments nearby. (c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The climate in the Altai Mountains is determined by two major climate systems whose dominance has varied over time, leading to significant spatio-temporal changes in temperature and precipitation during the Holocene. This study aimed at the reconstruction of the local to regional moisture and temperature conditions in an alpine belt of the southern Mongolian Altai during the Late Holocene. It thereby contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of the region’s palaeoclimate in the Holocene. Our reconstruction is based on palynological and sediment analyses as well as radiometric age determinations of samples from a 130 cm exposed soil/sediment profile within the alpine belt. Largely supported by sedimentological and geochemical observations, the pollen assemblages indicate a warm and dry period between about 2600 and 2250 cal a BP, a subsequent cold and humid phase extending to about 130 cal a BP, and a return to warm and dry conditions lasting to present. Our data support the results of recent studies on the regional climate variability and the observation of significant differences in the mode of climate changes and its temporal sequence within the Altai Mountains. Although the pollen assemblages in the profile reflected a continuous anthropo-zoogenic influence on the study site’s vegetation climatic signals were clearly detectable, underlining the indicator value of the pollen data from the Alpine sediments for regional palaeoclimatic reconstruction.

The archaeological sites in the open‐cast mine of Schöningen, Germany, represent outstanding archives for understanding Middle Pleistocene interglacial–glacial transitions and human adaption. Aquatic microfossil and pollen assemblages from the ‘Reinsdorf sequence’, likely correlated to Marine Isotope Stage 9, document environmental changes from a thermal maximum to succeeding glacial conditions recorded in two sequences of excavation sites 12 II and 13 II. Multi‐proxy analyses enable detailed reconstruction of lake‐shore and landscape developments despite variable microfossil preservation in changing carbonate‐ and organic‐rich deposits. Rich aquatic vegetation with abundant charophytes suggests repeated phases with water depths of 0.5–2 m at site 13 II, while even greater temporary depths are deduced for 12 II DB. Mesorheophilic and mesotitanophilic ostracod species indicate stream inflows with medium–low calcium contents of >18 mg Ca L–1 originating from nearby springs. Diatoms point to meso‐eutrophic conditions and an alkaline pH of the lake water. Interglacial conditions with thermophile forests but no aquatic microfossils preserved, suggesting a dry or only temporarily flooded site, mark the beginning of the sequence. Continuous presence of aquatic organisms and overall dominance of small tychoplanktonic diatoms during a subsequent cool steppe phase provide evidence for increased water depths and unstable habitats characterized by erosion and probably prolonged periods of lake ice cover. During the succeeding boreal forest‐steppe phase, surface runoff into the productive, shallow lake decreased due to a more extensive vegetation cover. Concurrently, intensified groundwater input in contact with the nearby salt wall caused elevated salinities. Following a lake level drop, stream inflows and lake levels increased again towards the end of the Reinsdorf sequence and promoted development of a diverse fauna and flora at the lake shore; thereby maintaining an attractive living and hunting environment for early humans during a phase of generally cooler temperatures and landscape instability at the transition into a glacial period.

The discovery of a tusk and a rib of a straight-tusked elephant within layer 13 II-2c3 of the famous Lower Palaeolithic archaeological site Schöningen (district Helmstedt, Lower-Saxony, Germany) provided the reason for studying the climatic and ecological conditions of this part of the Middle Pleistocene Reinsdorf sequence in high resolution in relation to new chronometric data. Sediment, pollen, aquatic microfossil (diatoms, ostracods, gyrogonites of charophytes) and micro mammalian analyses provide evidence for a strong environmental change and landscape opening following the post-temperate boreal forest phase of the Reinsdorf Interglacial. Palynological and palaeontological evidence from this horizon suggest increasing dryness and seasonality. The high proportions of non-arboreal pollen including Poaceae as well as a major decrease of thermophile tree taxa indicate the development of zonal steppe environments. The assemblage of small mammal remains includes indicators of temperate as well as cold climatic conditions. A bone tool together with flint artefacts clearly show the presence of hominins in this context. Based on palaeoecological evidence and new luminescence dating, previous correlations of the Reinsdorf sequence to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 and thus of the interglacial sediments to MIS 9e are confirmed and the onset of the first post-interglacial steppe phase represented by layer 13 II-2c3 to MIS 9d is proposed.

Proximal alluvial sediments represent a useful sedimentary archive to reconstruct the tectono-climatic history of continental rift basins. However, poor dating of coarse fluvial successions usually prevents high-resolution distinction of tectonic and climatic processes, and thus good determination of process rates. This paper presents a dating study of Plio-Pleistocene Kalavryta river system during the early history of the Corinth Rift (northern Peloponnese, Greece) based on magnetostratigraphy and palynology. This river system developed across several active normal fault blocks that are now uplifted along the southern rift margin. The detailed sedimentary record constrains alluvial architectures from the proximal basin to the river outlet where small deltas built into a shallow lake. In four magnetostratigraphy sections the correlation to the reference scale relies on the identification of the Gauss/Matuyama magnetic reversal and biostratigraphic elements. The river system developed between about 3.6 to 1.8 Ma, with sediment accumulation rates (SARs) ranging from 0.40 to 0.75 mm yr(-1). SAR is lower in the alluvial fans than in the deltaic system, and higher at the centre of the normal fault depocentres than at the fault tip. By comparison with worldwide Cenozoic SARs, our values are higher but lie in the same range as those determined in coarse alluvial foreland basins. Moreover, in the context of overfilled intra-mountainous rift basins, these rates are minimum values and can be used as a proxy for accommodation rate. Therefore, early rift stratal wedges and growth synclines attest high sedimentation rates and also high rates of tectonic processes. Finally, in the distal river system, floral compositions and changes of vegetation deduced from palynological data are coherent with alternating fluvio-deltaic and shallow lacustrine deposits, which are linked to relative base level variations. Dry/cool climate is preferentially recorded during periods of low lake level, while the warm/moist climate is mainly recorded in prodelta deposits during periods of high lake level. This correlation suggests that, despite the dominant control of active faulting, climate is a key control of syn-rift stratigraphic architectures.